Snakes, porch shopping, medicinal marijuana, going to weddings and funerals of people I don't know, massaging Siamese Fighting Fish, laughing uncontrollably at unintentionally funny movies, cooking with food colorings, Marinol, getting lost in thought, making prank phone calls, Xanax, staying out of sunshine, hydromorphone, road trips, avoiding the public, and showing up unexpectedly on TV and in films.
My brother at the lake to go fishing, those people I keep seeing on TV, pie thowers, people with no eyebrows, a living Harley-Davidson Ken doll, Hi-Fly Francisco Leon, Agnes Von Weiss, the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, the Conboys2, Masha the cat, attendees at Carol Channing's funeral, and whoever's in my shower.
Bluegrass, 1950s Country, 1960s acid and psychedelic rock, all Beatles (Yeah, fuck you, too.), 1970s glam, Factory- and Austin-era punk rock, 1980s dance rock, 1990s some things, Petrified Eye, Dolly Parton, the Punkaroos, Miss Xanna Don't, Antony and the Johnsons, Pansy Division, Nemesis, soundtrack to Brokeback Mountain, Joy Poppa, Ivy, Pussy Tourette, Shootin' Pains, Mike Runnels, William Basinski, Turkeyhound III, k.d. lang, Yoko Ono, S-T-B, The DeCords, Johnson Mountain Boys, Deadlee, The Ditty Bops, Jane Horracks, Placebo, Texas Terri, Void 88/MPD, Gary Floyd, Loretta Lynn, Iris DeMent, Hazel Dickens, Pretty Mouth, Angeline, Pocket Fishermen, Julie Andrews, The S.A. Creeper, Ennio Morricone, Angelo Badalamenti, and many, many others. My favorite albums are "A Child's Garden of Grass", "Ray Anthony Plays for Dream Dancing Around the World", "Ear to the Ground", and "Bette Davis Sings!"
Far too many to list, but mostly from the '30s through the '60s. B/W and independent films are always a plus. John Waters, Alejandro Jodorowski, James Elaine, Pedro Almodovar, Andy Warhol, Paul Bartel, Yoko Ono, Peter Greenaway, Michael Moore, Paul Mazursky, Alfred Hitchcock, Federico Fellini, David Lynch and Gregg Araki are my favorite "popular" directors, but my ten favorite all-time films are Badlands, Last Summer, Fandango, Walk on Water, All About Eve, Finding North, Beautiful Boxer, The Song of the Loon, Psychopathia Sexualis and Parting Glances, with Velvet Goldmine holding steady at number eleven. Movies filled with today's special effects bore me to near-death. Luckily there are films like The Killing of Sister George, Harold and Maude, Kinky Boots, and Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice to fall back on for a dose of normal insanity.
1961's "Sredni Vashtar", The Ed Sullivan Show, The Merv Griffin Show, The 4400, Dirt, What's My Line, Carnivale, Weeds, Hullaballoo, Six Feet Under, The Facts of Life, Due South, The Love Boat, Queen For A Day, Picket Fences, New! Now! Next!, Mr. Peppermint, Medium, Slam Bang Theater, Heroes, The Dresden Files, Captain Kangaroo, The Waltons, Dark Shadows, The Pretender, American Bandstand, Dallas, Concentration, Shindig!, Another World, South Park, Texaco Theater, Twin Peaks, Hollywood Squares, The Simpsons, I've Got A Secret, Buffy the Vampire Killer, Angel, Noah's Arc, American Gothic, Northern Exposure, Leave it to Beaver, Desperate Housewives, The Andy Williams Show, Wiseguy, Lost, The F.B.I., Telepathic TV, The Untouchables, The Mickey Mouse Club, Dante's Cove, The Gong Show, Kyle XY, The Lair, Queer As Folk, Daniel Boone, The Homecoming: A Christmas Story, Swamp Fox, the GLAAD Movie Awards, AMC, TCM, premium movie channels, Here!, the LOGO Channel, and anything with Bob Saget or Fred Roggin.
Me Talk Pretty One Day, Son of a Witch, Running With Scissors, When Elephants Cry, Last Summer, Why Cats Paint, 365 Bedtime Stories, the missing books of the bible, P.S. Your Cat is Dead, 50 Ways to Say Fabulous, A Confederacy of Dunces, The Longest Cocktail Party, The Magic Christian, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, Birdy, the Shroud of Turin, Eustace Chisholm and the Works, The Big Book of Austin Punk-Era Posters and Images Vols 1 and 2, Fucked Up + Photocopied: Instant Art of the Punk Rock Movement, Going Underground: American Punk 1979-1992 (2nd Edition), The Yoko Ono Project (Velvet Touch, 4), Bleachy-Haired Honky Bitch - Tales From a Bad Neighborhood, Great Expectations and The Shining (the only book to ever give me nightmares).
My late brother of 55 years and my partner of 30 years, because they've taught me more about life than I ever thought possible. Also, John Lennon, Harry Hay, Divine, Blossom, Harvey Milk, Betty Jo Gi, Paul Lynde, Bootsie Graves, Rex Lee Edwards, Jr., Mooty the goose, Champagne Harlow, David Weyrauch, Native Americans, George Harrison, Kissy Fishy, Turkeyhound I, Turkeyhound II and Sgt. Mike Morris.