Knitting. Coding (sometimes tag-team with the spouseling). Movies that don't suck. Music that doesn't suck (and seeing said music performed live at nifty little venues). Gaming with friends. Kitchen destruction in the name of culinary experimentation. Throwing around free weights in a gym. Writing. Keeping my twenty-pound cat from suffocating me when he sits on me.
Steely Dan, Jonatha Brooke, Tragically Hip, Underworld, Maktub, Reggie Watts, Tori Amos, Beth Orton, Frou Frou, Imogen Heap, Rush, Barenaked Ladies, Be Good Tanyas, Cassandra Wilson, Diana Krall, Michael Bublé, Angie Aparo, Björk, Chroma Key, Avalanches, Jimmy Eat World, Sugarbomb, Daft Punk, Guster, Ani DiFranco, Angie Aparo, Mars Volta, Modest Mouse, Kevin Gilbert, Danny Tenaglia, Sander Kleinenberg
Amelie, American Beauty, Apollo 13, Princess and the Warrior, Dekalog (Decalogue), Before Sunrise, Bound, Casablanca, Clerks, Cidade de Deus, Croupier, Dark City, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Fight Club, Full Metal Jacket, High Fidelity, Identity, Kentucky Fried Movie, Koyaanisqatsi, L.A. Confidential, Lone Star, Limbo, Lost in Translation, Memento, Much Ado About Nothing, Munich, North By Northwest, Abre los Ojos, Persuasion, The Player, Pride and Prejudice, Quills, Rear Window, Red Violin, Requiem for a Dream, Roman Holiday, Lola Rennt, Say Anything, Secretary, Sex Lies & Videotape, Sideways, Taxi Driver, Twin Falls Idaho, Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin), Y Tu Mama Tambien, the Up series,
House, Sopranos, Hustle, Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Good Eats, Tony Bourdain. (Shows with plot, character, and substance -- you know, the stuff that gets canceled the moment it airs. That's our lot in life.)
Duh, I'm a librarian. Funny story, though ... in elementary school, I was accused of reading the encyclopedia. I just never told them they were right. I did. My personal collection is too large to list here; my books spill into multiple rooms in my house and, if it weren't for the kindness of my employer, would take up even more. Everything from space opera to classic sci-fi to American 'classic fiction' to the literature classics I read extensively in college. I'm the person my friends turn to when they say, "I need something new to read."
I'm not really the sort to have heroes. I think we're all human, and for the most part, I stick to my 'vast majority' theory -- that the vast majority of people will make the best and most reasoned decision possible regarding their lives the vast majority of the time. At least, I hope so. Otherwise, we're screwed.