My loves, passions, obsessions, etc.

I love these things:

My new CD: Sparklers and Bottlerockets by Tijuana Strip Club. TSC is a San Francisco band fronted by Randy Cordero (actually he wrote all the songs except one, sings all the songs and played almost all the instruments as well). I saw them a couple of weeks ago in Chicago at the House of Blues where they opened for SuperDiamond. They were selling their CD in the back, so I picked it up as I enjoyed their live show and I do not regret that move at all. I've been listening to it non-stop for the past few days.

Knitting – Yup, I know it's the latest fad/craze/whathaveyou, but my friends taught me a year ago and although I spend tons of money on yarn, I love it. I had been crocheting for a couple of years before that and didn't think I could knit (I'm pretty damn uncoordinated), but I've been whipping out scarves for a year now. I even made myself a poncho which is pretty exciting (even if it is just a really big scarf folded in half and sewn partway up). I like simple patterns. ;-) And one day soon I'm going to start a sweater for myself (or maybe not too soon). I got the yarn on sale and I have the pattern from a book called Simple Sweaters from Luxurious Yarns (or something like that). I love my friends for teaching me and being so patient, as I'm a lousy student!!!

My cats – Yes, cliché, but I do love them. They make me laugh. They are a little crazy (especially Boris), but they're so damn cute and lovable.

Champ Car racing – I know I've discussed here before, but I am completely obsessed with it and am passionate about it. I don't know why, don't ask me, why do people love football or basketball or cricket? Champ Car racing is exciting and great fun. I look forward to racing weekends like almost nothing else. I get to see my friends, I get to see and hear my favorite race cars (turbo-charged engines), my favorite race car drivers and owners and cars turning left and right at top speed. It really is hard to explain, but right now I'm looking forward to the race in Vegas. It's an oval, so they'll only be turning left, but it'll do since it'll probably be my last race of the season. *sigh*

Hockey – Particularly, the NHL and the Detroit Red Wings, but I'm not a one-team woman. I also love the St. Louis Blues and the San Jose Sharks, and although I normally hate the Phoenix Coyotes, I might have to root for them this year (if there's a season) because they picked up three players that I really like this off-season (Boyd Devereaux, Brett Hull and Mike Ricci). Problem is that I hate Wayne Gretzky and he co-owns the team, so that's a huge problem for me. I'll have to wait and see a game with them and see for whom I end up rooting (if they're playing one of the aforementioned teams, it won't be the Coyotes). It's like when Dallas plays Colorado, two teams I hate. I prefer to see a 0-0 tie, but sometimes I'll find myself rooting against one of the teams more than the other, so then I know. And usually it's the Avs against whom I'm rooting so avidly.

Joy Division – My favorite band of all time. I've read just about every book ever written about them, saw the movie 24 Hour Party People, have all of their CDs, including the box set, own the VHS copy of Here Are The Young Men, have a poster of them in the classic Here Are The Young Men poses leaning up against a fence in Manchester. I also have the ubiquitous poster of Unknown Pleasures, two Unknown Pleasures t-shirts, as well as a Closer t-shirt. I have a pic of Ian singing painted onto the back of my jean jacket with the quote "We will go on as if nothing was wrong," from Transmission, which is not my favorite JD song. That honor goes to Atmosphere. And even though most people find their music depressing, I've found that it can cheer me up when I'm unhappy.

Sports Night – Defunct sitcom from ABC which was brilliant and made me laugh and cry simultaneously. I bought the box set last year after Christmas and watched all three seasons. Stupid ABC kept putting it up against Will & Grace (a show I think is a touch over-rated, but I could be biased). If you ever have the chance to catch this in syndication (although it might be able to be syndicated since I’m not sure it reached the required 100 shows), I say do yourself a favor. It's a great show – not silly or stupid, but intelligent and witty. In fact, due to ABC canceling it, I've been boycotting network television since.

My nieces and nephews – the older ones, as well as the younger ones. The older ones are fun to hang with and harass, whereas the younger ones are just so damn cute!!!! I saw them Sunday for the first time in forever and it was so good to have them sitting on my lap. I need to make more of an effort to see them more often.

Summer – I adore summer! And I even like it hot. I'm not a fan of humidity, however, but since I live in Michigan, I don't have a lot of choice in the matter. In fact, this summer has been a bit of a bummer, I must say. But I love green grass and the sight of green leaves against the bright blue sky. I love tank tops and shorts and sandals and sundresses. I like being able to get into my car and not having to adjust the big heavy coat around you and under you before you put on the seat belt.

Sushi – Vegetarian sushi, to be sure, but I do love it! I had tried dead fish sushi a long time ago and thought it was simply vile, but then a friend introduced my family to his friend who happens to be a sushi chef, and we went and checked out his restaurant. Now, I'm completely addicted to Tempura Asparagus sushi and wasabi. I love wasabi! Whenever I'm feeling like I'm getting a sinus infection/cold, I head off to get sushi and kill the incoming infection with wasabi. It seems to work, so I'm sticking with my home remedy!!!

Guinness – There are medicinal properties here, people! For the past few weeks, my stomach has been all wonky. Literally everything I hate made me feel like I was going to hurl. I was miserable and ready to swear off food, but the other day I had two Guinnesses and that was it. My stomach has been fine, since then. I wouldn't go by just that though. I've had similar symptoms before and Guinness did the trick them too. I don't know why, but it helps settle my stomach and tastes a hell of a lot better than the pink stuff with the incredibly horrible commercials!

Netflix – The person who came up with this idea is a GENIUS!!! I simply love Netflix! Before I signed up I rarely watched movies, as I hate and despise Blockbuster. Blockbuster seems to concentrate on movies that have come out in the past five years and there are so many good old movies that I want to see. I have over one hundred movies in my queue. They also have television shows, so if you don't get HBO, you can still see what the fuss is about, or if you, like me, missed the first two seasons of Monk on USA, you can get those as well, and trust me, those are worth it. The DVDs come straight to my house and I don't have to do anything but put the business reply envelope out at my mailbox (if I'm too lazy to walk to the mailbox) to send it back. It's bloody brilliant, I tell you!

I guess that will do for now. I, of course, reserve the right to change/add/delete items to and from this list at any time which suits me.