NetMeme: Four Things

I'm stealing this NetMeme from Jofish, in an effort to avoid grading assignments.

Four Jobs I've Had
Elementary school custodian/janitor (for a summer)
Piano technician (rebuilding and restringing a Chickering baby grand; summer job)
Self-unemployed carpenter (kitchen and bathroom renovations, custom cabinetry)
High-flying construction industry/building science consultant

In case my tone is not obvious, the last job description is meant with some ironic self-deprecation, especially considering that this career path has moved onwards to "starveling graduate student."

Four Places I've Lived
Brooklyn, New York (as a young child)
Suburban Long Island, New York (through high school)
Boston/Cambridge, Massachusetts (through college and years afterwards)
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada (since Fall 2004).

That's actually everywhere I've lived, depressingly enough. I guess that I settle in a given location too easily.

Four TV Shows I Love to Watch
Alton Brown Good Eats
Depressing Frontline Documentaries
The Simpsons
Six Feet Under

Note: I'm not trying to show off intellectual snobbery here, but I've pretty much stopped watching television, so these are kinda half-assed answers. I have a TV antenna, and have not hooked it up since I've moved up to Canada. I just constantly have the feeling of "Agh, crap, I need to finish some work/Atlantic Monthly issues/books for fun/books for work/books that I've been meaning to get to" instead of "killing" time watching TV. For instance, understanding more of Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking is a higher priority than sitcoms. Don't get me wrong—I used to watch TV all the time; otherwise, I would be as lacking in pop culture references as—well—my sister.

So I watch downloaded Good Eats episodes and streaming Frontline episodes on my computer while eating dinner. I have Seasons 1-3 of Six Feet Under on DVD; I occasionally binge.

Four of my Favorite Dishes
Unagi (broiled eel) in a bento box
Corned beef hash with a runny poached egg on top
Pulled Pork (BBQ) with a side order of hush puppies
Saag paneer

I'd love to put some of the fancy dishes I've had at some amazing restaurants (e.g., squid ink cous cous, or Sierra morel mushrooms and asparagus feuillete), but I felt a need to put up familiar but soul-satisfying foods—stuff that I could eat again and again, and be happy with them.

Four Places I'd Rather Be Right Now
Boston/Cambridge, Massachusetts
San Francisco Bay Area, California
New York, New York
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona/Utah

The first three because I have friends there and they're awesome places to hang out. The last one is somewhere I hope to go camping this spring. As much as I'd love to put a variety of exotic European or Asian locations on this list, but I honestly don't know any of them well enough to do so.

Four People Who Need to Do This

Hrm. I don't want to inflict this on anyone who doesn't want to bother with this Net Meme. But I found this somewhat entertaining to do—couldn't really explain why, besides perhaps providing new directions for talking about myself. But if anyone would fine this amusing (A?), please, feel free.

Another problem is that I know my closest circle of friends well enough that it would probably be boring. E.g.: Perlick has lived in Wheaton, IL, Boston, MA, whichever side of the border he lived at while at CERN, and Bay Area, CA (at Stanford then Oakland). TV shows: Buffy, Angel, The Shield, and Gilmore Girls.

Man… I'm really trying to avoid doing grading assignments, ain't I?