Writing, painting, dreaming, acting, singing, music of multiple varieties, friends of long lasting, baubles a raven would love, my children, my home, fresh flowers, viewing art, dead Russian authors, live feminist authors, commentary with far-reaching implications, and anything else of the vaguely pleasurable nature. Oh, did I mention writing--I do that a lot. Working on second novel Sex Angel as soon as I can--a playful romp through all kinds of blasphemous theology. Also, writing a third novel called Fidelities at the same time. What can I say? I like to multi-task.
I am also a huge art fan. Love the art of Degas, Dali, Michael Parkes, Monet, and many modern artists and animation god/desses, including Siolo Thompson. (See her animated video of her brother Isaac's song below)
I also love the work of my talented artist friend MÈLÄñÌÈ who has just sent me the enormous gift of creating the below piece of art as a reply to my lyrical poetry. This piece is part of a larger series she entitles Little Queens, called HER CANDLE BURNS AT BOTH ENDS...FOR HEATHER. How fun and delightful when art inspires art! Her prints are also available for sale. Buy one! :)
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Writers. Publishers. Editors. Painters. Musicians. Those for whom life is unbearably painful at the same time as necessary. Those who see the beauty all around and take it forward with them into dreams. The occasional miracle maker. Keepers of celestial stars. Tellers of oral histories I would not otherwise have known. Those who cook amazing food and tell jokes with physical humor or wry wit. No one who will bore me with false kindness. Everyone who will extend their hand into the fire in the name of mercy when an honest life's at stake. The courageous. The beautiful. The bold. Alright, you. I'd really like to meet you. If you write, tell me what you write and what you read. :)
Other than that, I'd like to meet Flannery O'Connor, Vladimir Nabokov, Virginia Woolf, Jorge Luis Borghes, Sandra Cisneros, Tenessee Williams, TC Boyle, Rick Moody, Tim O'Brien, Sam Shepard, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Sir Alfred Lord Tennyson, Pablo Neruda, or Shakespeare (obvious problems with some of these meetings--where's my shovel?). But seriously, I'm always looking for smart artist friends to play with. Like to intertexual dialogue. Like fresh coffee and deep conversation. Like to hate dumb films and love good ones. Love a challenge. Let's write a short story, a children's book, a screenplay, a novel, a haiku, a song. Send me a writing riff with a comment--the weirder the better--edgy or traditional, light or dark, I'm always game.
In no particular order--Regina Spektor, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, Ani DiFranco, Timbaland, Keith Urban, Prince, U2, Counting Crows, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sia, Five For Fighting, Marvin Gaye, Sting, the Carpenters, Jewel, the Smiths, Jimi Hendrix, my girl Tori Amos, NIN, Garbage, new fav Matt Jones, Marie Schumacher, Simon and Garfunkel, Tiga, Santana, Nelly Furtado, Katie Webster, Elton John, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sparklehorse, and anything else that floats my boat when I cruise new artists. Love, love, love the voice of Lindsay Harper who I recently found here. Check her out. Like country, blues, R&B, classical, hiphop, jazz, folk, trance, alternative--there's hardly a genre I don't listen too.
Gattaca, Lord of the Rings, Dark City, The Lover, The Piano, Pleasantville, Minority Report, Labrynth, Moulin Rouge, Chicago, Henry and June, Chasing Amy, Fight Club, Good Will Hunting, The Last Unicorn, The Matrix (the first one only), Freeway, Delicatessan, Silence of the Lambs, The Bridges of Madison County (film only, book sucked), The Breakfast Club, Rear Window, Casablanca, etc.
Heroes; Grey's Anatomy; Project Runway; Top Chef; Ghost Whisperer; Brothers and Sisters; Bones; The Office; Work Out (oh snap!)... Etc. But I TIVO everything--cannot watch with commercials.
Most that are canon. Lots that are new. Come on... I'm a lit freak / word junkie. Pick your poison and I probably can speak to it.Okay, sample top 5 (can easily rotate these later):1. Orwell- 1984
2. Tolstoy-Anna Karenin
3. Nabokov--Pale Fire
4. Calvino--Cosmicomics
5. Borghes--Ficciones
I'm also looking forward to reading what I know is going to be a fascinating book for animal rights fans and activists by Kathryn Shevelow entitled For The Love Of Animals
Virginia Woolf, Ani DiFranco, Colin Powell, Napoleon Bonaparte (planned well until dreaming too big), All my best girls, any man who has ever stopped a woman from being hurt or raped, any listener who knows well enough to hear first, talk second. The dreamers, the writers, the singers, the painters, the bards.