I avoid most of these memes, but as soon as I saw this one from feste_sylvain I knew the possibilities were huge:

1. Who was your best friend? My best friend at the time was Jason, who didn't go to my high school at all at that point.  In school I had a crowd but not one best friend -- they included crepuscular and our mutual friend Nya.

2. What sports did you play?  I didn't play sports.

3. What kind of car did you drive?  I didn't drive a car.

4. It's Friday night, where were you?  At home watching "Friday Night Videos."  I was such a dork.

5. Were you a party animal?  See above. :-)

6. Were you considered a flirt?  Not in high school.  It took me years to get to that point.

7. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir?  We didn't have these.

8. Were you a nerd?  I was such a nerd they named Nerdsville after me.  I was practically the school's official nerd, if there was such a thing.

9. Did you get suspended/expelled?  No, but hardly anyone ever got suspended or expelled from our school.

10. Can you sing the fight song?  We didn't have one.

11. Who was your favorite teacher?  Nancy Coutourie, who helped mold me into a complete math nut :-)

12. What was your school's full name?  St. Ann's School.  (I think the school's official name was not actually "St. Ann's School for the Gifted," thank god)

13. School mascot?  We didn't  have one.

14. Did you go to Prom?  We didn't have one.

15. If you could go back and do it over, would you?  I've never actually thought about it that way.  There are a lot of things I'd like to think I'd do differently but I'm not sure I'd want to try to do it all over again, no.

16. What do you remember most about graduation?  Succeeding.

17. Where were you on senior skip day?  We didn't have one.  Every day was "senior skip day," really.

18. Did you have a job your senior year?  I didn't have one.  I don't think most kids in our school did.  Most of them came from pretty affluent backgrounds.

19. Where did you go most often for lunch?  There was a little sub shop on Montague St. that I liked a lot, but have completely forgotten the name.  Awesome salami and provolone.

20. Have you gained weight since then?  Holy smoke yes.

21. What did you do after graduation?  Got wasted at the grad party, of course.  I think I threw up twice while walking home.

22. When did you graduate?  1988.

23. Who was your Senior prom date?  We didn't have one.  Honest.

24. Are you going to your 10 year reunion?  Skipped it.  20-year is coming up, though.

25. Who was your home room teacher?  We didn't have one.

26. Who will repost this after you?  Someone who went to a more typical high school, I'm sure.

This meme was going around a while ago.  Someone said that it has to be 17 movies.  Why 17?  I don't know.  You get 13.  Cope.

Some of these ought to be pretty easy.  I expect at least a couple of them to be hard, though.  I didn't pick them to be hard, just to be quotes I liked.

1. You never fuck me!  And I always have to drive!" -- Drugstore Cowboy (qnetter)
   
2. "Why aren't you popular with the Chicago Police Department, Jack?" -- Midnight Run (harimad)
3. "You really are an untidy boy." -- Time Bandits (stephe)
4. "No, I didn't say you have character.  I said you are a natural character.  You're an incredible flake."
5. "That is one nutty hospital." -- Tootsie (qnetter, weegoddess)
6. "I should probably tell you that the reason I'm taking the bus today is that my driver's license was revoked." -- Speed (badlittlemonkey)
7. "We zip in, we pick 'em up, we zip out again!  Come on, it's like going into Wisconsin!" -- Stripes (crouchback)
8. "All those people killed.  And for what?  For a little bit of money.  But there's more to life than a little money, you know?  Don't you know that? And here you are.  And it's a beautiful day." -- Fargo (badlittlemonkey)
9. "We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us." -- Magnolia (creidylad)
10. "Because you're on television, dummy." -- Network (harimad)
11. "I was flying, I ---- of course I was flying." -- The Little Mermaid (badlittlemonkey)
12. "You'd make a great poker player, kid." -- The Sweet Hereafter (qnetter)
13. "That's funny, I don't... feel drunk...." -- Memento (redjo)

This sounds about right:

Greed:	Medium
Gluttony:	Medium
Wrath:	Medium
Sloth:	Medium
Envy:	Low
Lust:	Very High
Pride:	Low

Take the Seven Deadly Sins Quiz

Now all I have to do is bring my Wrath score down a little bit and I'll be just about exactly where I'd like to be!

