music:

i'm head-over-heels in love with placebo and nine inch nails. 

i also really like the following: radiohead, the cure, depeche mode, tori amos, new order, ani difranco, muse, coldplay, travis, joy division, smashing pumpkins, david bowie, erasure, atari teenage riot, manic street preachers, the smiths, bauhaus, underworld, pet shop boys, natalie merchant, etc.

i also play classical guitar and have a significant passion for classical music in general.

film:

the best movies i've seen in the past year include fight club, american beauty, girl, interrupted, titus, run lola run, and the red violin.

in addition to these recent ones, i absolutely adore trainspotting, velvet goldmine, labyrinth, pulp fiction, a clockwork orange, clerks, etc.

of course, i'll rent pretty much anything if jonathan rhys meyers, ewan macgregor, jonny lee miller, or any of the other brit pack members are in... not a no-fail plan, but some day i'll get my jrm merit badge for sitting through ride with the devil and other such nightmares.

television:

something i really don't like as a rule. however, the gormenghast miniseries done by the bbc was phenomenal. it's been replayed on the bbc-america (yay! i got to see it) and will be on pbs later this fall for you americans :) i'm also a really big fan of the kids in the hall and the simpsons.

literature:

this past year i've read some really good books, many thanks to thad's suggestions :) these include angela's ashes by frank mccourt, trainspotting and filth by irvine welsh, the last time i wore a dress by daphne scholinski, madness and civilization by michel foucalt,  nausea by jean-paul sartre, and fight club by chuck palahnuik.

i'm a really big fan of sylvia plath, nietzche, sartre, arthur rimbaud, poe, jim carroll, allen ginsberg, susanna kaysen, etc. right now i'm in a contemporary american lit class that's pretty interesting. i don't read nearly as much as i would like to... which usually results in big, long, to-be-read lists (of which mervyn peake's gormenghast trilogy is pretty near the top right now). regardless, please mail me with any suggestions if there's something you think i'd especially enjoy -- thanks :)

also, i write. it's not that my efforts are always fruitless but... well... not all fruit is edible, y'know?

i think language is wonderful and actually... i'm a foreign language major in school as well as a work-study in the english language institute on campus. maybe i'll be noam chomsky when i grow up hehe. this semester i'm continuing my spanish studies and beginning french, so if any adorable euro-bois want to tutor me... you know where to find me.

culture:

high school may be over but i still am fascinated by subculture. i admit that i do have a bit of a lingering role in the gothic world, but to answer those of you might ask... no, i do not consider myself  'gothic'. i may feel the woe but i don't wish i were born in the fourteenth century. the glam subculture, while relatively dormant, has been revived somewhat by the likes of brian molko & co. and i have no complaints. more bois should wear eyeliner and glitter.

which brings me to my next point about culture.  i consider myself to be rather open-minded and therefore have a diverse group of associates/comrades/friends; however, i won't deny that i tend to gravitate toward certain groups.  those who live in violation of most of society's normative behavior, especially in terms of gender and other 'divisions', are the people i seem to surround myself with. so maybe you're more punk than me or you're one of those cock-in-frock kids, that's great. maybe you're in your university sorority and you don't own an album that wasn't distributed by jive -- that's okay, too.  for the sake of common interest (and colleen's weird pleasures/hated items), i tend to stick to group a... but i'm not really prejudiced. if, for example, i were to revisit high school... the little woe-bois would go down right alongside the cheerleaders. i hate the instant camaraderie people expect because they fit my demographic/exterior... challenge me with something special and then you can probably expect me to react favorably.

it's not an omnipresent pleasure, but i'm often into fashion... not meaning i'm sitting here in capri pants and a pastel yellow three-quarter length blouse. i don't follow trends, for the most part, but i do prize aesthetics and i think that fashion can be, well, fun. texture is a must -- velvet, vinyl, leather, etc. even if i have a shoddy time out at a club, at least i have my knee-high  vinyl boots and my fluffy black purse with me, right? make-up shouldn't be an everyday chore -- it should be fun and/or enough to draw out flattering characteristics. for this reason, my everyday regime is rather light, something to colour/shine my mouth, smooth out my skin (i'm almost twenty and part-italian, ::sigh::), and most importantly draw out my eyes (perhaps the only feature i'm remotely closed to satisfied with). the weekends, when i cease to be a government employee and more of an adolescent, are another story ;) i think the mods should come back and party with the glam-goths. you probably get the picture by now.

so... what else is gratifying?

1. the great individuals whose presence i've shared. 2. the moon and cooler weather.  3. peppermint sun tea. 4. baths with incense.  5. rain, especially thunderstorms. 6. coy, flirtatious half-smiles. 7. being recognized for brilliance.

then... what  isn't gratifying?

1. dealing with the unwashed masses.  2. the sun and the heat. 3. eating and food. 4. showering on campus. 6. people who think their machismo will get them into my pants. 7. sycophantic, obsequious rats who tell me i'm brilliant for the wrong reasons.