I don't normally do these things, but in the wake of the killings at Virginia Tech I feel like anything I say that would pretend to be of import would fall well short of the intended mark.

My heart goes out to those who are grieving, scared, confused, and/or in shock. May the souls of the departed rest this day in peace and rise in glory and may the holy angels attend and minister to those left in the wake of these killings.

This meme, from Adam Jacob, tagged me a long time ago and I never answered. So here are the Seven Things:

1. Name a book that you want to share so much that you keep giving away copies.
I have to say the Bible I guess. There's not a book that I otherwise regularly give to people, unless the BCP, but that's not a book you read through, so to speak.

2. Name a piece of music that changed the way you listen to music.
DC Talk's Jesus Freak. This song, when I first heard it, helped me understand music as a form of self expression rather than just as entertainment. More recently, I've been altered by a foray into more classical forms of music, and so I would have to say, Bach's Unaccompanied Cello Suites.

3. Name a film you can watch again and again without fatigue.
Star Wars, Episodes 4-6.

4. Name a performer for whom you suspend all disbelief.

Kevin Spacey.

5. Name a work of art you’d like to live with.
Rodin's The Burghers of Calais.

6. Name a work of fiction which has penetrated your real life.
The Lord of the Rings. Hands down. This is the book I can read again and again and never get tired. This is the novel that speaks to me often and on different levels. When I applied for entrance to Wake Forest, we had to compose an essay in which we stated with which character from fiction we most identified and defend our decision. I chose Sam Gamgee from the Lord of the Rings.

7. Name a punch line that always makes you laugh.
"I don't have any film." (From the classic campfire skit, "Beans".)

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This one comes from Jane: 6 Weird Things About Yourself.

1. I am not necessarily the most punctual person in the world, but I do have a compulsion about beginning or ending things at specific times. Namely, it is far easier for me to say, I'll leave this party at 11:45 than to just leave at say, 11:43. Things like that have to be, for me, at times that make sense, which is to say, at a time that ends in 0 or 5.

2. When I was younger, I hated baseball. When my family would go to games in Atlanta, I would take a book and generally read from innings 3-8. I would walk around the stadium and had specific innings when I would get a frozen lemonade (4th) and a pretzel (7th). But I couldn't stand sitting there for so long and watching that boring sport. Now, I love it and don't get to go to enough games. I play softball and watch the Braves on TV whenever I get the chance.

3. While eating out, I cannot order the same thing someone else orders. If someone else orders what I plan on ordering, I will order something else. If I have ordered first and they order what I ordered, I may change my order. I am getting better about not doing this.

4. I much prefer appetizers to dessert.

5. I have to read a little in my novel each night before going to bed. Even if it's just a page before I clunk out. If I don't, my mind wanders, I have a hard time sleeping, and I'm irritable.

6. With regards to a new book, new movie, or new album, I have to have the idea to check it out first myself. If someone else recommends it, I may get it, but it'll be a long time before I partake of it, long enough for me to be able to say, "Ryan, this was your idea to read/watch/listen to this."

-R