A good book, concert or film, great conversations about everything under the sun, adventures of all kinds, baseball games, coffee houses, art, kicking back in nature, current events, QDoba burritos where available, lifting weights, taking care of mind/body/soul, quiet nights at home. Writing is what I do best and what I'm most passionate about.
Others who come in the name of good and not evil. Chill, interesting types who like to kick back and talk about life. Fun. Smart. Thoughtful. Free-thinkers. Those who aren't what they appear. (In a good way.) A few misjudge me on first impression. Some think I'm a meathead, which is about a million miles from true. ((Don't let the broad shoulders fool you.)) Others think I'm a little standoffish when I'm really just shy. And the rest? Your guess is as good as mine.
As they say, you can't judge a book by its cover. If that resonates, drop a line.
By J. Scott Halem
"Silver Dollar Queen" (above) and photography below by Dann Halem
EVERYTHING. You can do no wrong.
Some of my Tops: Rear Window, The Usual Suspects, Pulp Fiction, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, Chariots of Fire, Dazed and Confused, Field of Dreams, A River Runs Through It, Go, The Breakfast Club, Network, and Swingers. ((Ask me about seeing The Big Lebowski at a movie theater in Stockholm. As funny as this movie is, to be the only American watching it in a dark room of confused Scandanavians was about the funniest movie experience ever...))
Scrubs, The Office, The Sopranos, The Amazing Race. Sometimes something animated. And of course, whenever televised (which isn't often enough) our green and gold, Oakland A's.
Some of my favorites:
"Wonder Boys" by Michael Chabon
"This Boy's Life" by Tobias Wolff
"The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
"Leaving Las Vegas" by John O'Brien
"Naked" by David Sedaris
"Candyfreak" by Steve Almond
"Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
"Among the Missing" by Dan Chaon
"The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold
"A Home at the End of the World" by Michael Cunningham
"Moneyball" by Michael Lewis
"For the Relief of Unbearable Urges" by Nathan Englander
And any of the annual O'Henry short story collections.
David Sedaris, Tobias Wolff, Steve Almond, Kurt Vonnegut, Michael Lewis, and Sergio Diaz