Meme: 5 Things About Me

I was tagged for this meme by Sarah at The Reading Zone and by Stacy at Welcome to my Tweendom. (Wondering what a meme is? There's a good definition here).

The rules of the meme get posted at the beginning. Each person answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the blogger then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What were you doing five years ago?
I was the facility manager at a children's theater and I was coordinating the company's move into a brand new building. I was dealing with movers, buying pianos, packing and unpacking boxes, and a million other details. I can't believe that it's been five years already.

What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?

• Finish my term papers for graduate school (which is the reason there haven't been too many posts here lately).
• Read bedtime stories to my son.
• Order books for the store I work at.
• Look through book catalogs for upcoming publisher meetings.
• Write my friend to thank him for putting me in the acknowledgements section of his book. His book just came out today, and when I got my copy, I saw that he had thanked not only me, but my whole family! That was a fantastic and incredibly thoughtful thing for him to do (and totally made my month). I should really tell him that.
  

What are five snacks you enjoy?

• raspberries
• strawberries
  
• blackberries
  
• blueberries
  
• tomatoes
  

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?

• Buy books for everyone I knew
• give money to libraries
• give money to non-profit children's theaters
• give money to struggling independent bookstores
• endow scholarships
  

What are five of your bad habits?

• Chewing my nails.
  
• Not being as good a correspondent as I would like to be.
• Buying too many books.
• Having millions of books on my to-be-read pile.
  
• Flipping ahead in a book to make sure a character I like is going to make it.

What are five places where you have lived?

• Maryland
  
• Massachusetts
  
• Maryland
  
• California
• Maryland

What are five jobs you’ve had?

• Counselor at a boy scout camp
• Receptionist
• Box office manager
• Director of a performing arts center
• Researcher
  

What five people do you want to tag?
When tagging other people for memes, I pick blogs that are recent additions to my blog roll. That way even if they don't end up doing the meme, you can still check out their wonderful blogs. Don't worry, I won't be offended in any way if you don't want to do it.

In no particular order:

• Jenny's Wonderland of Books: a new blog from a librarian and a children's literature historian (and a fellow classmate a few semesters back).
• No Want Decaf!: a blog written by an editor at a children's publishing company. I'm having so much fun reading this blog and seeing her perspective.
• Destined to Become a Classic: isn't that a great name for a blog? This is a lovely blog about children's books for the middle grades.
• Rosie the Ribbeter: a funny blog about fairy tales written by my friend Cate. I know she's mentioned starting a blog several times, but didn't know she had actually done it... so it was a nice surprise to discover that she had already written several posts.
• Job Hunting Librarian: A great blog for librarians in the D.C. area seeking jobs. My guess is that if Jess does do the meme, it will probably be on her more informal I have a blog?
  

Seven things about everyone else

About a week ago, I did a meme (a list of information) called "seven things about me." (Wondering what a meme is? There's a good definition here). After revealing seven things about myself, I had to tag other blogs. Everyone has come through, so I wanted to share their wonderful posts with you.

I learned 7 things about Travis at 100 Scope Notes. My favorite on Travis' list is: "I have been told I could make a modest living as an Abe Lincoln impersonator. I wish I had a picture, but I don’t, so click here and kinda squint your eyes. That’s sort of what it looks like when I’ve got on the beard and stovepipe."

I learned 7 things about Lisa at Under the Covers. My favorite on Lisa's list is: "I’m a writer. Not yet published (not since various college rags, anyway), but working on it. I write middle grade and young adult novels, mostly realistic but also some near-future science fiction. I’ve wanted to be a published novelist since I was seven, so it’s been taking a while. But I’ll get there someday."

I learned 7 seven things about Jennifer at Art, Words, Life. My favorite on Jennifer's list is: "I think that all the answers to everything can be found in books. Which is why I keep reading."

I learned 7 things about Abby at Abby (the) Librarian. My favorite thing on Abby's list: "I love doing laundry. This stems from finally having a washer and dryer in my apartment after several years of having to trek laundry across a parking lot and use all my quarters to get it done. In fact, the washer is going right now. :)"

I learned 7 things about Laura at Library & Literary Miscellany. My favorite on Laura's list is: "I pride myself on my chocolate chip cookie baking skills (although my gingersnaps aren’t too shabby either)."

I learned 7 things about Susan (look in the comments for the meme) at Chicken Spaghetti which was a list about the Roald Dahl books she hopes to read in the next year. My favorite on Susan's list is: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which I firmly believe can never be read enough times.

To learn seven things about Wizards Wireless, see this post.

Thanks to everyone who did this, it was a lot of fun. And thanks to Jennie at Biblio File who tagged me in the first place. Anyone got another meme?

Seven things about me

I got tagged for a meme (a list of information) by Jennie at Biblio File. This is my second one ever, and I wanted to respond because I actually know Jennie in real life... we're in the same grad school program (although we only seem to meet at events having nothing to do with grad school). Plus, it sounded cool.

