When required to post a bio on the internet, I usually write, “Mystical liberal likes long walks at night in the city in the rain with an umbrella and a flask of 10-year-old Laphroaig.” While this works for most readers, others want a bit more background.
Rather than regale you with tales of my professional career and the jobs I have held (more than I can remember), I’m just going to list things that I am (still!) passionate about. As each category could contain dozens of entries, I kept my selections down to one or two each.
So, read on …
Jennifer Garner in 2019: more beautiful than ever.
a few of my faveravest things
Favorite single
Elvis Presley, Hound Dog / Don’t Be Cruel (1956)
Favorite album
The Beach Boys, PET SOUNDS (1966) 1
Favorite female singer
Petula Clark
Favorite male singer
Elvis Presley
Favorite groups
Beatles (1961-1969)
Beach Boys (1962-1972)
Rolling Stones (1963-forever)
Kinks (1964-1971)
Byrds (1965-1968)
Favorite novels
James Clavell, Tai-Pan (1966)
James Clavell, Shogun (1975)
Favorite fiction authors
Poul Anderson
James Clavell
Phillip Dick
Harlan Ellison
Anne McCaffrey
Lewis Shiner
Norman Spinrad
Favorite non-fiction authors
Bill James
Stephen Jay Gould
Laura Kipnis
Favorite poem
Tristan Tzara, Approximate Man 2
Favorite old movies
King Kong (1933)
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)
Snow White And The Seven Dwarves (1937)
Favorite recent movies
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Dances With Wolves (1990)
Love Actually (2003)
Favorite actors
Cary Grant
Kevin Costner
Favorite actresses
Jennifer Garner
Marisa Tomei
Favorite movie directors
Woody Allen
Clint Eastwood
Favorite cartoon character
Bugs Bunny
Favorite television series
Star Trek (1966-1968)
Northern Exposure (1990-1995)
Friends (1994-2004)
Firefly (2002-2003) 3
Favorite costumed heroes
The Fantastic Four (Jack Kirby and Stan Lee)
Spiderman (Steve Ditko and Stan Lee)
Favorite costumeless heroes
Dr. Strange (Steve Ditko and Stan Lee)
Pipsqueak (Wally Wood)
The Spirit (Will Eisner)
Favorite aboveground comic books artists
Steve Ditko
Jack Kirby
Wally Wood
Favorite underground comic artists
R. Crumb
Fred Schrier
Favorite psychedelic poster artists
Rick Griffin
Favorite mixed drink
Tanqueray martini, stirred not shaken, straight up, with one olive squeezed into the drink then tossed over my left shoulder. 4
Favorite unmixed drink
10-year-old Laphroaig
Favorite drugs
Lysergic acid diethylamide
Favorite participatory sports
Baseball
Volleyball
Favorite spectator sports
Baseball
Girl-watching
Favorite baseball team
Philadelphia Phillies
Favorite baseball player
Pete Rose 5
Favorite ice cream
Tillamook Vanilla Bean
Favorite quotation
“It ain’t what you know that gets you into trouble—it’s what you know that just ain’t so!” (Josh Billings)
This art was done by Wally Wood for the cover of the 1979 edition of Robert Overstreet’s Comic Book Price Guide. It is an homage to the work that Wood did for the legendary EC comic books Weird Science and Weird Fantasy in the early ’50s.
a few intimate details
Status
I am in a long-term, committed relationship with a woman who hates seeing her name on the internet. 6
Affectation
Footnotes on my blog posts. 7
Snobbery
I am a pizza snob who believes that Old Forge, Pennsylvania, is the Pizza Capital of the World.
Miscellaneous love
Cats
Miscellaneous hate
F*cking bullies 8
FOOTNOTES:
1 But there are a number of albums that could be considered a close second. This includes but is certainly not limited to Bob Dylan’s Blonde On Blonde (1966), the Byrds’ Younger Than Yesterday (1967), The Band’s Music From Big Pink and the Rolling Stones’ Beggars Banquet (1968), From Elvis In Memphis (1969), the Kinks’ Arthur (1969), and the Beach Boys’ Sunflower (1970).
2 The Mary Ann Caws translation of 1973.
3 Since we started binge-watching television series on DVD a few years ago, I could add so, so many more titles—but won’t.
4 That’s a martini made the old-fashioned way: four-parts-gin-to-one-part-vermouth, not the modern 20-1 mix.
5 Because as a Phillies fan I credit Rose with their first World Championship in 1980 to Rose.
6 I would love to regale you with tales of my conquests, my loves, my losses—but that same Internet-fearing woman would have what’s left of my balls pickled in a jar on the mantle if I did.
7 Like these.
8 All bullies: physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and in this country, political and economic bullies.