Robin at 3 Quarks Daily has tagged me with a meme. For the less blogocentric among our readers, it's the internet hybrid of a chain letter and a personal ad -- you're supposed to answer a set of questions and then send it along to other people. This is a 7x7 meme, with seven answers to seven questions. (It seems to have become a little stuffier since its earlierdays.)
Seven things to do before I die: Learn French, become a passable bass player, learn to tango, spend at least six months living in Paris, publish a novel &/or play, fly an airplane, testify before Congress
Seven things I cannot do: Speak any foreign languages at all (dammit), play any musical instruments decently (dammit), dance (sigh), cook a variety of dishes without recipes in front of me, surf, pay my bills on time, tell when people are bluffing
Seven things that attract me to [Chicago]: Von Freeman, Patricia Barber, Webster's Wine Bar, the Weiner's Circle, Cloud Gate, the skyline view from the Adler Planetarium, Remy Bumppo
Seven things I say most often: "Sadly", "I don't understand what that can possibly mean", "I'll get it done this weekend", "Sure", "Lagrangian", "Raise", "Dessert sounds good"
Seven books I love: Pride & Prejudice (Austen), Mason & Dixon (Pynchon), The Book of Revelation (Thomson), The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (Heinlein), Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius (Monk), Love in a Dead Language (Siegel), The Debt to Pleasure (Lanchester)
Seven movies I could watch over and over again: Brazil, Dr. Strangelove, Bound, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Casablanca, Vanya on 42nd Street, Mullholand Drive
Seven people I want to join in: Edward Witten, Jeanette Winterson, Tom Stoppard, Angelina Jolie, John Medeski, Jared Diamond, Barack Obama
By not taking the final question realistically, I will likely be held in contempt by the spirits of the blogosphere and my hard drive will crash or something equally awful. But readers are encouraged to answer themselves, either in comments or on their own blogs.
