I LOVE: enquiry, JAMES WATERMAN, curiosity, ART FOR ARTS SAKE, art for the sake of principles, DISCOVERY, when it all falls into place, even if it disappears a day later, the power of the SPOKEN WORD, my parents divorce, POLESON, laura, MY FAMILY, when the reality is better than the dreaming, RED WINE, almost getting away with it, GETTING AWAY WITH IT COMPLETELY, days off, DAYS ON, running THE BIG WORD, peanut butter on toast, WAKING UP AND NOT HAVING TO GET UP, reading in the bath, PRACTICING POEMS IN THE SHOWER, finishing poems and liking them, THE RANDOM SQUIRREL THAT TEASES THE CAT IN MY BACK GARDEN, edinburgh, JAMES' CD COLLECTION (mine is shite), FINALLY LETTING GO OF THE IMP THAT BUGS YOU, reading, WELL TIMED ESCAPISM, train journeys, GIGS OUTSIDE OF SCOTLAND WHERE I CAN CHURN OUT THE SAME OLD SHITE, jamming with LAURA, comfiness, FEELING SAFE, not being scared of death and the future (BOTH ARE INEVITABLE AND PERFECTLY NATURAL), being judgemental, CRITICS, bravery, HOSTING POETRY SHOWS, drinking while hosting poetry shows, LOVING WHAT PEOPLE THINK OF ME, NO MATTER WHAT IT IS ( this is a work in progress :), crows feet, GETTING OLDER, learning, MY UN-KILLABLE CACTUS, james cooking (yes, there is a theme here...), letting myself dream, STAYING INSIDE IF I WANT TO... I HATE: accepting things/being forced to accept things at face value, WHEN TORIES CLAIM TO BE LIBERALS, the state of political journalism, UNSPEAK, the power of corporations, THE MISUSE OF THE WORD 'LIBERAL', people who argue that we shouldn't 'judge' each other, simply because we are from different backgrounds, WOMEN WHO'LL STILL CALL THEMSELVES 'GIRL' AT FORTY, men who cheat and say its in their nature to 'spread their seed' then leave their partner if they succeed in planting said seed, SCREWBALL LOGIC, circular arguments, THE RISE OF RELATIVISM, deepak chopra, THROWING UP SPAGHETTI, the bottom of the bottle, DYING ON STAGE, being ripped off, BAD ARGUMENTS, size zero, MISSING PEOPLE WHO'RE NOT COMING BACK, pretty much all advertising, PEOPLE WHO THINK BORIS JOHNSON IS 'HARMLESS', the style of election coverage, PEOPLE WHO SHOUT 'JUMP' AT SUICIDAL PEOPLE ON BRIDGES, lack of empathy, SELFISHNESS, liars, COWARDS, purposeful idiots, SENTENCES BEGINNING WITH "I'M NOT A FEMINIST, BUT/ i'M NOT A RACIST, BUT/ I'M NOT A TORY, BUT....", people who can't distinguish between porn and sex, THE TOTAL ACCEPTANCE OF PLASTIC SURGERY, bridget jones being an idol for women, PLANTING THE TERM 'FEMINIST' ON ANYONE WHO EXPRESSES A SENTIMENT THAT DIFFERENTIATES THEM FROM A DOORMAT OR A PROSTITUTE, accidentally eating soap (don't ask), ARROGANT STAFF IN CLOTHES SHOPS, £8 for a pint of rubbish. Amongst other things.
CURIOUS PEOPLE. People who dont think "all poetry is shit". HAPPY LONERS. Bands,MUSICIANS, poets, ARTISTS, people i can send spam about Big Word to :)
Oh no. Not starting. I'll embarass self by not being able to spell their names. Or getting their names wrong. I like all the music acts I book for The Big Word - Dominic Waxing Lyrical, AUSTEN GEORGE, Jed Milroy, HAZEL MORRISON, Chris Bradley and lots lots more. Jingly jangly stuff, miserable lyrics and heartfelt nonsense. Mostly. I fucking hate mainstream hip-hop. And regardless of how good THE STREETS and The ARCTIC MONKEYS are, neither are 'modern day shakespeares'....And I don't like The Streets anyway. Sorry.
I need lots of guidance in the film area....I don't know what I've been doing, but I haven't seen any of the films 'everyone has to see before they die' etcetera. I saw Memento recently. That was bloody good. I hate teen-high-school films. And films where the geek turns goddess. And psuedo-morality tales, where the 'moral' is that women will die for the love of a complete bastard, or men will wield a sword and slash the world to bits for the sake of a heaving bosomed twat with a brain the size of an eggcup and enough personality to fill one...
Oh, I know I shouldn't you fashionable people, but TV does not serve just one master after all: tis good for some things...like information and escapism :) Buffy, Black Books, Curb Your Enthusiasm, CSI, Joss Whedon in general, apocalyptic tv series, South Park (the later years especially), kids films about fairies and wizards - preferably with some futuristic interference from humanoids who will end their way of life and then there is a big battle (i approve of socialist propaganda being aimed at children: tis why children are often nicer people than the adults they turn into), and I love slagging off adverts. I'm in the OED under 'fun'....
My bookshelves are the best thing about me. And they're broken and sagging to the left :) William Morris, GEORGE ORWELL, Aldous Huxley (most of the time), BERTRAND RUSSELL, J. S Mill, HEINRICH BOLL, Arthur Koestler, KURT VONNEGUT, Philip K Dick, DOUGLAS COUPLAND (mostly), STEVEN POOLE, Stephen Ingle (who is my dissertation tutor, and actually writes academic essays and books that everyone can understand - how rare!), FRANCIS WHEEN, William Golding (even if I don't agree with him - excellent writer), H.G WELLS, Zamyatin, MARGARET ATWOOD, Germaine Greer, KATIE ROIPHE ("The Morning After" should be requisite reading for those who think feminism is about making women victims and celebrating it).... I love anti-utopian and utopian literature (partic. of a socialist bent), political philosophy, discourse analysis that doesn't succumb to foggy nonsense (Marcuse and Foucalt are good if you have a po-mo dictionary next to you), satirical prose and poetry, political poetry, postmodernism (if only for the hilarious nonsense they sometimes come out with), biographies and studies of religion, history and political leaders. I smile all the time, and love everyone I meet - can't you tell?
adopt your own virtual pet!
Orwell, Bertrand Russell, Steven Poole (author of 'Unspeak') - anyone who can see through the towers of subterfuge to find the truth; and those who at least try to :)