Film, tv, food (choccy, pastries and ethnic cuisine, especially), travel, books, footie, trivia, world affairs, taking walks, the usual stuff. I love dogs and am partial to Japanese Akitas and Shibas and...well, just dogs. I'm not the outdoorsy type (running water and electricity and a hair dryer are must-haves!) and I don't like to attend the ballet.
I'd like to meet:
Funny, sincere, honest, mostly sorted, witty, interesting, entertaining, literate, clever and upbeat individuals. People with integrity a plus. You should have similar interests/ambitions to mine for friendship, OR we should be able to help each other out career-wise.
Music:
On my iPod: loads of Jpnz, Okinawan and Hawaiian music, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Concrete Blonde, Juanes, Shakira, Kylie, the Pogues, U2, Texas, Kate Bush, Elvis Costello, the other Elvis, Dusty Springfield, Joan Jett, the Corrs, Clannad, Joni Mitchell, the Motels, Staple Singers, Parliament, much more. I guess I have somewhat eclectic taste in music but lean towards old school (well, dammit, I'm old!).
Movies:
I love stuff by Richard Curtis, Gurinder Chadha, Stephen Frears and other UK filmmakers. Also, I enjoy a lot of French and Spanish cinema (most anything by Ozon, Techine, Jeunet and Almodovar or starring Deneuve, Ardant, Abril, Huppert, Adjani, etc.), most of Wong Kar Wai and Kitano Takeshi's films. What (little) I've seen coming out of Korea and Iran in the past decade or so has also been very impressive. Other than that, I will gladly sit through a well-crafted, original rom-com, a Julie Andrews musical or a well-acted/well-written period piece.
Television:
Cold Feet, French and Saunders, Vicar of Dibley, Coupling, As Time Goes By, AbFab, Little Britain, Catherine Tate Show, Ali G., Kumars at No. 42, Goodness Gracious Me, Prime Suspect (Helen Mirren rocks!), Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, Lost, Spooks/MI5, Alias, Bromwell High, shows on which celeb chefs tell you how easy it is to make something when it's really not, etc. I've been known to get a little addicted to certain sport events (like World Cup, Euro Cup, Winter Olympics and what have you) and reality talent shows like American Idol, X-Factor and Rock Star.
Books:
Fave contemporary authors include Kazuo Ishiguro, Sarah Waters, John Irving, Zadie Smith, and Neil Gaiman. Love Oscar Wilde. I also like Anglo/Irish/American modernist fare, and I like some manga and comic books too. Oh yeah, I like to look at cookbooks with nice big colorful pics, especially when I'm hungry to torture myself.
Heroes:
People who do animal rescue and foster work, people who are ill but still get up everyday to do as much as they can, people who are scared and oppressed but still function and all the people who help those less fortunate. I swear I'm not a hippie! It's probably just hormones...
