My Favorite Things

UPDATE: So, this was written in like 2012. I’m looking at it in 2019 and realizing lots of things have changed, lots of restaurants have closed, and lots of links are broken. The idea of taking the time to overhaul this is too much to bear. Enjoy the 2012 version until further notice.

There are so many ways for people to try to show off or tout their taste in today’s digital world.  I figured I’d just cut to the chase and list out a bunch of my favorite things.  Now there won’t be any doubt.  And now you can improve yourself by learning to like the things I like.  Oh, and also: I like to make lists.  These are more or less just alphabetical rather than ranked.

Art

Authors & Poets

  • Lawrence Block
  • Lewis Carroll
  • Stephen Crane
  • Stephen King
  • Elmore Leonard
  • H.P. Lovecraft
  • Chuck Palahniuk
  • Anne Rice
  • Daniel Silva
  • Oscar Wilde

Illustrators, Poster Artists, and Miscellanea

Movements

Painters

Photographers

Entertainment

Actors

  • Bruce Campbell
  • Tim Curry
  • Janeane Garafalo
  • Christina Ricci
  • Christopher Walken

Comedians

  • Dave Attell
  • Lewis Black
  • Steve Byrne
  • Louis C.K.
  • Dave Chappelle
  • Andrew Dice Clay
  • Pete Correale
  • Dan Cummins
  • Jim Gaffigan
  • Gary Gulman
  • Mitch Hedberg
  • Kevin James
  • Stephen Lynch
  • Sebastian Maniscalco
  • Patton Oswalt
  • Brian Posehn
  • Brian Regan
  • Jeffrey Ross
  • Katt Williams

Directors

  • Paul Thomas Anderson
  • Wes Anderson
  • Joel & Ethan Coen
  • Terry Gilliam
  • Russ Meyer
  • Martin Scorsese

Films

  • Army Of Darkness
  • The Big Lebowski
  • Big Trouble In Little China
  • Dick Tracy
  • Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas
  • Fight Club
  • Gladiator
  • Grosse Pointe Blank
  • The Last Dragon
  • Magnolia
  • The Royal Tenenbaums
  • Rushmore
  • The Seventh Seal
  • The Silence Of The Lambs
  • Super Troopers
  • Tremors
  • The Wanderers

Television Shows

  • The Adventures Of Brisco County, Jr.
  • Archer
  • Burn Notice
  • Chappelle’s Show
  • The Colbert Report
  • The Critic
  • The Daily Show
  • Dr. Katz
  • Drawn Together
  • Eagleheart
  • Futurama
  • Game Of Thrones
  • Kids In The Hall
  • Reno 911!
  • Scrubs
  • The State
  • Trigger Happy T.V.
  • True Blood
  • Ugly Americans
  • The Upright Citizens Brigade
  • The Walking Dead
  • Workaholics

Food

Bars

Dishes, Ingredients, and Snacks

Restaurants (Local To S.F.)

  • Aslam’s Rasoi – currently my favorite Indian place
  • Boudin – their butternut squash soup is incomparable
  • Cafe Gratitude – a vegan experience if ever there was one
  • Cha Cha Cha – delicious Cuban small plates
  • Ebisu / Hotei – my favorite place for vegetarian sushi
  • Fondue Cowboy – casual and tasty fondue, with spaghetti westerns playing on the wall
  • Girasole (Pleasanton) – all you need to know is: 1) scoozi bread and 2) gorgonzola pasta with grapes and walnuts
  • Gracias Madre – surprisingly good vegan Mexican food
  • Ike’s Place – sandwiches that actually live up to all the hype, believe it or not
  • Kan Zaman – the best Mediterranean food I’ve ever had
  • The Melt – the place to go for grilled cheese
  • Mobo Sushi (Santa Cruz) – an incredibly vast sushi menu
  • Pasta Primavera (San Mateo) – not to be confused with Pomodoro, this is excellent Italian
  • Patxi’s Pizza – the best Chicago pizza I’ve had outside of Chicago
  • Q – the best mac & cheese I’ve ever had
  • Rotee – the best Indian food I’ve ever had, sadly closed at the moment
  • St. Francis Fountain – a modernized 50’s diner with a great menu and retro trading cards for sale
  • Savor – my old neighborhood staple
  • Souley Vegan – incredible vegan soul food like fried “chicken” and “chicken” fried “steak”
  • Sparky’s – the essential 24 hour diner and post-show destination
  • Straw – gourmet carnival food
  • Sudachi – home of the vegetable tempura quesadilla
  • The Toaster Oven – toasted sandwiches and amazing cookies
  • Yoppi – the best frozen yogurt I’ve ever had

Restaurants (Elsewhere)

Restaurants (Chain)

  • Claim Jumper
  • B.D.’s Mongolian Grill
  • Daphne’s
  • Denny’s
  • Elephant Bar (they deleted my go-to dish)
  • Olive Garden
  • P.F. Chang’s
  • Red Robin

General

Causes I Support

Small Businesses I Support

Strange Fascinations (For Which I Can Offer Little Explanation)

  • cyclical stories (past or ancient things coming back, a common theme for Lovecraft and King)
  • dilapidated places (abandoned and boarded-up places, ghost ships, so-called “ruin porn”)
  • Jose Canseco
  • language (uncommon words and “of, like, or pertaining to” words)
  • maritime paintings
  • moss (only the lush kind that grows between stone pathways, and not fungus, which I despise)

Music

Guitarists That Have Influenced Me

  • Alessandro Alessandroni
  • Marc Bolan
  • Elliot Easton
  • Duane Eddy
  • Danny Gatton
  • Billy Gibbons
  • Jim Heath
  • Mark Knopfler
  • Johnny Marr
  • Brian May
  • Tom Morello
  • Nile Rodgers
  • Mick Ronson
  • Brian Setzer
  • Steve Stevens
  • Pete Townshend
  • Merle Travis
  • Jack White
  • Link Wray
  • Nick Zinner

Nature

Animals

Animals (Extinct)

Colors

  • International Klein Blue (which unfortunately can’t be rendered on a computer screen)
  • seafoam green (the definition can vary, but I prefer what Wiki and Crayola call “Magic Mint“)
  • primer gray (which is close to a pale matte “Silver” color, like the color of light pavement)
  • Air Force blue (appears on some fire hydrants; reminiscent of BMW’s “Laguna Seca Blue”)

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