Writing and drawing; seeing rock bands; reading; people watching; staying connected to family and friends; going to the movies; shopping for late 1960s and early '70s-style clothing; not getting enough sleep; thinking about becoming a librarian or an art-school teacher; buying striped knee socks; peeking at babies and small dogs; learning meditation and other relaxation techniques; enjoying city parks; balancing the ol' budget; thinking of life beyond New York City.
I'd like to meet:
LONG ANSWER: Modest intellectuals, gifted musicians, freethinkers, cineastes, prolific artists, fellow rock fans, bibliophiles, poets and other writers, and those who give a shit about what's happening in the world.
SHORT ANSWER: Talented, friendly people who are productive and left of center.
WHO I DON'T LIKE TO MEET: Lots of people, including men assembling MySpace harems of half-naked women, married men who are "lonely," and those who spell "you" as "u" when writing me messages.
Music:
The Asteroid No. 4, The Beatles, Beck, The Black Angels, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Blondie, Marc Bolan-T. Rex, bossa nova, David Bowie, Brian Jonestown Massacre, James Brown, Buzzcocks, Calla, Johnny Cash, John Coltrane, Sam Cooke, The Coydogs, Cream, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Dandy Warhols, The Datsuns, Miles Davis, Dead Meadow, disco, Bob Dylan, Elwood Grace, Aretha Franklin, Serge Gainsbourg, Marvin Gaye, Getz and Gilberto, Adam Green, Al Green, The Greenhornes, HeadQuarters, Jimi Hendrix, The High Dials, Hole, Billie Holiday, Hopewell, Iggy Pop-The Stooges, Etta James, Jeremiah Rifles, Joan Jett, Janis Joplin, The Kills, The Kinks, L7, Led Zeppelin, The Living Things, Low Flying Owls, MC5, Van Morrison, The Mooney Suzuki, The Morning After Girls, New York Dolls, Oasis, old-school rap, The Out Crowd, The Pandas, Parliament-Funkadelic, The Pink Mountaintops, Polyphonic Spree, Psychic Drive, Quasi, Queen, The Ramones, Otis Redding, Rolling Stones, Sly and the Family Stone, The Soft Explosions, Soledad Brothers, Mazzy Star, Steppenwolf, Stereophonics, Talking Heads, Telephone, The Thermals, Toilet Boys, Tina Turner, Velvet Underground, The Verve, The Warlocks, Wolfmother, early Stevie Wonder.
Movies:
1970s cop dramas, concert films, documentaries, film noir, French cinema, and road-trip movies. Some of my favorite films include "The French Connection," "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3," "Gimme Shelter," "Let It Be," "Dig! The Movie," "Mad Hot Ballroom," "Double Indemnity," "Miller's Crossing," "When the Cat's Away," "Blue" (3 Colours Trilogy), "Two-Lane Blacktop," and "The Wild One."
Television:
Not much. If it's not the news (BBC, Le Journal, local or national), then it’s DVD time.
Books:
Although I read some fiction (James Baldwin, E. Lynn Harris, Jack Kerouac, Arthur Nersesian, George Orwell, Amy Sohn, Alice Walker), I prefer nonfiction, especially autobiographies and biographies. But I read books on lots of topics: art (Basquiat, Kahlo, O'Keefe, Warhol), film (Peter Biskind, Phillip Lopate, Sam Staggs, Christine Vachon), social science (Farai Chideya, Barbara Ehrenreich, Eric Schlosser, Studs Terkel), U.S. history (Ward Churchill, David Halberstam, James W. Loewen, Howard Zinn), feminism (Susan Brownmiller, Susan Faludi, Peggy Orenstein, Gloria Steinem), women of color (Patricia Bell-Scott, Angela Y. Davis, bell hooks, Barbara Smith), political science (Noam Chomsky), poetry (Allen Ginsberg, Langston Hughes, June Jordan), and plays (Ntozake Shange, August Wilson). I also enjoy graphic novels (Daniel Clowes, Joe Matt, Adrian Tomine).
Heroes:
Civil Rights Movement participants, anti-war activists, second-wave feminists, gay liberation activists, vocal opponents of George W. Bush, pro-marijuana marchers, and those who risk comfort to pursue their artistic vision.
