Fours

OK, I feel like the last post was pretty lame, so I'm going to bump it by answering the questions that have been flying around the blogosphere. Nobody tagged me, because nobody knows I'm here. I took them from Dr. Crazy.

Four Jobs You've Had
1. Detasselling corn. For those of you not blessed to have spent happy teenage years in the corn belt, detasselling involves walking up and down rows of corn, removing the tassels. The idea is that the corn without tassels gets polinated by other rows of corn, which have tassels, creating a hybrid.
2. Washing dishes. I washed dishes at the best restaurant in my home town for six years, through half of high school and all of college. I also washed one summer at the snootiest restaurant in Ann Arbor.
3. Student Manager. When I was in High School, I was the student manager (read: water boy) for football, basketball, and track. It wasn't a paying gig. You did it for, I don't know, the glory of it. But in college, I did it for football and wrestling, and I got paid. My favorite part is that it was a straight salary -- I think it was $250 for a season -- that got written up on the books as 250 hours at $1 an hour. This was complete fiction, of course. I always wanted them to write me up as 1 hour at $250 an hour, which would have reflected my actual workload just about as accurately.
4. Teaching math.
That's it. I'm 41, and I've only had four jobs.

Four Movies You Could Watch Over and Over
1. When Harry Met Sally. I have watched it over and over. An all time great.
2. The Princess Bride. A rare example of a great book made into a great movie.
3. Shakespeare in Love. I have only watched it twice, but I was amazed by how much I enjoyed it the second time.
4. Toy Story and Toy Story 2. As a parent, I have watched many kids movies over and over. These are ones that I enjoy, even after all those years. I still sometimes tear up over the music montage in Toy Story 2 when Jessie relives her years with her former owner. In fact, I'm going to throw in Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc., and The Incredibles in this entry. Pixar just makes great kids movies.

Four Places You've Lived
1. Staten Island, New York. The only place outside the Midwest that I've lived for any length of time.
2. Ann Arbor, Michigan. Terrific town, but do not try to drive through downtown shortly after a home football game has ended. I speak from experience.
3. Madison, Wisconsin. While we lived there, it was named the number one place in America to live.
4. Fremont, Nebraska. Fifth largest city in Nebraska. Except on home football weekends, when Memorial Stadium becomes number 3, and Fremont falls to number 6.
That is not it. There are seven more.

Four TV Shows You Love to Watch
1. ER. Still pretty compelling, even after all this time.
2. Once and Again. Off the air, but still great. We have the first two seasons on DVD.
3. Boston Legal. Strangely compelling. Sometimes over the top.
4. Grey's Anatomy. Who knew that medicine was so sexy?
Conspicuously not on the list: Numb3rs. I know, I'm supposed to like it. I like the idea, and some of the math is OK, but the mysteries just aren't that compelling. I have watched a few episodes, but just haven't caught the bug.

Four Places You've Been on Vacation
1. Yellowstone. I went with my family. It was one of my last vacations with my father.
2. Chicago. I went with Mrs. Jogger when she worked with a travel agency. Got treated much, much nicer than they usually treat poor folks like me.
3. Denver. Another travel agency special. Flew off to Denver for the weekend. We'll never be able to afford that again.
4. Scotland. Mrs. Jogger and I spent a semester in London (before we were married), and that's where we went on our half-term break. Very, very, very relaxing and laid back.

Four Blogs You Read All the Time
1. This Modern World The first blog that I read regularly.
2. Pandagon
3. Hugo Schwyzer A relatively new one on my list, but a remarkable writer.
4. Shakespeare's Sister

Four of Your Favorite Foods
1. Chocolate
2. Chocolate
3. Chocolate
4. Chocolate

Four Places You'd Rather Be
I'm reading this as "Four Places You Would Like To Visit Some Day." There's really no place I'd rather be -- on a long term basis -- than here.
1. Tuscany. This is one of Mrs. Jogger's fantasies, that she has caught me up in.
2. Australia. I'd like to see a Wiggles concert live.
3. San Antonio. I don't know why I find San Antonio so compelling, as opposed to any of the other U.S. cities I've never been to.
4. Boston. Mrs. Jogger has been to Boston, but I haven't. And we have friends there, whom we haven't seen in a long time.

Four Albums You Can't Live Without
1. "Water from Another Time" John McCutcheon
2. "One Wild Night in Concert" Christine Lavin
3. "Big Times in a Small Town" Christine Lavin
4. "...and the tin pan bended...and the story ended..." Dave Van Ronk
This could be a very, very long list.

Four Vehicles You've Owned
1. 1983 Honda Civic
2. 1989 Toyota Corolla
3. 1993 Ford Aerostar (Can you say "lemon"?)
4. 1993 Ford Ranger (On the other hand, I love my truck.)

Like Dr. Crazy, I tag no one. But feel free to jump in, if you want to play.