It's great to be eight

Redcap has tagged me for an ‘eight things’ meme and, lord knows I haven't been half as revealing lately about myself as I normally am (scoff scoff) so I'll have a crack:

1) Eight things I am passionate about:

Love Chunks

Sapphire

My family

Dogadoo

Words and writing
My mates

Chocolate

Good TV series that I always discover years after everyone else has (Entourage, The Office, Scrubs)

2) Eight things I want to do before I die:

Make some kind of living writing;

Take Love Chunks and Sapphire to France, Italy and Greece;

Spend a Christmas in New York;

Stop worrying about things I have no influence over;

Some meaningful community or charity work that adds value and dignity;

Get a good nights' sleep every night;

Let Sapphire grow, be independent and yet also know that she can rely on me for anything;

Earn enough moolah for Love Chunks to take a year or two from his sensible job in order to do something new, fun, interesting or career-changing

3) Eight things I say often:

Am I made of stone - of course I want some more chocolate!

How come you're not ready yet Sapphire?

Whew-whee, did you just drop one?

I mean that from the heart of my bottom

Thank God I'm no longer a teenager and have to pay attention to what's in fashion any more

Crikey

There are some real shockers in this world, Sapphire

That drop-kick over there throwing his rubbish out of the car window is one of them

4) Eight books I've read recently:

The Bookwoman's Last Fling, John Dunning (dull)

The Art of Happiness at Work, Dalai Lama (worthy)
Play it as it Lays, Joan Didion (striking)
Mr Pip, Lloyd Jones (original)

What Women Want Next, Susan Maushart (not earth-shattering)

Touching the Void, Joe Simpson (fascinating)

The Alchemist, Paul Coelho (underwhelming - or did I just not get what the fuss is all about?)

Disgrace, JM Coetzee (disappointing)

5) Eight songs I could listen to over and over:

Bridge over troubled water - Simon and Garfunkel

Throw your arms around me - Hunters and Collectors
Bittersweet Symphony -The Verve
I useta love her - The Saw Doctors

Just another day - Oingo Boingo

Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Green Day
Annie Waits - Ben Folds
Drive all night - Bruce Springsteen

6) But if I were doing a triple CD set, I’d include (8 x 3 = 24)

Mad World, Gary Jules (absolutely heart rending)

Downbound Train, Bruce Springsteen (year 12 memories of yearning for a boy all damn year)

Tunnel of Love, Bruce Springsteen

Empty Sky, Bruce Springsteen
Tenderness - General Public

Eloise - The Damned

Gratitude - Oingo Boingo (best eighties band ever)

Home Again - Oingo Boingo
Echo Beach, Martha and the Muffins (best song to dance to when drunk ever)

Take a chance on me - Abba (best band ever)

The winner takes it all - Abba

Gimme gimme gimme - Abba

I've been waiting for you - Abba

Blue - Eiffel 67 (I used to dance around the house to this with baby Sapphire in my arms, who loved it)

Rock Lobster- B52s (second best song to dance to when drunk)

Take on me - Aha (matriculation memories....)

Baggy Trousers - Madness

Time of our lives - Green Day (great band - melodic for a 'punk' band and good enough to feature in Seinfeld's final season)

Live to tell - Madonna (very rare song with actual feeling)

Best of both worlds - Midnight Oil (the power! the passion!)

Don't wanna be the one - Midnight Oil

One of a kind - V Spy V Spy (great on tape/CD and greater live)

Clarity of mind - V Spy V Spy

Leilani - Hoodoo Gurus (classic)

(ask me tomorrow and the list'll change - I haven't got the Beatles, The Saw Doctors, Van Morrison, Simon and Garfunkel, the Specials, Chris Isaak, Crowded House, Del Amitri, Housemartins...)

7) 8 things that attract me to my friends:
They are all Smart

Kind

Funny
Good listeners

Have interests and traits that I envy

Have opinions worth listening to and understanding

Have been there for me in bad times; and
Believe in me.

8) 8 movies I've watched at least into double figures

The Sure Thing (John Cusack)

Say Anything (John. Cusack.)

When Harry Met Sally - the witty banter - "It's different for men. Charlie Chaplin had kids when he was seventy." - "Yeah but he was too old to pick 'em up."

This is Spinal Tap - "Lick my Love Pump" in "D, the saddest of all keys'"

The Life of Brian - where do you start?

The Princess Bride - sweet, funny

Dead Poets Society - still makes me cry

Donnie Darko - mesmerising, funny, sad, tragic, haunting

Now, to keep the meme going, I'm going to tag Davey, Rosanna, Deep Kick Girl, Franzy, Ashleigh, Fifibelle, Raoul Duke and Man at the Pub. Here's hoping that they all actually read this blog so that they know they're been shoulder-tapped for a meme.

By the way, why are these blogger-chains called 'memes' ?