So far in 2009 have I . . . ?

Sorry, it's been a while, and this questionnaire I pulled off Facebook is kind of lame...

1) kissed someone? Of course, my wife, every day.

2) been dumped? Nope, I'm still married and employed. I think a few people have unfriended me on Facebook, though. Can't imagine why...

3) been drunk? No. I sometimes wonder if I could actually handle moderate alcohol usage in my life right now or if the Mormon church is right that none of us should enjoy any of it, ever.

4) stayed out/up all night? Not on purpose, but I've lost a few nights to insomnia, due mainly to indigestion from eating too much too late. But I still slept at least a few hours.

5) ate so much you got sick? See number four above. The older I get, the less well my digestive system works, though I continue to eat mostly what I want.

6) cried? Oh, my eyes have welled up quite a few times, usually more feelings of excitement than sadness.

7) gone to a funeral? Not that I remember.

9) watched something/someone die? Yes, I witnessed my furnace dying. It was more hearing it than seeing it, though. Oh, and our dishwasher and computer printer. Fortunately I haven't witnessed any biological death, that I can remember.

10) left home without permission? I guess this list is geared toward younger people?

11) smoked? No. Sometimes I enjoy sneaking some second-hand smoke, but I'm never around that anymore, what with all the new laws and stuff.

12) got in a fight? Maybe some verbal sparring with my ex-wife.

13) made someone cry? Not that I know of, but I wouldn't be surprised if I did.

14) found out who your friends are? Just here on Facebook, if you judge by who invited me and who accepted my invitations. I was offended today because I got a Facebook e-mail saying that a woman I used to work with at the Ensign magazine had accepted my invitation this morning, but when I clicked on her profile she was no longer my friend, suggesting to me that she clicked on my profile and considered me unworthy to keep. I sent her a message that said, "Well, at least the Lord still loves me."

15) been told you were hot by a complete stranger? Yeah, people stop me on the street all the time and tell me that--not.

16) left the state? Not so far this year, but I have plans to do so later this year as many as four times, if they all work out, including possibly two international trips.

17) been kicked out? My boss may have kicked me out of a meeting if I started dozing or getting too smart alecky.

18) been arrested? No.

19) had your heart broken? No.

20) Told someone (outside the family) you love them? Not that I remember. If so, I was using the term casually.

21) fell asleep with the opposite sex in a bed? Every night with my wife. (Yeah, I do think this list is for high school and college ages.)

23) had someone tell you they hate you? Sometimes my kids say that when they're mad, especially our little drama king Austin.

24) been in a wreck or wrecked a car? No, thank goodness. I worry about it a little every day.

25) cried for no reason? No.

26) felt like dying? I certainly wouldn't go that far, but I'm the kind of person who occasionally thinks I wouldn't be all that disappointed if I DID happen to die. Usually I don't feel that way, though.

27) felt like killing someone else? Not for real, although I can think of some people who I certainly wouldn't be disappointed if they died.

28) wished you were someone/somewhere else? Very often, multiple times per day, as far as my career goes and often with regard to not liking living in Utah.

29) missed someone so much it hurt? No.

30) lost someone close but not through death? No. Oh, wait, I did let the little boys wander away from our house one afternoon when I was supposed to be watching them, so I jumped in the car and luckily found them at the bottom of the street.

31) wanted to ask someone something but couldn't? I tend to avoid confrontations and difficult discussions, so probably.

32) lied to your parents? No.

33) lied to anyone? Probably some little social fibs, nothing I can remember. I was totally honest on our taxes, to our great financial pain.

34) bought something for someone other than yourself? I buy things that my wife and kids ask me to, but I don't initiate giving gifts. I hate giving gifts! Not the expense but the pain of picking out something for them.

35) argued over the petty things in life? "Argue" is a strong word, but I tend to nag my wife a little more than she does me, mostly about household cleanliness.

36) wanted to tell someone something but never did? Probably.

37) learned a lesson the hard way? No doubt, but can't remember a specific example right now.

38) trusted someone you shouldnt have? Probably.

39) done something you shouldn't have? If I were as pure and spiritual and religious and healthy as I should be, there are many things I probably should not read, listen to, watch, eat, and drink.

