walking, reading, backpacking, cooking, learning, making things from scratch, pushing myself just slightly outside of my comfort zone, wandering through libraries and bookstores. music. surprises. spirituality, fresh air, thunderstorms, spy movies, science, sustainable development. human idiosyncrasies, intelligent conversation, optimism, laughter, personal growth.
Richard Dawkins, Kevin Spacey, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ray Carver, Richard Feynman, Jack Kerouac, John Mackey, Madeleine L'Engle. And any other potential new friends out there, too.
Gomez, A3, Atmosphere, Bjork, Styrofoam, Muse, Dropping Daylight, Postal Service, Thievery Corporation, Counting Crows, Rusted Root, Soul Coughing, Greg Brown, BT, The Streets, Leo Kottke, Eve 6, Better Than Ezra, Death Cab, Massive Attack, Quietdrive, A Perfect Circle, Nada Surf, Regina Spektor, Paul Oakenfold, Dave Brubeck, Modest Mouse, Maroon 5, Apollo Sunshine, Toby Lightman, Lucky Boys Confusion, Ulrich Schnauss, Benny Benassi, Nickel Creek, Sondre Lerche, Damien Rice. Downtempo, trip-hop, or progressive house when I'm working. Folk music on lazy Sunday mornings. Sprinkle in singer-songwriter, emo, 80s classics, midwestern rap, funk, indie pop, jazz, etc. as needed.
American Beauty, Amelie, The Princess Bride, Babe, Memento, Rushmore, City of Angels, I Heart Huckabees, Eternal Sunshine, Lost in Translation, Oceans 11, An Inconvenient Truth, Baraka, Brokeback Mountain, anything with Ed Norton or Audrey Hepburn, most spy movies, anything old-timey on TCM
I don't spend much time with the TV, but weekly gatherings with friends keep me watching Gilmore Girls and Grey's Anatomy. Scrubs and Family Guy are both hilarious, and I've got a huge girly crush on Alton Brown of Good Eats. I lost my November to LOST on dvd, but I hear the third season is no good.
Books are my constant companions. I especially enjoy work by Ray Carver, Hermann Hesse, Madeleine L'Engle, Henry David Thoreau, Peter Singer, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Batchelor, Bertrand Russell, Yann Martel, David James Duncan, Jeanette Winterson, Ernest Hemingway (his short stories, anyway), Edward Abbey, and Dave Eggers. Life of Pi, The Time Traveler's Wife, and The Brothers K are probably my favorite novels from the past few years.
"Anyone can slay a dragon, he told me, but try waking up every morning and loving the world all over again. That's what takes a real hero."