5. Miss Marple, an Agatha Christie creation. She is a nosy older lady who is a little bit of a gossip…but which helps her to solve crimes.

4. Lieutenant General James Longstreet. A real-life Confederate General, he is featured promiently in the works of  Michael and Jeff Shaara.

3. Dr. Laszlo Kreizler from Caleb Carr’s The Alienist and Angel of Darkness. He’s an early psychiatrist solving crimes in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

2. Horatio Hornblower is an officer in the British Navy around the time of the French Revolution. In the books by C.S. Forester he rises from midshipman to admiral.

1. Hercule Poirot, also from Agatha Christie. He’s a particular Belgian who solves crimes. He’s smart and the stories actually take though to predict, unlike most “mystery” literature. He occurs in the early 1900′s.

These are all good reads if you’re ever bored.

So….in case you’ve noticed, top five seems easier, so unless I need it I’m going to try top fives. And I can count them off on one hand.

5. Anyone who played against France.

4.Uruguay-They haven’t won in ages, and are such a tiny country. I was partially rooting for them from day 1.

3. Brazil- I like Kaka…even if he gets poor calls sometimes. But I thought that they’d do better, so I cheered for them once the US got out.

2. Germany. I’m mostly of German heritage, plus it’s fun to root for the youngest team in the cup.

1. USA! USA! USA! Duh!!!! Why would I put anyone else first?

5. SUNY Geneseo, Geneseo, NY

mmmm….nothing like competing at home. And the new facility is great. =)

4. Springfield University, Springfield, MA

The weather wasn’t the best, but the facilities are nice. That’s why they keep holding ECAC’s there.

3. SUNY Oneonta, Cortland, NY

Where the NY Giants have training camp. Astroturf field. It’s very nice. =) And Some great Championship memories.

2. SUNY Cortland, Cortland, NY

Where the NY Jets hold training camp. Suffice to say that it’s a great training facility. And some fun memories there.

1. St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY

Nine lanes, and designed for nationals one year. It was wonderful and there’s an amazing indoor track to warm up on.

1. Flying back from Spain, 2001. So…I’m in 8th grade, my brother is in 7th. We’re at the Madrid Airport getting ready to  fly back to the US. But the flight starts boarding and my mom still hasn’t returned from her trip to the duty-free store. So my brother and I got a little antsy.
Now my dad and I had been talking to the guys in front of us in line and they were a bunch of NBA Europe pro’s flying home to see their families. My dad tells my brother and I to get on the plane, NO MATTER WHAT. So  one of the hoops guys says that they’ll make sure that we get on the plane. So…surrogate plane daddies are NBA players. Saweet. But then my parents did return in the nick of time. And on the plane we got all of their autographs….which are sadly MIA. I will always wonder until if any of them made it to the NBA. That is if I don’t find them.

2. Flying to California by myself my senior year of hs. It was just really cool b/c it was my first time flying alone that I hadn’t been an “unattended minor” (which I did with my friends and we could attend to ourselves at 14) and therefore didn’t have to be escorted by an airport person. I met a couple of really cool people that I sat next to, and on the red-eye home I got the flight all to myself. =)

3. This is a combo one. So I flew from England to JFK. I was with a whole bunch of new friends I had made and had had lots of fun with. I eventually get home around 1 am. At four my mom and I left for the airport and flew out to Calgary, Alberta. I love flying, so it was about 16 hours of ecstasy. =)

1. Worst: We were flying somewhere or other. I got airsick and threw up on myself. My mom had to throw out my pants and shirt and I had to walk around the airport in Colorado Rockies boxers and my mom’s baggy sweatshirt. Embarassing. And I was ten. And I probably saw a cute girl at some point. I couldn’t put on pants until we got our bags back at our final destination.

5. Any red eye flight. Lots of drinks, extra snacks, not usually meals but sometimes they surprise you…oh! and often a full row of seats to yourself. =)

4. TAP Air Portugal- I just remember being really excited about flying on it….errr maybe it was the whole going to Portugal thing. Nonetheless I remember loving it.

3. America West- ….if it still exists. I remember free games, movies, and tv shows on individual monitors. I think I was so stoked about that, that I didn’t notice if there was food. Since this was the very late ’90′s, I’m assuming that there still was.

2.TWA- I know, I know, now defunct. But I remember that they had a movie that I actually enjoyed, and a full meal in a bad so that you could take your sandwich, apple, cookies, and drinks to go. And they weren’t dinky little sandwiches, apples, cookies, and drinks but full or larger sizes.

