Thursday, January 11, 2007
5 things you may not know about me
I was tagged by Laura at Wide Awake Cafe - my very first tag! - whose response to being tagged was her own interesting list.
1. My first job was in a penny candy store on the west side of Sixth Avenue just north of the Jefferson Market. It was fantastic. It was a branch of an apparently famous store on Cape Cod and we made fudge as well as selling penny candy. Our customers included Greenwich Village regulars like Anne Bancroft and Mel Brooks as well as passersby. It was a wonderful job.
2. My favorite book ever is A Covenant with Death by Stephen Becker. As the story begins, a man's wife is being murdered but not by the husband (a fact to which only we omniscent readers are privvy). Within the first pages, the husband is arrested on circumstantial evidence and sentenced to death, and then - drum roll, please - he grabs and executes the hangman as he's about to be hanged. He knows and we know that he is innocent of the original murder but feels justified in the second. His defense attorney is a rumpled, charming character, an erudite and studious man who'd rather hunt and fish than do anything else. He bases his defense on Hobbes' principle that a state's fundamental reason for existence is to protect the safety of its citizens so if their safety is threatened (as the husband's was), then one has a right and perhaps even an obligation to do whatever must be done. I was wild about this mix of serious ideas with an enjoyable mystery story, so much so that I went on to major in philosophy at college and read and watch thousands of mysteries.
3. On my train commuting to work along the Hudson River, I like to sit facing home. As a result, I ride backwards in the morning and forwards at night. I have no idea what that's about and only realized it when someone pointed it out to me.
4. In 3rd grade, I recited the entire poem of Hiawatha on a stage in some sort of presentation to parents and teachers. In fifth grade my parents were told I was a show-off. I still feel exhilarated when speaking to groups of people. I'm not sure I shouldn't have been encouraged to be an actress.
5. I hate to wear socks or anything else between me and my shoes. I used to wear pantyhose like a good professional adult woman but a friend said one day that she hated wearing pantyhose and spending money on something that wears out in seconds, and ever since then I've tried to wear sandals whenever I could and at least go sockless when I cannot.
OK. Happy??! I suppose this is how those lists of a hundred things about oneself originate. Anyway, now I'm tagging my blogfriend and fellow movie fan Laura at Laura's Miscellaneous Musings, interesting writer and idea-logue Bookworm at Bookworm Room, and Charles at Dustbury who may not be into such silliness tho' it would be cool if he'd do it.
1. My first job was in a penny candy store on the west side of Sixth Avenue just north of the Jefferson Market. It was fantastic. It was a branch of an apparently famous store on Cape Cod and we made fudge as well as selling penny candy. Our customers included Greenwich Village regulars like Anne Bancroft and Mel Brooks as well as passersby. It was a wonderful job.
2. My favorite book ever is A Covenant with Death by Stephen Becker. As the story begins, a man's wife is being murdered but not by the husband (a fact to which only we omniscent readers are privvy). Within the first pages, the husband is arrested on circumstantial evidence and sentenced to death, and then - drum roll, please - he grabs and executes the hangman as he's about to be hanged. He knows and we know that he is innocent of the original murder but feels justified in the second. His defense attorney is a rumpled, charming character, an erudite and studious man who'd rather hunt and fish than do anything else. He bases his defense on Hobbes' principle that a state's fundamental reason for existence is to protect the safety of its citizens so if their safety is threatened (as the husband's was), then one has a right and perhaps even an obligation to do whatever must be done. I was wild about this mix of serious ideas with an enjoyable mystery story, so much so that I went on to major in philosophy at college and read and watch thousands of mysteries.
3. On my train commuting to work along the Hudson River, I like to sit facing home. As a result, I ride backwards in the morning and forwards at night. I have no idea what that's about and only realized it when someone pointed it out to me.
4. In 3rd grade, I recited the entire poem of Hiawatha on a stage in some sort of presentation to parents and teachers. In fifth grade my parents were told I was a show-off. I still feel exhilarated when speaking to groups of people. I'm not sure I shouldn't have been encouraged to be an actress.
5. I hate to wear socks or anything else between me and my shoes. I used to wear pantyhose like a good professional adult woman but a friend said one day that she hated wearing pantyhose and spending money on something that wears out in seconds, and ever since then I've tried to wear sandals whenever I could and at least go sockless when I cannot.
OK. Happy??! I suppose this is how those lists of a hundred things about oneself originate. Anyway, now I'm tagging my blogfriend and fellow movie fan Laura at Laura's Miscellaneous Musings, interesting writer and idea-logue Bookworm at Bookworm Room, and Charles at Dustbury who may not be into such silliness tho' it would be cool if he'd do it.
Labels: about me, blogs (others'), books, places, reflections
Permalink | 
| posted by jau at 9:16 AM
— at 6:29 PM, January 13, 2007:
Laura — at 3:25 PM, January 14, 2007:
| posted by jau at 9:16 AM
6 more:
— at 6:29 PM, January 13, 2007:
This sounds like fun. Thanks for tagging me, and I'll take on the challenge! I'll also agree with laura lee and jau, in that you sound like an interesting person with a great history.
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Laura — at 3:25 PM, January 14, 2007:
Thanks for tagging me, I just posted my list.
I also loved the train anecdote and am enjoying checking out the linked lists. (For Bookworm Room: I also check the copyright date of any book before reading!)
Best wishes, Laura
I also loved the train anecdote and am enjoying checking out the linked lists. (For Bookworm Room: I also check the copyright date of any book before reading!)
Best wishes, Laura
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