4 things. Only half as interesting as 8 things.

Actually that’s a lie, I think the structure of this meme makes it rather more interesting. I like actual answers to actual questions — both reading and writing them. Yay tagging! Yay memes! Have I mentioned that I’m a complete narcissist? Or did the mere keeping of a blog give that away?
I suspect this meme things are supposed to be answered rather succinctly, but I’m a little longwinded; or to put it more politely, I like telling stories. This is getting rather longwinded, though; so I’m cheating. I’m breaking it up. More tomorrow.
4 jobs I have held:
[In strict chronological order, though obviously with lots of other jobs in between]
1. Hostel assistant at a school for handicapped children. This involved a large amount of nappy changing and general skivvy duties. Much to my own surprise, I absolutely loved it; and I got very, very attached to “my” kids. I still dream about them, 15 years later.
2. Temp secretary for a political campaign. The campaign office consisted of two rooms in the provincial government building (in Cape Town); the campaign staff consisted of one man (who happened to be brother to the agriculture minister), and for a few days, me. My boss was quite the character. He conducted all his meetings in the local coffee shop, which was covered in graffiti from the local politicians — including his brother, who signed himself off as “Kallie’s brother”. He possessed one suit, and one tie. He hired me because he was looking for someone a bit “unconventional” to stir things up in this stuffy ministerial environment; as a socially inept, eccentrically dressed and frequently barefoot 20-year-old arts student, I think he got rather more than he bargained for. But we got on fabulously, and I got him to hire my flatmate on a more permanent basis, which worked out very well for both of them.
3. Film editor. Alas, that was never actually in my job title — I was a lowly subeditor, on one of the South African Sunday papers — but it was none the less true. Oh, I should clarify, I mean “editor of the film page”, not actual cutting of film. That would be Beloved’s job. Well, video editor, though he has worked on celluloid too. Anyway, I got to go to previews and Be a Critic, and I loved it desperately. I have no patience with people who say being a reviewer is hard. Being a reviewer is brilliant, and they’re only pretending it’s not in the interests of still getting paid, which is fair enough. There’s a very odd idea that people shouldn’t get paid for work that happens to be fun. Ridiculous.
4. Supplements production editor, on one of the UK Sunday broadsheets. This one, a part-time gig, happens to be my present job. The secret is out! I don’t devote all my time to Purlescence… more’s the pity.