I Can Count Them On One Hand

Five Things: brought to you by Kelly, who felt she should share the joy. Since A.Fortis is working her head off today, I'll take one for the team.

What were you doing five years ago?

Wow, 2003. I was living in Santa Rosa and driving a very long way to Oakland to my first year of grad school. I was reading Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried and doing a lot of wincing as it by turns horrified me and blew me away with its consistent and descriptive narrative style.

What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?

• Untangle this chapter's plot knots currently strangling my manuscript,


• See if that weird wet spot on the floor in the guest room is still there, and find out what caused it,


• Shop for lightweight walking shoes (sandals),


• Call the chick from the Property Bureau (actual name of company) and arrange to see flat,


• Scrub the bathtub and finish the wash.

(Yes. That's my VERY exciting life. Aren't you glad you asked?)

What are five snacks that you enjoy?

• Ryvita crackers - just about any kind,


• Dry Kashi Lean cereal, (Stop laughing)


• 84% Dark chocolate and crystallized ginger


• Watermelon drizzled with lime juice and sprinkled with cinnamon (Seriously)


• random juice bars

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?

• Buy land on the West Coast and build a straw bale or a passive house


• Keep bees and goats and make candles and cheese if I felt like it, otherwise write,


• Open a summer camp for homeless and foster kids (and hire my mother),


• Pay off my college debt, and the school debt of my immediate family,


• Set up a philanthropic fund which invested so that it was making money while giving it away to people who want to go to school.

What are five of your bad habits?
Really, we could go all day with this one.

• Biting my nails,


• Being snappish with people I consider stupid,


• Considering people stupid (Being critical),


• Worrying too much about ridiculous things,


• Not enjoying myself

What are five places where you have lived?

• San Francisco, CA


• Healdsburg, California


• Deerpark, California


• Pacheco, California


• Glasgow, Scotland

What are five jobs you’ve had?
Only the semi-abnormal ones are any fun...

• Strawberry weeder, My first job, 6th grade


• House cleaner, For an elderly woman down the street, 8th-10th grade


• Program Director and Rodeo Clown (summer camp, six years of this)


• Laundry supervisor


• Senate reporter (college paper)

The next question is which five people am I tagging... I'm not tagging five people; I've seen this around and know everyone's done it... except maybe Little Willow. And you?