music (playing guitar, writing songs, listening to bands, discovering new and unique sounds), bike (road and trail), homebrewing beer (wine soon hopefully), hunting down great handcrafted beers, brewpubs and bbq, sweet tea and mac n' cheese, watching movies, writing screenplays, hiking, parties, newshounding, staring at buildings
musicians, filmmakers, conversationists, rhymesayers, massagegivers, other owners of beagles and red-ear slider turtles, writers, readers, lovers, fighters -- no, no fighters allowed... or drama for that matter.
players of guitars, mandolins, brass, exotic instruments and turntables
Kurt Vonnegut, Hunter S. Thompson, Leadbelly, 311 (again), Oscar the Grouch, Willie Nelson, Kermit Ruffins, Abe Lincoln, Mayor Ray Nagin, St. Arnold (fill the cup, homie!), Kool Keith, George Clinton and Bill Clinton (especially at the same time), my beagle Scrapple as a puppy and his parents and brothers and sisters, the people who invented sweet tea and barleywine and smoking whole sides of meat, the real Slim Shady
the ever-expanding list includes: avett brothers, joanna newsom, washington phillips, tim fite, sufjan stevens, my morning jacket, analog missionary, brightblack morningsong, sigur ros, sole (and all anticon associates) kaki king, 311, alan lomax collections, bob wills, leadbelly, matisyahu, mates of state, smashing pumpkins, blind lemon jeffereson, memphis slim, muddy waters, traditional japanese music, mastadon, dilinger escape plan, brad meldhau, joshua redman quartet, kermit ruffins & the bbq swingers, los hombres caliente, louis armstrong, billie holiday, talib kweli, sycorax, mos def, atmosphere, nightmare before christmas sdtrk, fry cook, grupo fantasma, hum, phish... much much more
great myspace discoveries: m.c. skwee-g, t.j., water island, tim fite, planet terry, garmonbozia, mad professor, stix duh clown
Just to name a very select few: RAY, HERO, DONNIE DARK, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF A SPOTLESS MIND, all things Kubrick, all things Coen Brothers, GHOST WORLD, GUMMO, JULIAN DONKEY-BOY, all things Wes Anderson, all things Tim Burton (especially BIG FISH), BARAKA, RAY, NOSFERATU, PLANES, TRAINS & AUTOMOBILES, BUENO VISTA SOCIAL CLUB, CATCH-22, SPUN, 21 GRAMS....
Chapelle show, Simpsons, Daily Show, Adult Swim, AMC, TCM, Sopranos, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development, Law Order: original, CI, SVU; Family Guy, Gilmore Girls, LOST, Mr. Show, The Office, The Conchords,
Books: Russel Banks (BOOK OF JAMAICA, TRAILERPARK, RULE OF THE BONE), Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (DEAD-EYE DICK, HOCUS POCUS, GALAPAGOS, CAT'S CRADLE, MOTHER NIGHT), CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES, THE MASTER AND MARGARITA, GHOSTS OF MOBILE, Regional Geography and Histories of the South and random other areas, American Studies, Christopher Mooore, WICKED ///// Magazines: NATIONAL GEOGRPAHIC, OXFORD AMERICAN, NO DEPRESSION
My mom and dads and brother Aaron, Amilcar Shabazz, Edward Tang, Will Belford, Hunter S. Thompson, Kaki King, Mos Def, Quentin Tarantino, Stanley Kubrick, State Rep. Patrick Rose (D-Dripping Springs, TX), Sole, President Clinton, my homies Jonas, Jessica Kidd and Dave Bellesen because they are doing what they really want to do with their lives... unlike many of us. If you're living right and helping others when given the chance and taking time to soak up the world.