Classical music, music in general, orchestras/symphonies, playing in orchestras and symphonies, flute, tuba, tuba players (ok, one), animals (especially cats. And dogs. And bunnies. And, oh, the hell with it- animals.), humor, sarcasm, paranormal stuff that gives me goosebumps, the private .. communities to which I belong and love, Mexican Wrestlers, caffeine, swearing, reading, Yiddish, Jewish culture, Red Sox, tabloids, Food Network, Alton Brown/Mario Batali/Giada Delaurentis/Tony Bourdain/Paula Deen (and her butter), teaching, the Tick (spoon!), cooking, WOW and just about everything else under the sun.
All the dear friends I have all over the U.S. and Canada and beyond, and haven't met in person yet! Annabelle Grace. Noly-poly bear and mom. Big Papi and Jason Varitek. Stephenie Meyer. Jon Stewart.
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Just about everything. Classical (especially Brahms, Mahler, Beethoven, Tchaik, and anything else Romantic), alternative, hip-hop, pop, big band, jazz, Ellington, Patsy Cline, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, klezmer, David Bowie, the Cure. Morrissey, Depeche Mode, Elton John, 80s alternative, punk, Beastie Boys, Willie Nelson, Stevie Wonder, Guster, Public Enemy, 50 Cent, Tower of Power, Chicago, Cole Porter, Antony & the Johnsons, Rufus Wainwright, Prince, Garbage, The Beatles, They Might Be Giants, San Francisco Symphony, NY Phil, Berlin Phil, Concertgebouw, Brass Venture, James Galway, Maraca, Hubert Laws, Rampal, Jeanne Baxstresser, Alexa Still, Queen, Journey, the Vandals, Operation Ivy, Peter Murphy, Bauhaus, Decemberists, Kaiser Chiefs, Echo & the Bunnymen, Shriekback, Love & Rockets, Missy Elliott, Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, the Smiths, Wilco, Berlin, Radiohead, Macy Gray, Mingus, Miles Davis, English Beat, Joy Division, Dead Kennedys, Etta James, Nina Simone, John Williams, Fiona Apple, Fishbone, Kool & the Gang, Earth, Wind & Fire, Barbra Streisand, Elvis Costello, Erasure... ok, I'll stop now.
Xanadu, Star Wars, West Side Story, Napoleon Dynamite, Grease, Fiddler on the Roof, Donnie Darko, Airplane!, Office Space, Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Nightmare Before Christmas, Shawshank Redemption, Field of Dreams, Repo Man, Pootie Tang, Point of No Return, Flashdance, Wings of Desire, Hedwig & the Angry Inch, the Shining, Labrynth, Monty Python's Meaning of Life, Life of Brian, and Holy Grail, Heathers, Fantasia, When Harry Met Sally, Big Fish, the Big Lebowski, etc.
The Office, Project Runway, Buffy, M*A*S*H*, Food Network (just about everything but that horrible Sandra Lee automatron), Twilight Zone (the original series, thank you), Daily Show, Colbert Report, X-Files, SNL, America's Next Top Model (when I can catch it), Star Trek (shut up), Simpsons, Futurama, the Tick (even though the cartoon isn't on anymore), Family Guy and the Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
Other favorites: Stephenie Meyers' Twilight/New Moon/Eclipse, The Secret History, Fall on Your Knees, Tales from the City, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Shel Silverstein, The Little Prince, The Velveteen Rabbit, The Used Up Bear, Girlfriend in a Coma, Kitchen Confidential, Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing, anything by A. Manette Ansay.
My parents, my husband, a good deal of my friends, some of my former students, some of my current students, the music director at the school where I teach and Mr. Friss, my English teacher from high school.