Books        Music       Movies       TV       Miscellaneous

I enjoy a variety of types of books, but I'd guess my favorite books could be classified as Science Fiction and Fantasy. I enjoy Terry Pratchett greatly, as well as Neil Gaiman and Jack Chaulker. I enjoy the stories of Tolkein and Rowling, but sometimes their respective writing styles get on my nerves. Someone lent me the Annotated Chronicles of Dragonlance and I loved it.

I've always liked F. Scott Fitzgerald but few people have read the works of his wife, Zelda Fitzgerald. They're some of the most wonderful pieces I've ever read, and the writing itself is beautiful even without meaning. Reading Ayn Rand also played a huge part in my teenage years, so that deserves a mention as well. Oh, and John Irving. I can't count the number of times I've re-read The World According to Garp.

I've loved Martin Amis since I picked up his book Dead Babies as a joke and ended up loving it. There's almost nothing I won't read, but what's really important to me is beauty of prose and engagement of the story. I've loved books with so-so plots but fascinating characters. If a book can suck me in, I'll enjoy it. My pet peeve is books with crappy endings. I've written many a rant upon finishing a book I was enjoying only to find that its ending is totally unsatisfying.

Also, part and parcel of my primatology dork, I read a lot of books by primatologists. Some even have pop culture appeal, as the well-known Gorillas in the Mist by Dian Fossey. My favorites of these include books that really give the reader a sense of what the experience was like, not just the research. George Schaller is particularly good at conveying the emotion.

I'm always interested in discovering new authors. I found David Sedaris through my story-reading group. Story-reading is one of my favorite activities. Friends come together, bring 10-20 minute long things to read, and everyone drinks tea and eats cookies.

Music
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I have to mention Janis Joplin first and foremost, because it was listening to her that actually made me appreciate more than just pitch in music. In fact, the music that I most adore now is the music which manages to convey the most emotion. It, in turn, stirs up emotion in me, making it a very powerful medium.

Janis was the gateway for appreciating other "Chick Rockers" but nowadays my favorites in that genre are Joan Osborne, Nikka Costa Fiona Apples and, surprisingly, Pink.

In the last year, I've been introduced to excellent bands, including Neutral Milk Hotel, Self, Of Montreal. I've also been more immersed in more kinds of jazz and blues, including Muddy Waters and Chet Baker. Long before this year, I've loved Ella Fitzgerald, Buck Clayton and Louis Armstrong.

I've always enjoyed "oldies" especially from the late 60s. Doors, Donovan, Dylan -- all well-played in my iTunes library. Oh, and everyone loves the Beatles, of course. But I will say that it's only in recent months that I've grown to properly appreciate the White Album. I'd even say now that it's my favorite Beatles album.

When Mark Sandman was alive, I used to love seeing Morphine in concert in New York City, and that hard bass sound has been continued by The White Stripes for me.

Being a Rennaisance Faire dork, I'm quite fond of Wolgemut. In that same vein, I've loved Bok, Trickett and Muir.

Whatever the tune, music plays a hugely important part in my life. It makes me wish real life had a soundtrack. I love making mixes for people and sharing my discovered treasures and vice versa. Music starts being played as soon as I wake up in the morning, and is a constant in my day-to-day routine.

Movies
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Movies bring together books and music for me. I'm one of those people who becomes totally engrossed by any movie I watch and oftentimes, if I'm watching a long DVD here in Congo/Uganda, when it's over I'll have to remind myself where I am.

The DVDs I lugged across the Atlantic with me are: Star Wars IV, V & VI, Labyrinth, When Harry Met Sally, Hackers, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Center Stage, The Great Muppet Caper, Love & Sex, Closer, and Buffalo 66. Each one of these movies invokes a certain reaction for me, and I love them all.

Yes, I'm a Muppets dork and Labyrinth and The Great Muppet Caper both make the list. If I'd had room, I would have brought more Muppets. No one can have enough Muppets. The Muppets even have great songs! I can quote most lines from Labyrinth verbatim and I've been teased repeatedly that I get all my romantic notions of the interactions of men & women from the DuBonnet Club scene of The Great Muppet Caper when Miss Piggy is tapdancing and all the men in top hats are surrounding her.

