reading for pleasure (I don't get to do that much anymore since I read for my work with Suspect Thoughts and our other imprints--though every now and then I rebel and pick up the fattest book--Imajica, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Don Quixote, one of the Harry Potter books--and lie down in bed for a whole weekend); gardening (I know I'm turning into Miss Marple; but I can't knit or solve a crime to save my life; and tea makes me too jittery); spirituality; myth; fairy tales; queer lit; sci-fi; fantasy; cryptozoology; books by channeled entities; babysitting my 18-month-old nephew; meeting my about-to-be born niece; trying to deduce what my cats are saying to me; sitting by the fish pond in our backyard; watching trees and plants bloom after winter; eating spicy food; monkeytaming (that's for Greg)
Music
I'm a total jazzofreak--"phile" is just too mild. From early New Orleans-style up until fusion and lite took over. I also have a real weakness for baroque music (Purcell, Vivaldi, Corelli, Handel), especially early operas (again, Purcell, Handel, Glück). I go weak in the knees for certain countertenors--I way heart David Daniels. I also love the blues, funk, soul, disco (the good, the bad, the kitsch),
Movies
Bad Education; Belle et la bête; Bleu; Children of Paradise; The Fifth Element; Harold & Maud; The Incredibles; Law of Desire
Television
Battlestar Galactica, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Family Guy, Farscape (don't Crichton and Scorpius make a lovely couple), Heroes, Little Britain, Popular, Six Feet Under, StarTrek (all but Enterprise), Strangers With Candy, Weeds
Books
Trust me, my bookshelves groan from all the amazing books I refuse to part with. But here's a few I'd loan to you to get you started:
Burn by Jennifer Fink; Doc & Fluff by Patrick Calfia; FunHome by Alison Bechdel; His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman; Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke; Johnny Was by Greg Wharton; The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov; "The Mysterious Stranger," by Mark Twain (it's brutal); No Place, Louisiana by Martin Pousson; "The Nose" and "The Overcoat" by Nikolai Gogol; Orlando by Virginia Woolf; War for the Oaks by Emma Bull; The World of Normal Boys by K.M. Soehnlein
Heroes
Charlie Anders
Aristophanes
Arsenal Pulp Press
Margaret Atwood
Alison Bechdel
Dodie Bellamy
S. Bear Bergman
William Blake
Justin Bond--¡Viva Kiki y Herb!
Kate Bornstein
Adrian Brooks
Victoria Brownworth
Octavia Butler
Patrick Califia
Mama Cass
Justin Chin
Margaret Cho
Susanna Clarke
Stephen Colbert
Suzanne Corson
Sven Davisson of Ashé Journal
Everything about Family Guy
Douglas Ferguson
Janet Frame
Gina M. Gatta
Big Daddy Ganesha
Andrew McBeth of Green Candy Press
Adam Greenway
Trebor Healey
Greg Herren
Thea Hillman
Hogarth Press
Molly Ivins
Jennifer Joseph at Manic D
Kevin Killian
Krandall Kraus
Garland Richard Kyle of modern words: a thoroughly queer literary journal
Richard Labonté
Shaun Levin of Chroma: A Queer Literary and Arts Journal
Ali Liebegott
Matt Lucas and David Walliams of Little Britain
Mattilda, aka Matt Bernstein Sycamore
Leah Mayers
Derek McCormack
Tommi Avicolli Mecca
Annalee Newitz
Pan
Ian Phillips, the one with two "l"s from Toronto and author, illustrator, bookmaker extraordinaire
Lynne Phillips
Martin Pousson
Philip Pullman
Drs. Carol Queen & Robert Morgan Lawrence of the Center for Sex & Culture
Rex Ray
Kirk Read
Larry-bob Roberts of Holy Titclamps!
Will Roscoe
Barney Rosset of Grove Press
Bayard Rustin
Carol Seajay
Saint Sequoia (Ed Wolf)
Amy Sedaris
Jon Stewart
Jonathan Swift
Michelle Tea
Mark Twain
Glenn Turner of Ancient Ways
Desmond Tutu
Jim Van Buskirk
Kurt Vonnegut
Greg "SexyMonkey" Wharton of Suspect Thoughts Press
Paul J. Willis
Virginia Woolf
Emanuel Xavier
(Above) The innards of my new book: The Rapture for Big Sinners: 66 + 6 Things to Do Before and After the Righteous Lift Off
(Below) Me and My Monkey
Hi, my name is Ian Philips and you may remember me from such ready-to-burn queer literotica classics like See Dick Deconstruct: Literotica for the Satirically Bent and Satyriasis.
Don't feel bad if you were stumped on how to pronounce that second title; everybody is. Either Say-tur-rye-a-sus or Sa-ta-rye-a-sus works for me. And I've learned my lesson about titling a book no one can pronounce: don't.)
If you'd like sample a bit of my "cooking," then feel free to jump through the looking glass and visit my website: www.ianphilips.com.
I'm that and then some. And I'll answer to any of those names--even the name I was born with: Robbie Goble. But I do have a pretty strick "Robbie Rule": if you knew me as Robbie back in Tulsa, Oklahoma or anywhere else before 1991 (Earlham College, St. John's College, Holland Hall), by all means feel free to call me Robbie. If not, Ian or Mama Bear or Mrs. Wharton will do just fine.
(Yup, the top photo is me with an enormous carved statue of Bigfoot outside the Bigfoot Museum in Willow Creek, CA--yes, I'm a huge cryptozoology freak. Of course, Greg and I didn't know it was closed in the winter--but we still got to take an incredible trip through the mountains of Northern California.)
Ahh, I'm so sad I missed you guys - we really wanted you over for dinner. But per your naughty natures, you snuck out early! Stay in touch via the this web thing.
Hey Ian, my copy of Rapture came this week... Amazing! Brought a devilish smile to this satyr... I've started telling everyone within e-shot to pick up a copy... }:-)
RIP Suspect Thoughts Books? Huh? Does this mean there's going to be another shamanic journey back to the Bay Area? Or has Cleveland been the shamanic journey? Fill me in! xox
Back at'cha, Ian! Happy, Happy B-day! I'm finally drinking age, so I'm thrilled. But that, of course, is counting in dog years. Have a great day and year ... and best of luck to you and your partner with all of your great literary endeavors. Hope to make it to Cleveland one day (perhaps with next memoir, THE FAUX THOREAU: A CITY BOY BATTLES BLIZZARDS, WRESTLES RACCOONS & CUTS CABLE IN A QUEST FOR HIS MODERN-DAY WALDEN POND (It's sort of a gay Sex and the City Goes Country!) out next summer from Random House. Have a great '08! Wade Rouse www. waderouse. com
Ian. --This is just a short note, by way of thank-you, from the olde vampyre himself, for you having taken the time and made the effort to check in at the FAMILY DRAQUAL page to "invite us into your life." --Hugs (if you dare get that close), Vlad.
