Four things

I saw this over at Cormac Writes and thought it looked like fun. It's been a while since I did any lists. I'm curious as to how they start, why one number is chosen instead of another, and why so many of us feel compelled to list things about ourselves.

4 movies you would watch over and over again:

• Casablanca
• Apocalypse Now
• Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas
• Caddyshack
  

4 places you have lived:

• Louisville, Kentucky
  
• Teaneck, New Jersey
  
• Yardley, Pennsylvania
  
• Chicago, Illinois
  

4 TV shows you love to watch:

• No Reservations
  
• Iron Chef America
  
• Metalocalypse I love this show. My youngest got me the first 2 seasons on DVD. I watched it all in two days after Christmas, and then couldn't fall asleep properly because I kept hearing the theme song in my head.
  
• South Park Hard to believe this show is more than 10 years old.
  

4 places you have been on vacation:

• The Florida Keys
• Las Vegas
• New Orleans
• Ireland
  

4 of your favorite foods:

• Sushi
• Buzzard's Breath chili This is more or less the recipe my chili is based on. Mine is better, I think.
  
• Raw oysters
  
• Gumbo "You can eat a lot of gumbo" is what MizBubs said when I mentioned this. Gumbo z'herbes, chicken and andouille gumbo, seafood gumbo, duck and oyster gumbo...
  

4 websites you visit daily:

• Chicago Now If I may self promote, this is where my cop blog Arresting Tales is located.
  
• Salon
• Second City Cop
• Fark
  

4 places you would rather be right now:

• A cabin on a lake in Minnesota
• The French Quarter
• My backyard (I'm sitting here because I came down with a wicked cold last night, and I'm still trying to clear my head, and it's a beautiful day outside.)
  
• Driving somewhere out west to someplace I've never visited
  

4 things you want to do before you die:

• Own a small farm
• Drive around the USA for at least a couple months
• Do a through-hike of a major trail like the Appalachian or Pacific Crest
• Scuba dive
  

4 books you wish you could read again for the first time:

• Under the Volcano
• Anything by Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammet
• In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead I have read all of James Lee Burke's novels featuring Dave Robicheaux, but this one made the biggest impression on me.
  
• The World According to Garp
  

Tag 4 people you think will respond:

Why stop at 4? If you'd like to do this, consider yourself tagged!

A B C

I've been tagged by both Katie Schwartz and Johnny Yen, and if it's rude to ignore a tag, how rude would it be to ignore two? I had no choice but to comply:

A- Available or Single?

-Available nearly 24 hours a day, 7 days a week--but only to MizBubs.

B- Best Friend?

-I've got a few good friends, but I've been unbelievably lucky to marry my best friend. Sounds hokey, doesn't it? But it's true.

C- Cake or Pie?

-PIE! Sweet potato pie, pecan pie, lemon chess pie, strawberry rhubarb pie, apple pie...I could go on about pie like Forrest Gump about shrimp.

D- Drink of Choice?

-Water, lots of it. Followed closely by strong coffee, bourbon, sweet tea and nearly anything served in a festive tiki mug.

E- Essential Item?

-A gun and a smile.

F- Favorite Color?

-Black

G- Gummi Bears or worms?

-Probably the worms, if they're the really tart/sour kind.

H- Hometown?

-Louisville, Kentucky. I miss the south, and I can't wait to move somewhere below the Mason- Dixon line in the next few years.

I- Indulgence?

-My entire life is one long indulgence. I can't even begin to list them.

J- January or February?

-January, I get to rest up from the holidays, it's a new year and I have a whole new crop of vacation days to use.

K- Kids?

-Two daughters, both fine young women. I spend my time alternating between pride at how wonderful they've grown to be, and sadness that they increasingly have very full lives away from their parents, thank you.

L- Life is incomplete without?

-Adventures and bold failures.

M- Marriage date?

-June 21, the summer solstice.

N- Number of siblings?

-Two brothers. I am the oldest.

O- Oranges or apples?

-Apples. You can bake them in a pie, and one of the best smells in the world is apples frying in butter with some bourbon and cinnamon.

P- Phobias/fears?

-Heights and falling, which is why I force myself to go on roller coasters.

Q- Favorite Quote?

”Only a country as mad as ours could be such a roaring success.”

-Norman Mailer, “Tough Guys Don't Dance”

R- Reasons to smile?

-Getting over on the Man.

S- Season?

-Summertime, and the living is easy.

T- Tag 3 people

-Miz Bubs, and anyone else with time to kill.

U- Unknown fact about me

-I am an art school dropout.

V- Vegetable you hate?

-None I can think of. Canned wax beans might come close.

W- Worst habit?

-Anger, procrastination, lack of follow-through, gluttony, sloth, profligacy.

X- X-rays you've had?

-Do MRI's and other imaging count? Dental, leg (broken fibula), hand (fractured 5^th metacarpal), knees, and abdomen.

Y- Your favorite foods?

-Biscuits and sausage gravy, gumbo, pie, barbecue (PORK, not beef!), raw oysters, any hand- rolled sushi, damn near any kind of pasta, noodle or dumpling, whether it's Italian or Asian, anything soaked in butter, fried, heavily seasoned with garlic or bacon.

Z- Zodiac?

-Read the book, haven't seen the movie. I heard it's good.