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)

Cocktails: Pimm’s Cup with cucumber, orange, and strawberry garnish, Sgroppino (pronounced: so-grow-pino), Nobu Lychee Saketini, Barton G Cotton Candy Martini, Panaché, or if it’s cold a Hot Toddy with Frey Ranch Rye or Old Trestle American Single Malt hold the lemon

French Varietals: Beaujolais, Gamay, Pinot Noir, or Zinfandel (with a lighter meal or sipping) Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot (with a heavier meal) or a Chardonnay (with seafood)

Other Wines: Italian Sangiovese (with Italian food) or Argentinian Malbec (with steak)

Beers: Russian River Blind Pig IPA, Fieldwork Vanillaberry Sour

Ice Cream Flavor: nothing beats homemade vanilla ice cream, but at a standard ice cream parlor I’m either getting strawberry or cookies and creme, I also love Häagen-Dazs coffee ice cream

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. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind
22. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Stephen J. Dubner and Steven Levitt
23. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margret Atwood
24. Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá
25. The Darwin Awards by Wendy Northcutt
26. So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson
27. Lying by Sam Harris
28. The Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt
29. 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. Spider-Man (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 (all of them)
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 (1969)
6. Taboo (2017)
7. Chernobyl (2019)
8. Midnight Gospel (2020)
9. Wednesday – Season 1 (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 and Making Sense
7. Honorable Mention: Stuff You Should Know

Artists I Admire: (In no particular order)

1. Jean Michel Basquiat (American Neo-Expressionist)
   • Anatomy Series, 1982
2. Yayoi Kusama (Contemporary Japanese female artist)
   •  The Obliteration Room in the Give Me Love exhibition from the My Eternal Soul series
   • Pumpkin, 1990
3. 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 (The River of Light), 1877
4. Wassily Kandinsky (Russian Abstractionist painter)
   • Composition VIII, 1923
   • Circles in a Circle, 1923
5. Hilma af Klint (Swedish female Abstractionist painter)
   • The Ten Largest, 1907
   • The Large Figure Paintings nr 5, 1907
   • They Tens Mainstay IV, 1907
6. Joan Miro (Spanish artist)
   • Blue III, 1961
   • Constellation The Morning Star, 1940
   • Figure at Night Guided by the Phosphorescent Tracks of Snails, 1940
7. Gustave Caillebotte (French Impressionist painter)
   • View of Roofs (Snow Effect), 1878
   • A Balcony Boulevard Haussmann, 1881
8. Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch Neo-Impressionist painter)
   • Cypresses, 1889
   • Still Life (Nature Morte), 1888
   • Café Table with Absinthe, 1887
   • Giant Peacock Moth, 1889
9. 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
10. Robert Doisneau (French photographer)
    • Le Baiser de l’Hotel de Ville Paris, 1950
    • Le cracheur de flammes, 1965
    • La Baguette Parisienne, 1953
11. Damien Hirst (English Contemporary artist) (Note: I like the visuals of his work, but do not approve of the man or his methods)
    • The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, 1991
    • Six Pills (Large), 2008
    • Bodies, 1989
    • Untitled 01 (from I Once Was What You Are, You Will Be What I Am), 1965
12. Daniel Burnham (American architect)
    • Flatiron Building in NY
13. Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (Dutch painter)
    • The Roses of Heliogabalus, 1888
14. Norman Rockwell (American painter)
    • Freedom from Fear, 1943
    • The problem we all live with, 1964
    • The Final Impossibility: Man’s Tracks on the Moon, 1969
    • The Waiting Room, 1937
    • Maternity Waiting Room, 1946
    • Teacher’s Birthday, 1956
    • The Runaway, 1958
    • The Young Lady with the Shiner, 1953
15. Nicolas Poussin (French painter)
    • Discovery of Achilles on Skyros, 1649
      • Note: this one I actually find more funny than beautiful, and I love Greek mythology
16. Alexandre Cabanel
    • The Birth of Venus, 1875
17. Joaquín Sorolla (Spanish painter)
    • Children on the Beach, Valencia, 1910
18. John Singer Sargent (American painter)
    • El Jaleo, 1882
19. John Everett Millais (English painter)
    • Ophelia, 1852
    • Huguenot, 1852
20. Gaetano Previati (Italian painter)
    • Paolo e Francesca, 1887
21. John Collier (English painter)
    • The Laboratory, 1883
22. Edward Poytner (British artist)
    • The Ides of March, 1883
23. Dean Cornwell (American artist)
    • The Other Side, 1920
24. Louis Wain (famous British artist that was on the autism spectrum that has lots of cool cat painting with names and dates I can’t figure out)
25. Hubert Robert (French artist)
    • The Bathing Pool, 1777
26. Claude Monet (French painter)
    • Les Îles de Port-Villez, 1883
27. Henryk Siemiradzki (Polish painter)
    • The Temptation of St. Jerome, 1886
28. August Friedrich Siegert (German painter)
    • The Little Artist, 1863
29. Bartolomeo Giuliano (Italian painter)
    • Le Villi (The Willis Fairies Dancing), 1906
30. George Roux (French artist)
    • Spirit, 1885
31. John Longstaff (Australian painter)
    • The Sirens, 1892
32. Takashi Murakami (Japanese artist)
    • The entire 2026 exhibition, “Hark Back to Ukiyo-e: Tracing Superflat to Japonisme’s Genesis“