20 musical acts I have seen live:

Not quite 20 though. And no way am I limiting this to big-name acts! Most of the fun ones I've seen were the little bands nobody has ever heard of!

1. Roger Waters.

   The first musical act I saw, in high school. Waters was touring for his Radio K.A.O.S. album around the same time that Floyd was touring for A Momentary Lapse of Reason, so I saw them within a few months of each other.

2. Pink Floyd.

   See above. I camped out all night with a high school buddy for these tickets. The overnight campout may actually have been more entertaining than the concert itself.

3. Warren Zevon.
4. X.

   I saw X opening for Zevon at the University of Chicago, when I was a prospie there in 1987.

5. 10,000 Maniacs.

   I saw them twice, once at Radio City Music Hall and once at Bentley College in Waltham. Natalie Merchant was ill for that show and was so bad-tempered for her performance that we actually left before the show was over.

6. R.E.M.
7. Indigo Girls.

   This was a high point of my concertgoing career: seeing Indigo Girls open for R.E.M. on their Green tour, before the Girls had really hit it big in their own right. We saw Stipe actually singing "Kid Fears" with them on stage, etc. The R.E.M. portion of the evening was mediocre by comparison -- the next day I went out right away and bought the Girls' debut record.

8. Formaldehyde Blues Train.

   I saw these guys several times in Brooklyn around 1989-1991. My best friend from high school had started studying guitar, and his teacher played lead guitar in this band. They are -- or were -- a very cool hard rock ensemble and mostly played in tiny dives in lower Manhattan.

9. Laurie Anderson.

   Saw her at Smith College on her Bright Red Dress tour. Cool, and inexplicable, as always.

10. Andrew Ratshin.

    At the Iron Horse in Northampton, probably 1991 or so, on his I Am Joe's Eyes tour. Andrew is one third of Uncle Bonsai, and played a lot of Bonsai songs at this show. At one point he was trying to decide what to play next, and I called out, "Heartache!" and he said, right back, "Heartache. Heh. Not a chance." Now that he's playing with Arni and Ashley again maybe I'll get that chance.

11. Cordelia's Dad.

    They were a local band in the Pioneer Valley but I think are now based in New Jersey? Their music was something they called "folk thrash" that is not quite like anything else I've ever heard. I still need to find a copy of their first record, which seems to be completely unavailable now.

12. Frank's Museum.

    Another part of the Brooklyn Beat crowd, with Formaldehyde Blues Train. Their lead singer, Rossi, was unbelievably hot in that early-nineties bisexual cool kind of way.

13. Four Bitchin' Babes.

    At Amherst around 1992, I think, when the lineup was Christine Lavin, Megon McDonough, Julie Gold and Sally Fingerett. Lots of fun.

14. Yo La Tengo.

    I saw them open for the Dad at the Iron Horse one night. They are definitely not my kind of thing.

15. Paul Kelly.

    Singer-songwriter from Australia. I saw him, again at the Iron Horse, with a friend who had recently spent a year studying in Oz. One of the more memorable shows I've seen.

16. Leo Kottke.

    I've seen Leo more times than probably anyone else on this list -- I think twice at the Iron Horse, once at WPI and once at Harvard. Leo is just an essential.

17. They Might Be Giants.

    Once at Amherst, on their Flood tour, and recently at Borders in Braintree, on their Here Come The ABCs tour.

18. Hanneke Cassel Trio.

    This was at Club Passim just a few months ago. Fantastic Celtic fiddle stuff. She made both Ellen and me want to go take fiddle lessons.

19. Geezer.

    A few weeks ago at the Sit 'n' Bull Pub in Maynard. Live blues, lots of fun.

I don't know what my six most happy foods would be, but I can post six of my most happy foods:

• creme brulee
• strawberries and whipped cream
• big awful cheeseburgers with bacon and onions and lettuce and tomato but absolutely no mayonnaise
• hot strong coffee
• rum cake
• baked brie

As noted elsewhere, foods that involve cream and/or cheese tend to rise pretty high on this list.

After I made this list I was surprised to note that it does not involve any garlic at all. Garlic is a food that I love but apparently it is not something that necessarily makes happy food for me. Very interesting.

