CURRENT MISSION

to make people laugh, and think, through film and music

ABOUT ME

only good things!

Interests

reading, writing, Middle East history, original interesting movies, healthy "ethnic" cuisine like Indian, Ethiopian, and Thai, running, whitewater kayaking, skiing, good conversation with intelligent people

• writing
• coffee
• running
• coach
• drinking
• shopping
• movies
• reading
• music
• kayaking
• skiing
• emergency services
• engineering
• history
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

Bruce Springsteen, Ryan Adams, The Cure, Pink Floyd, The Smiths, Cocteau Twins, John Hiatt, Patti Griffin, The Church, Graham Parker, Steve Earle, U2, Elton John, Ben Folds, Better than Ezra, Third Eye Blind, Tom Waits, Bright Eyes, The Saw Doctors

MOVIES: "Spartan", "Incendies", "The Lives of Others", "Kolya", "Goodbye, Lenin", "Hunger", "The Barbarian Invasions", "Persepolis", "Paradise Now", "Waltz with Bashir", "Captain Abu Raed", "Lantana", "Animal Kingdom", "Caramel", "Ajami", "The 25th Hour", "Summer of Sam", "There's Something About Mary", "Bridesmaids", "Serpico", "Jerry Maguire", "Central Station", "Finding Nemo", "Shrek", "Farenheit 911", "Roger&Me", "Sicko", "Goodfellas", "American History X", "American Wedding", "Reservoir Dogs", "Deliverance", "The Godfather", "The Deer Hunter", "In the Name of the Father", "Munich", Woody Allen's better stuff

AUTHORS: Milan Kundera, Noam Chomsky, David Hirst, Edward Said, Jennifer Eagan, Oscar Hijuelos, Alice Munro, John Updike, Donna Tartt, David Mamet, JM Coetzee, James Joyce, Paul Auster, Jonathan Franzen, Tom Perotta, Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Charles Frazier, Haruki Murakumi, Thomas McGuane

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

This hardly qualifies as amazing but when I was in college I woke up in the middle of a burglary. About ten yards from where I'd been sleeping, some one was literally chiseling their way through my door. You don't have to be a forensic scientist or audio engineer to recognize the distinct sound of a hammer driving a wedge between wood and metal. As I'd just moved into the flat and the phone had not yet been installed, there was no way to call the police.

Even worse, the door wasn't locked. It was a bucolic university town with almost no crime other than underage drinking. Like many of its residents, I felt no compulsion to bolt myself in at night or after I left. There was nothing in my home but a stereo to steal. Why would anyone break in?

Inevitably, the burglar was going to pause to check his handiwork. Upon doing so he or she would discover the door already open and step inside, presumably with their gun drawn. In short, within thirty seconds it became clear that, if I wanted to avoid getting shot by a surprised burglar, who surely wasn't expecting there to be anyone home or he wouldn't have been making such a racket, I had to go downstairs and surprise HIM before he got to ME.

So I armed myself with a frying pan, said a quick prayer, and headed downstairs very slowly....

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to make delicious fruit and vegetable juice! If you're a guest in my home, you'll have a fresh glass of carrot and apple juice(it tastes like apple cider) every morning. Will throw in coffee, scrambled eggs, and fresh toasted bagels(there's a shop across the street) too.

For any aspiring screenwriters out there, I can coach you on how to introduce your work to production companies. In about a half hour, you will be able to call an established film producer or company and talk them(most--not all--of them) into considering your work.

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