MARŸA

I'd like to meet:

Mainly other bellydancers and musicians. Also, people who don't list an alphabet soup of degrees after their names. If you're looking to impress me with the size of your bank account, the car you drive, or how much of the world you own in real estate... I'm definitely not interested if your IQ score falls below mustard's. As much as I like military men and Turkish drummers...

DJs will always be the love of my life.

Music:

What I don't listen to:
(Because my ears hurt)

New Skool Rap/Hip Hop
Death Rock/Metal
Disco
Emo
Alternative/Grunge
Gospel/Christian Rock
Country/Western
Most American music

Anything fast and with a bangin' beat. I just wanna dance. Is that a crime? However, these are "just a few" of my favorites:

USA Contemporary:
Black Eyed Peas
Jojo
Destiny's Child
Outkast
Bone Thugs & Harmony
Snoop Dogg
Mariah Carey
Cascada
Angelo Venuto
C + C Music Factory
Trilogy
Anything & everything Freestyle
Imported dance music (mainly from UK)
Gotta have house music ALL NIGHT LONG (say what?)

World Music:
Romany/Gypsy
West African
Australian
Middle Eastern
Native American/Red Nation
East Indian (Punjabi/Pakistani)
Greek
Anything fusion

Smooth Jazz/Chill/Easy Listening:
Sade
Enigma
Jars of Clay
Govi
Nora Jones
Pieces of A Dream
Al Jareau
Spirogyra
Enya

Latin America:
Shakira
Tito Puente
Celia Cruz
La India
Thalia
DLG
Son By Four
Oro Solido
Los Pleneros de la 21
Conjunto Quisqueya
Wilfrido Vargas
Pimpinela
Danny Rivera
Jerry Rivera
Los Lonely Boys
Wilkins
Julio Iglesias
Enrique Iglesias
Jose Alberto, El Canario
Ricky Martin

Reggae/Dancehall/Soca:
Sean Paul
Bob Marley
Shaggy
Rupee
Patra
Des'ree
Shaka Deemus & Pliers
Tami Chynn
Maxi Priest
Kevyn Little

Oldies But Goodies:
Frankie Valli & The 4 Seasons
The Supremes
The Righteous Brothers
The Beatles
The Carpenters
Spiral Staircase
The Who
The Doors
The Rolling Stones
Fifth Dimension
Pink Floyd
Elvis
The Spinners
The Temptations
The Mamas & The Papas
Fleetwood Mac
Sonny & Cher

Plus so many I have no room left on this page for.

Turkish/Arabic: Hossam Ramzy
John Bilezikjian
Oojami
Turbo Tabla - Karim Nagi
Reda Darowesh
Maduro
Dalinda
Hakim
Issam Houshan
Saad - Prince of Sha'abi
Mohammad al Hakim
Nawal al Zoghby
Cheb i Sabbah
Soraya
Woroud
Shani
Amr Diab
Cheb Mami
Faudel - Prince of Rai
Natacha Atlas
Susu & The Cairo Cats
Ron Wagner (on doumbek)
Michael Cox (on flute)

Movies:

I don't see movies without falling asleep, but these I can stay awake for:

Anything starring Marilyn Monroe, my idol and inspiration
Almost anything starring Tom Hanks, Joe Pesci, or Robert DeNiro
Documentaries
The Banger Sisters
The First Wives' Club
The Joy Luck Club
The Breakfast Club
Chocolat
Like Water For Chocolate (I understand it without the subtitles)
The Mission
Analyze This/That
A Bronx Tale
Goodfellas
The first 3 'Rocky' movies
The Terminal
The Color Purple
Evita
Schindler's List
Malcolm X
Ray

Television:

I don't usually watch TV, but this is what I like so far... The Food Network (I watch it religiously)
Cops
Law & Order
ER
CSI
The Three Stooges
Monty Python's Flying Circus
The Daily Show
The Colbert Report
Bewitched
I Dream of Jeannie
Friday Night Standup
Mythbusters
The History Channel
National Geographic
Monk
Forensic Files
Power, Privilege & Justice
House MD
Dancing With the Stars
The Situation Room
Anything George Carlin

Reality shows and celebrity stalking aren't what I have in mind when it comes to entertainment.

Books:

Currently Reading: ALPHA DOGS The Americans Who Turned Political Spin Into A Global Business (James Harding)
Recently Read: RELIGIOUS LITERACY What Every American Needs to Know -- And Doesn't (Stephen Prothero)
When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops? (George Carlin)
Mary Higgins Clark:
Let Me Call You Sweetheart
On The Street Where You Live
You Belong To Me
Remember Me
The Second Time Around
Pretend You Don't See Her
Loves Music Loves To Dance

Carol Higgins Clark:
Iced

Nora Roberts:
Black Rose
Three Fates

Patricia Cornwell:
Black Notice
The Last Precinct

John Grisham:
Runaway Jury

Dan Brown:
Angels & Demons
The DaVinci Code

Anne Rice:
Interview With the Vampire
The Vampire Chronicles

Stephen King:
Pet Cemetery
Misery
Rose Madder

Toni Morrison:
Jazz

Amy Tan:
The Joy Luck Club

Silver RavenWolf:
To Ride A Silver Broomstick
To Stir A Magick Cauldron

Sheherazade:
Tales of the 1,001 Arabian Nights

Maxine Hong-Kingston:
The Woman Warrior

Turtle Woman Singing:
Cracking the Cosmic Egg

Mary Crow Dog:
Lakota Woman

Betty Friedan:
The Feminine Mystique

MORE magazine
TIME magazine
Anything published by Llewellyn

Heroes:

My parents
Men in uniform
My eighth grade teacher, the late Miss Joan Murphy and little Holly Wallace, who both touched my life immensely and before their passing into The Summerland have proved to me that life doesn't end with a cancer diagnosis.
My dance influences (ladies first):My aunt Candy [PR] Suzie Marek [Italy] Suhaila Salimpour [USA] Anahid Sofian [Turkiye] Dina [Egypt] Tamalyn Dalal[USA] Dalia Carella [USA] Kaeshi Chai [Australia] Amar Gamal [Cuba] Susan Frankovich [USA] Adoré [USA] Anasma [USA] Fayzah [USA] Sandralis [PR] Jillina [USA] Suraya Hilal [UK] Marina Darowish [Brasil] Ansuya Rathor [USA] Sohaila [USA] Louchia Tchoukri [USA] Rania Bossonis [USA] Rachel Brice [USA] Sharon Kihara [USA] Mardi Love [USA] Molly Crabapple [USA] Dirty Martini [USA] Chita Rivera [PR] Neena & Veena[USA] Raqia Hassan [Egypt] Kathy Ferguson [USA] Rita Moreno [PR] Cyd Charisse [USA] Tina Landon [USA] Dixie & Jen [USA] Charlotte Jorgensen [Sweden] Mahmoud Reda [Egypt] Freedom Williams [USA] Prince [USA] Savion Glover [USA] Alvin Ailey [USA] Eric Nies [USA] Hypno [USA] Tiny Love [USA] Morganics [AUSTRALIA]
Women with power:My mother Lady Godiva Khadijah Sarashina Sacagawea Eva Peron Lilioukalani The Queens Elizabeth Sally Hemmings Eleanor Roosevelt Gloria Steinem Betty Friedan Linda McCartney Ruth Bader-Ginsburg Hillary Clinton Tina Turner Mary J. Blige Corazon Aquino Hellen Keller Harriet Tubman Maya Angelou