Books: Scientific theory and random quirky science trivia,
dystopian tales of
unrest, books with gorgeous and disturbing imagery,
autobiographies.
Movies: I alternate between heady artsy films (
City of Lost
Children mmm), forensic dramas, gripping documentaries,
sci-fi
quirkiness, costume silliness that I mostly watch for visual
stimulation (and laugh at for usually terrible dialogue and
themes), zombie horror, absolute cheese, badly budgeted B-movies
that inspire commentary and
art-house foreign films
that usually leave most people scratching their heads but that I
can talk about for ages.
Anyone who knows me well, knows that I am a total video-game nerd
at heart. I can spend hours analyzing and opining on various issues
with video games as well as UI and gameplay elements. I am partial
to survival horror and I admit that I play a certain very popular
MMO casually.
Music:
Cacaphonous pianos,
dark ambient, frenzied
accordion duets, zithers, mandolins,
cellos,
beats in
interesting time signatures,
doom metal, drum and bass, Portuguese
fado, Egyptian and Turkish percussion,
layers and layers
of wet reverb,echo chambers,
klezmer, distant distorted music boxes,
the crackling of a fire, claps of thunder, tablas, voices that are
unique/sultry/sexy, whispers at just the right distance from my
ear(s) that send all the right shivers down my neck, soundtrack
masterpieces composed by but not limited to
Angelo Badalamenti and
Akira
Yamaoka, chill inducing sounds that haunt me in ways I have
trouble explaining properly,
emotive music that usually conveys feelings of deep longing
since I seem to spend most of my time stuck in that mode and music
that matches what I am feeling is particularly nice
sometimes.
I would be lying if I didn't add that I have a particular fondness
for
classic video game
music (think Ninja Gaiden, Mega Man; I have spent entire
weekends listening to the entire scores from so many of
them).
I seem to have a thing for last.fm, especially the tagging feature
which I abuse on a weekly basis. It makes me feel like I have some
sort of transient grasp on capturing how different songs/tracks
make me feel at any given time. I have struggled with understanding
why this is so alluring but am still trying to come up with an
answer to that. It's just something I do quite often and it offers
a strange glimpse into my mind (scary!)..
Food: I put off listing foods I like initially because, quite
frankly, I am passionate about food. I think my passion for food is
largely due to the fact that I live on a ridiculously limited
budget (poor student in NYC, blah, blah, blah) so I often dream
about food I would love to eat but can't necessarily ingest in
large quantities. I have so many theories about food as well. How
people eat their food interests me since I think the process of
eating is a fairly primitive and sometimes extremely sensual thing.
What people consume and how they choose to enjoy it fascinates me
to no end.
A short list that by no means encompasses all the food I dream
about/love to consume:
Baked goods (with the perfect moistness and/or the perfect icing
that isn't too gooey but practically melts on the tongue like a
sweet afterthought),
Sushi (rolls are like perfectly compartmentalized food art in
combinations that are usually memorable in a good way. Chirashi
sushi makes me happy.),
Various types of pasta, especially pasta in non-typical shapes (I
view lasagne as the 'cake' of pasta, when made perfectly, it is
like a 7 layer cake),
Decadent desserts with layers of tastes (example:
Tiramisu, what an amazing layered
dessert that you just want to savor slowly everytime),
Various spicy foods (there is such an art to spicy food, if it's
too overbearing you can't quite enjoy it as much as you can enjoy a
fiery dish that emits tons of taste onto your tongue before giving
you that excellent 'hot' sensation much akin to the first flush
after ingesting just the right amount of your preferred alcoholic
drink)
Interesting soups (example: Hungarian sour cherry soup. Soups are
one of those dishes that can either be boring or can be completely
awesome depending on the flavor mix and what is added to it)
Messy foods of
all different ethnic varieties (the messier the better, Ethiopian
is great for this, you must eat with your hands)
Foods with odd flavor combinations ( Sweet and sour, Hot and sour,
Salty and sweet, a surprise with every taste)
Cereal (I am unabashedly into cereal)
Hot drinks with or without a 'kick' (Hot chocolate with chile,
spiced tea, Tibetan hot butter tea, Bubble tea I could go on and
on, I have a 'thing' for
interesting drinks)
I have a penchant for mixing things as well. I never eat one cereal
alone, I usually have to mix it with another. I never drink one
flavor of tea, I usually experiment and mix disparate teas
together.
There you go. An incomplete list of sorts.
