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
- Banksy
- Julian Beever
- Chris “Coop” Cooper
- Eldon Dedini
- Gustave Doré
- Gil Elvgren
- Brian Ewing
- Shepard Fairey
- Antoni Gaudí
- Frank Kozik
- J. C. Leyendecker
- Alfred Rethel
- Scrojo
- LOCAL – R. Black
- LOCAL – Jacquelyn Bond
- LOCAL – Jenny Wehrt
Movements
- Art Nouveau
- Baroque
- Brutalism (architecture)
- Pixel Art (mostly primitive, stemming from my young love of Deluxe Paint)
- Pop Art
- Realism
- Heroic Realism
- Photorealism
- Romanticism
Painters
- Zdzislaw Beksinski
- Caravaggio
- Pino Daeni
- Salvador Dalí
- Vladimir Dubossarsky & Alexander Vinogradov
- Francisco Goya
- Thomas Kinkade (who was by all accounts a schlocky d-bag, but his paintings were nice)
- Alphonse Mucha
- Maxfield Parrish
- Alex Ross
- Vernon Wells
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
- chocolate chip cookies – all kinds, but especially: Alternative Baking Company
- Mother’s
- The Toaster Oven
- lemon pepper
- Navarro Vineyards grape juices (insanely expensive, but worth it)
- Ovaltine
- Seven Layer Caramel Cake (from Caroline’s Cakes)
- Speculoos Cookie Butter (from Trader Joe’s)
- … and then everything here.
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)
- Dr. J’s Vibrant Café – very inventive vegetarian food in L.A. with some one-of-a-kind dishes
- Real Food Daily – some of the best vegan food I’ve ever had
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
- Earplugs – save your hearing and prevent tinnitus!
- PETA
- Save The Manatee
Small Businesses I Support
- Couch Guitar Straps – incredibly durable and stylish cruelty-free guitar straps which I use exclusively
- Gryphon Stringed Instruments – they’ve never let me down with guitar repairs and modifications
- Layrite – the best pomade I’ve found
- Mooshoes – cruelty-free shoes, belts, wallets, jackets, etc.
- Skirt Chaser Vintage – an exceptional vintage store in Santa Rosa, CA
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
- manatee
- bear (particularly polar bear)
- vulture (particularly turkey vulture)
- bulldog
- pig
- praying mantis
- buffalo
- hippopotamus
Animals (Extinct)
- mammoth
- Steller’s sea cow
- megalodon
- prehistoric megafauna in general, and also all of these
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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