I am at least mildly interested in lots of things, but the whole idea of filing my interests in a category called "Interests" is a bit much. Just to be difficult, I think I'll tell you about a few things I am NOT interested in. I am not interested in learning how to change the oil in a car. I am not interested in making sure my lipstick matches my fingernails. I am not at all interested in lipstick, for that matter. I am not interested in experimenting with OxyContin. I am not interested in pickles. (I think it's the vinegar in pickles... I'm also not interested in salt'n'vinegar potato chips.) I am not interested (unless I have to be, for some higher reason) in doing anything whatsoever if it means that I will have to be cold. I cannot bring myself to be interested in beets, even non-pickled beets. Harlequin Romances leave me cold. I am not interested in Entertainment Tonight, the TV show. I am not really interested in buying toilet paper or toothpaste, no matter how many selections there are, or how well-advertised the products. I'm not interested in the idea of taking the toaster apart just to see if I can put it back together again. Nor am I interested in learning to perform autopsies, or in someday being able to finance a BRAND NEW SUV. (A used one would be alright...) I am not even remotely interested in Bruce Lee movies, no matter how talented he may have been. I am not interested in becoming a chartered accountant or a stockbroker, although I realize these could be lucrative. I am not interested in gin and tonics, or rum and cokes, or martinis, except maybe one, and only if there's no beer. I am not interested in owning or learning to operate an assault rifle. I know I should be interested in quitting smoking, but the whole idea leaves me colder than Harlequin Romances do, and I don't like to be cold. I am not interested in worrying too much about things I know I'm not going to bother doing anything about, and that includes politics. I'm not interested in people who live in glass houses and insist on throwing stones. Unless they're throwing them at ME. Then, it's kind of fun to watch...
Who wrote these categories? I'd like to meet him or her. "What?" I'd say. "Don't you think these categories are a bit banal? I mean," I'd say, "Honestly, I don't feel comfortable trying to think of things to put in these categories. It all seems so... categorized.""Yeah well," he or she would probably say. "Nobody's ASKING you to use this free service, or even this category.""Fine then," I'd say.I'm still trying to think of someone I'd like to meet. Right at this moment, I don't want to meet anyone. Not even Paul McCartney or Joni Mitchell, not Margaret Atwood or the Dalai Lama, certainly not GOD, right now, and certainly not myself in a dark alley. Which doesn't mean I don't want to meet people, in general. I just can't think of anyone I want to meet, right now.
Well, music is another story. I'm so interested in music that there just isn't time. I've been writing songs for years, but never get enough time to get to be quite professional enough of a player to actually record much myself. So I have to get other people to do the songs. (If anyone is in need of songs to record, let me know; I've got lots...) The song "My Friend" was co-written with the late John Johnston, Scott Parsons' bass player on Scott's first album, Jupiter Wise. I wrote the lyrics and John and I worked on the music together. The band is called Mocking Shadows (they're still operating successfully in Calgary).
The Fifth Estate. 60 Minutes. The Passionate Eye. American Idol. Big Brother. (I love reality, as long as it's only on TV. We don't have cable right now so I don't watch much TV. I watched every minute of the O.J. Simpson trial when it was on, though, so as to Educate Myself about the State of Society. It was interesting.) Regis and Kelly. The Nature of Things. The Simpsons. Larry King. David Letterman. Irritating American news shows. Bugs Bunny, if I could find him.
Here's my buddy Tommy's latest animation effort, which I think is cool (but too short):..
I EDIT books. I'm kind of an inveterate editor. If you want some help with something to do with editing, check out this site and look for me:
(Actually, just e-mail me here, and skip the middle man!)
As far as my own reading goes...if it's a paperback and it has a bunch of good reviews on it, including from the N.Y. Times, then it's probably good, or at least worth attempting. I won't read any paperback that doesn't have a few good reviews on the cover, and not just Publishers Clearing House reviews, either. I've read some Classic Literature and I've gotta tell you, I am starting to doubt the likelihood of ever getting around to Proust's "Remembrance of Things Past". If anyone has actually read that, and liked it, let me know. Explain. I like to live vicariously. I have aspirations in all the arts, myself, but I'm not sure how to deal with Proust. That is one LONG book. I suspect he was wanking.
I shall now brag about how many Brainbench Certificates I have accumulated. If you like taking tests, you will love this site. It's not as if I don't waste ANY time! View my transcript!
My latest fun thing: Litmocracy.com. You can go there and submit your own writing, and everyone votes on it. If everyone likes you best, you actually get published and paid. You even get paid for bothering to vote. If only the Real World could be like that. Cheers to Dave Scotese for running the whole thing.
Click here to go to LITMOCRACY.COM, which is my favorite site at the moment. (Yes, this is Andy again... he has nothing to do with it; I just like him.)
The Dalai Lama. Various pets who have rescued their owners, and owners who have rescued their pets. People in the military who do their jobs because those are their jobs (whether anyone agrees with the politics or not). Intelligent, unselfish, kind, funny people. Raccoons, sparrows, squirrels and coyotes, for being able to survive in urban environments.