7 by 7

The world of blogging means you get tagged to answer lists of questions. Who am I to defy this etiquettte? This time it's the "The 7-Things Quiz" and I was tagged by the lovely and talented Myfanwy Collins:


Seven things to do before I die:
1. publish a novel
2. hold a chimp (E. gets first dibs)
3. see a ghost (without being scared to death)
4. have an interesting conversation with a “celebrity” that I admire (author, actor, activist, it matters not)
5. learn at least two new forms of dance
6. hang-glide
7. help someone else through their death (that's help, not send someone to...)

Seven things I cannot (and will never) do:
1. make quilts
2. cut open a dead body
3. eat a live insect
4. take drugs
5. pee standing up
6. forgive everybody
7. learn to tolerate being cold

Seven things that attract me to my mate:
1. He is kind (also sensitive)
2. He is brilliant (but not a big ego)
3. He is funny (actually, hilarious and makes me laugh like nobody ever has)
4. We can spend days on end talking to no one but each other and still not get sick of each other
5. He has a nice set of skins
6. He has seen me at my worst of worst and still loves me.
7. He likes cats as much as I do
8. I can’t tell you THAT!

Seven things I say: (I won’t tell you their context, and no, I’m not kidding)
1. Bastards!
2. sonofabitch
3. that’s my selection
4. squeeze it
5. am I gonna get into trouble?
6. check your chicken pants
7. I love the shit out of you

Seven books I love:
1. Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
2. if on a winter’s night, a traveler, Italo Calvino
3. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore
4. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
5. Madame Bovary, Flaubert
6. Lolita, Nabokov
7. Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Klay, Michael Chabon

Seven movies that I've loved:
1. You and Me and Everyone we Know
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. Beetlejuice
4. All Harry Potter
5. Rushmore
6. Brokeback Mountain
7. Red—a film by Polish director Krystof Kozlowski

And I added this one of my own to round out 7 categories:

Seven obsessions I’ve had:
1. Kyle McLachlan (ages 12-18)
2. Twin Peaks (tv show)
3. The X-Files (tv show…see a pattern?)
4. Exercise classes (freshman year of college-5 x a week)
5. Jelly bracelets (5th grade)
6. Lik m'aid (a child's version of cocaine)
7. Six Feet Under (tv show—latest obsession)

Seven people to tag:
1. Invisible Girl
2. Gayle Brandeis
3. Michelle Richmond
4. Leora Skolkin Smith
5. Colin Berry
6. Wyatt Bessing
7. Katie Stohlmann