New Kid tagged me for this meme that's been going around--so now I'm it!

What were three of the stupidest things you've done in your life?

1. I wonder what it says about me that the first three things that came to mind ALL had to do with boys I dated or was involved with in the past? Let's lump them into just one stupid thing and say only that I wish I hadn't invested so many kilowatt hours of emotional energy into various individuals who so clearly were not worth it, not really interested, and generally treated me badly.

2. Getting into significant credit card debt in my early twenties--this is when I was working, mind you. Somehow I was just in denial about my ability to pay off my credit cards eventually, and had too many frivolous little habits that added up. Currently my CC debt is about par for the course for someone after six years of grad school, but I worked really hard to get it down.

3. This isn't a stupid thing so much as it is a regret--I wish I'd known my three deceased grandparents better and seen them more often. When I was young we saw them for a couple of weeks every summer (they lived 1000-1500 miles away), but in high school and early college I was often committed to activities elsewhere. Both my dad's parents died my junior year of college, and though I was lucky to have seen them the previous year, I just wish I had know them better or for longer.

At the current moment, who has the most influence in your life?

Probably GWBoyfriend first, and then my friends--not only do he & they listen/help problem-solve, but they continually introduce me to fun, interesting, and new things. Third, my advisor. Or rather, my slavish desire to please her.

If you were given a time machine that functioned, and you were allowed to only pick up to five people to dine with, who would you pick?

It's hard to limit it to just five! But these, I think are mine:

1. Mary McCarthy. LOVE HER. Love her life, love her books, love every damn thing about her.

2. Neglected Author in my Field. Wish I could name him, but I think that would compromise my pseudonymity too much. Suffice to say, he's a gorgeous prose stylist and polymath, a scientist and doctor and philosopher, one of whose projects was an attempt to reconcile science and religion.

3. Ralph Ellison. The more I read his works, the more impressed I am. Like Neglected Author and McCarthy, Ellison seems to have had a really wide range of interests and obsessions, and that's a good thing for a dinner party.

4. Bing Crosby. As my friends know, I'm in love with Bing Crosby. Plus, he had a great sense of humor, could talk jazz with Ralph, and I wouldn't mind having someone around to entertain us after dinner.

5. Damn, this last one is hard. I was tempted to say Camille Paglia, because she's always interesting--but I'm worried she wouldn't let anyone else talk. Plus, her latest book on poetry sounds awful, and it seems like a waste of a time machine to pick up someone who's stil alive. So let's say Samuel Pepys.

P.S. I love the fact that the deviser of this meme had to specify "a time machine that functioned."

If you had three wishes not supernatural, what would they be?

1. A tenure-track job at a decent school no more than 3 hours from GWBoyfriend.

2. Happiness, health, and some measure of success for all of my friends and family members (someone else wished this already, but I second it).

3. I don’t know—no more debt? Better posture? World peace?

Someone is visiting your hometown/place where you live at the moment. Name two things you regret your city not having, and two things people should avoid.

I believe that the place I currently live does have everything—except enough affordable housing. From a visitor's perspective, more affordable hotels would be nice, as would a lower collective stress level (see below).

Visitors should avoid stopping stock-still in the middle of the sidewalk, walking with arms linked, three across, or otherwise showing they do not know how to move around a city. (I WILL deliberately run into you to teach you that particular lesson.) They should also avoid going to any club with more straight than gay people, and every bar that charges more than $10 for a drink.

Name one event that has changed your life.

Going far away to college, and attending the college I did. It's probably responsible for almost everything I've done since and where I've done it.

Tag five people.

I don't know whether HK is even reading this these days, but she's up. Also, how about Cynical Prof, Tiruncula, What Now?, and Bright Star. Apologies if you've already done it!