Day 7 - who you would meet, if you could meet anyone you wanted

Since most of my icons tend to be literary: Sebastian Flyte from Brideshead Revisited.


1. He epitomizes youthful decadence and beauty.
2. He carries around a teddy bear named Aloysius.
3. He is perpetually drunk. (he meets Brideshead's protagonist after vomiting through his dorm window...)
4. His name is Sebastian.
5. He has an extraordinarily dysfunctional Catholic family.
6. He would be like a fabulous gay best friend. Every gal needs one of those.
7. He says things like: "Charles! You're to come away at once. I've got a basket of strawberries and a bottle of Chateau Peyraguey, which isn't a wine you've ever tasted so don't pretend."

Such a shame that most of my favorite people are not actually people at all.

Day 6 - anything that makes you smile, every time

Dudley Moore's narration in Milo and Otis. Soooooo good!

Day 5 - a song that brings back good memories

I can see myself changing my mind immediately after this is posted. But I'm sticking with the first song that popped into my head:

Wednesday Morning, 3 AM by Simon and Garfunkel

It was the first month that I met Paul and we played this while carving pumpkins in his apartment. It was perfectly Autumn. And I very much knew that I completely loved the first boy of my life. And this song (and most of the subsequent tracks) always remind of how that felt. How that feels.

Day 4 - an actor who you think is underrated and why

There are several ways we could go about this, depending on one's definition of "underrated." Are we talking about those unlucky thespians who, however well-liked and respected, have been criminally overlooked by the Academy? Because that list runs for miles. Or perhaps we go with a total no-name, one of those brilliant performers whose talent hasn't yet hit the mainstream? Or we could take underrated to mean those actors whose talent goes unnoticed because they are associated with the fluffy crapola movies they star in. A la Leo Dicaprio minus 13 years. (thank heavens he surfaced from the murky depths of Titanic...though, hell, who doesn't love that shit!)

Hm. This is weird, maybe, but I'm going with John C. Reilly. Sure, he's in a couple Will Ferrell stupidhead movies. But he's ALSO in Magnolia and The Hours. AND he's awesome in both.


Admittedly, I didn't understand a damn thing about Magnolia, but it was interesting nonetheless. Reilly was grand. I thought. I'm not up to elaborating, so take it or leave it.

Day 3 - your favorite band/singer and why

The Beatles

Favorite bands work on a sort of rotating basis. One album will hold your attention for weeks on end, then it's something new that wins you over. Maybe I'm being uncreative with my choices here, but that's how favorites work for me - my favorite things are familiar things, old things, things that cozily signify the best times. And The Beatles have been with me for as long I can remember.

Want to drive me up a wall? - tell me that The Beatles are overrated. That kills me.

This band has so many different sounds, so many different looks.

George was my favorite guy. Abbey Road is my favorite album. Don't ask me my favorite song.

Day 2 - your favorite song of all time

I'm terrible at favorites. I'd be hard-pressed to come up with a top 10 songs of all time, so asking me to single out one favorite song is like asking me which of my children I love best (though, that's probably easier than most protesting parents would allow you to believe).

I'm picking a song that is probably an obvious choice, but whatever 30 days challenge - who doesn't get goosebumps from Jeff Buckley's version of "Hallelujah?" I try to only play this song on special occasions because I don't want its gorgeousness to ever wear off. If that makes sense. It does to me. This song is so achingly sorrowful and sublimely uplifting at the same time. Play it after a night of drinking while sitting on a porch in the cold of winter. Good stuff.

Day 1 - your life story in 8 sentences

After a 7-year birthing hiatus my parents decided to give this Catholic stuff another go, so I was conceived and named after a popular American Saint. Walking was a skill I was slow to master, but my mom says it was because I was so content to sit and observe all the beautiful new things right at my fingertips. Thankfully this grew into a full-time occupation, and the past 24 years have afforded me a wealth of heavenly items to marvel at. The first decade of my existence was a blissful one, spent in hand-me-down plaid jumpers, summer Bible school, and sweet ignorance. Things got hairy once I turned 11, but that's a fact found in most life stories, even 8-sentence ones isn't it? Nowadays I balance a tightrope poised between unequivocal joy and a sort of anxious melancholy, but I've learned to waste no time repositioning myself should I falter. Falling in love has always been my favorite thing. To date, I have fallen in love 6,294 times.