40) laughed so hard you cried? Yeah, a couple of times, at least got tears in my eyes.

41) danced under the stars? Give me a break. I don't dance, and I don't linger under the stars, at least not this time of year.

42) had a pillow fight? Maybe a brief one with some of my boys. I don't like that kind of horseplay much.

43) kissed somone but regretted it? No, except maybe my wife if she had a cold.

44) met someone new? Yeah, lots of new students in my night class.

45) became friends with someone you never thought you would? Hmm, can't think of any.

46) wished on a shooting star? No. Another dumb question.

47) wanted to go back in time and change something you did/said? Sure, but can't remember what. Well, a few weeks ago I cut my thumb.

48) gone to church? Yeah, I've actually been better about attending church this year, because the time changed from 9:00 to 11:00 and Zachary stopped taking naps, which was a good excuse to stay home lots of weeks last year. I don't like attending much, though, and wish I could get away with going only once a month.

49) cried yourself to sleep? No.

50) loved someone so much it hurt? Huh? I worry about family members from time to time, but I don't really get what this question means.

The BBC's Book List

The BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. I bolded every one I've read, plus added comments here and there:

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (really enjoyed it, have read many other Austens)
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (love the idea of it, but it bogs down in places and I don't think I ever actually finished the last book)
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (quite likable, but not quite as charming as Austen)
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (actually just the first three volumes so far, but I intend to eventually read the rest, especially if one of my sons wants me to read them aloud)
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (great, but perhaps a touch overrated?)
6 The Bible (read a lot of New Testament straight through on my mission, but otherwise just pieces here and there)
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (started it, strongly disliked it)
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell (I don't remember actually ever reading it; I read fewer than a third of the novels assigned in high school)
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens (haven't read it yet but am committed to reading more Dickens in my lifetime)
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller (started it, didn't like it enough to continue)
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (I've read only a handful of plays, not a big fan)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien (probably my single favorite book ever, seriously)
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger (what's all the fuss about?)
19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot (fantastic book, in my top 10 for sure)
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald (way overrated, kind of boring)
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens (I happen to be reading this one right now)
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (enjoyed the first section, but then bogged down and quit)
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams (not the book, but loved the radio show and hated the movie)
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh (quite liked it)
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (liked the portion I read, but didn't even get halfway)
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck (loved it in high school)
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens (wow, this one really turned me on to Dickens, and relatively recently too)
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis (enjoyed the first one but thought they got progressively boring, not sure how far into the series I made it)
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (this one really appealed to my imagination)
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden (enjoyed it quite a bit)
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne (I suppose Disney doesn't count?)
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell (seems like I read at least part)
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (made the time pass fast on the treadmill)
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (in some ways kind of flat and distant but in other ways quite interesting and certainly unpredictable)
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving (went on way too long, but I did finish it; it sort of put me off Irving)
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood (I've enjoyed quite a few Atwood novels, but this one doesn't make my top three of hers)
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding (I'd like to reread this one)
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan (I'm actually a much bigger fan of his book Saturday)
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel (quite a narrative experience!)
52 Dune - Frank Herbert (while I'm well read in fantasy, I'm quite weak on sci-fi)
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen (not sure what Austen is my favorite; I'd like to reread them all)
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (I read the first few chapters online recently and would like to continue it)
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov (wow, quite a stylistic, queasy trip, certainly not the slightest bit boring)
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold (eh, not as great as I expected for all the fuss)
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac (this one's on my reading list)
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy (I didn't like it well enough to seek out more Hardy)
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville (I loved this one unexpectedly well, probably in my top 10)
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker (seems like I read it, can't be sure)
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett (ditto)
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce (read the first few pages, sold the book quick)
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray (this one is in my top three ever, I think)
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro (loved the movie)
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert (loved this one, in my top 10)
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (read all these within a short period of time as a teen, would like to revisit sometime)
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad (couldn't get into it in high school)
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (really didn't like this at all)
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams (it's on my list to read someday)
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl (I consider myself a big Dahl fan)
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Total I've read: 39 (more or less)