When I wake up in the morning, my main goal is to learn something new. As a historian of a sort, I like to build upon my past; refine old ideas, reject the outmoded thinking and follow the advice of a dearly departed mentor: never stop learning.
As an example, my current “obsession†is the Revolutionary and Napoleonic period of European history. During college, I had a passing acquaintance with this epoch (then I was more of a World War II buff), but one really good biography of l’empereur two years ago stimulated a massive reading splurge into the field.
In my world, it is not enough for me to be engrossed by something; I have to know the the reasons why I enjoy it. So then I guess my main interest is thought itself and how it relates to my past, present and future.
I'd like to meet:
Somebody who can bring me to the end. Really, is there anybody out there? It's best not to know me.
Music:
I am afraid the my taste in music is rather eclectically dull. My current favorite artist is the Japanese polymath Yoko Kanno, who is equally at home with techno, jazz, classical or world music. I also really dig the Japanese bands The Pillows and The Seatbelts. Of course, being a movie junkie, I like a lot of film scores. Basil Poledouris and Howard Shore are quite good, and I like early John Williams (ya’ know, before he started to retread his retreads). And I am a big Beethoven fanboy (or good ole Ludwig Van for you droogs out there).
Movies:
As a cinemaphile, there are three K’s whose work I adore: Kieslowski, Kurosawa and Kubrick. Each director is an expert at capturing thoughts and ideas on film. Kieslowski’s Red in particular is one of my favorite movies; Irene Jacob is stunning in every frame. Accurate historical films are rare phenomenon, but when they occur such as in Das Boot, I treasure them. And the surreal is quite interesting to me. And to prove I’m not a total film snob, I also love the LOTR movies and the original Star Wars trilogy.
Television:
My current fave is the new Battlestar Galactica. It’s just like the original, except that it’s good in every conceivable way. I skew either towards the intelligent and serious dramas or the intelligent and scatological comedies. Thus either Scrubs and Entourage is right at home with The Wire and Rescue Me. I am a Daily Show junkie as well. I’ve been a fan since Craigers was the host and they recapped the week’s movies in Italian
Books:
I read a lot and in various genres. To paraphrase one of my favorite authors (Michael Chabon), I’m an addict to the printed word. Within this broad spectrum there are fields I specialize in. In history my areas of interest are German (18th-20th Century), France (Napoleonic to Second Empire), Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Spain, the First and Second World Wars, Modern Japan, General Military History, and US diplomatic history. I could rattle off a whole list of historians but I sense few people out here would actually care, so message me if you’re interested. My favorite fiction authors are the aforementioned Chabon, Cormac McCarthy, Haruki Murakami, Banana Yoshimoto, Kazuo Ishiguro (actually a British writer), Gabriel Garcia Marquez and J. R. R. Tolkien. This is of course only scratching the surface.
Heroes:
As a historian (my slightly useless degree entitles me to call myself that) I know that any hero is bound to be a source of disillusionment. In point of fact we historians take perverse joy out of discovering their feet of clay. Ah, Schadenfreude.