I've read at least ten books by each of these people:

Stephen King
Dr. Seuss
Robert Parker
Janet Evanovich
Isaac Asimov
Piers Anthony
Michael Crichton
Robert Heinlein

A shabby list compared with most of my peers. I don't think I've read ten books by Dean Koontz -- it is hard to remember and I can't distinguish any of them by reading the plot synopses. If I have read ten Dean Koontz books I think I will have to eat my spleen.

1. If you could build a second house anywhere, where would it be?
A pied-à-terre in San Francisco.

2. What are your favorite articles of clothing?
In no particular order: black turtlenecks, my sun-and-moon vest, pa collarless white shirt, a black button-down dress shirt.

3. The last CD you bought?
The Hanneke Cassel Band, at Club Passim last month.

4. What time do you wake up in the morning?
I tend to be up -- unwillingly -- by 7:00 or 7:15 these days.

5. What is your favorite kitchen appliance?
Split between the Kitchenaid mixer and the bread machine.

6. If you could play an instrument, what would it be?
Hey, I can! I can play the guitar, and a little bit of piano and pennywhistle. I'd sort of like to learn the fiddle.

7. Favorite color?
I don't have one. They all look nice in equal amounts. Isn't that pathetic?

8. Which vehicle do you prefer, sports car, motorcycle, or SUV?
Bicycle.

9. Do you believe in the afterlife?
Yes.

10. Favorite children's book?
Do I have to choose? I like both Mr. Popper's Penguins and The Cricket in Times Square quite a bit. When I was young Stuart Little was probably my favorite.

11. What is your favorite season?
Autumn. Every season has at least one thing I really like, but autumn is the season that has the best thoughts and memories associated with it.

12. If you have a tattoo, what is it?
None. Yet.

13. If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
I have always wanted to fly.
Failing that, I would like to be able to make someone's clothes fall off their body from afar by the sheer force of my will.

14. Can you juggle?
Yes! I can flash five balls, and have been able to do so for almost twenty years, but have never sat down and practiced long and hard enough to get past the flash.

15. One person/people from your past you wish you could go back and talk to.
Jason Roth. Jennifer Connelly. Adam Powers, of course.

16. What is under your bed.
Floor. The box springs rest directly on the floor.

17. What's your favorite day?
Saturday, I think, but I do like making pancakes for the boys on Sunday mornings.

18. Which do you prefer, sushi or hamburger?
Burgers, I'm afraid. (I fear I have just lost the respect of half the people on my friends list.)

19. From the people you will post this to, who's the most likely to respond first?
keyne

20. Who's the least likely to respond?
inseriatim

21. Who did you receive this from? or taken from their LJ?
bethr and hawkegirl

22. What is your favorite flower?
When we held Ellen's "Six Bits" birthday party, some years ago in Chicago, sconstant and khedron asked if they should bring anything. I told them to bring flowers. They showed up with a small cauliflower and two one-pound bags of flour (whole wheat and white). Those were my favorite flowers.

23. What is your favorite meal?
I find this sort of question puzzling. I like a lot of different kinds of food. My favorite is going to depend a lot on time and place and my mood. But here are some:
- rice soup or gai tom kha, chicken satay, and red chicken curry
- a huge cheeseburger covered with lettuce and tomatoes and onions and bacon but absolutely no mayonnaise. And a chocolate malted
- a platter of steak tips, onion rings, a good nutty porter followed up by creme brulee

24. When is your birthday?
November 12, 1970.

25. Describe your pj's.
Nothing comes between me and my Serta, baby.

26. What is your favorite breakfast?
Cheese omelette, bagel and cream cheese, coffee, mimosa.

27. Do you like your job?
Yes.

28. What is your dream job?
Anything that pays well, engages my brain, and gives me enough time to do something else on the side. I think often about screenwriting.

29. What age do you plan to retire?
36. Check back later to see if it worked.

30. Where did you meet your spouse or significant other?
On the national mall in Washington, D.C. It was the 1993 March on Washington for gay rights. I had driven down from Amherst and she drove out from Chicago. We managed to find each other in the middle of a crowd of a quarter of a million people or something like that. We spent the day marching the streets of Washington, getting sunburned, and falling for each other. We joined our friends for dinner at a Thai restaurant in the NW part of the city, and as we were leaving we kissed each other goodbye. It was our first kiss. I never had a chance.

BONUS: Something you'd like to do that you've never done before?
Travel part of the country -- any country -- by bike.