I'm interested in everything, at least a little bit. I like photography, to preserve memories and to create something really beautiful, which is my only chance at that since I'm not good at drawing other than Pictionary. I run 5k road races, despite never having a chance to win, because it gets me outside and exercising and because I love the feel of sprinting to the end. I watch too much TV but I'm working on it. I spend too much time on the web at work. I don't read enough and my stack of books to read is overwhelming. I'm cheaper than I need to be at this point in life. I'm neurotic about planning but I hate not being flexible. I think "I don't care" is the single worst answer to nearly any question. The weather is boring. So is talking about work, unless you've gotten really lucky in life. Eye contact is everything.

I love to travel. But that's such a generic thing to say. What it really means is: I like meeting people, I like seeing things for the first time, I like shared experiences whether they're good or bad. I like having exotic anecdotes to whip out, I like getting away, I like being special. I like having friends all over the world to visit. I like food that you can't identify and that doesn't really taste that good after all. I like sleeping in my own bed at the end of it. Put all those things together plus more and call it travel, and that's what I love.

Working my white-collar job, saving up money so one day I can shock them and quit my job and split town, and travel the world until I'm sick of it.

(This is a long term plan.)

Continuing interrupted conversations, days later. No one else is good at this -- they just go "wha?" -- so it's not really that valuable a skill.

Authors: Richard Feynmann, Douglass Adams, Alex Garland, Philip K. Dick, Michael Lewis, Terry Pratchett.

Movies: Thomas Crown Affair, Real Genius, Groundhog Day, Run Lola Run is the start of my list. I don't rewatch movies much, since there are so many still unseen, but I can rewatch these.

Music: It changes from season to season. Recent good CDs were the new ones from Beck, Ben Folds, and Sufjan Stevens (not just good, awesome).

Food: Pad thai, lasagna, grilled cheese, chili, tortellini.

1) a book 2) a camera 3) a pad and paper 4) my Teva sandals

That would suffice.

I can't believe I'm this old. I can't believe I've been at my job this long. I don't want to be saying that next year.