Writing, music played loud, quilting, knitting, d.j.ing, genealogy, reading, looking for aurora borealis, seeking joy.
I'd like to meet:
The guy who invented the translucent plastic filaments that secure price tags to clothing, so I can complain about them.
Music:
Genesis, Francis Dunnery, John Mayer (and his Trio), John Doe, Todd Rundgren/Utopia, Kasim Sulton, Squeeze, Pearl Jam, The Beatles, Ben Kweller, Count Basie, Peter Frampton, Kelley Stoltz, Sondre Lerche, Michael Penn, The Bay City Rollers, Steely Dan, Cibo Matto, Wide Mouth Mason, Al Green, Slau, Sufjan Stevens, the dBs, Led Zeppelin, the Fratellis, U2, Jimmy Smith, King's X, James, Bucky and John Pizzarelli, Silverchair, Journey, KC and the Sunshine Band, King Crimson, the Hold Steady, Novillero, Steadman, Ben Folds, the Boomtown Rats, the Nashville Attitude, the Shoes, Bram Tchaikovsky, the Knack, Sloan, Queen, David Ryan Harris, the Odds, anything released on Stiff Records, everything Motown, Fleetwood Mac, Brad Paisley, Gomez, Maggi Pierce and E.J., Jamie Cullum, the Partridge Family, Marvin Gaye. And many, many more.
Movies:
Blades of Glory, The Philadelphia Story, Flirting with Disaster, Trees Lounge, Saturday Night Fever, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Toy Story, Rocky Horror Picture Show, My Bodyguard, Animal House, High Fidelity, anything with Liam Neeson (but especially Michael Collins and Rob Roy), A Hard Day's Night, E.T., Joe's Apartment, Xanadu, anything Marx Brothers.
Television:
Kids in the Hall, Gilmore Girls, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Freaks and Geeks, My So-Called Life, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Seinfeld, The Brendan Leonard Show, Green Acres, Roseanne, pre-Disney Nickelodeon Doug, the early days of Comedy Central, Pee-Wee's Playhouse, Black Adder, Bosom Buddies, The Mighty Boosh, Flintstones/Jetsons (the Hanna-Barbera yin/yang), The X-Files, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Bob Newhart, Uncle Floyd, Cheers, Taxi, The Carol Burnett Show, General Hospital.
Books:
Kick Me by Paul Feig, The Real Animal House by Chris Miller, any Beatles biography, any Beat literature, Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt, Veronica Ganz by Marilyn Sachs, Yonnondio by Tillie Olson, I Never Loved Your Mind by Paul Zindel, Trinity by Leon Uris, Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh, Cherry by Mary Karr, Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints by Dito Montiel, poetry anthologies: Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, John Donne, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Billy Collins, Dorothy Parker, Richard Brautigan, Charles Bukowski.
Heroes:
Captain Kangaroo/Mister Rogers (the yin/yang of live-action, old-school kids' shows), Charles Winans, Harpo Marx, Jon Stewart, Eddie Izzard, Lynda Barry, and my nana, Tutta Pinette Arnold.
