"Faw Faw Faw, space..."

I had a typing teacher with a really strong NY accent (I grew up with lots of people with a really strong NY accent, including my parents, but this one was killer). So with the number 4, well I always remember her no matter how hard I try not to.

Another thing about me and the number 4: when I hold up my hand to indicate 4, I fold in my pinky rather than my thumb. I was told (by I forgot who) that this is really uncommon.

Anyway, Robyn tagged me for the "four" meme, so here it is.

Four Jobs You've Had In Your Life
1. I worked for my father in his office for most of high school. It was embarrassing when he would share anecdotes about me with everyone, though we had some fun listening to oldies music and making jokes while it lasted. Then I decided to quit and make much less by serving coffee and ice cream at a local café, Temptations. This was before I was vegan, and I would come home with ice cream ALL OVER my clothes. One of my favorite stories to tell at school, mostly because it says a lot about my bio/math teacher friend, David, is the story of how when I re-encountered him as a teacher at work (we grew up in the same area), he said “weren’t you friends with Michelle who worked at Temptations” and I said “I am Michelle who worked at Temptations!”

2. I worked at the North Buffalo Food Co-op. It was nice at first – great people to work with and meet, walking distance to my house, good food, etc. but then we got new managers and things made a turn for the worse. They were a couple, and I remember when she mooned him right in front of me. Eventually, they gave my position to someone else who was supposed to help manage and save the co-op, but didn’t, and then the co-op went under entirely and now there is only one co-op in all of Buffalo.

3. I worked at two libraries at my university – Lockwood, the graduate library (I worked at the circulation desk) and The Poetry/Rare Books Room (I did data entry and book retrieval). A lot of my time was also spent looking at all the treasures in the closed stacks of both libraries. I felt very lucky to see these things since hardly anyone does or even knows what is there. Maybe I should work in a library again?

4. I was an English teacher for 4 ½ years at a high school in the northeast Bronx. I taught freshman, sophomore, and junior English, and 1 ½ years ago I started teaching a film elective, and that became my favorite class to teach. I miss all of my students, but I have a special place in my heart for these guys.


Four Movies You Could Watch Over and Over

1. Do the Right Thing (Dir. Spike Lee)
2. Tokyo Story (Dir. Yasujiro Ozu)
3. Burden of Dreams (Dir. Les Blank)
4. I'd love to see Sunset Boulevard again (Dir. Billy Wilder)

Actually, there are tons of movies I really like. I’m having trouble choosing just four. If I like a movie, I always like to watch it again. Teaching film was fun because I got to see my favorite movies over and over again (once before class, again during class). I also love to watch the old silent and film noir movies.

Four TV Shows You Love to Watch

1. Twin Peaks!
2. Freaks and Geeks!!! (yes, I know these shows aren’t on anymore, but I can watch these shows over and over on DVD)
3. 24
4. What is happening to Ebert and Roeper? They are on at the weirdest times now. I miss them.

Four favorite Books

1. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. I read it in the 10^th grade and then reread it again in college. It’s always the book I say when asked, without hesitation. I happen to live really close to “speaker’s corner,” and Malcolm X is someone I think a lot about.

2. I really love the dictionary (my favorite is the American Heritage Dictionary but I love all reference books). Before I left school, I got the kids to pose for a picture I always imagined taking.


3. This is hard – in addition to reference books, I really like crafting/knitting books (Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches, Kokoro No Te, Vintage Knits), vegan recipe books (Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen, World in Your Kitchen, Vegan with a Vengeance, World of the East, etc.), books on herbal/natural healing (The Juicing Bible, Natural Prescriptions for Women, The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy, lots of poetry (Collected Poems of Jack Spicer, Dream Rim Instructions by Tina Darragh, Selected Poems of Alice Notley, For Love by Robert Creeley etc.), books on film (Hitchcock/Truffaut, etc.)

4. I’m really into our friend Michael Kelleher’s book of poetry, To Be Sung (we just saw him and talked about it last night so it’s fresh in my mind). Plus, maybe if you like poetry, you’ll look it up, and that would be nice.

Four Albums You Can't Hear Too Often
1. Morrissey – Southpaw Grammar (or The Smiths – The Queen is Dead)
2. Windsor for the Derby – We Fight Till Death (it’s on my computer and gets played a lot)
3. Ween – Chocolate and Cheese
4. Amon Duul II or Kraftwerk or other kraut rock or the Silver Apples or…
I could actually listen to Nirvana’s Nevermind over and over (though I don’t readily admit that I’m that nostalgic). Ok, that’s not four, either.

Four Places You Have Lived
1. West Nyack, NY – this is where I grew up. It’s a northern suburb of New York City (about 40 minutes away).

2. Buffalo, NY – this is where I went to school. I lived there for 5 years.

3. Burlington, VT – this is where I went to grad school. I lived there for 2 years.

I miss how everything we liked was walking distance to our house,


like Muddy Waters

and my friend, Gavin.

4. New York, NY – this is where I moved to teach and live now (4 ½ years).

The day we moved in.

Four Places You Have Been On Vacation

1. the upper peninsula of Michigan (2002) – gosh, this is deserted, but the Porcupine Mountains are definitely worth the trip.

Tahquamenon Falls

while hiking in the Porcupine Mountains

2. Colorado (2003) – we had such a great time here at the Rocky Mountain National Park. Great, beautiful hikes.


3. Mt. Desert Island, Maine and Atlantic Canada (2003, 2004, 2005) – we’ve been going to Maine for the last three years. Two years ago we added on New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and I loved it there, too. Kejimkujick National Park in Nova Scotia is, hands down, the nicest place to camp.

Acadia National Park is all about rocks,

rain,

and blueberries.

at Kejimkujick National Park (2003)

4. the Pacific Northwest (2005) – I looove Portland (but also loved Seattle and Crater Lake and Mt. Hood and Mt. Rainier and and…)

Portland (from the Japanese Garden)

Four Websites You Visit Daily
1. yahoo
2. news sites (I’m not too loyal to specific ones)
3. I like to go to Merriam-Webster's and listen to words that I like or that sound funny (like “verisimilitudinous” )
4. friends’ blogs

Four Of Your Favorite Foods
1. Ethiopian!
2. South Indian!!
3. Dim Sum!!!
4. Vegan Buffalo Wings!!!!

or (another way to answer this question)

1. raspberries
2. avocado
3. blood orange or grapefruit
4. mango

Four Places You Would Rather be Right Now
See “vacations.” Any of those places would be great right about now, though I’m partial to Portland.

Four People You'll Tag
1. Jen
2. Anna
3. Emily
4. Carrie