2008-03-25
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A few of my favorite things
Ever inspired by the lovely and talented GolfWidow, who is the one that gave me the code to update my webpage out of the abysmally boring default diaryland format, I am making a list of 100 things that I like. This list was inspired from kristintracy, another of my favorite bloggers, who sadly due to having a real life or some other bullshit excuse, has not graced my world with her words in 6 months. I�ll keep hoping.
The deal with this (following GolfWidow�s modification) is to list 100 things that you like, in no particular order, including 10 songs that you�re really digging right now. *deep breath* Here goes:
1. Music. This will always be at the top of my list. I love listening, I love playing, I just love how music makes me feel.
2. Fishing. Or more specifically, I love going to Canada and fishing with my friends. You see in Canada, you spend a lot of time catching fish, not just practicing your casting. Awesome.
3. Beer. Oh boy, do I like beer. No, I said beer, not Bud. Blech.
4. Mexican Food.
5. �Arriving Somewhere but Not Here� by Porcupine Tree. Thanks to my friend Don who turned me on to PT about a year and a half ago, they have quickly become one of my favorite bands.
6. Diet Pepsi. But oh, how I loathe Diet Coke.
7. The Simpsons! Still one of the best shows on TV. Fact.
8. Nexium. The purple pill that keeps my stomach acid from burning a hole all the way to my toes. See #3,4.
9. Good conversation. I am a very chatty TJ, and I love to talk, especially after a cocktail or two. I got this from my dad. Thanks Pop!
10. Stand-up comedy. I loves me a good comic.
11. Writing. It�s cathartic, yes, but it�s also just�fun!
12. Not being unemployed. I chose the wording carefully, because it doesn�t necessarily mean that I like working, it just means that I don�t enjoy not working. Make sense? Alright, moving on�
13. 13. What the fuck is the big deal about 13? When The Girl and I went to Philadelphia for a wedding a few years back, we had a room on the 13th floor. I was so happy that triskaidekaphobia wasn�t rampant in the City of Brotherly Love.
14. Getting phone calls from my daughter. She doesn�t call me often, and her phone doesn�t work half the time.
15. Buying gifts for people. What?
16. �The Moment I Said It� by Imogen Heap.
17. South Park.
18. The Harry Potter books. J.K. Rowling really is brilliant.
19. Golfing with my friend Chad. It�s always fun, even when I suck � which is most of the time.
20. Ketchup. It�s good with so many things, and I like it in LARGE quantities.
21. Baking soda toothpaste. That�s right. Love it!
22. Exploring Mayan ruins with The Girl. She�s a great travel buddy, and I think there�s no one else I�d rather explore ancient cultures with. Well, maybe Lara Croft. No, If I were with her someone would be shooting at us.
23. Knit hats. Tooks, Eh? Beanies, and the like. Not the kind with the little dreadlocks, but when you have as little hair as I do, you need something to keep the loaf warm.
24. Emails from people I haven�t heard from in a long time. It�s the modern equivalent of an unexpected letter, and it�s nice to be thought of.
25. GEEK ALERT! I like Star Trek in all forms. Even before my friend Aron was on the show.
26. �Hold On, Hold On� by Neko Case. I love Neko Case! I discovered her through radioparadise.com
27. Driving downhill. I get better mileage in my Prius that way.
28. Gigging with my band.
29. World of Warcraft. Oh noes! Two geek alerts nearly back to back!
30. Visiting with my family. I love every one of them, quirks and all.
31. James Randi, god of the modern skepticism movement.
32. The Internet. Thanks for pioneering the funding for this, Al Gore, you changed the world.
33. Coffee. Darker blends, preferably. With cream. Thanks.
34. �Pure� by Golden Palominos. Mmmm, Lori Carson. Delicious.
35. Sleeping in my own bed. Travel is great, but there�s no place like home.
36. Darts. I�m not an exceptional player, but I love to play. It looks more like a nipple than a bull�s eye to me, but that�s just how my mind works.
37. Meeting new people.
38. A really nice stereo. Not necessarily one that will play loud, but one that will play clean, so that you can hear the subtleties of the music. Or the helicopter crashes of the movie you are watching. (thanks to Al for that analogy).
39. Snuggling with my cats.
40. Hearing my Friend David talk about his kids, Malcolm and Cesar. Cracks me up.
41. Knob Creek on the rocks. Oh, yes.
42. Every HBO series that I have ever seen. To include: Six Feet Under, Deadwood, The Sopranos, and Rome.
43. The feeling I get when I tell someone I�m sorry and I know that they forgive me.
44. �Love to Love� by UFO. I�ve been listening to this for 30 years now, and I just can�t get sick of it. This rock band was way ahead of their time, and anyone who is worth his or her salt as a guitarist will bow to the mastery of Michael Schenker, who was UFO�s driving force in the 70�s.
45. Ice cold water. Drinking tepid water just does not do it for me. I�ll do it in a pinch, but I like it cold, even on cold days.
46. French Onion soup.
47. Driving in the mountains on clear days when you can see for miles. Ah, it�s breathtaking.
48. Camping with the family. As long as I don�t have to sleep in a tent.
49. Medium-tipped pens. I don�t like fine-point, even when I need to write small.
50. Chili. Pretty much all kinds. Green chili, red chili, beans, no beans, whatever.
51. Mead. It�s something that most people don�t make anymore as it takes a really long time, but when I can get my hands on some, I savor it.
52. Italy. I lived there for 3 years when I was in the Navy and I still dream of going back someday. Why haven�t I? Ah, well, who knows?
53. Hummus. I fell in love with hummus when I was in Israel last year, and oh boy is it outstanding. It has to be good hummus though, there is a lot of shitty hummus on the market. Sabra is a good brand for store-bought.
