Four things

I got this forward in my inbox this morning, where you're supposed to fill in the answers and send it back to the original senders and all. And BOTH people who filled it out, put, under "four people who will respond," my name. What do they think I'm doing? Sitting around doing nothing with my life? Jesus. Four Things about Me (that you may not have known...)

Four jobs I have had in my life 1. Rock star (third grade) 2. Assistant to the Dean of Engineering, Boston University 3. Answering phones at a radio station 4. World renowned writer

Four Movies I have watched over and over 1. Keeping the Faith 2. Amadeus 3. Lost in Translation 4. The Edge

Four places I have lived 1. Alexandria, VA 2. Boston, MA 3. Raleigh, NC 4. Chapel Thrill

Four TV shows I love to watch 1. The Office 2. Golden Girls (Apparently, I'm not the only one - and here. And here. And this, which is totally insane.) 3. What Not to Wear 4. Most Haunted

Four of my favorite foods When we were looking at the baby book my mother made for me on my 21st birthday, we got a lot of laughs over this little essay I wrote when I was maybe four-years-old (ok, so the teacher probably wrote while I dictated to her) where I said that my favorite food was "asparagus, asparagus, asparagus and corn!" So that's my answer, albeit, an untrue answer.

Four of my favorite desserts 1. Pie, blueberry 2. Ice cream 3. Peanut butter and chocolate - together - in anything 4. Creme brulee

Four places I would rather be right now 1. My own office 2. Italy 3. Maine 4. With J, watching movies

Four people who will respond Not four, everybody, in the comments, and in their own blogs

Four People least likely to respond See above, nobody

Four of my favorite types of music 1. Well, I'm sitting here in my new favorite coffee shop, and I just looked up out the window, after concentrating, I'll admit, way too hard on this survey, and I noticed it's raining ever so slightly, and just as I noticed it, the beautiful people working here put on an Iron and Wine album, and that was a really nice moment. 2. Buffalino, live at McSeagull's 3. #41, a CD compilation made by my roommates and I in 2002 that played in heavy rotation at our place 'til 2003 and no, we didn't get sick of it 4. "Feels so Good," Chuck Mangione

When it all gets too serious

I've spent the day, and last night too, kind of obsessing over all the Remembering 9/11 coverage on the news and radio. While mostly this makes me feel sad, I also can't help feeling terribly lucky. And am reminded not to take any of the wonderful people in my life for granted. On days like these, when we know we're supposed to feel serious - much like a funeral, when everyone is afraid to tell a joke or smile, remembering a funny story - I think sometimes the best thing we can do is just that. Reverence on the anniversary of such an enormous event is, of course, of utmost importance, but so is living and living happily.

So when I sat down at the computer just now, feeling sort of heavy with the weight of this day, I did one of my favorite new things, which is to look up the "recent searches" on my stat counter, which tells me what searches led people to this blog. Most are obvious - people who look up my name or Justin's and stumbled upon this site. Some are less so. People looking up the names and phone numbers of restaurants, or looking up geographical locations I've written about.

Some are the best thing I've ever seen.

Like the person who searched the phrase "showering nude," and thus happened upon my online ramblings.

To the person who looked up "showering nude," and then read my blog: thank you for reading, and though I know you must have been disappointed, I hope you realize that, because of you, even on the darkest of days and in the most difficult times, I have faith that this world is filled with not only doom and despair, but fascinating, curious people, who simply want to have some fun, and I consider myself fortunate just to learn of their - and your - existence.