Favorites

Here you’ll find some trivia about me, including my favorite colors, foods, flowers, books, movies, TV shows, podcasts, artists, and libations, etc.

P.S. My favorite quotes are on a separate page called “Brain Food”

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“These are a few of my favorite things…” Julie Andrews.

Colors: Green (either dark like emerald, or pale like sage), navy blue, black, and white

Animals: Primates (bonobos, rhesus, Japanese macaque, baboons, Capuchin, spider, howler…)

Foods: SRF Wagyu Ribeye, french baguette, and yellowtail sashimi with cilantro and ponzu sauce

Candies: Single Malt Scotch Dark Chocolate Cordials – Cask Strength from Sugarfina, caramel apples, and the chocolate pop rocks by José Andrés

Drinks: Green Thai Tea, Shirley Temples, and Chai lattes (either hot with no foam, or iced)

Ice Cream Flavor: nothing beats homemade vanilla ice cream, but at an ice cream parlor I’m either getting strawberry or cookies and creme

Desserts: Vanilla buttercream frosted cupcakes, banana flambé, the date cake from Nobu, Magnolia Bakery banana pudding, milk chocolate covered strawberries, and chocolate molten lava cake with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, raspberry coulis, and a sprig of fresh mint

Flowers: I love wildflower bouquets with Poppies and Thistle/Eryngium etc., but they can be hard to find. In terms of individual flowers though, Delphinium, Peonies, Pansy, Ranunculus, and Snap Dragons are probably my favorites. My favorite filler flowers are Craspedia, Baby’s-Breath, Eucalyptus, Hypericum Berries, Solidago, or Veronicas. I also love potted Orchids and Succulents. More importantly, I do not like Daisies, Tulips, or artificially colored flowers. Not So Fun Fact: Lilies are toxic to cats.

Books I Rather Enjoyed: (In no particular order)

  1. Dune by Frank Herbert
  2. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
  3. The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes — And Why by Amanda Ripley
  4. The Boys in The Boat by Daniel James Brown
  5. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
  6. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
  7. Scythe by Neal Shusterman
  8. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
  9. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
  10. 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson
  11. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
  12. Influence by Robert Cialdini
  13. Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
  14. 1984 by George Orwell
  15. A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines
  16. Dead Man Walking by Sister Helen Prejean
  17. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
  18. Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
  19. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
  20. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
  21. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
  22. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind
  23. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Stephen J. Dubner and Steven Levitt
  24. The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
  25. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margret Atwood
  26. Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá
  27. The Darwin Awards by Wendy Northcutt
  28. So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson
  29. Lying by Sam Harris
  30. The Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt
  31. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

Movies I Quite Liked: (In no particular order)

  1. Gattaca (1997)
  2. The Equalizer (2014)
  3. Inside Man (2006)
  4. Interstate 60 (2003)
  5. The Endless Summer (1966)
  6. Dunkirk (2017)
  7. Mystic River (2003)
  8. The Interpreter (2005)
  9. Slumdog Millionaire (2009)
  10. Evolution (2001)
  11. Arrival (2016)
  12. Pitch Perfect (every movie)
  13. Intouchables (2012)
  14. Le Valet (2007)
  15. The Mandalorian (all seasons)
  16. The Ring (2002)
  17. Snatch (2000)
  18. Ponyo (2008)
  19. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
  20. Pride and Prejudice (2005)
  21. Atonement (2007)
  22. The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
  23. The Croods (2013)
  24. Spiderman (BUT WHICH ONE(S)?!)
  25. 007 (BUT WHICH ONE(S)?!)
  26. The Hundred Foot Journey (2014)
  27. Blazing Saddles (1974)
  28. Monty Python and The Holy Grail (1975)
  29. Wallace and Gromit
  30. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
  31. Donnie Darko (2001)
  32. The Martian (2015)
  33. Venom (2018)
  34. The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
  35. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
  36. Secondhand Lions (2003)
  37. Song of the Sea (2014)
  38. Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
  39. Isle of Dogs (2018)
  40. Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
  41. In Bruges (2008)
  42. Young Frankenstein (1974)
  43. Samara (2011)

TV Shows I’m Keen For: (In no particular order)

  1. Band of Brothers (2001)
  2. Big Little Lies (2017)
  3. True Detective – Season 1 (2014)
  4. House (all seasons)
  5. The Pink Panther (1963)
  6. Taboo (2017)
  7. Chernobyl (2019)
  8. Midnight Gospel (2020)
  9. Wednesday (2022)
  10. The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
  11. The Baztan Trilogy
  12. Mindhunter (2017)

Podcasts That Rocked My World: (In no particular order)

  1. Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History “Blueprint for Armageddon”
  2. Malcom Gladwell’s Revisionist History “Blame Game”
  3. Jacob Margolis and Misha Euceph’s The Big One
  4. Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO “Nuclear War Expert…”
  5. The Tim Ferriss Show “Learning from 1,000+ Near-Death Experiences”
  6. Various episodes of: Huberman Lab, Making Sense, and the drive Peter Attia MD
  7. Honorable Mention: Stuff You Should Know

Artists I Admire: (In no particular order)

