All kinds of verbs: Learning about and making art, traveling, sharing (knowledge:), yoga(ing?), cooking, hiking, camping, laying out at the beach, music, reading, drinking (wine, dirty vodka martinis, guinness), NPR, dreaming big!
People who inspire me, make me think, make me better, make me laugh. New california friends, Buddha, Bjork, some old friends from high school.... you know who you are....
The artist / musician that I admire the most is Bjork. I LOVE music so most things can be found in my collection; including but not limited to: classic and modern rock, reggae, trip hop, acid/bebop/afro cuban/latin/new orleans jazz, blues, alt country, alt / indie rock, ambient, swing, breakbeat, drum and bass, folk and freak folk, some house, grunge, lounge, mambo, salsa, Motown, opera, neo soul, pixie funk, and even rockabilly. I do not dig most industrial, modern country, gangster rap, and smooth jazz. A few things I particularly like are: The Pixies, Portishead, Radiohead, The Smiths, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Sarah Vaughn, Joanna Newsom, Kings of Convenience, Camera Obscura, Electrelene, tricky, led zepplin, Hot Hot Heat, Yeah Yeah Yeah's, Metric, Arcade Fire, Cat Power, Ugly Cassanova, PJ Harvey, Be Good Tanyas, Beta Band, Stereolab, Beck, The Black Crowes, Jane's Addiction, Ben Harper, Xavier Rudd, Bob Marley, Beth Orton, Natalie Merchant, Ani Di Franco, Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, Tribe Called Quest, Q-Tip, NIN, D'Angelo, Peter Tosh, Nirvana, Feist, M. Ward, Mazzy Star, Devendra Barnhart, Elliot Smith, The Cure, Jose Gonzales, Iron and Wine, Willie Nelson (a few other classic country artists), CCR (lots of classic rock...), Otis Redding, ...
Amelie, Life is Beautiful, spirited away, princess mononoke, big lebowski, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Fried Green Tomatoes, Rushmore, Party Girl, City of Lost Children, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill's, What the Bleep Do We Know, Kung Foo Hustle, Dancer in the dark, Requiem for a Dream (though I can't actually ever watch it again), Donnie Darko, Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Natural Born Killers, Napoleon Dynamite, Run Lola Run, The Princess and the Warrior, The Triplettes of Bellville, High Fidelity.
I don't watch much tv. But if I do happen to have cable at my current residence I can be caught loafing and watching a little bit of the food channel. I'm always up for some Simpsons and Sex in the City, the occasional CSI and Daily Show and if my sister's around we'll watch Grey's Anatomy.
Atlas Shrugged, fountainhead, On the Road, Darma Bums, the stand, the long walk, fionavar tapestry, bridgette jones diary.
My mom for raising 3 kids practically on her own. My sis for being so independent these days. Bjork for being such an amazing musician. And the Dalai Lama for finding good in a really shitty situation (among many other feats). Helen Keller for everything, what an amazing human....