In no particular order: photography, reading almost anything, theater, theories of all kinds, 1920's fashions, Warhol, prison art, the nature of reality (or lack therof), journals, hair dye, sex worker rights, RENT, thrift stores, coffee, Svedka, colored contacts, local musicians, foreign accents, anything cheesy or campy, the relationships of siblings, playing Ms. Pacman, wandering around aimlessly, wandering around purposefully, creative collaboration, starting things and letting the details work themselves out, pushing the edges of my own boundaries, vodka mojitos, meeting new people, potluck dinners, doing things I've never done before and the feeling of inspiration.
anyone who wants to be on either side ...
Anything. No, really, anything. If you have a playlist that includes Alix Olson, Eminem, Dar Williams, Counting Crows, Dylan, Dresden Dolls, Irish jigs, selections from old musicals and a number of bands I've never heard of, I'll probably copy it from you. And I get paid to write reviews of that stuff.
Movies that I love but wouldn't necessarily say that everyone should love: Gone with the Wind, Wizard of Oz, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (the first time around), Good Will Hunting, 8 Mile, Seeing Other People, Smallville, RENT, Playing by Heart, 54, Beaches, Dirty Dancing, Pretty Woman, She's Out of Control, Pick-Up Artist, Empire Records, Breakfast Club, Bad Education, Gia, Threesome and Reality Bites.
Almost nothing when it's actually on TV and almost anything when it's out on DVD.
Basketball Diaries and Forced Entries, anything by Palahniuk, Fountainhead, Memory and Dream, It, Woman on the Edge of Time, Our Noise, 1984, Falling I Find Wings, Identity and Unbearable Lightness of Being, Confessions of Max Tivoli, White Oleander, Bridge to Terabithia, pretty much any memoir, and all kinds of random stuff found in bargain bins and libraries.