My favorite pick-me-up is STILL some good ice-cream and some Chicken Soup for the Soul. Although good luck finding either in Tanzania. I have ADD. I love doing jigsaw puzzles and listening to books on tape. I got my driver's license at 23. I am addicted to candy. I have a Masters degree in Geography and Environmental Studies; my thesis was approved exactly two days before my wedding. You know what they say, finishing a Master's Thesis is like being kicked to death by rabbits... it takes a really, really long time. I am in the Peace Corps partly because I don't want to enter the job force just yet.Some of the most important elements of my life are my faith, my friends, my brother, parents, Charlie, and Punkin and Squeaky. I love you all.
You know what I miss? TETRIS!! I mean old school black and white Tetris for the Mac Classic. Those were the days.
I'd like to meet:
Friends, fans, ghosts, and Teddy Roosevelt.
And of course, Natalie Portman, the lovely actress who shares my exact birthdate (June 9th, 1981).
Music:
Favorite staples: Pink Floyd (now and forever), TOOL, Radiohead, AIR, Sigur Ros, and Beck. I adore Mason Jennings (for roadtrips), The Sounds (for energy), the Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham soundtrack (it's Bollywood, and it totally rocks), and ABBA (it's a Gaffney thing). Also deserving mention are Goldfrapp... Massive Attack... Phantom of the Opera soundtrack... Winged Migration soundtrack... Blonde Redhead... Shpongle... Aimee Mann... Fiona Apple... Manu Chao... Cat Power... and Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone and other great singers from that era.
Movies:
In no particular order: Phantom of the Opera, Muppet Family Christmas, Tales of the City, Winged Migration, Super Size Me, 300, American Beauty, Cane Toads: An Unnatural History, Run Lola Run, Amelie, Best in Show, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (jk, so bad it's just BAD), Erin Brokovitch, Rudy, Donnie Darko, Sixteen Candles, The Boondock Saints, and then some...
Little Shop of Horrors is an all time favorite. It's 90 times more fun with my brother though :) And Steel Magnolias is my favorite no-fail tear-jerker.
Television:
I miss Nip/Tuck, The L Word, ROME, and The Shield the most right now.
TV shows that the little girl in me loves are: Degrassi Jr. High (and Degrassi: The Next Generation), JEM and the Holograms, Punky Brewster, Square ONE, Today's Special, 3-2-1 Contact, and Bug Juice.
Guilty pleasures that bring out my inner teen are: One Tree Hill, Gilmore Girls, Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, Models Inc., America's Next Top Model, The L Word, and Laguna Beach.
Best all around: Freaks and Geeks, The Simpsons, Sex and the City, Queer as Folk, Seinfeld, and Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Darker, more "boyish" show favorites are: The Sopranos, The Shield, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, OZ, Deadwood, LOST, ROME, and Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction. I watch way too much TV. Please don't judge me!
Books:
The Kite Runner, Alice books by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Harry Potter books, Calvin and Hobbes (I think of you, Nina!), Natural Capitalism, I Know This Much is True, Middlesex, The Poisonwood Bible, Couldn't Keep it To Myself, Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time books, Flowers in the Attic, Guns, Germs, and Steel, The Coming Plague, Fast Food Nation, Death Be Not Proud, the Bible, The Ragamuffin Gospel, She's Come Undone, The Bell Jar, and some other smart ones that I'm forgetting that balance out the fun ones.
Heroes:
Seth! My Mom, my Dad, and Ian, Charlie, and single mothers. And Mike Powell from Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul II. And Ernest Shackleton, the explorer, of Endurance fame. Clara Felix is also my hero, because she made her life matter.
If my life leaves only a fraction of the impact that hers has, I will die happy. There is currently a Sickle Cell Clinic named after her and this is how they describe her: "Clara Felix, Berkeley resident and local treasure, was a passionate believer in the value of good nutrition, natural healing, traditional foods, and the wisdom of ancient cultures. For 23 years and 125 issues, she wrote, edited and published "The Felix Letter-- A Commentary on Nutrition" and turned out the most deeply felt, most carefully researched, and most fascinating commentaries on unheralded nutritional research ever written.
