In the interests of self-revelation, and so that internet stalkers (yes, that means you, Steve Young!) know what to get me for Christmas, here are some of my likes and dislikes:
I'm very uncoordinated, so while I enjoy playing certain sports (like basketball and Ultimate frisbee), I don't play them too often, as I'm usually a hinderance to whatever team I'm on...and as I used to say, "Sissies play games. Real men do sports." I was a runner and swimmer in high school, with an emphasis on long distance (my philosophy was, "If it's under two miles, then it's not worth running!"). In college, I spent some time with the Running Club, which was a fun group of people to run with. We did the Big Sur Marathon together, which was a blast--it's a great feeling of accompishment, and the course is beautiful (albiet a bit hilly). Near the end of college, I got into triathlons, joining the Triathlon Club, which is a great group coached by superstar and former NASA genius Eric Bean. I really enjoy triathlon as a sport, since it combines three sports that I really enjoy in such a way that one never gets tired of them (or injured...running many times a week can really screw up your legs!). I also enjoy weight lifting, although it's not really a sport (at least not the way I do it--I'm not into powerlifting or bodybuilding competitions). At some point, I'd like to learn how to play tennis and golf, since these are sports that one can continue to play into (relatively) old age, and seem like a great way to meet people. I've been sailing, skiing, and surfing a few times, and had a great time, but I'm still a novice at each and would like to get better. I also really enjoy hiking and camping (and backpacking--both in one!), and the outdoors in general...Yosemite is one of my most favorite places.
I like eating and cooking diffrent kinds of food, and trying new things. There are basically only two foods I dislike: cucumbers and watermelons. I'm told that they are related somehow...maybe I'm averse to a whole genus or something? That being said, there are a few things that I'm something of a food snob about. For example, let's take chocolate. Now, there are two kinds of chocoloholics: the chocolate sluts and the schocolate snobs. The former (like my friend Jess) will eat any kind of chocolate they can get their hands on--Snickers bars, Hershey's kisses, chocolate doughnuts, you name it. Cholocate snobs like myself, however, like only dark chocolate, unperverted by nuts, milk, caramel, and the like...and only the good stuff, too (none of that Hershey's plasticy junk). Another thing: "American" cheese. Why did the name of our great country have to be associated with such a terrible cheese? I'll take a good Cheddar any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Oh, and bread: growing up in San Francisco, you really take good bread for granted. Especially Acme sourdough baguettes...yum!
My general philosophy on art: what makes "great" art great is its depth--that is, that each time one goes back to it, one gets something more out of it. That being said, I think too much art doesn't have a shallow end--and it just isn't fun to get thrown straight into the deep end. I think this is a big reason why Mark Twain defined a classic as "something everyone wants to have read but nobody wants to read." (Incindentally, I think that Twain does a good job of balancing accessibilty with depth--he has compelling characters and stories that draw you right in, but each time you re-read him you find more.) As for "art" art (painting/sculpture, etc.) I like a bunch of stuff, but I guess my favorites are Monet's landscapes and old Dutch seascapes. Oh, and Vermeer's "View of Delft." Someday I want to see that one in person...
I like all different kinds of music--rap, hip-hop, rock, blues, jazz, latin, classical, oldies, you name it. First a confession: my favorite kind of music is Baroque music, which is Classical music written around 1600 to 1750...specifically, I'm a big fan of J.S. Bach. Baroque music has a neat mix of passionate emotion and complex construction, so that it never gets old. I'm not really wedded to East or West-Coast rap, although I must say that I don't like the winy Eminem or growling DMX sound. I've recently gotten into the whole "underground" hip-hop thing (Tribe Called Quest and the like), which is pretty neat. Many of my college friends are big-time jazz guys, so I like a lot of the stuff that they like, although I'm a bit more traditional than them (I like the old Dixieland/Swing era stuff more than some of the more modern, less harmonic stuff). I've also recently gotten into the blues, which I want to hear more of. I really like Latin jazz, especially Cuban jazz...and a good deal of other Latin music (a bit less so on the slow stuff and ranchero). I like some punk, a good deal of alternative, a lot of classic rock, and a bunch of oldies (especially the old, soulful motown hits). Pretty much the only kind of music I don't like as a genre is slow pop tunes--you know, the backstreet boys ballad stuff. In San Francisco, the "light rock" station is KOIT, which plays a bunch of that--and it drives me nuts.
Considering my affinity for Classical music and general dorky disposition, most people think I play an instrument, but I never really learned one. (Well, besides the recorder, which is really just a glorified whistle, and one year of playing the bugle in my Boy Scout troop's drum and bugle corps.) I'd like to learn how to play the piano someday...maybe also the harmonica. If I were in a band, I'd want to play the bass--I think it'd be fun doing improvisational "foundation" of the beat. I guess if I had a lot of time on my hands, I'd want to learn the French horn and cello, too.
I really like social dancing--i.e. "partner" dancing. I'm decent at swing and waltz (my favorite is probably the cross-step), and enjoy tango and salsa, although I'm not very good at it. I like social dancing because it's more...well, social: usually the music isn't so loud that you can't hear other people talk, and you get to connect more with your partner. It also isn't as animalistically sexual as "bump and grind" dancing. That being said, I also enjoy non-partner dancing, even though I'm not very good at it.
Books are one of the few things that I can blow a lot of money on...when I'm in a bookstore I'm like a kid in a candy store. I haven't read all that much fiction lately, which would explain the tilt of the following books, which are some favorites:
Some of my favorites, in no particular order:
I really enjoy language in general--writing, reading, listening to the way different people talk, and such. Part of my undergrad major, Symbolic Systems, was Linguistics, which is a very cool field in which one gets to examine various parts of language (grammar, how words are put together, how people's speech influences their social standing and vice versa, etc.). I also enjoy learning and speaking foreign languages. I studied a good amount of French (mostly in high school) and really enjoy the language--it's probably the only one I can speak semi-fluently at this point. I'm in the middle of learning Spanish, which is a lot of fun, and relatively easy (since it's relatively close to French). I learned some Dutch when I was on a Belgian ship--and Dutch is quite a fun language. I know little bits of Italian and German, and someday would like to learn them, too. Also on the agenda is learning Arabic (since I'll likely go to the Middle East with the Navy) and Japanese (as part of connecting with my heritage, and also to make visiting more fun).
I don't think I have a very specific "type" per se, although I tend towards brunettes. Current obsession: Catherine Zeta Jones. I'm not a huge fan of the anorexic-looking waif women...someone with curves like Marilyn Monroe is just fine for me! I like women who have a good sense of humor and who are curious about things. (After all, it's all about having fun with someone else and learning about them, right?) Although as I write this, I remember some movie where a character tries to argue that having "a good sense of humor" is really just another sign of physical attraction...? (I think it may be the Tao of Steve, another great movie that I seem to have left off my list...)
I can fall asleep pretty much anywhere, anytime...a friend of mine nicknamed me "Narco Luke"! This will come in useful on the submarine, since we are forced to sleep at very odd hours.