Music:
townes van zandt, old country music, will oldham/ palace, neil young, johnny cash, leonard cohen, bob dylan, david bowie, woody guthrie, hank williams, rolling stones, pixies, simon & garfunkel, loretta lynn, dusty springfield, the starroom boys, john lennon, otis redding, mississippi john hurt, jolie holland, karen dalton, nina simone, aretha franklin, merle haggard, dolly parton, emmylou harris, gram parsons, gillian welch, bruce springsteen, lucinda williams...
Movies:
documentaries, anything by cassavettes(sp?), rushmore, the conversation, bottle rocket, the graduate, little miss sunshine, the way things go, waiting for guffman, together, the princess bride
Television:
six feet under
Books:
alice munro, iris murdoch (some of them), william trevor, raymond carver, kazuo ishiguro, richard yates, books about ceramics & design
Heroes:
eva zeisel