I was part of a movement of "dinosaur moms" when I lived in Maryland (Astrodon Johnstoni is the Maryland state dinosaur.) Which is nothing more than this -- dinosaur moms delight in the half-feral nature of the beasties they parent, even as they whisper Shakespeare and Kierkegaard in their ears at night.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

eight is a lot of things (Phew.)

Eight Passions In My Life
1) Spouse
a) Certain amusements that I engage in with said spouse that deserve AT LEAST their own sub-category.
2) Girl and Jones
a) Parenting (Some people are parents. I am a parenting enthusiast.)
3) Yapping and writing
4) Evolutionary biology
5) Calling bureaucrats out on abuses of power
6) Keeping in touch
7) Really grasroots, envelope-stuffing, door-knocking, palm-pressing activism
8) Singing

Eight Things To Do Before I Die
1) Sell my writing for money
2) Host a podcast with Dino Mom
3) Sue the government in mandamus
4) Own my own business
5) See my kids stand up for themselves. Around middle school, when they first stand trembling before a grown-up and give them what-for, my job as a parent is done. The rest is gravy.
6) Retire (A diminishing prospect)
7) Sit on the board of a big non-profit
8) Be elected to something (Technically, I was elected to the Party Central Committee of my county back in MD, but that was in the primaries -- only Dems voting)

Eight Things I Often Say
1) Nice (Only you have to say it like Nah-ees)
2) The law should be a strict father; not a crazy drunk father
3) All right then.
4) Do I deserve this?
5) Bless your heart (I don't know how that one got started.)
6) It's all good (Well, 'cuz it is)
7) Who's in charge? [You] Yes, me.
8) They've lost their ever-lovin' minds.

Eight Books I Read Recently
See my Good Reads

Eight Songs That Mean Something To Me
1) "In My Life," The Beatles (Our song)
2) "We Care a Lot," Faith No More (Woke me up every day for law school)
3) "No," they Might Be Giants (If I say no, it's a thousand times no)
4) "Carmelita," Linda Ronstadt (Just the saddest song there ever was. I wore the vinyl off of this album.)
5) "Surrender," Cheap Trick (First album I ever bought. It was 99 cents at McCrory's)
6) "Superheroes," The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Singing this at my high school talent show might well be the single creepiest thing I ever did.)
7) "On Broadway" The Drifters (The soundtrack to my musical aspirations)
8) "Lost Generation" by me

Eight Qualities I Look For In A Friend
1) Wears pants at her waist
2) Believes in doing something about it
3) Cops freely to parental dereliction
4) Stays in touch
5) Doesn't need liquid courage to dance
6) Has clever ideas about stuff to do
7) Doesn't ask who else is coming to my party
8) In a discussion, argues from the heart and not from a brochure