Seven Random Facts Redux/Post 100

My favorite movies, I won't pick just one, are Pulp Fiction, Shawshank Redemption, Apocalypse Now, the Player and the Usual Suspects.

I pretty much can't bring myself to read fiction. Try as I will, I just can't get into it. I'm too concerned with reality. This isn't to say Shakespeare et al aren't great, they are and I love movies, live acting and plays, but I just can't get into reading fiction whatsoever. This is reason A I need to stop being an English teacher and switch to social studies, as is the plan. My lit selection is very real. I'm not exactly proud of this, but I am honest. I also don't think this is such a bad thing, though the intellectual establishment would make you think it is.

I picked my college location when I was in eighth grade, the University of South Carolina. I kissed my first girl, a Southern belle, in Hilton Head on a family vacation, was sold on the Southern belles at that point, and decided I'd be back. I was. I also picked my major, journalism, as a senior in high school, and never wavered on that, either. I was a bit too intense for the belles, though. I also pretty much decided I'd marry a Filipina after my first trip to the Philippines. There was something beguiling about them that I loved, and it wasn't just the normal good fortune young, single, white Americans in the PI are prone to encounter. I was right on that idea, too.

I'm both a dog and a cat person. I had a cat for 18 years and a dog for 11. Both have their virtues and vices. I'd probably stick with dogs, though.

When I first got interested in politics at 17, I was a rabid Republican who subscribed to Bruce Bateman/Ayn Rand/uber laissez faire capitalism. I was pretty much everything I despise now politically. I even took a pilgrimage to Ayn Rand's grave site in Valhalla, NY. I also walked about 8 miles, and took a day off from school, to attend a Bush 41 rally when he was VP. It didn't take much longer to see the light. I excuse myself with the fact that I was 17.

I emotionally divested myself of my Catholic upbringing when my CCD teacher, at age 10 or so, told me my cat couldn't go to heaven with me. I went through the motions to the limited extent my parents' forced me, but I haven't been back to Church since I was forced to go to confirmation circa 1986. I suspect I would have been a heathen anyway, but why would an old woman tell a little kid attached to his pet that his cat wasn't allowed in heaven. Would there have been any harm in saying yes? It's not like she knew for sure anyway. I don't believe in forcing religion down my kids' throat, either. If that is what they choose down the line, good for them, but I'm not going to allow it to be pushed on them now before they are prepared to think about it critically and make their own choice.

I can't bring myself to drink beer. Nothing moral here, I just think it tastes wretched. Always have and I suspect always will feel this way. I'm astonished by beer's popularity. I'm a mojito/margarita/sangria kind of guy.

I've been tagged

Not quite sure of the rules on the "lasts" tagging, but perhaps there aren't any. I'll offer mine:

Last Movie I saw: Sicko. I wrote about this already. Michael Moore rules.

Last Book I read: Strangely enough, I never read much Hunter S. Thompson, so I'm taking on his opus on his journeys with the Hells Angels. So far, so good.

Last Meal: My sister in law Margie, who like all my sisters-in-law is wonderful, cooked me lasagna, as I'm spending the night at her house near Chicago.

Last spin in my Ipod: I went to the Rush concert last week and it kicked major ass. I wasn't into the latest album, Snakes and Arrows, too much, but the concert improved my appreciation for it. The song Armor and Sword is a great take on modern religion that fits my sensibilities.

Last phone call: Naturally my wife. I miss her a lot. Absence makes you appreciate what you have.

Last email: To Betty Miller in praise of her great job rejuvenating ACT and getting teachers to have the voice they should.

Last time I was infuriated: Either when the airline lost my luggage today or when Bush pardoned Scooter Libby. I kind of took the luggage in stride. I was really more frustrated than infuriated with that. Libby was prime evidence of how Bush just doesn't give a damn about the rule of law or what anyone thinks.

Last really great day: Hmm, as good as this trip has been, that day I went diving with Bruce, Harry and Angelo was a pretty great day. Maybe that day in NYC I wrote about. Can't decide.