Book meme, from theshrewd

1. Total number of books owned:
450ish in my room and environs, and another couple if small to mid-sized bookcases in the attic, and a few boxes.

2. The last book I bought:
Prayer and Community: the Havurah in American Judaism, along with a fallign apart Journal and a copy of Dune for zodiacmg. (The last books I acquired were two books by Nabokov that my grandmother just gave me. Haven't started them yet.)

3. The last book I read:
I'm just finishing rereading Rediscovery, by M.Z. Bradley and Mercedes Lackey- I've been rereading junk lately: I should turn my brain back to higher quality stuff soon.

4. Five books that mean a lot to me (in no particular order):
A Dreamer's Tales, by Lord E. Dunsany
Dune, Frank Herbert
Brave New World, ALdous Huxley
A Severed Wasp, Madeleine L'Engle
and I can't decide between Master of Middle Earth by Paul Kochler or The FIve Books of Miriam, by Ellen Frankel


5. Tag five people to fill this out:
Whoever feels like it- I dislike sending chain letters or their equivalents.

Book meme, from theshrewd

1. Total number of books owned:
450ish in my room and environs, and another couple if small to mid-sized bookcases in the attic, and a few boxes.

2. The last book I bought:
Prayer and Community: the Havurah in American Judaism, along with a fallign apart Journal and a copy of Dune for zodiacmg. (The last books I acquired were two books by Nabokov that my grandmother just gave me. Haven't started them yet.)

3. The last book I read:
I'm just finishing rereading Rediscovery, by M.Z. Bradley and Mercedes Lackey- I've been rereading junk lately: I should turn my brain back to higher quality stuff soon.

4. Five books that mean a lot to me (in no particular order):
A Dreamer's Tales, by Lord E. Dunsany
Dune, Frank Herbert
Brave New World, ALdous Huxley
A Severed Wasp, Madeleine L'Engle
and I can't decide between Master of Middle Earth by Paul Kochler or The FIve Books of Miriam, by Ellen Frankel


5. Tag five people to fill this out:
Whoever feels like it- I dislike sending chain letters or their equivalents.

Questions Meme, from tovah623

1. What is it about walking that you enjoy so much?
It's something to Do while talking, mostly. It gives me a sense that I'm doing something rather than just using time- also so that I don't fidget since I am already moving. My mother would say it's because I need/want the exercise, which very well may be part of it. But it's also just a pleasant experience, barring unpleasant precipitation or real extremes of temperature- it gives one a chance to explore in a much more intimate way than driving or even biking. Other forms of movement just don't give me as good a feel for an area. But then, I've become fond of walking also a bit by sheer force of exposure: we did a lot of walking to get places from the time I was still in a stroller and that hasn't stopped, and it was my form of transit to and from high school, and as such became strongly associated with social time. It's also nice because the person(s) with whom you're walking aren't going to get up to go do the dishes/fold laundry/etc or pace or get distracted by the written word or some such.

2. What is your favorite animal?
At this point I'm not at all sure- I like animals but not with any great passion. When I was a kid, I adored lions, and did a report on them in 2nd grade, and played make believe games in which I was a lion, etc. I still think that they're beautiful, but that's about it. Generally I'm rather fond of small cute things, I suppose. It sounds rather like the suggestion that children like Large theoretically protective animals and adults like baby-like animals, generally.

3. What do you think of Waltham, in 3 sentences or less?
It's a pretty standard town, really- pleasant enough, not terribly exciting, but worthy of more exploration than I've given it, even with some walks off campus this year. Parts of it (the part right behind campus) rather remind me of my neighborhood at home, other parts seem Much more semi-urban, lower working class-y, but altogether quite New England-y in some sort of undefinable way.

4. What do you think you'll do after Brandeis?
grad school, most likely. I suppose there are one or two potentialities that might lead me to take a year off and work before doing so, but really, grad school is the next step pretty much no matter what. After that? I'd love to teach and do research on Jewish ritual usage. Somewhere in the midst of it all? Hopefully get married and have a family. How it all fits together? I'm not entirely sure, but I'm fairly sure that I'll manage it as it happens.

5. Why do you watch movies so rarely?
They make me feel rather odd afterwards- sort of like I'm still watching a movie as I look at the world around me, but also like I'm in a movie. It lends a feeling of not-quite-realness to the world for a while that can sometimes be rather uncomfortable, and makes my speech feel stilted when I hear myself, which I tend to focus on more right after a movie. The whole feeling is sort of blurry- like I can't tell how different my reality is from that of the characters in the movie. It can be worthwhile on occasion, but it does feel odd enough that I don't want to go through it terribly regularly.


If you missed the last one and want me to ask you questions, just let me know.

Questions Meme, from tovah623

1. What is it about walking that you enjoy so much?
It's something to Do while talking, mostly. It gives me a sense that I'm doing something rather than just using time- also so that I don't fidget since I am already moving. My mother would say it's because I need/want the exercise, which very well may be part of it. But it's also just a pleasant experience, barring unpleasant precipitation or real extremes of temperature- it gives one a chance to explore in a much more intimate way than driving or even biking. Other forms of movement just don't give me as good a feel for an area. But then, I've become fond of walking also a bit by sheer force of exposure: we did a lot of walking to get places from the time I was still in a stroller and that hasn't stopped, and it was my form of transit to and from high school, and as such became strongly associated with social time. It's also nice because the person(s) with whom you're walking aren't going to get up to go do the dishes/fold laundry/etc or pace or get distracted by the written word or some such.

2. What is your favorite animal?
At this point I'm not at all sure- I like animals but not with any great passion. When I was a kid, I adored lions, and did a report on them in 2nd grade, and played make believe games in which I was a lion, etc. I still think that they're beautiful, but that's about it. Generally I'm rather fond of small cute things, I suppose. It sounds rather like the suggestion that children like Large theoretically protective animals and adults like baby-like animals, generally.

3. What do you think of Waltham, in 3 sentences or less?
It's a pretty standard town, really- pleasant enough, not terribly exciting, but worthy of more exploration than I've given it, even with some walks off campus this year. Parts of it (the part right behind campus) rather remind me of my neighborhood at home, other parts seem Much more semi-urban, lower working class-y, but altogether quite New England-y in some sort of undefinable way.

4. What do you think you'll do after Brandeis?
grad school, most likely. I suppose there are one or two potentialities that might lead me to take a year off and work before doing so, but really, grad school is the next step pretty much no matter what. After that? I'd love to teach and do research on Jewish ritual usage. Somewhere in the midst of it all? Hopefully get married and have a family. How it all fits together? I'm not entirely sure, but I'm fairly sure that I'll manage it as it happens.

5. Why do you watch movies so rarely?
They make me feel rather odd afterwards- sort of like I'm still watching a movie as I look at the world around me, but also like I'm in a movie. It lends a feeling of not-quite-realness to the world for a while that can sometimes be rather uncomfortable, and makes my speech feel stilted when I hear myself, which I tend to focus on more right after a movie. The whole feeling is sort of blurry- like I can't tell how different my reality is from that of the characters in the movie. It can be worthwhile on occasion, but it does feel odd enough that I don't want to go through it terribly regularly.


If you missed the last one and want me to ask you questions, just let me know.