54. �China� by Tori Amos. It�s a sad song about two people who can�t communicate that will always have a very special place in my heart.
55. YouTube. It has everything!
56. Astronomy. I�ve always been fascinated with space, and with all the images we�re getting from Hubble, Cassini, other probes and scopes before and yet to broadcast, we have so much more to learn! Yes!
57. People that have a good sense of humor.
58. Being appreciated.
59. Cribbage. Win or lose, it�s my favorite card game. I understand that Euchre will be played a lot in Canada this year though, which I used to know how to play but have long since forgotten.
60. Friendly verbal sparring. A.k.a. �shit talking�.
61. Sincerity. Just mean what you say.
62. The writings of Edgar Allan Poe.
63. Pretty much every one of Tim Burton�s movies.
64. �Never-Never� by Lush
65. Shower heads that are mounted (or hang) straight above you rather than on the wall, at an angle.
66. Polarized sunglasses � a must for any fisherman!
67. Speaking of fishing, there�s nothing like a fresh fillet of Northern Pike. Yum!
68. Aged Italian Parmesan cheese. Oh, I can just sit and eat slab after slab. I pretty much love cheese in general.
69. Homestar Runner. .com. It�s silly and a lot of people don�t get it, but I think it�s awesome. Thanks to David for turning me onto homestarrunner.com a few years back.
70. Sex. What? Did you really think I would leave this one out?
71. Disneyland my best friend Christian. We've been going since we were teenagers. Best time ever.
72. Peanut butter on French Toast. And pancakes. And waffles. With lots of syrup.
73. Carl Sagan.
74. The SharePod software that lets you use your iPod as a spare hard drive, unlocking the proprietary restrictions placed on the OS. Fuck iTunes. (Thanks Stephen!)
75. �End of the World� by Blackfield. I love how Aviv Geffen and Stephen Wilson write and sing together.
76. Road trips. Call me crazy, but I like long drives. Like the 962-mile drive to the folks� house at Christmas time.
77. Long talks with my grandmother. She�s 92 years old, still lives on her own, and is still lucid enough that I can talk to her for an hour at a time. Gah, I should call her today, it�s been a few weeks. Bad grandson!
78. The Scottish accent. I just love it. Especially coming from a hot woman like Shirley Manson or Sharleen Spiteri. Prrrr.
79. Sleeping with 2 pillows under my head. One pillow just won�t do. Unless it�s one of those potato sack pillows. No, even then, I like my head up high.
80. Bacon or sausage with my pancakes. But they have to be drenched in syrup too. Bacon without syrup just isn�t bacon. It�s pork.
81. Air conditioning. Don�t be coy, yes I love it on hot days, but I actually went to school for it when I was in the Navy, and I love how it works. The thermodynamics of it is really awesome. See Science is cool! *ducks*
82. Listening to my father tell stories. He�s the best. At Christmas, I took a new digital video camera and recorded a bunch of stories from my father�s youth, Navy, and the Fire Department. Awesome.
83. �Won�t Be Home� by The Old 97�s. I�m actually attempting to sing the lead vocal on this song in my band. It�s a busy song on the drums, and my singing voice isn�t all that anyway, but the guys are being patient with me. Thanks guys!
84. Speaking of the band, I really like our new bass player, Mindi May. She�s nice and she�s a good fit for the band.
85. White Russians, extra dark. The favorite drink in Mexico. Just call me The Dude, man.
86. Fast email responses, especially when jokes are flying. I like the rhythm of fast retorts, and humor is one of those things that works best when it�s off the cuff. Like lipstick. Wait, what?
87. Fresh sheets. Nice flannel sheets in the Autumn and Winter. I don�t change the sheets as often as I should, but I�m never sorry.
88. Toilet paper that is two-ply, but not too soft like Charmin. You still need to have some wiping ability, and that stuff just doesn�t have a high enough friction coefficient to get the job done.
89. Computers. What a great invention. So versatile, so fun.
90. Campfires. And special thanks to my friend Chris for finally showing me how to build one quickly. Works every time. Thanks buddy!
91. �Don�t Wait That Long� by James. I love pretty much everything that I�ve ever heard from this band though. Tim Booth (the singer) just has a certain�credibility to his voice that is really something special.
92. Carhartt clothing. Triple stitched and tough, it�s awesome. My favorite jacket too. Rock on.
93. Mayonnaise, please. You can shove that rotten Miracle Whip up your ass.
94. Teva Sandals. I had a friend I the Navy try to tell me how good these were 17 years ago, and I wouldn�t have it. I just wasn�t into sandals. Then I tried some and have been enjoying them for 7 or 8 years now. I still hate Crocs though, regardless of how comfortable they may or may not be.
95. Eggs Benedict. It always comes back to food.
96. Concerts. Live music is a rush for me, being a music lover and a performer. I know how it feels to be on stage, and an appreciative audience is really something special. A good show is awesome for me as a listener too, though.
97. Good service at a restaurant. There are few things finer than a good server. Rock on, wait staff, rock on. You�ll always get a good tip from me.
98. In the same vein, good bartenders are a blessing. I got stuck in Milwaukee this spring due to a snow storm, and when I stepped in to the hotel bar and ordered, the bartender, who was a younger woman, poured me a stiff drink. She said �you looked like you needed it.� Bless you, Patricia. I did need it.
99. I like that fact that my daughter is a self-proclaimed atheist. What pleases me about this, other than my obvious agreement, is that I had nothing to with it. She�s a free-thinker, and she came to this conclusion completely on her own. She�ll be 17 next week. I�m so proud.
100. I like that I was able to finish this list, and that I can be inspired by people that I�ve never met, and make time for a bit of introspection from time to time. It was harder than I realized, but I don�t believe that this exercise was a waste of time at all. Hopefully it wasn't a waste of your time to read it.
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