. . . to bring you yet another variation on the "Ten Things" meme.

Here are 10 things I got to do because I was a reporter:

1) Went on a rattlesnake round-up with a man named Butch. "We" caught 17 snakes.
2) Was selected as an alternate for "American Gladiator."
3) Got into a shouting match with George W. Bush, who was campaigning for his father -- and resented being contradicted on his utterly false statements about the Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project.
4) Was hugged by Boris Yeltsin, who believed I was a member of his welcoming party.
5) Reported and wrote an 800-word page one story for the Evening Sun -- in less than 15 minutes.
6) Interviewed Martin Amis, Erica Jong, Oscar Hijeulos, Doris Lessing, Richard Ford, Christopher Hitchens, Elizabeth Arthur, Walter Mosley, Robert Crais, Anne Lamott, Susan Isaacs, Russell Banks, George Pelecanos, Molly Ivins, Madison Smartt Bell, Stephen Dixon, Brett Easton Ellis, Jay McInerney, Scott Turow, Melissa Bank, Robert Ward, Laura Zigman, Paul Auster, David Guterson, Russell Baker, Bernard Lefkowitz, James Lee Burke, Arundhati Roy, Edward Ball, Lois Duncan, James Ellroy, Scott Adams, Neil Simon, Richard Russo, Mark Leyner and probably a bunch of people I'm missing; the Sun archive is very fussy today.
7) Got a mash note from one of the above.
8) Took my dog to a Major League baseball game.
9) Covered three national political conventions -- one with my dad.
10) Listened to Allen Ginsburg read "Howl" outside a federal appellate court. And was conscious, at that moment, of what a wonderful job I had.