Can I get to 10?

First topic that came to mind was 10 great kisses. I'm not sure I can do it, but what sort of person would I be if I didn't even try?

1. I was so in love with this boy when I was in 5th grade. We would hang out in the park across the street from my house and swing on the swings and talk and stuff. Finally (finally!) he kissed me on the cheek one night when we said goodnight. So awesome and sweet and the perfect first kiss I think.

2. Later, around age 16, I'd had a little more experience with being "so in love" and sadly more experience with not getting that shit requited. Crash and I were friends and we were hanging out more and more but just as friends, don't you know. I dropped him off at home one night after we'd been to see Nothing in Common at the movies and he leaned back into the car and kissed me on the cheek before he bolted. I was freaking giddy, I actually screamed once I'd gotten out onto the road again. It was worthy of a road trip chick flick.

3. Not long after that one I spent a partially lit evening in Crash's kitchen. We'd been making out and talking. He was always a big talker. I was having so much fun and I'd taken it as a sign that he actually liked me so I was getting overeager. I leaned in for a kiss and he pulled back just far enough away that I couldn't get one. Much banter and torture ensued and I was made to wait impatiently for my next, brain searing kiss. Totally worth it. I paid him back in full for the torture many years later but since that didn't involve kissing exactly it doesn't belong on this list.

4. Let's make it a list of memorable kisses. If I expand the definition I can make it to 10. My first French kiss was when I was about 14, with a 16 year old, outside the local library. Frankly, it's a good thing I didn't assume that kiss was representative of the form. Ever been stabbed with a gooey blunt object? Then you get the idea. Also, standing outside, waiting for your mom in 40 degree weather not the ideal setting.

5. When JAM and I split up we ended up having to spend the next day together. OK, we ended up living together for 4 months after that but for the purposes of this story the next day is what's important. I remember standing out on the street somewhere in Manhattan and again it was chilly, Izz was maybe buying something at a flea market or for her party that night, not sure, and JAM put his hands on either side of my face and kissed my forehead. At the time it was all very emotional and sad and had that air of finality but now, now that I know about the whole having to live together and then traveling together for years afterwards and...well that's a whole other story, it just seems melodramatic and nuts, but I still remember it.

6. Oh for the love of all that is holy I'm only at 6. Oh! Awesome one. I was a freshman at NYU and had been invited to my first important opening night party for an Off Broadway theatre. A bunch of friends from my studio had gone together for safety since we were coming back late from 42nd Street: Old School Edition. We were tipsy and laughing and running around when we got back to the Village. Someone's roommate, Jim, from Kansas was with us. Jim and I had been having blast and all of a sudden one of us pulled the other into a doorway and we made out all hot and reckless and ridiculous like you can when you're 18. It was awesome and I so wanted it to happen again and it never did.

7. After I got back from London, wow, a while after because I was living in this neighborhood by then, I'd been to dinner with...a player who shall remain nameless. We got back to my house and walked the dog and just ended up kissing outside my apartment on the street. It was really good, plus I hadn't exactly been kissed lately. At one point he leaned back from me a little and said, "I could keep kissing you like this for hours." Well, thank you very much.

8. Crash had this ridiculously endearing habit of kissing during the first bite of food. We'd set the food out or be served at a restaurant and when we each took our first bite he'd get this stupid grin on and lean over and smack me on the lips. He gets a kick out of the domestic, what can you do?

9. Two to go, two two two. Erm...Hee, Ok, this is so bad but it does qualify as memorable. I had never before met a guy, hell, a human of any gender, who kissed with open mouth and no tongue. What is that about? It's like being a pair of magnets when you have the poles reversed so they slide around all bouncing off each other. So bad. What exactly did I expect from dating within the whole Born Again Pool?

10. Let's go out on the cute factor, shall we? On a very rainy winter day I went to brunch with Alita's family. She was about 1, able to walk but not super steady. Her parents did some errands and I walked in the downpour with the toddler to try and get her wound down enough that we could eat simply. Even then she was pretty evenly keeled but she was still a toddler so an ounce of prevention and all that. She and I got to the restaurant first and there was a long line. Way too long for toddler wrangling. I started throwing around a few line-standing appropriate toddler distractions and found the sweet spot. She hadn't learned how to kiss yet. So we stood in line for probably 20 minutes while I kissed her eyes and her temples and her cheeks and she slobbered all over my face. Before we got seated, though, she learned how to kiss. Nothing whets the appetite like a little triumph. Very memorable.

Why don't you tell me about a kiss you remember? Can you think of 10 even if you don't want to list them?