madlibs

Hair: blonde

Eyes: green. sometimes yellow.

Occupation: my new business cards tell me i am a 'senior web applications engineer'. this means i design and build complicated websites.

Hobbies/extracurriculars: comic books. dj-ing. movies. doing the nasty.

Addictions: see above.

Wearing right now: pajama pants that were stolen from my stint in the hospital. i have little doubt they were stolen by my mother. she rules. and she justified it by saying 'you have paid enough to stay here, you can certainly take home these pants.'

Ashamed of: my ability to be thoughtless. its a doublewhammy, as im ashamed of something i dont even realize i do.

Proud of: my ability to focus and get things done. it doesnt seem that way from out there perhaps, but over here, i continue to work nonstop with a multitude of projects that make me very happy.

Last embarassed by: hm. no doubt it was something that rachael said or did to me. she has that power over me.

What do you see out the window? i see blinds covering the window. you're really going to make me get up? i see a dusky evening and the apartment building that faces ours from across the courtyard. a couple of lights are on, but its still early and most people seem to be out. or havent turned on lights.

Age: 30. almost and a half.

Porn name you'd use: by the formula, id be princess hurt. (first pet, mothers maiden name.) seriously, it doesnt get any better than that. (for fun, my soap opera name, which is middle name and first street lived on — im thomas franklin. which seems pretty right too.)

Last book you finished: well, last night i finished 'fables: book 1′ but since it has pictures and stuff in it…the last real book i finished was 'the long tail' which i owe a review for. something to write tomorrow.

Book(s) you're reading currently: fables: book 2, showcase presents superman: vol 2, the fabric of reality, how to read superhero comics and why. i swear im not always so steeped in comic books — i just realized the other day that i was 2 chapters from finishing 'how to read superhero comics' so i picked it back up. and the library had the first 3 volumes of fables in, which i have been meaning to read.

Favorite picture you took in the last year: or 3.

in kyoto.

at the monterey aquarium.

the 76 station next to our apartment.

Favorite picture (or two) of yourself:
i'm pulling all these from flickr. there are others i like but:

i think maybe i like this one because it doesn't look anything like me (to me).

then there is this one, where im jetlagged and exhausted in tokyo:

there's this one, but i cant embed it because kurt took it. its worth a click-thru. silly, but perhaps nicest one of this set.

and then there is one with my parents in new haven, which, to my knowledge, is the most recent picture of me there is:

Toughest thing you've ever done: going through being sick. i thought the answer would be more difficult or different, but it isnt. its really easy.

Toughest thing ever done to you: same as above. i thought maybe it would be something else again. and i thought about heartbreak and death, losing people and how much it hurts. and, almost sadly, i have to be selfish. being sick fundamentally changed me. at my core. thats tough. that change i have to live with every day for the rest of my life. not that its bad. but it changed everything.

Turning points in your life (i.e. What are the chapter titles in the bookof your life?): the early years, the karen years, senior year of high school, fratting it up at william and mary, welcome to the real world, retreat back to school!, the la/usc years, an interlude in the hospital, mountain view days. [as an aside, there are other chapters i want to have included: my life as an author, living on the farm, raisin' chillins', travels i can't even imagine, the secrets of a successful marriage...]

Music you're hearing: all im hearing right now is the fountain outside. pretty amazing. i usually have something on. if i was to pick right now, it would be either the dj food 20th century mix or pet shop boys.

Thing you'd change about yourself: my tempermental skin and how the surgery changed my stomach around my bellybutton. oh wait, the question didnt say it had to be physical. hm. my neediness. and the my requirement for constant stimulation.

Scariest moment: again, the stupid hospital. prob when i woke up with kidney stones. that was some kind of pain. and i was all alone. throughout most of the ordeal, i wasnt concerned about my health or dying. i dont think i was then either, but it was more…immediate. wait. i take that back a bit — when cris bruce pointed his gun in my face my senior year of high school. to have my face inches away from the barrel, held by a (then) frequent drug user was really scary. im sure there are more, but im having trouble ranking them.

Favorite place: cape hatteras, nc. more specifically, buxton.

I can't prove it, but…i'm totally rad.

George W. Bush must be…(too many choices…)…insane? senile? working for the devil?

I can't stand it when…plans change faster than i can mentally prepare myself.

I love it when…it rains. and im content spending time with the roxy. and i get to see my family.

Your best post thus far: these 2 questions are by far the most difficult. ive made well over 1000 posts in the last 6 years. and i cant remember all the ones i've been proud of.

the ones around 9/11 still strike me. the ones around being sick still strike me. others, as one-offs, must be implanted in other people's memories.

the one where i scanned the writing i did on morphine in the hospital cracks me up…you can walk backwards from that one to get more sick posts.

does anyone else have favorites of mine?

Favorite posts from others:
also tough. because chris and i were talking about it today, the 'why records are like girlfriends' post he did. and i loved the one chris wrote the other day. keren's pictures, carter's lists, andru's time as a ninja, ray's life, aubrey's poetry…everyone has their own voice on here. i cant do one. or even a small set. and don't believe im picking favorites…