Right now: Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour. All the time. And Lucero in the mornings while I get dressed. I am not a fan of any particular genre other than 80's pop songs. I am humbled and embarrassed by my weakness for Ryan Adams, ugh. I love REM, The Shins, Patty Griffin, Glen Phillips (and Toad the Wet Sprocket, RIP), Doves, Alison Krauss, Beach Boys, Billy Joe Shaver, Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen, Charlie Rich, Interpol, Van Morrison, The Pretenders, Paul Simon, Josh Rouse, David Mead, Jack Johnson, Trent Summar and the New Row Mob, Junior Senior, Coldplay, Cory Branan, Trent Dabbs, Old 97's, Grandaddy, My Morning Jacket, Scott Miller and the Commonwealth, Mike Doughty (and Soul Coughing), David Gray, Otis Otis Otis, Prince, Johnny Cash, Joe Henry, Greg Brown. David Bowie, Dwight Yoakam, Franz Ferdinand, The Cloud Room. James Taylor, Jeff Black, Shelby Lynne. Spinto Band, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Caesars, Louis XIV, Cloud Room, Matt Pond PA. Postal Service, The Faint, !!!, Band of Horses.
Movies
Garden State, An American in Paris, Big Fish, Princess Bride, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, Amelie, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Usual Suspects, Say Anything, Father of the Bride, Ocean's 11, Casablanca, Cinderella, Pretty Woman, Almost Famous, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Incredibles, The Magnificent Seven, Gigi, Notting Hill, Some Like It Hot, High Fidelity, Fried Green Tomatoes, 40 Year Old Virgin, Good Night, and Good Luck, Batman Begins, The Iron Giant, To Catch a Thief. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. And I don't know if this counts, but the A & E Jeeves and Wooster series is brilliant. Get it on Netflix.
Television
Arrested Development, Sopranos, Sex and the City, AbFab, Gray's Anatomy, Big Love. Otherwise I always default to Food Network, specifically Bobby Flay (I love the Throwdown), Paula Deen and Alton Brown. Entourage is my favorite right now.
Books
Memoirs of a Geisha, Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood, Narnia Chronicles, Nancy Drew mysteries, The Dark is Rising series, If I Found a Wistful Unicorn, Calvin and Hobbes, anything by Natalie Goldberg, Harry Potter, Shel Silverstein, cookbooks (especially The New Best Recipe by the editors of Cooks Illustrated). Anne Rice. The Ten Commandments of Professionalism in Teaching, which I especially like because my Mom wrote it. L. M. Montgomery. Judith McNaught. Ruth Reichl! Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. Devil Wears Prada. My Life in France by Julia Child.
Heroes
Julia Child. My Mom. My Grandma Hazel. My writing teacher, Margrethe Alschwede. Paula Deen!
About me: I hate it when people write books I should have written. For example: Love is a Mix Tape, by Rob Sheffield. Of course, if I had written it, it would have been much less sad, and would have involved much more Candlebox and Boys II Men. Another example: The Enlightened Bracketologist, edited by Mark Reiter, Richard Sandomir, and Nigel Holmes. I'm not finished with it yet, so I'm not sure if they included as many Barbie references as I might have. I'm sure if I look hard enough, someone else has already written The Dull Ache that is My Neverending Career Ennui, or Won't Someone Just Pay Me to Make Truffles and Watch The Food Network? Amended to add: Candy and Me by Hilary Liftin: hilarious concept, memoir told through the format of which candy she was obsessed with during different periods of her life. In reality: neither funny nor particularly interesting. If I had written it, you'd hear all about my passionate love affair with Lik-M-Aid, and the elaborate processed with which I can disassemble a Swiss Cake Roll.
Who I'd like to meet: Oh, they are all dead now, pretty much. Johnny Cash, Gene Kelly, Hepburn (Katharine or Audrey), Julia Child, Georgia O'Keeffe. Well, Bobby Flay is still alive, and Paul Newman. And Paula Deen! For sure.
What I'd like to See: The New Zealand All Blacks Rugby team performing the Haka:
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That is a GORGEOUS pic of you (at a wedding) that was tagged!! I tried to leave a comment on it, but do not know Austin and you have to be a friend to do that. Anyways.... BEAUTIFUL!!
Oh how I long for the much simpler days of Linker and swinging from the vine across the smallish ravine that was sooooo exciting. Well minus the attack rusted barbed wire...
