Meme of 4s and related babbles

Abbey tagged me for the meme below. However, being the procrastinator that I am (although my 1st first authored manuscript is shaping up very nicely!), as well as a Princess who likes to talk about herself (the blog makes for a lovely excuse, doesn't it?), there are some related thoughts accompanying the entries... not just lists!

4 jobs I have held:
1. Fast food restaurant cashier
By far, the worst job I have ever had. I would even take my 13-year old self's job of babysitting 3 kids for $3 an hour over being treated like utter garbage by virtue of my oversized uniform and the fact that I am serving you greasy chicken.
2. Wal-Mart sales associate
Coming from a small town, I swear that a quarter of the people in my grad class worked there at once. The good part-- I worked in the toy department, and thus was able to wear boas and crowns as part of my job without being scolded. The bad part-- the rumours about the Wal-mart cheer are true, and there are some older ladies there who took it very seriously.
3. Research assistant/lab coordinator
I've had this job in a few different labs. The first time was in my third year of university. It was an enormous step up from the service industry, though I did work in a windowless basement for many summer in a row. The best was 80s Fridays, when we would crank the 80s tunes and serenade our incoming participants with Bon Jovi
4. Behavioural therapist
I worked as a year doing ABA (Applied Behavioural Analysis) with a girl with autism. It alternated between insanely rewarding to just plain insane (especially during the hair-pulling phase... I literally lost handfuls). It also prepped me for a lot of the government and organizational politics that came when I later did practicum work at a hospital

4 movies I can watch over and over:
I, too, am not one of those folks who watches movies several times over. I actually own very few. I only really re-watch if I'm too lazy to go to the videostore.
1. Grease
This is the exception. I have a geeky fascination with this movie. When it was re-released in theatres, my friend had to keep on elbowing me to keep me from automatically singing along.
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
This has remained on the top of the list for a while now. I actually had to re-watch it a few times for a recent project, and was thrilled to discover something new each time I watched it. It has so many layer. Charlie Kaufman is a genius.
3. John Hughes films, particularly The Breakfast Club
What can I say? I was a child of the 80s.
4. I honestly don't have a 4th... maybe Lord of the Rings? I've seen the first one a few times, and wouldn't mind re-watching the trilogy in full.
Or... my high school boyfriend was obsessed with Army of Darkness, so I have unwillingly seen it multiple times. Then again, we would also get high and watch fractal videos.

4 places I have lived:
My attempts at anonymity keep this one a little boring. I will say that they are all located in Canada!
1. Suburb
We lived in a suburb until I was 10, although we were lucky enough to have a big secluded piece of land. Somehow my future vegetarian parents raised pigs and chicken at this point.
2. Small town
My parents had been saving up to move here for as long as I could remember. However, I was furious at my parents for making me move, especially when Grade 5 was the year I officially entered the popular group. My worst fears were confirmed when I fell back to loser status at my new school. However, I consider this small town my real home town. I love it and all its quirks-- plus revisiting the suburb revealed it to be a pretty horrendous place.
3. Big city
I left small town, which you are pretty much required to do for a little dose of reality and to make something of yourself, for university and basement suite living.
4. Even bigger city
And I moved here for grad school. I adore this city, though I find myself thinking of small town for about 10 years in my future. I'm also trying to figure out if I'm sufficiently bilingual to do my internship in Montreal!

4 categories of TV programming I enjoy:
I know it is cliche, but I actually don't watch a lot of TV. Instead, I tend to rent good shows on DVD and watch episodes in my own schedule.
1. 24
Gets a category of its own because it's the only show I absolutely watch every week. Though I actually missed the season finale because I was on holiday... and I can't download it from iTunes because they have forsaken us Canadians :(. Any ideas? And by that I certainly don't mean give me a plot synopsis!
2. HBO shows
Actually just the Sopranos and Six Feet Under, both on DVD. I knew I was watching too much Sopranos when I started dreaming I was taking out hits on people
3. Sitcoms
Arrested Development, the Office, etc
4. Nature documentaries
Bet you didn't see that coming! Though the Duke made me watch a taratula special last night... blech

4 places I have been on holiday:
I'm not nearly international enough-- though I head to Texas in a month and a half! Yee-haw!
1. Costa Rica
My parents were crazy enough to let me and my best friend backpack for a month when I was 17. Probably the most amazing and perspective changing month of my life.
2. Los Angeles
I had a conference there last summer, and went out a bit early on my own. It was the first time travelling completely solo and I loved it-- the feeling of anonymity and freedom is spectacular.
3. Across Canada
I've done the coast-to-coast trip twice. Once via Greyhound (not recommended!) with my sis, and once flying and by train with my mom. As a side to all those who think that they could never travel with their mom-- my mom is cool! We stayed in hostels most of the trip and would meet loads of new people and go drinking with them.
4. Memphis
Not really much of a holiday, other than hungover Graceland.

4 websites I visit daily:
1. Dlisted
I'm guilty of loving the malicious celebrity gossip.
2. Facebook
I'm also guilty of stalking old friends.
3. Various bloggers
As well as enjoying peering into other people's lives
4. Gmail

4 of my favorite dishes:
1. Anything seafood- crab, prawns, scallops, oysters-- preferably with garlic butter
2. Mashed potatoes.
3. Various sushi and sashimis-- the rawer, the better
4. Pad thai and other yummy stirfries and curries.
Though not an entire dish in and of themselves, dill pickles and salt-water taffy get honourable mentions.

4 places I'd rather be right now:
1. I'm sure everyone said at the beach... but I'm going to, too! But not just for relaxing... this beach has sand and tide pools!
2. In a bubble bath with a little wine
3. Hiking or camping somewhere
4. On a patio, with a marguarita, sunglasses, and friends. No books or articles in sight!

4 other blogger buddies to do this meme/list:
Quite frankly, I like to find out more about all my bloggie pals, so I tag you. Ha!