My 4 x 9

This little quizzy thing came my way via Shane, a very cool guy who bicycled across America and stayed at our house in the process (via Warmshowers.org, which is NOT a XXX site involving bodily functions, but is a site that hooks up cyclists with places to stay). He is planning to cycle through Africa sometime soon, and has lots of cool cycling stories and photos on his blog at Shanecycles.com so check him out! 

If you want to do a 4 x 9, post the link to your list in the comments below. I want to read everyone else's!


Here's mine:

Four jobs I’ve had in my life
- Can Can Dancer
- Software Engineer
- Movie actor (educational films, but still!)
- Guitarist in a punk band (well, we got paid mostly in beer)

Four Movies I can watch over and over
- The Princess Bride
- Lord of the Rings
- The Shawshank Redemption
- Life of Brian

Four places I have lived
- Oklahoma City, OK
- Albequerque, NM
- San Francisco, CA
- Seattle, WA

Four TV programs I love to watch
- Star Trek
- Dexter
- Battlestar Galactica
- Glee

Four places I have been on holiday
- Italy
- Palau
- Tanzania
- Belize

Four websites I visit daily
- Trifuel.com
- Facebook
- Huffington Post
- Blogger

Four of my favorite foods
- Chocolate
- Steak
- Bacon
- Pomegranites

Four places I would rather be right now

- Scuba diving in the Maldives (esp. before they go underwater due to global warming)

- Biking through the rest of Italy

- Australia

- Snowboarding fresh powder in Montana

Favorite Eleven Books of All Time

The question was asked elsewhere what your top ten books of all time are, and since I so love books, and so many different genres of books, it was very very hard to compile this list. Many books made the list, then got bumped by something else. All of these books reside permanently on my bookshelves, and are taken out and re-read at various intervals in my life. I never did whittle it down to ten, so this is my top eleven...

So here's mine (feel free to tell me yours!):

The Stand - Stephen King (because he is such a superb storyteller and this story is so engaging)
Illusions - Richard Bach (because every time I read it, I get something different out of it)
Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (because his language is so beautiful, I've read this trilogy more times than I've read any other, including twice out loud to my kids)
The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver (because she has a way of capturing a sense in a phrase that is unmatched)
The Killer Angels - Michael Shaara (because I'm a Civil War buff and this is the epitome of all Civil War books ever, with the possible exception of The Red Badge of Courage)
Isaac's Storm - Erik Larson (because I've always been fascinated by big weather, by this particular storm, and this is some awesome historical storytelling)
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (because it was the first book to affect me very deeply)
Out of Africa - Isak Dinesen (because I feel like I'm standing there in Africa again every time I read it)
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole - Sue Townsend (because I've sincerely never laughed harder while reading a book)
Into Thin Air - John Krakauer (I love Krakauer's engaging writing, the tragedy -- in the true Greek sense -- of this story and the people involved, how Krakauer makes you feel the mountain, and last but not least because I once considered going on this expedition so it always gives me the chills to read this account).
A Perfect Spy - John le Carre (hard to pick just one of his, but this is my favorite)