40 Things I Love
It’s gonna get weird!
The wonderful miss Bonnie Barton tagged me in her 40 Things I Love post and I’m taking a bite out of it and jumping off the deck!
What DO I love anymore? I’ve been depressed for so long sometimes I don’t even know. Like Kris Gage mentioned in her Top 40, I’m going to forego the obvious answers. Much like the 6 Things I Can’t Live Without question on an OKCupid profile, I won’t list “blood, air, food, water” like a jackass. I’m giving offbeat, weird, creative, but true answers. Enjoy!
1. Disco Balls
I love me some goddamn disco balls, man. Sparkly, flashy, bright, eye catching, ridiculous, outlandish, over the top. That’s how I like my accessories.
2. Thrift Store Owls
I noticed I saw tons of owl things whenever I went to the thrift stores and took it as a sign to start collecting them. 9 years later I’m drowning in delightful owl chachkies and art. They need their own room at this point.
3. New Age Hippie Shit
Tarot cards, astrology, crystals, chakras, I Ching, aromatherapy, feng shui, energy work, meditation... This stuff is fun and a great way to focus your energy, especially when you feel scattered and anxious for answers. I’ve learned a lot about myself, felt grounded, and, dare I say, magical. I was born and raised in Ojai, CA, a mecca for new age hippie shit, so it’s literally in my blood.
4. Picking Flaky Bark Off Trees
I LOVE THIS SO MUCH. I wish it was a job. I want to pick off ALL THE BARK! There are tons of sycamore trees around town and it takes extreme will power to not rush over to one and de-bark it the moment I see it. I’m sure I look like a looney. I’m also sure I shouldn’t care.
5. Visiting True Crime Scenes
I am utterly fascinated with standing outside houses where famous murders happened. I’ve been to the La Bianca’s, the former Tate/Polanski’s, The Wonderland murder house, and the Travis Alexander/Jodi Arias murder scene… My boyfriend surprised me with a trip to a local murder scene from the late 90s, and took me on the Helter Skelter Tour with Dearly Departed that takes you by every location associated with the Manson Family murders. This is the closest you can get to evil without touching it.
6. Art Nouveau
Elegant and gorgeous with an etherial, old world feel while still hinting at the future.
7. Swag Lamps
I LOVE THIS SHIT. Kitschy as hell.
8. Kitsch
John Waters, pink flamingos, obnoxious colors, quirky furniture, themed weddings, velvet paintings, tiki bars, camp, the tragically ludicrous, the ludicrously tragic… Cyndi Lauper is my spirit animal.
9. Huge Rings
The bigger and more sparkly, the better.
10. Watching Other People Play Video Games
Specifically, Fallout 3, Bioshock 2, Borderlands, and Mass Effects. I love being the co-pilot and pointing out things that may have gone unnoticed, or remembering odd details. All the excitement without any of the risk! I had dreams about Fallout 3. If it was a dude, I’d marry it and have it’s babies.
11. Nostalgia
I’m a sucker for it. Probably has something to do with my I still own all of my toys from the 80s.
12. Shag Carpeting
And the rake that goes with it.
13. Champagne and Champagne Bowls
Bowls > flutes. Veuve Clicquot por vida!
14. Office Supply Stores
The pens! The Journals! The Organizers! I feel like there’s so much hope and possibility in there.
15. Aluminum Christmas Trees
Festive kitsch!
16. Mismatched Dishes and Silverware
Fuck your matching sets! I want personality and stories.
17. Not Cooking
I’m not good at it, nor do I enjoy it. Though, I do make the best baklava in the world. And, like, toast. That’s about the extent of my culinary prowess. Take out 4 Lyfe! Also, my boyfriend is a great cook and makes me tasty noms. I love that buckets more than I love cooking.
18. My 6th Grade Teacher
Mr. Kent Houston’s creativity, sense of humor, and love of M*A*S*H is responsible for nurturing my true self and making me feel invincible. I long to feel that way again.