1. British Airways/Virgin Atlantic-I got a fully goody bag and stuff, free movies and headphones, and even though I was towards the back of coach, I wasn’t terribly crowded. For both. =) And the flight crew spoke with British accents mostly.

Dayvian Cowboy by Boards of Canada

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll put my top ____ flying experiences….and maybe a worst or two…we’ll see. =) Since I’m SO consistent with this and all.

13. Flowers in a Box- Telefora

12. Tebow- Focus on the Family (All the hype and it wasn’t controversial at all…blown way out of proportion by the media)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BIOTItUwvk

11. Bachelor Party- Bridgestone

10. Dante’s Inferno (The music choice worked really well5

9. Griswalds Hotel- Homeaway.com

8. Playing Nice- Doritos

7. Wear No Pants- Dockers

6. Playing Like Betty White- Snickers

5. Man’s Last Stand- Dodge Charger

4. Casual Friday’s- Careerbuilder.com

3. Comfortable Skin- Dove

2. Green Police- Audi

1.  Partying Toys- Kia Sorento

…songs that I’m almost ashamed to listen to…and sometimes sing….almost

(not in any order)

1. TLC- “Waterfalls”

2. The Little Mermaid (Sebastian)- “Under the Sea”

3. Cascada- “Evacuate the Dance Floor” (and “Every Time We Touch”)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G6QDNC4jPs

4. Beyonce- “Single Ladies”

5. Robin Thicke- “When I Get You Alone” (and “Magic”)

6. Tom Jones- “It’s Not Unusual”

7. King Harvest- “Dancing in the Moonlight”

8. Biz Markie- “Just a Friend”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlbFMQ-Or_o

9. Britney Spears- “Toxic”

10. Cyndi Lauper- “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”

11. Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch- “Good Vibrations”

12. Pat Benatar- “Love is a Battlefield”

13. Lady Gaga- “Just Dance”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU4Ly2UMMpc

14.Alphaville- “Forever Young”

1. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

2. Mint Chocolate Chip (white not green)

3. Oreo/Cookies & Cream

4. Birthday Cake

5. Vanilla Bean

6. Smurf

7. Caramel Moosetracks

8. Black Raspberry

9. Snickers

Life is uncertain.  Eat dessert first.  ~Ernestine Ulmer

I doubt whether the world holds for anyone a more soul-stirring surprise than the first adventure with ice cream.  ~Heywood Broun

Without ice cream, there would be darkness and chaos.  ~Don Kardong

Seize the moment.  Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart.  ~Erma Bombeck

My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it’s on your plate.  That’s my philosophy.  ~Thornton Wilder

Never trust a skinny ice cream man.  ~Ben Cohen

There’s nothing wrong with me a little ice cream won’t fix.    ~Author Unknown

Unless your name ends in Baskin or Robbins, I really can’t fit you into my schedule right now.  ~Uniek Swain

1. New Jersey-I’ve grown up there and grown into a full love relationship with it. Certain things about it may annoy me from time to time, but that will happen anywhere. Nice gas prices (where they pump it for you), GREAT food, proximity to the beach, NYC, Philly, and everything else, the abundance of history, and of course the people. =)

2. Colorado- It has great outdoor beauty, a wide variety of it, lots of cool places to go, and wonderful people.

3. South Carolina- I’ve liked it a lot ever since my family went there on a extended-family reunion. It has the “southern-ness”, seems to not have most of the hurricanes hit it (they go on to NC), the people seem nice, and I loved how you can be in the country, and then Charleston very quickly…just like my part of NJ.

4. Massachusetts- I lived here when I was younger and love going back to visit. I love how many of the cities incorporate the old and the new…ex: a 200+ year-old church next to a skyscraper just built last year. They outdoors is beautiful, and I love the history.

5. New York- I’ve been here 4 years for college and love some aspects of it very much, from the various different regions of the state, which are all wonderful and easily identifiable, just in different ways.

6. California- It’s big, lots of history, and warm.

1. The Simpsons-I know so many and between the quotes or the scenarios I can escape life for a bit.

2. Man vs. Wild-The show is so much fun and gets me thinking about other things.

3. Vintage American Gladiators-The 90′s. Always a happy time and always so fun(ny) to watch.

4. Robot Chicken-Either boring, offensive, or absolutely hilarious. The latter will always cheer me up.

5. The Bernie Mac Show-I just enjoy it alot.

6. The Electric Company (new edition)-I feel like a little kid and can escape into my dreams and/or childhood.