For the same kitch value, Center Stage is ace. It's entirely ridiculous, storyline-wise but it has this remarkable cult quality to it that just makes it funny instead of crappy. And it has great music. And ballet. A love triangle! A dancer with bad feet but the heart of a champion!

My dork quotient would have been completed had I had room to bring Lord of the Rings which I love -- I think they do a wonderful job of conveying the underlining story of the books, and yes, some stuff is cut out but a lot of stuff needed to be. I've managed to get all three, as well as the three Harry Potters, on bootleg DVDs in Uganda. So, my trio of three-part movies is complete, since I brought my Laserdisc ripped, non-Special Edition, Star Wars too. Does everything come in threes?

Closer and Buffalo 66 are my depression movies. Some people watch German expressionism in Nosferatu, but I prefer my angst a little more contemporary. Closer makes me think about how flawed and narcissistic we all are, and Buffalo 66 makes me feel the hollowness of my own childhood. Enough said.

Hackers is a guilty pleasure, because it's another one of those movies that should be awful. And being computer literate one must decry the depiction of computing and hacking in it. It is, however, incredibly stylish, and fun, and full of attractive people all playing with themselves computers, which is hot in and of itself. And it has a great soundtrack with bands like Underworld and Orbital on it.

Love & Sex is one of those movies that should have been a hit but just somehow didn't make it. It has Jon Favreau and Famke Janssen in it, but no one has ever heard of it, and it's hilarious. I probably base a lot of my romantic ideals on the witty banter between Adam and Kate, and the movie features my ideal boyfriend gesture: giving me a box full of kittens. The dialogue in the movie is really the winner, though.

I could sing the same praises of When Harry Met Sally which is, without a doubt, a classic. Another quotable movie as well, and it just makes me want to have witty interactions with everyone. I could live without a wagon wheel coffee table though.

Clearly there are other movies I enjoy, but the movies I brought all the way to Africa, in my mind, are somewhat indicative of where my movie-heart lies since I've already watched them all MANY times since I've arrived.

 

Television
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I guess for me this topic seems sort of superfluous, since with books and movies, one can sort of ascertain what kinds of shows I'd like. I do really love Buffy the Vampire Slayer but I never really liked Angel. In recent months, I've become enamoured with Battlestar Galactica and friends have been kind enough to send (and get me addicted to) House, Veronica Mars, and The Office. I'm such a Chief Tyrol fangirl.

When I was back in the states, the only shows I watched with any regularity were Lost and The Amazing Race. Both shows were guilty pleasures, and I'll say that they still are. Guiltiest of all the pleasures is America's Next Top Model which I once missed a Greyhound bus to finish watching. Sad, isn't it?

Cable shows I've loved - The Shield, The Sopranos, Carnivale and Sex and the City. Oh, and Weeds. ...Now if only I had cable.

Of course I adore the Simpsons but I've also grown to love Family Guy and Futurama. I also really liked Justice League, Teen Titans and Clone Wars when I was back in the States.

Quite obviously, I don't watch any television here, save for what I rent or am sent on DVD.

Miscellaneous
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I feel like the first, most appropriate thing to mention here is that I LOVE Christmas and love celebrating other people's birthdays.

Christmas is one of those holidays that just has no negative associations for me. Every Christmas I've had has been somehow wonderful. I love the carols, I love the decorations. Little fat Santa in his red suit is the best mascot ever. I love wrapping gifts. I love Christmas harmonies. I love the smell of pine trees, and I love trimming trees.

Woe will befall any person who interferes with my Christmas Cheer™. Which, unfortunately, usually begins in early November.

With regard to other people's birthdays - I like making people feel special. And really, your birthday is the one day of the year when you're single and unique (at least among your friends) and you should have attention and gifts lavished upon you. Or, at the very least, an e-card.