I dreamed last night that I was back in college despite the fact that people I knew from high school were running around in my dream, that it was finals time and that I had skipped classes for several weeks and would have to read somewhere in the vicinity of 1200 pages and write like 10 papers all in the course of a weekend just to pass a class. Even though I'd only slept for 7 hours and I really wanted to sleep late today, it's been a while since I've been that glad to wake up. Last night, I went to a Jewish Christmas Day party called "Latkes and Vodka." Latkes are potato pancakes that are traditionally made during Chanukah. After a while, the party petered out and it wound up being four of us hanging out and going out to eat and playing Trivial Pursuit, one of whom was a very old friend who I knew from summer camp and who I wound up going to college with as well, and another was someone who I'd met at college because he dated someone I knew there and came to visit her. How random. Anyways, as you can tell, I'm running a little sluggish (and I'm trying very hard not to be sick -- sore throat that I've had for three days, this means you), so I'm just going to do this layer meme thing because I've never done it before and it's mildly intriguing. So how much do you really want to know about me? LAYER ONE: -- Name: Keith -- Birth date: 12/21/76 -- Birthplace: Brooklyn, NYC, baby! I'm way too proud of that, even though I only lived in New York for a short time. -- Current Location: L.A. -- Eye Color: Brown -- Hair Color: Jet black -- Height: 5'9". -- Righty or Lefty: Righty -- Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius. And I was born during the Chinese Year of the Dragon. So I'm like a double fire sign. Don't cross me, or I'll burn your ass! LAYER TWO: -- Your heritage: Eastern European & Russian mutt. We're not quite sure where my great-grandparents came from. -- The shoes you wore today: Black Skechers -- Your weakness: Women, music, electronics stores, DVDs -- Your fears: Death, losing eyesight or hearing, other assorted health problems, getting water in my ears (I hate that!) -- Your perfect pizza: There's this place near where I grew up in Connecticut that makes the best gorgonzola pizza... I literally haven't had it in years, and I still think about it and it makes my mouth water. -- Goal you'd like to achieve: Becoming Overlord of the Earth. LAYER THREE: -- Your most overused phrase on AIM: hehe -- Your first waking thoughts: I can think that early? -- Your best physical feature: My eyes... I've gotten compliments from women, which is key. -- Your most missed memory: Unfortunately, my brain can remember everything I've ever done that I'm ashamed of, and it -- like my father can do as well -- can occasionally whip out the list and start reading off everything I've done wrong in my life, which keeps me up at night and feeling miserable every now and then. LAYER FOUR: -- Pepsi or Coke: Diet Coke, and while it's partially the calories because I drink a fair amount of soda, it's mostly because I grew up with Diet Coke and I'm accustomed to the taste and actually prefer it to regular Coke. -- McDonald's or Burger King: In-n-Out. C'mon, I moved to L.A. for that! -- Single or group dates: Single, unless it's a group activity and you've been dating for a while. -- Adidas or Nike: My boys in Run-D.M.C. sing about "My Adidas." -- Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: No tea, no shoes, no dice. -- Chocolate or vanilla: Chocolatechocolatechocolate!!! [sigh] -- Cappuccino or coffee: Coffee! Don't be puttin' no creamy topping in my coffee. (The joke has nothing to do with perversion. At work, we had M&M/Mars come in to demonstrate this new coffee machine they're selling, which also makes cappuccinos, and the way it works is that you put in the packet of what kind of coffee you want, and if you want a cappuccino, you have to add a packet marked "creamy topping." By the end of the day of the demonstration, we were completely out of "creamy topping.") LAYER FIVE: -- Smoke: On occasion, I have been known to. Of course, that's not counting my last 8 months in Boston, which I pretty much spent perpetually drunk and high. -- Cuss: More than I fucking should. It'll come back to bite me, like the time I was in a restaurant and dropped a tomato in my lap and said, "Fuck!" and then my friend tapped me and said, "That 4-year-old kid behind you just heard you... and so did his mother." -- Sing: All the damn time. Especially when I'm drunk. And yes, I really can sing. -- Take a shower everyday: Don't leave home without it. -- Do you think you've been in love: More than likely. That might explain some of the aforementioned stupid things I've done. -- Want to go to college: Already went. Still getting the phone calls asking for donations to the alumni fund. (Note to self: Change phone number.) -- Liked high school: Fuck no. -- Want to get married: Eventually. -- Believe in yourself: Yeah. -- Get motion sickness: Never. I can amaze people with my ability to read books on buses and in cars (not while driving, thanks), and I don't get seasick either. -- Think you're attractive: Why not? -- Think you're a health freak: Uhh... In-n-Out? -- Get along with your parent(s): Yeah. -- Like thunderstorms: Love them. Miss them so much. There's not too much weather here, and if it starts misting outside, the natives freak out. The only thunder & lightning storm I ever saw in Los Angeles was actually on my birthday in 2002. -- Play an instrument: I played trombone for 10 years, but gave it up when I hit college to sing. LAYER SIX: In the past month... -- Drank alcohol: Does last night count? -- Smoked: Which kind of smoking are we talking about here? -- Done a drug: Umm... plead the Fifth? -- Made Out: Does last night count? -- Gone on a date: Sure, if you want to call it that. -- Gone to the mall?: In December? Are you crazy? -- Eaten an entire box of Oreos?: Never done that. -- Eaten sushi: I tried to... but my favorite sushi place is apparently closed for the holidays and neglected to tell me. Bastards! -- Been on stage: Not this month. -- Been dumped: Umm... kind of but not really? -- Gone skating: Not this month. -- Made homemade cookies: Hmm... do cookie bars count? -- Dyed your hair: Nah. My hair's so dark, I can't dye it at all. -- Stolen Anything: Nein! LAYER SEVEN: Ever... -- Played a game that required removal of clothing: Yup. -- If so, was it mixed company: Hehe... -- Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: Yeah. -- Been caught "doing something": Umm... yeah, unfortunately. -- Been called a tease: Not in the way you're asking. -- Gotten beaten up: Once. Now I just aggravate people to the point where they want to hit me but know they shouldn't. -- Shoplifted: No. -- Changed who you were to fit in: Nah. If you don't like me, it's your own damn fault. LAYER EIGHT: -- Age you hope to be married: I'd like to be married sometime before I turn 80, thanks. -- Numbers and Names of Children: One of them will be named "Quinn," it's the name I used when I was on the air. -- Describe your Dream Wedding: I'm a guy. I don't think about things like that. -- How do you want to die: In my sleep, peacefully. -- Where you want to go to college: Already did. -- What do you want to be when you grow up: A high-powered, highly-paid CEO. -- What country would you most like to visit: Australia and Italy. LAYER NINE: -- Number of drugs taken illegally: 2. -- Number of people I could trust with my life: Parents. That's all. -- Number of CDs that I own: I think it's somewhere around 700 right now... and growing. -- Number of piercings: 0 -- Number of tattoos: 0 -- against the religion. -- Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper?: I work for a newspaper. My name's in the paper every freakin' week! -- Number of scars on my body: Many. For some reason, I guess I just don't heal well. -- Number of things in my past that I regret: See above comment about the laundry list my brain and my father keep.