5 Things

As I mentioned earlier this morning, The Vol Abroad tagged me with the 5 Things meme (BTW, what's a meme? I know it's meaning in the blogosphere; I'm just not familiar with the word. Guess I could look it up, huh?) Anyway, here goes (though I reserve the right to lie to make myself seem more impressive and interesting -- I need the help):

5 JOBS YOU'VE HAD: (1) College econ/stats instructor, (2) Serf, at the mercy of my master's every whim (the official title was "graduate research assistant"), (3) Delivery driver and basic Man Friday at a funky deli in Oxford, MS, (4) Boat dock guy at a crappy "resort" in the middle of Nowhere, TN (I've always wondered who thought, "Hey, let's put a crappy resort here in the middle of nowhere," and whether he's still employed), (5) Kelly Girl. Okay, I wasn't really a Kelly GIRL, but I did work as a Kelly temp one summer. I worked 3rd shift, 7 nights a week, making the cartons for 12 packs of Coors Light. To this day I can look at a Silver Bullet 12 pack in the store and tell you whether the machine was in need of adjustment.

5 MOVIES YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER: Like The Vol, I'm not a big movie person. I like them well enough, I just don't get around to watching that many. Still, there are some that I find myself watching again and again whenever they pop up on TV. So, ... (1) Clerks, (2) Raising Arizona, (3) The Usual Suspects (almost went with Pulp Fiction here), (4) Field of Dreams or Bull Durham (I couldn't pick and they're both Kevin Costner baseball movies, so I count them as one choice.), (5) The Station Agent (since I raved about it yesterday) or similar "artsy", "do nothing" films. There's probably 4 or 5 of these alone.

5 PLACES YOU'VE LIVED: Thanks Vol. Your list really makes me look like a bumpkin. (1) Lawrenceburg, TN, (2) Oxford, MS, (3) Tuscaloosa, AL, (4) Huntsville, AL, (5) An Aleut fishing village outside Nome, AK. Okay, #5 is a lie, but the thought of adding another AL residence was just too depressing.

5 TV SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH: I'm assuming these don't have to be current shows, so I'll start with the all-time best TV show ever: (1) Northern Exposure, (2) Ed (another bygone show), (3) Gilmore Girls (best show on TV today), (4) Lost (I admit it), (5) Veronica Mars (I had to pick a 5th). Though it's also off the air, honorable mention to "The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr." just to cement my quirky reputation.

5 PLACES YOU'VE BEEN ON VACATION: Yet again, Vol, thanks for boosting my self esteem. Sigh: (1) NC/VA/WV minor league baseball corridor, (2) New Orleans, (3) Smoky Mtns., Sipsey Wilderness Area, various other woods and river type places, (4) Washington, D.C., (5) The Jungles of Borneo -- another lie, see explanation above. Hmm, maybe I should take Thailand Jeff up on his offer to come visit?

5 WEBSITES YOU VISIT DAILY: Hmm, this one is harder than I thought. (1) Obviously folks that I have "linked" on my blog. Seriously, I haven't done that many so I can honestly say I visit each daily (if I'm on the computer), (2) Amazon (This surprised me, but I really do find myself checking out a book or CD there most every day. I don't buy much from them, but I do mooch.), (3) The Christian Science Monitor or the WaPo for news and commentary, (4) During the season I visit ESPN baseball daily. Though the MTVization of ESPN really annoys me, they have great content, (5) Arlo & Janis just because they make me laugh. Today's strip was particulary apt for me.

5 OF YOUR FAVORITE FOODS: Mom's biscuits, pizza, cornbread dressing (not stuffing), gumbo, and french fries.

5 PLACES YOU'D RATHER BE: Wait, is this a "places I'd rather live" or just a "places I'd rather be right now"? Oh well: (1) Oxford, MS (Been there? Then you get it.), (2) Asheville, NC (I love the funky, eclectic vibe -- with mountains), (3) Alaska, somewhere between Anchorage and Fairbanks (I had to do a report on AK in 4th grade and I've been fascinated with it ever since), (4) a small town in southern WV, between the state line and Charleston (seriously beautiful country, lots of baseball, and Charleston is a neat town), (5) The Yaak Valley in way northwest Montana. Thank Rick Bass for that one. I'm sure I could have "gone exotic" on these, but I'm a simple man (in more ways than one).

5 ALBUMS YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT: This is a tough one for me because I love so much music of all different types (thankfully books weren't on this meme). Well, let's see: (1) The Trinity Sessions a solid, solid album, (2) Steve Earle's Guitar Town, before old Steve got a little too strident for my taste. I don't know that this is the best album of the genre, but in my opinion this album saved the Townes Van Zandt style of "country/folk/rock" music and made the whole alt.country movement possible. It makes the list., (3) David Gray's White Ladder -- a little over-produced for my taste, but chock full of killer songs, (4) The first, and by far best, Lyle Lovett album. If you've ever listened to it closely, then you get it. (5) Wow, my last choice. Errr, ... I want something by Van Morrison, but since I made my own "best of" I can't choose an individual album by him. What about some Springsteen -- maybe Born to Run? No, I'll just go with what's in my CD player right now: Iris Dement's Infamous Angel. Seriously, if this album doesn't make your spine tingle at some point, you've just got no blood in your veins.

5 folks I'm tagging: Sorry, but I'm going to have to opt out of this one. I don't know 5 people (who blog) to tag that haven't already been hit. Man I hate that; I'd really be interested to see some other answers to these questions. C'mon slacker friends, start blogging so I can tag you with this meme. Note, a couple of readers do HAVE blogs, they just don't use them.

Whew, I survived. Thanks, Vol. I dreaded doing this, but it turned out to be kind of fun.