  1. Jean Michel Basquiat (American Neo-Expressionist)
    • Untitled (Area), 1984
    • Odors of Punt, 1983
    • Anatomy Series, 1982
  2. Joseph M.W. Turner (English Romantic painter)
    • Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus, 1829
    • The Fighting Temeraire, 1838
  3. Yayoi Kusama (Contemporary Japanese female artist)
    •  The Obliteration Room in the Give Me Love exhibition from the My Eternal Soul series
    • Dot Obsessions (TBAOQ), 2007
    • Pumpkin, 1990
    • Butterfly, 1988
    • Petals, 1988
    • Sunlight, 1998
  4. Frederic Edwin Church (American landscape painter)
    • Niagara, 1857
    • Icebergs and Wreck in Sunset, 1860
    • The Iceberg, 1891
    • Rainy Season in the Tropics, 1866
    • El Rio de Luz, 1877
  5. Wassily Kandinsky (Russian Abstractionist painter)
    • Composition VIII, 1923
    • Circles in a Circle, 1923
  6. Hilma af Klint (Swedish female Abstractionist painter)
    • The Ten Largest, 1907
    • The Large Figure Paintings nr 5, 1907
    • They Tens Mainstay IV, 1907
  7. Joan Miro (Spanish artist)
    • Blue III, 1961
    • Constellation The Morning Star, 1940
    • Figure at Night Guided by the Phosphorescent Tracks of Snails, 1940
  8. Edgar Degas (French Impressionist artist)
    • Bronze Sculpture “The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer”
  9. Jackson Pollock (Modern American Abstractionist/Expressionist painter)
    • Number 23, 1948
    • Pattern, 1945
    • The Deep, 1953
  10. Caspar David Friedrich (German Romantic painter)
    • View from the Artist’s Studio, Window on the Left, 1805
  11. Camille Pissarro (Danish-French Neo-Impressionist painter)
    • The Avenue de l’Opera, Sunlight, Winter Morning, 1898
    • Boulevard Montmartre, Spring, 1897
  12. Gustave Caillebotte (French Impressionist painter)
    • the-parquet-planers-1875
    • woman-at-a-dressing-table
    • view-of-roofs-snow-effect-or-roofs-under-snow-1878
    • a-balcony-boulevard-haussmann
    • a-balcony-in-paris-1881
  13. Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch Neo-Impressionist painter)
    • Cypresses, 1889
    • Irises, 1890
    • Starry Night, 1889
  14. Winslow Homer (American Realist painter)
    • Gulf Stream, 1889
    • The Veteran in a New Field, 1865
    • Breezing Up, 1876
  15. James Abbott McNeil Whistler (American painter)
    • Nocturne: Blue and Gold–Southampton Water, 1872
    • Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket, 1875
    • Nocturne in Blue and Gold Valparaiso Bay, 1866
    • Nocturne in Blue and Silver: The Lagoon, Venice, 1879
    • Moreby Hall, 1884
  16. Ansel Adams (American landscape photographer)
    • Rain, Yosemite Valley, California, 1940
    • Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park, 1937
    • The Golden Gate Before the Bridge, 1932
    • The Tetons and Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, 1942
  17. Robert Doisneau (French photographer)
    • Le Baiser de l’Hotel de Ville Paris, 1950
    • Le cracheur de flammes, 1965
    • La Baguette Parisienne, 1953
  18. Damien Hirst (English Contemporary artist) (Morally… not a fan)
    • The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, 1991
    • Psalm print, domine ne in fuore (diamond dust), 2010
    • In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, 2004
    • Six Pills (Large), 2008
    • Untitled 01 (from I Once Was What You Are, You Will Be What I Am), 1965
    • Bodies, 1989
  19. Daniel Burnham (American architect)
    • Flatiron Building in NY
  20. Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (Dutch painter)
    • The Roses of Heliogabalus, 1888
  21. Norman Rockwell (American painter)
    • Freedom from Fear, 1943
  22. Nicolas Poussin (French painter)
    • Discovery of Achilles on Skyros, 1649
  23. Alexandre Cabanel
    • The Birth of Venus, 1875

I don’t usually drink, but when I do…

Cocktails: Pimm’s Cup with cucumber, orange, and strawberry garnish

“Sgroppino” (pronounced: so-grow-pino)

  • 1 cup chilled Prosecco (Italian sparkling white wine)
  • 1 shot chilled vodka
  • 1/3 cup frozen lemon sorbet
  • 1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh mint leaves

Nobu: Lychee Saketini

  • 2 shots of Nobu house sake
  • 1 shot of Stoli Elit vodka
  • 1 tablespoon of lychee syrup
  • 2 lychee garnish

Barton G: Cotton Candy Martini

  • Liquid Nitrogen
  • Vodka
  • Cotton Candy
  • Fresh Orange, Lemon, and Pineapple Juice
    • (Guava juice would also work)

Whiskey Coke with Frey Ranch Rye or Old Trestle American Single Malt

Beer:

  • Russian River Blind Pig IPA
  • Fieldwork Vanillaberry Sour
  • Lager or Blonde Beer Panache (blonde beer with Sprite on ice)

Wine:

  • With Lighter Meal: Beaujolais, Gamay, Pinot Noir, or Zinfandel
    • Black/Red fruits, not very earthy, herbaceous, peppery/spiced, or leathery
  • With Heavier Meal:
    • French Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot
    • Italian Sangiovese
    • Argentinian Malbec
  • With Seafood:
    • French Chardonnay (Pinot Grigio and Sauv Blanc are too acidic for my stomach)
    • Syrah if I have to go red