10 things, modified for my own amusement

[chanaleh]

*experiences more Brandeis/LJ worldshrink* *waves to danceboy*

Now, on with the memage.

I seriously doubt I can come up with 10 things I have done that none of you have, unless I throw in all sorts of unfair geographical qualifiers ("Cruised Wabash St. in Terre Haute, Indiana... on foot", "Saw The Merchant of Venice with navrins last night" [I liked it, btw]).

However, I can easily come up with 10 things I have now done that would have amazed the pants off my younger self -- say, 20 years ago. This is the sort of thing I was thinking about when the Rabbit Hole Day entries were going around: I could write an entry about my actual life now that would once have sounded like a rabbit-hole entry of my wildest dreams.

I have:
1. Moved to Boston (woo-hoo!)
2. Established a career in book publishing -- including going on 6+ years at a prominent university press
3. Attended the Hugo Awards
4. Learned to shoot a rifle
5. Walked 30+ blocks in Manhattan by myself of a beautiful spring afternoon
6. Been recruited for lead roles in two different non-musical community theater productions within 6 months
7. Sung with an a cappella group at Harvard for a year (Mizmor Shir, to be precise)
8. Dated men from Yale, [Dartmouth,] MIT, and, later, Princeton (trading up, of course ;-)
9. Made Phi Beta Kappa
10. Converted to Judaism
10'. Learned to read Torah and lead services (practically) every week
10''. Served as synagogue vice-president
10'''. Become the principal organizer of young adult Jewish programming in the city of Cambridge. (Seriously, this is the one that amazes me the most sometimes. Me, in the role of social outreach leader?)

Okay, a couple of things that probably *are* unique to me:
1. Sent a stalkery series of anonymous love notes to one of my college professors, including a sonnet with his name as the acrostic. (Mercifully, he seems to have forgiven me by now.)
2. Dated the president of the bscf for two consecutive years -- that is to say, two different consecutive presidents.
3. Got into a bar in Edinburgh at the age of 14.
4. Memorized Shelley's "Mont Blanc" in its entirety, for credit. (Geez, it's only 144 lines? It seemed so insurmountable at the time.)
5. Sung the sheva brachot for a friend's wedding ceremony.

Sexual exploits will be listed under separate cover. (Um, just kidding, Mom.)

Comments

[coraline]

MIT, and, later, Princeton (trading up, of course ;-)


hey!

[scholargipsy.livejournal.com]

8. Dated men from Yale, MIT, and, later, Princeton (trading up, of course ;-)

A Columbia man would, of course, be the logical terminus of the trading-up process.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

You Ivy Leaguers are all alike.

[sunspiral.livejournal.com]

8. And Dartmouth, don't forget.

[palmwiz.livejournal.com]

I am so not going there

[sunspiral.livejournal.com]

Ha. The Harvard Song doesn't contain any lines as classy as And the granite of New Hampshire / In their muscles and their brains

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Hotcha. ;-)
And I had, to be fair, forgotten!

[quietann.livejournal.com]

tigerbright did #5 at our wedding. But it was a modified version (because we aren't having kids), so maybe that doesn't count...

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

It certainly counts in principle, but I'm willing to take the uniqueness on a technicality ;-)

[laurion]

3. Got into a bar in Edinburgh at the age of 14.

Heh. I was floating in and out of bars in Italy when I was 10.

And you were involved with BSCF presidents for two consecutive years, but I've been involved with myself for 5 years.... but that probably doesn't count.

"Sexual exploits will be listed under separate cover." Hmm. for a moment I read that as 'performed', not 'listed'. Whoops.

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Heh. I was floating in and out of bars in Italy when I was 10.

Which was probably around the same year, so.

but I've been involved with myself for 5 years.... but that probably doesn't count.

I'm tempted to counter with some kind of pun on "self-involved", except I don't think that's a label that many people would assign to you, dearie. :-)

[moria923.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you're an adventurer, a risk-taker, and that this has led to much happiness for you. Congrats.

[melopoeia.livejournal.com]

speaking of the press...did you get my email two weeks ago now?

Very nice though. I should have done my list this way.

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Ack! Was that two weeks ago already?! I did, but I haven't got much to report. We'll talk shortly.