Likes/Disllikes

About a week ago I posted here that I thought I might have found my daughter, Aubrey,on MySpace. I have not seen her in at least 20 years, on MySpace. I think I mentioned that I was going to send a friend invite to her and hope that it really was her.

It really was.

I was ecstatic beyond words when she accepted it and added me to her " friends list". Since then (about a week ago) we have communicated via MySpace messages and IM. It's been great catching up on her life and blabbing to her about some of my memories. Of course I want to be a part of her life, but it will be slow process, I know that.

For now I am just glad that I've found her. It's good to know that I've got grandchildren.

Yesterday she sent me a list of her likes & dislikes, so of course I wrote my own list. And it's only natural that I'd want to post it here:

I had a lot of fun filling out this "Likes/Dislikes" list.

LIKES:

Music:

Right now my favorite band, hands down, is Sigur Ros. I've come to the point where I think there's good stuff as well as junk in every genre (except Broadway Showtunes---that's ALL junk). There's a long list of bands/artists that I love on my profile but if I had to narrow it down to three I suppose They would be Sigur Ros, Mark Kozelek (and his bands Sun Kil Moon and Red House Painters), and Autechre. I would burn you a CD of stuff I like and send it to you , but I really don't think you'd like much of it. I don't know...you might.

TV:

With each passing year I seem to watch less and less TV. I hardly ever watch sports. I watch a lot of news and news commentary shows, though I get bored when they don't have anything new to offer."Survivorman" is cool. Sometimes I watch re-runs of "All In The Family"...I didn't "get it" as a child when it was first aired, but now I do and I think it's hilarious. I like a few country music videos. I've probably seen every eposode of "M*A*S*H" at least 10 times but I still enjpy the re-runs. Not a whole lot else.

Movies:

I like movies that are intellectually challenging and/or emotionally powerful. "Reign Over Me" was the best movie I've seen in months. "Stay" (that one turned me into a Ryan Gosling fan), "Magnolia" (NOT "Steel Magnolias"...I really don't like "chick flicks") , "Memento",
"Frailty", "Sin City", "300"...I know they're pretty "rough", but I like Quinton Tarrantino's movies. And just about everything directed by Cameron Crowe (especially "Vanilla Sky" and "Almost Famous"). "Radio", "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", "Good Will Hunting", "Crash"...Ingmar Bergman's films.

Books:

The Bible, of course. I also like to read the Hindu holy book Srimad Bhagavatam. Currently I'm on the third installment of Robert Jordan's 11 book "Wheel of Time" fantasy series. I love anything by Charles Dickens (I think "A Tale of Two Cities" and "David Copperfield" are probably his best). All of John Irving's Books are favorites (especially "A Widow For One Year" and "A Prayer for Owen Meany"). "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky. "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers. I like a lot of Stwphen King's books. John Irving's "Rabbit" books. "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis, "Be Here Now" by Ram Dass. Books about bands and artist biographies. And I'm quite proud to say that I have read "War and Peace"!!! I may even try to read it again someday.

Food:

Mexican is my favorite. I like it at nice restaurants and I like "fast food Mexican" even better. Soft tacos at Taco Mayo drenced in their Taco Sauce is the best. Italian is real good, but I mainly stick to the standards---Pizza and Spaghetti. When it comes to pizza I like just about any topping except mushrooms, anchovies and pineapple. Cheesburgers and tater tots from Sonic. Whoppers from Burger King. Schlotskys Original sandwiche. Ruffles potato chips with french onion dip. Frito chili pies. BLT sandwiches. Lots of salad ( favorite dressings are Italian and Catalina...I'm burned out on Ranch, but the Ranch they have at Pizza Hut is delicious and I always eat that when we're there.

And finally here is the list of THINGS I CANNOT STAND:

Condescending people & snobs
Aggresive drivers
Seafood
Cigarettes
Far Left-wing politics
Far Right-wing politics
Hypocrites
Commercialism
Phony people
Religous zealots
Excessively rich TV preachers
The cult of celebrity
Hollywood actors who think I care about their poltical opinions
Red tape
Radical Islamic militants
People who delight in bashing the president
Disney/Pixar movies
Morning-show Radio DJs
Dean Koontz's books
Long drives
Shania Twain
Howard Stern
Viagra commercials on TV
Just about ANY commercial on TV
Reality shows
MTV
Gangsta Thugs
Pierced noses, tongues, nipples and belly buttons
People who don't think for themselves
Drunks (especially beligerant ones)
Junkies
Politics and/or excessive patriotism in the pulpit
The obsession with sex in out society
Cats
Body odor
Bad breath
Intolerance
Injustice
Insincerity
Insufficient funds
Vermin
Parents who don't take care of their kids
Kids who disrespect their parents
"The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart
"The Colbert Report"
Tabloids
Hominy, squash, eggplant, asparagus, black-eyed peas
High gasoline prices
Eggs
Compulsive liars (and lying in general)
Bars and "clubs"
The popularity of NASCAR
Racism
Gratuitous sex and violence in movies and on TV
Computer "Errors"
56K connections
Greedy people
People who are too concerned with other people's sexual orientation
Diet soda
Romance novels
Fights and brawls
Junk e-mail and spam
Licorice
2 % milk
Garrison Keiller and "A Prairie Home Companion"
Soap operas
Benny Hinn
Senator Ted Kennedy
Nancy Pelosi
Michael Moore
High stakes Texas Hold 'em poker tournaments on sports channels (it's not a SPORT)
"Girls Gone Wild"
Having to tune my guitar