19. School Spirit
Yep, I was a cheerleader and short flag twirler. I loved wearing my uniform to school, performing at rallies and games, riling people up, wearing my blue and gold, and feeling like I belonged to something exciting, storied, and bigger than me. Go Rangers! And Gauchos!
20. Making People Laugh
Whether I’m telling jokes on stage, or just entertaining my friends, I love being able to make people laugh. I’ll never forget the first laugh I ever got on stage in a play in junior high. I swear my eyes rolled back in my head as the waves of laughs washed over me and I could feel the bite. I was done for, right then and there.
21. Chaise Lounges
Elegant shit.
22. Hollywood at 3am
It’s quiet, mysterious, and mine.
23. Cocaine
Cut with as little baby laxative as possible. This shit should be medicinal. I would like a prescription.
24. Old Money
Wheat back pennies, mercury dimes, buffalo head nickels, silver note dollar bills. I MUST check all my change before spending any of it.
25. The Scent of New Magazines
Every month I would get high as hell on the new issue of National Geographic that came in the mail.
26. Booking Shows
Comedy shows, bands, poetry readings, events… I love putting a truly complimentary line-up together and then attacking social media to get the word out.
27. My Hourglass Figure
I‘m grateful. Aside from currently being chubby, I have always loved my body. I’d be terribly insecure if I wasn’t so lucky, and doubt that I would handle it well.
28. Other People’s Drama
My own personal trash reality show.
29. Not Giving a Shit About Exes
Couldn’t possibly care less. If they were so cool, they’d still be around. And no one is as cool as me. Everyone should feel that way about themselves.
30. Being a Regular
There’s nothing like walking into a packed bar and the bartender dropping everything to ask you what you’d like, or ordering Skyy Melon vodka just for you. That is a satisfying level of special.
31. Speaking in Movie Quotes
Every green light: “Light is green, trap is clean.” “Negative, Ghostwriter.” “Damn it Neil, the name is Nuwanda.” “This magnificent feast represents the last of the petty cash. Slow down, chew your food.” “ Don’t talk about me like I’m not here.” “There’s a beverage here!” “Mother pussbucket!” Essentially, Ghostbusters in its entirety.
32. Impractical Shoes
Platform, velvet, sequin, wedge, glitter, metal, too high, too narrow, too fabulous. Irregular Choice and Zombie Peepshow make some of my faves.
33. Hot Pink and Lime Green
An eccentrically stellar, kitschy, quirky, loud and obnoxious color combo.
34. Lava Lamps
GIMME! Hypnotizing, meditative kitsch.
35. Vintage Airstream Trailer Parks
Specifically, The Shady Dell in Bisbee, AZ. I feel like all the rest are just copying them. A magical, tingling pause in the modern world.
36. Sitting at Eateries for Hours
I eat slower than anyone you know because I don’t care if my food gets cold. Chatting, laughing, lounging, collaborating, with nowhere to be, and no other desire.
37. A Blank Page
They inspire, not frighten me. This might be the clue that I should be a writer.
38. Sweet Ass Coffee Mugs
I have an addiction and I’m running out of cabinet space. I can’t pass up a quirky, fun coffee mug. I’d even like to start making my own that say things like, “Eat a bag of dicks”, and “I love cocaine”.
39. Making My Own Halloween Costumes
Flo from Progressive, Rainbow Brite, Carmen Miranda, Nancy Spungen, Carrie, the Sun Drop Girl, Girl Scout with a burned arm, Diane Court, an old lady bingo player from a Jimmy John’s commercial… I’m dedicated to crafting elaborate costumes, whether other people get them or not. I better start planning now!
40. Being a Night Owl
Nothing is as marvelous, enticing, or soothing as staying up late into the night, the air teeming with sparks of new energy ready to awaken. Time ceases to pass, like in a Vegas casino. “Is that the SUN?!”
What do you love? Grab a velvet, paisley lounge chair and tell me about it!
