These are a few of my favorite things!

Everyone should have a favorite…

1.) Cartoonist: John Callaghan is mine. Really in-your face painfully-ironic stuff. It is delicious. Everyone should find someone who really speaks to them in pictures and short tidbits of language. Then buy a book of cartoons, or cut out cartoons that you really love and keep them in a often-opened book, on the refrigerator, up on your bulletin board at work. Humor is so enriching. Wallow in it.

2.) Stand-up comedian: I’ve got several. Rodney Carrington and the ”Love Master” Craig Schumacher are faves. You need to frequent comedy clubs to find one. Stand-up is best observed live. Find one you really enjoyed and follow his/her career. Monitor when she comes to town and see her each time. Get a CD autographed. Let his jokes become part of your vocabulary. Develop a series of inside jokes with your family members based on their humor. It’s infectious!

3.) Radio talk-show host: I love talk radio from Stephanie Miller to Michael Savage (some folks you just love to hate), and for me, pretty much anyone talking politics is enough for me to become a fan. But to me, it is a great study in communication, BS, manipulation, culture, social mores, politics, news and information. Keep your brain occupied as you do your busy work, and your brain will grow!

4.) Cooking show: Does Anthony Bourdain count? I don’t think people in this country focus enough on what goes in their mouth. Convenience foods have become the foods that define our USA culture and I think that is really sad. We should be more educated in different foods and how to prepare foods at home. It isn’t enough to watch, but really try to learn something and incorporate meals into your repertoire, and then your traditions, and then you can become a food artist yourself. Food IS culture.

5.) Animal: I get so much out of my love for animals, whether my cats, my vericomposting worms, the grackles eating moths in my yard, the “taquache” (opossum) that eats the veggies I toss in the compost…but my favorite animal overall are lizards. Their little eyes look so wise, their movements so assured, I’ve loved them for as long as I can remember. I think, ironically, that loving animals makes us more human. After all, we are animals! We just aren’t quite ready to admit it.

6.) Thing to do on a vacation: Play in the surf. Those things that you don’t get to do very often, but when you do, they absolutely thrill you to your very core! Nuf’ said!

7.) Sport: I know everyone has a favorite sports team, or favorite sport that they watch, but everyone should have a favorite sport that they DO. (I need one myself) There is something about competition for a simple, lighthearted game. As adults we don’t get to play as often as we should. Skip a day at the gym and toss a soccer ball around with some pals. Or invite a friend or a spouse to join you in a game of chess for a brain workout.

8.) Skill: I think I'll have to say that belly-dancing is my lastest favorite. Singing, painting, making furniture, sewing, playing the violin, juggling, writing poems, speaking a different language, voice impressions, telling stories, making a knot in a cherry stem with your tongue. Everyone needs the opportunity to show off!

9.) Historical subject: The black plague is mine (I have a dark side, I suppose). I really am impressed when I can get in a conversation with someone who can put today’s events in historical perspective. History is so interesting, but we can’t know it all. I think if you can focus on one little part of history that interests you, the Civil War, the development of the Catholic Church, Communism in Europe, we are able to see current events with a richer perspective.

10.) Philosophy: The environment is mine (or couldn’t you tell?). Everyone needs a guiding principle. For many people it is religion, for some it is love of country, family, or economic principle, for some it is the pursuit of money or career success or even simply survival. What ever it might be, you should have some set of values that underlies the motivation for your principles. And make sure it is a guiding principle that makes you proud. That is the most important one of all.