4 things

Again, thanks to Sarah Kerr, I'm posting on my Xanga.

4 jobs i've had:

1. Waiter at The Country Cottage: not as unpleasant as it may sound.  All the chicken fried steak a boy could eat.
2. Gofer for my dad: filing, making copies of tax returns, etc.  Nothin' fancy.
3. Teller at the Bank of Locust Grove: I don't think I was very good at this.  I usually balanced, but I never paid very close attention to instructions.  Every time - and I mean EVERY time - someone wanted to make a load payment, I had to ask Pam Elliot what form to fill out, what "account number" meant...  And I'm pretty sure that I would cash just about anyone's check.  I never verified if they had an account with us or even if they actually had in money in whatever account they were using.  A bit of a pushover.
4. Most recently, Shipping Coordinator for Labinal, Inc.
5. There was about 5 years of music/youth ministry between 4 and 5.

4 movies i could watch over and over:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird: I want to have four children and name them Atticus, Scout, Boo, and Harper.  For serious.
2. The Usual Suspects: Who was Kaiser Soze, really?
3. What About Bob?: "I just let the boat to the work.  That's my secret."
4. Much Ado About Nothing: "'Against my will, I am sent to bid you come into dinner.' There's a double meaning in that."

4 places i've lived:

1. Locust Grove, OK: A real live Mayberry, and my dad is Sheriff Taylor.
2. Santa Clarita, CA: While attending The Master's College.
3. Indianapolis, IN: While working at First Baptist Church of Carmel.
4. Back to Locust Grove, OK: Even better the second time.

4 tv shows i love:

1. Anything on CSPAN: Not kidding.
2. Anything on the Food Network: Especially Iron Chef and Iron Chef America.
3. Austin City Limits: If you ever have the opportunity to watch the show with Los Lobos, DO IT.  Amazing.
4. The Office: BBC version is the favorite.

4 places i've vacationed:

1. Northern Ireland: I spent a few weeks there in '99.  Never experienced anything like it, before or since.  I've told my wife that if she were to die and I had no other necessary responsibilities keeping me here, I'd go there for a long, long time.
2. Eureka Springs, AR: Red Bud Valley Resort and The Alpen Dorf Motel.  Good times, good times.  One image that I could never erase from memory: my little brother running down a hill (not on purpose), his feet landing 15 feet apart, screaming in fear at the double terrors of inertia and gravity, and finally letting his body go limp as he slid the rest of the way on his stomach.  Beautiful.
3. A BUNCH of national conventions for Free Will Baptists (an exciting group): Kansas City, Birmingham, Orlando, Cincinnatti, Louisville, Indy, Charlotte, Charleston...
4. Next weekend my wife and I will spend some time with another couple at a cabin in the Kiamichi Mountains of southeaster Oklahoma called "Peckerwood Knob."  Again, not kidding.

4 favorite dishes:

1. Gumbo from Yat's.  Extra bread, please.
2. B&B: black beans and carmelized corn with peppers, onion, garlic, paprika, chilis, and sage, all thickened with a roux of flour and olive oil.
3. Grilled pork tenderloin stuffed with and apple/pear salsa.
4. Sweet potato fries with maple glaze.

4 people to tag:

1. Erin Kern
2. Emily Kern
3. Maradee Kern
4. and (to represent someone OUTSIDE the family) J.D. Reeves

An actual Xangaland post.  And here is the impetus, per Sarah Kerr:

Ground Rules: The 1st player of this "game" starts with the topic "5 weird habits/fact of yourself" and people who get tagged need to write a xanga entry about their 5 habits/facts as well as state this rule clearly. In the end you need to choose the next 5 people to be tagged and names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "You are tagged" in their xanga and tell them to read yours.

I've seen everyone else in the blogosphere play this game, but I had yet to be tagged.  Thank you, Sarah.

1. In what turned out to be on the happiest accidents of my life, I attended a U2 concert unintentionally.  I was in Ireland in the summer of '99, and I was rowing down a river with Simon, the son of the family in whose home I was staying.  As we were talking and rowing we started to hear music.  The closer we got the more familiar it got, and we soon realized that we were on the bank near a park where U2 was performing at a small (for U2) outdoor concert.  We "parked" the boat at the bank for about an hour and listened.  Very cool.
2. When I potty, I try to strategically time the flush so that all of the water is gone from the toilet bowl at the same time that all of the pee-pee is gone from my bladder.  When successful this little game is tremendously satisfying.
3. I cannot stand reality TV shows.  The Bachelor, Survivor... all of them make me want to kick my TV.  Even, if you can believe, American Idol (I will admit that the first few weeks are entertaining, but it's downhill from there...).  When I am visiting the home of someone who is watching one of these shows, I must find something else to do or somewhere else to be.  There's something about it that I can't tolerate.
   One exception: The Amazing Race.  I will find out what is necessary to be on this show, and I will try out.  Luckily, my wife is equally enthusiastic about the show and the prospect of being a contestant.
4. I coordinate my closet by type of shirt, color, and pattern.
   Style: T-shirts are first.  Short-sleeved then long.  Polo shirts are next.  Short-sleeved then long.  Button-up shirts are next.  Short-sleeved then long.  And sweatshirts are last.
   Color: Reds, yellows, greens, and blues.  The color order applies to both solds and patterns.
   Pattern:  From simple to complex.  Solid colors are first.  Then stripes, then plaids, and other patterns are considered as they come - paisely, graphic, etc.
   Interestingly, though, I am not this OCD about other things in my life.  I do not have a specific order for food in the fridge, or bills on the desk, or shoes in the floor of the closet, or tools in my toolbox.  Only my clothes for some reason.
5. There are only a few people in the world who know this last bit about me.  I LOVE kung-fu movies.  I mean L-O-V-E them.  When I have a day to spend by myself, which doesn't happen often, one my favorite things to do is to rent 5 or 6 old kung-fu movies (not the new "cool" ones, but the old super-cheesy, awfully-dubbed ones - Don Wong Tao, early Chan, Jeff Wincott, etc.) and order way too much pizza.  I sit on the couch for hours watching these guys kick and mock one another, stuffing myself with whatever meat-luster the local pizzeria makes.  I'm not sure what the attraction is, but it is genuinely one of my favorite things in the world.

At this point, I'm at a loss.  Everyone I know has already played this game, so I will end this post while leaving everyone untagged.

I blog here.