Erica tagged me to do this meme, and while this kind of thing isn’t my favorite species of viral Internet phenomenon, I do like saying the word meme, and I also like Erica a lot. Additionally, I am lazy and haven’t written the post I was intending to write last night, or the post I was newly intending to write today (about our wonderful Chicago Architectural Foundation tour). So here you go.

8 Things I am Passionate About:

Good writing.

Good eating.

Clear thinking.

Learning about the world.

Having fun in the world.

The application of the principles of fairness and justice to everyday life (this means you, gym rats).

Ross.

My people (if you’re reading this, you’re my people).

8 (Rather Random) Books I Have Read and Enjoyed (Recently):

No Country for Old Men

Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance

The Dogs of Babel

Stuart: A Life Backwards

Mendel’s Dwarf

The Year of Magical Thinking

An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness

The House of the Scorpion

8 Words/Phrases I Say Often:

“Let’s make a plan.”

“Where are we, again?”

“Oof. I ate too much.”

“I wish we had chocolate.” (Usually heard shortly after the above.)

“Damn it, I forgot my…”

“Eh, it’s not a big deal.”

“I’m a dork.” (This is what I say when I do dumb things. Come to think of it, it should probably be #1 on this list.)

“I love you.”

8 Things I Want to do Before I Die:

Visit Iceland, the Galapagos, the Amazon, the Greek islands, and as much of Africa as possible.

Learn how to speak Punjabi, Cantonese, Korean, and all the Romance languages.

Know enough about biology to understand Erica’s paper.

Know enough about physics to explain the Large Hadron Collider.

Know enough about neuroscience to draw a detailed picture of my own brain.

(Be able to draw.)

Write more. Much more. Every day and more.

Own a cat, a dog, and a duck (not necessarily at the same time).

8 Things I Learned This Past Year:

When you live in a place for nine years, it becomes home.

You can have more than one home.

It’s not as hard as you might think to spend most of your days talking only to one person.

Being your own boss is wonderful.

Cleaning once a week doesn’t actually kill you.

Even I can bake.

Happiness isn’t stored inside success.

Success makes small talk easier.

8 People I want to Tag:
Oh, I don’t think I’ll do that. You guys pick up the meme if you want to. Meantime, here’s a peek at what we saw today.