in response to your almost thoughtful fodder: "love each other or perish." (-w.h. auden)
(which is to say if you deliberately put love at the beginning of your Most Important Values list, I agree with you).

I'd like to reply with my four most important values.. but I can't seem to figure out what a value is.

values (pl.): the social principles, goals, or standards held or accepted by an individual, class, society, etc.

that's what my dictionary says. my dictionary also gives a list of words in whose definition the word 'value' appears. With this specific idea of 'value' in mind ('value' as it pertains to love, honesty, humility, integrity), some of the words which appeared were funny, neat, interesting:

appreciation
catholic
censor
change
cheap
eccentricity
good will
gold
gravy (one of my favorites :))
idle
intangibility
junk food
literature
low-cal
modest
nothing
priceless
rough fish
sostenuto
talent
think
understand
rain
wealth
what
zero

okay, new subject - I've always wanted to ask someone this and I've never gotten the opportunity. If you could be anything, if you could have people see you as any one thing, what would it be? Anything - attractive, beautiful, a good friend, very intelligent.. but just one.

Mine - for years I said that I would rather people think me a truly good friend than anything else.. I wanted to be the person that people leaned on, trusted, loved. I wanted to be there for everyone I loved because I loved them so, because I valued good friends and they sometimes seem to be few and far between.

I answered that way up until last year, when it changed.. if I could have people say only one thing about me, it would be that I was an interesting person. Not just "Oh, she's interesting.." but *truly* interesting - I have only known one or two or three in my entire life. My music theory teacher (and chorale director) in high school was one. He wasn't a lovable guy, but he had done such amazing things - he had enlisted in the army, joined the army band, and drove the army band bus several times across the country. He rode a motorcycle to school until it got so cold out that his tear ducts froze. He was familiar with so much literature, so many operas (haha) and musical compositions and he was just such a fountain of *adventures*.. I loved listening to him talk.

(someone here is playing "the rubber duckie song" out the window. it was so funny it needed its own blurb)

anyway.. the only other "interesting" person who pops to mind is my friend Tami, who also goes here and, as I mentioned today, is as equally disgruntled with her college situation as I. She's a vegan and slightly moralistic about it, or at least she sometimes tries to get me to try all her food instead of mine, to slightly prod with her views, but I don't mind; in fact, I appreciate the new experiences. She's very, very strange, but sometimes I think maybe she is a genius. Sometimes when I read the things she writes I get the feeling she sprang from the thigh of e.e. cummings. or even kerouac. She and I have conversations like I have only with myself. .she spends hours in this room talking and listening and thinking.

there is so much I could say! I don't know where to begin, so I'll let you talk now :).