Here are the rules:
1) Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2) Share 7 facts about yourself.
3) Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
4) Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Seven facts about me:

I'm finding blogging to be addicting.
It's absolutely terrific connecting with people from all over the country (and the world!) and realizing that there are actually people interested in what I have to say. The more I get involved in the Kidlitosphere, the better it is. I recently wrote a post with advice for beginning bloggers. I was amazed at how much I had learned in a few months, and even more amazed by how many people said they found it helpful.

I'm really loving my new job.
I recently starting working in an independent toy and book store. It's incredibly wonderful to be back talking with people about books again, making recommendations and meeting terrific kids. And it's fabulous to get to order brand new children's books and see them the moment they come out. Plus, do you have any idea how fun it is to work in a toy store? And the questions are great. My favorite so far is: "Can you please put this platypus on hold for me?"

I can't wait until finals are over.
I'm in graduate school, and final papers are due in the next week or so. And I hate writing papers. (Blog posts, are of course, an entirely different matter). I will be very, very, very happy when the semester is over.

I have the cutest son. Ever.
I may be the tiniest bit biased here (nah)... but my son is really, really, really wonderful. And cute. And smart. And cuddly. And adorable. It's not possible to be in a bad mood around him; he always manages to cheer me up (unless he's throwing a temper tantrum, in which case, he's probably causing the bad mood).

I have the best husband. Ever.
This may also be slightly biased, but my husband is really, really, really terrific. And supportive. And funny (and punny). And he laughs at my jokes (an amazing thing). And he's helping me get through graduate school, even though he just started graduate school himself. He knows me better than I know me and I don't know what I'd do without him. Plus, he can fix computers.

I have an incredibly supportive family.
If you've looked at the list above, you'll notice that I'm in graduate school, my husband is in graduate school, I have a son, I started a new job (in retail, just before Christmas), and it's finals time. There is no way I could get through this without my amazing family, who is always there for me (and who even read my blog!)

I never get tired of Harry Potter.
I know the 7th book has come out. I know people are sick of the Harry Potter hype. I know they're tired of talking about him. But I'm not. I love the books... no matter how many times I read them, I find something new I never noticed before. You can always get me talking about Harry Potter.

I'm tagging seven people whose blogs I've recently discovered and have been enjoying immensely. And that way, even if they don't end up doing the meme, at least I get to tell you about their blogs. In no particular order, I tag 100 Scope Notes, Abby (the) Librarian, Art, Words, Life, Chicken Spaghetti, Library & Literary Miscellany, pixie stix kids pix, and Lisa Chellman's blog Under the Covers.

What were your favorite books as a teenager?

Maureen at Confessions of a Bibliovore tagged me to write about favorite books that I read as a teenager. This is to get back at me for my question about favorite childhood picture books.

Below are the books that I read between ages 12 and 18 that were really life changing and which remain some of my all time favorite books.

• Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk. My aunt handed this book to me when I was 16 and said "You need to read this." And she was right. It's a fantastic coming of age novel about a girl who wanted to be an actress living in New York City during the 1930's. I would say that this was my favorite book ever... until I discovered Harry Potter.
• Exodus by Leon Uris. An epic novel that really moved me... I was inspired to go to Israel because of this book.
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. What is there to say about this book that hasn't already been said? I love it, and re-read it probably about once a year. It's perfect every time. I don't remember when I read it the first time, but I'm pretty sure it was in high school.
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Like Pride and Prejudice, there's very little new and original to say about this book. But I loved it. And I loved Jo. And I never understood why Jo didn't marry Laurie. I went on to read every Louisa May Alcott book I could find, but this one is still my favorite of hers.
• The Princess Bride by William Goldman. I love this book. And I love the movie. But they are very different animals. The book is really a brilliant and immensely creative satire and it never fails to make me laugh. Even if you have the movie memorized, give the book a try.
• The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone. A long and intense biography of Michelangelo that inspired me to take classes in Italian Renaissance Art and to go to Italy to see the sculptures for myself.
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. This one I discovered by accident. I was in Israel, and desperate for a book to read. I went to a local bookstore and this was the only book I could find in English. I devoured it immediately and after I came home, I read all of Douglas Adams' other books... but I like this one the best.
• The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. When I was in eighth grade, I had an English teacher that loved Tolkien and assigned the trilogy for class. I really got into these books, and also read The Hobbit and attempted to read The Silmarillion. (Has anyone finished The Silmarillion?)

Oops... I re-read Maureen's original post and see that I was only supposed to mention three favorite books, not eight. Also, it was for Teen Read Week, which has, alas, ended. I hope she'll forgive me.

I'm tagging Cheryl Rainfeld for this meme because she loves YA books and she loves talking about her favorite books.