Colouring-in * going out * staying in * scathing wit * the brewing and subsequent consumption of alcohol * pre-Wittgenstein philosophy * 1950s Hollywood * chatting shit* musicaa * That Green Feeling * critical self-analysis * nerdy science * keeping a secret hamster named Dennis * the pre-raphaelites * feminism (though not feminazism) * making cuddly toys * complicated high-fives * reading and writing pretentious nonsense * rolling myself in my duvet and refusing to get up * people-watching * Japanese-speaking * snooker-playing * picture-painting * trailer-toking * maracca-laughing * literature-guzzling * bonfire-huddling * flower pressing * tasty baking *
I have also been getting into INTERNET SHOPPING in a big way since I found out I could use my debit card for this and am now excitedly frittering my hard-earned £££ on books, DVDs and psychoactive herbs.
People who aren't up themselves
People who aren't posers or phoneys
People who don't self-harm for attention (scratch that, anyone who isn't constantly screaming for attention)
People who can name their bad points and try to fix them
People who don't preach existentialism in order to justify their clichéd teenage (w)angst
Poeple who enjoy using their brains
People who can punctuate and write coherently
People who play snooker professionally
People who aren't slaves to extremes of fashion
People who cry if they see a torn-up book
People who know how to listen
People who feel their music in their hearts and their heads and their toes
People who are honest, whatever they feel
People with similar interests to me
People with completely different interests to me
People who'll understand that I can be happy without having the all-American smile
People who like colouring-in
People whose ratio of brains to eyeliner is greater than 1:3
People who can create their own magic without resorting to drugs
People who aren't pseudo-depressants
People who can put up with copious quotations from Holden Caulfield
People who may be quiet but are still strong enough to stand up for what they love
People who understand what I'm on about
People like you
My musical tastes range from SO BAD IT'S GOOD to SO GOOD IT'S BAAAAD. In-between, a few favourites are are:
* Jeff Buckley
* The Young Knives
* Leftover Crack
* DeVotchKa
* The Long Blondes
* Bloc Party
* The Skids
* Pulp
* LCD Soundsystem
* Joy Division
* Nick Drake
* Luna Sea
* Skankin' Pickle
* Psapp
* Battle Royal
* Ben Christophers
* Cypress Hill
* PJ Harvey
* The Dresden Dolls
* Massive Attack
* Mint Royale
* Thomas Newman
* Oi Skall Mates
* Most jazz and blues
* The Pipettes
* Black Sabbath
* Little Richard (a-wop-bop-a-doo-wop)
* Save Ferris
* Not Rod Stewart *
I also really like that song by the Plain White T's, but not so much that I'd waste a tenner by going to a gig to see them (although I have been known to do that and it's usually turned out okay).
I like movies that make me think, but not movies that are pointedly pretentious, pseudo-intellectual and running away with/from themselves. I also like films that cater for my kind of humour (i.e. whacked).
* Road to Perdition * Cowboy Bebop * The Wicker Man * American Beauty * Requiem for a Dream * Bill&Ted * Stand by Me * Chocolat * Donnie Darko * Life of Brian * Snatch * A Streetcar Named Desire * Ferris Bueller's Day Off * Rocky Horror Picture Show * Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind * Take Care of my Cat * The Crucible * Studio Ghibli * The Truman Show * Little Miss Sunshine * Tarantino gory-orgies * Dr Strangelove * Amadeus * Zorba the Greek * Shaun of the Dead * Fat Albert *
To be honest, as long as it doesn't feature Hugh Grant, Ben Stiller or Keira Knightly in any way, shape or form, I'm perfectly willing to give it a look.
"You, my love, are allowed to beat the shit out of your television, choke its thoughts and corrupt its mind
Kill, kill, kill, KILL the motherfucker before the song of zombified pain and panic and malaise and its narrow, right-wing vision and its cheap, commercial gang-rape becomes the white noise of the world.
You, my love, are allowed to forgive and love your television."
I don't have Sky, so my TV viewing is restricted to channels 1-5 and any DVDs that I fork out for. Consequently, my favourite shows are:
* Black Books * ER * Grey's Anatomy * Jeeves and Wooster * Spaced * Prison Break * Snooker * Pseudo-science with Adam Hart-Davies * The Moomins * Deal or No Deal * Green Wing * A Bit of Fry and Laurie Fit and Lolly *
Whenever I visit a more fortunate friend's house, I monopolise the Sky box and watch:
* Robot Chicken * Daria * Roller Jam * Braniac *
Sometimes I watch things like The Daily Politics to watch Gordon Brown getting a good rinsing from the Opposition and to time Jacqui Smith's acquiescent nods. University Challenge is always fun to tune into, just in case there's any Oxford totty strutting their stuff/beating de Montfort into a bloody pulp. YER!
are written by good authors, like:
* J.D. Salinger * Harper Lee * Sylvia Plath * Hubert Selby Jr. * Truman Capote * Lian Hearn * Terry Pratchett * Sue Townshend * William Nicholson * Anthony Burgess * Virginia Woolfe * Arthur Miller * Kierkegaard * George Orwell * Geoff Ryman * Jospeh Kesselring * Marcus Aurelius * Mary Wollstonecroft * Steve Jones * John Gribbin * Daphne DuMaurier * P.G. Wodehouse * Jean-Paul Satre * Joanne Harris * Franz Kafka * Steven Pinker * Richard Dawkins * Muriel Spark * Naomi Wolf *
I love books more than I love most people, which isn't as cold as it sounds 3
Jeff Buckley * Sylvia Plath * Holden Caulfield * Kate Winslet and many other curvy women * Harper Lee * Kouta Hirano * Diana Dors * Dylan Moran * Tank Man * George Orwell * Arthur Miller * Will Self * Stephen Hawking (despite him not really being a gangsta rapper) *
I admire these people for what they've done or overcome. Or in the case of Diana Dors, because she is fantastic. I don't try to emulate them because I don't want to be a second anybody.
I like to think that this shows something of the man behind the cerebral persona. That is why I, too, am joining the cult of this image.