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BOOKS

I'm going to try to keep this short, because I could go on and on. I make no apologies for any of these books. I like them because I like them. They each speak to me in some way and I make no guarantees they'll speak to anyone else the same way. That's the terrific thing about books. I'm also not going to separate children's books from adult books because there's little distinction for me as a reader. I look for the same things, feel the same kind of enjoyment, regardless:

1. A LITTLE PRINCESS by Frances Hodgson Burnette: This is my favorite book in the whole wide world. It's a comfort read. I usually pull it out and reread it when I'm sick in bed. I was never able to warm to Mary Lennox, but I love Sarah.
2. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee: I was forced to read this book in high school and look! Here it is, my number two favorite book in all the world. It just goes to show you.
3. THE PRINCESS BRIDE by William Goldman: I know, I know. You've seen the movie. But if you liked the movie, you'll be head-over-heels in love with the book.
4. COLLECTED LYRICS by Edna St. Vincent Millay: Exquisite lyric poetry. I've read two copies of this book to tatters. I need a hardcover copy.
5. MANSFIELD PARK by Jane Austen: In spite of what I consider a seriously flawed ending, this is my favorite Austen novel. But I always rewrite the ending in my head, with Fanny accepting Henry Crawford. Feel free to e-mail me for lively debate.
6. PENNINGTON'S HEIR by K. M. Peyton: K. M. Peyton is my favorite YA author. She's English, best known for her FLAMBARDS series, which was made into a television miniseries in the early eighties. This is the third book about Patrick Pennington, a hulking "bloody-minded" brute who is also a gifted pianist. One of the best endings ever.
7. BUSMAN'S HONEYMOON by Dorothy L. Sayers: Peter finally marries Harriet!
8. THE WITCH OF BLACKBIRD POND by Elizabeth George Speare: Probably one of my favorite scenes in all the world is when John Holbrook bursts through the door, covered in snow, and falls to his knees with his head in Mercy's lap.
9. MRS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien: In middle school, I wrote a sequel to this book where Martin, Timothy and a group of rats set out to rescue Justin from NIMH. (Because I refused to accept that he was dead.)
10. ANNE OF GREEN GABLES and RILLA OF INGLESIDE by L. M. Montgomery: The first and last are my favorites of the "Anne Cycle." RILLA presents a beautiful picture of the strength required of women on the homefront during WWI.
11. (That's right, this list goes to eleven.) THE EDWARDIANS by Vita Sackville-West: Not literature, but if you like intricate historical detail, this is a total immersion in upperclass English life at the turn of the last century. There are moments that are so lovingly and delicately drawn, they actually make me weepy just thinking about them. Sylvia...on her round of morning calls...sniff sniff.

Other favorites: mostly everything else by Jane Austen (although EMMA's class snobbery worries me somewhat and Marianne Dashwood needs slapped,) THURSDAY'S CHILDREN by Rumer Godden, NICHOLAS NICKLEBY by Charles Dickens, I CAPTURE THE CASTLE by Dodie Smith, THE RIGHT HAND MAN by K. M. Peyton, THE SWING IN THE SUMMERHOUSE by Jane Langton, WATERSHIP DOWN by Richard Adams, THE DOOR IN THE WALL by Marguerite deAngeli, GONE WITH THE WIND by Margaret Mitchell, A RING OF ENDLESS LIGHT by Madeline L'Engle, THE QUEEN OF ATTOLIA by Megan Whalen Turner, COURT DUEL by Sherwood Smith, MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 AMAZING COLLOSAL EPISODE GUIDE (No kidding, I really love this book. You have to know and love the TV show though, to appreciate it.)

MOVIES

I love love love old movies. I would go hungry to pay my cable bill so I could continue to watch Turner Classic Movies. This list shifts occasionally (though numbers 2, 3 and 4 are almost always present.) My current favorite movies are:

1. THE HEIRESS
2. ALL ABOUT EVE
3. MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON
4. CASABLANCA
5. THE QUIET MAN
6. NOTORIOUS
7. THE MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CREEK
8. THE MIRACLE WORKER
9. ROMAN HOLIDAY
10. THE LITTLE FOXES

I also love movies that are...hmm, how shall I put this...not exactly fine cinema. I don't mean movies that are just plain awful or movies that are deliberately bad or campy. I mean movies that were originally a very earnest attempt at quality filmmaking but that failed utterly or have not stood up to the test of time. Call them guilty pleasures. My favorite bad movies (and boy, do I apologize if any of your favorites are on this list):

1. AIRPORT (There's a reason this movie spawned a series of spoofs. Except now the original is funnier than the spoofs.)
2. THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (A movie with a literal and figurative train-wreck of an ending!)
3. JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH (1959-You've got to love a movie that starts with Pat Boone in a kilt and ends with him wearing a sheep. That's right, a live sheep and nothing but a sheep, so help me God.)
4. THE JOURNEY (Yul Brynner eats a shotglass in an attempt to turn on Deborah Kerr. Ah, men. This movie also carries a strong anti-smoking message. Read my lengthy review to find out why.)
5. THE ROYAL HUNT OF THE SUN (Positively illuminated by blue-eyed Christopher Plummer in a long black wig and a loincloth as Atahualpa, the last Inca Emperor. A double-dip treat of gooey guilty pleasure.)

MUSIC

1. Vitali: Chaccone in G (The saddest, most emotionally over-the-top piece of music ever. If you are moved to find it, try to get the Jascha Heifetz version with the organ accompaniment. Sometimes this is done with piano or no accompaniment and it doesn't have near the impact. Also, I'm sorry to say it, but the Sarah Chang version is just way too delicate and ladylike.)
2. The last twenty minutes of Act 1, Puccini's LA BOHEME
3. The Te Deum from Puccini's TOSCA (Call me a sicko, but I find Scarpia rather exciting. Yeah, baby, mi fai dimenticar Ideo to you, too.)
4. "Thunder Road" Bruce Springsteen (Yes, I am that old.)
5. "Comfortably Numb" Pink Floyd
6. "Young Americans" David Bowie
7. The Great Fugue by Bach (For some reason, this piece of music makes me feel like my problems are very small. I should listen to it more often.)
8. "All the Things You Are" Rogers and Hart (No, I am not that old. I heard this on Great Performances or something.)
9. "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" performed by Doris Day (Okay, so I like Doris Day. Is that so wrong?)
10. Tallis Fantasy by Ralph Vaughn-Williams (Seriously, I do love this thing, but I also love the fact that it impresses the heck out of people if you just say Ralph Vaughn-Williams. Go ahead, try it sometime. Ralph Vaughn-Williams. You get instant long-hair cred. Just make sure you pronounce Ralph right.)

QUOTES

These are my favorite quotes. When things are going well, I like this one:

"Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." Abraham Lincoln

When things are not going well, I try to like this one:

"Dig, dig--And if I come to ledges, blast." Edna St. Vincent Millay

And pretty much all of the time, I like this one:

"Give a man an inch and right away, he thinks he's a ruler." Maxwell Smart

PAINTINGS

These are my favorite paintings. (Oh come on. Everyone has a favorite painting, right? If you don't have one, GET ONE!)

This is St. Sebastian Tended by St. Irene by Georges de la Tour

And this is Philip, Lord Wharton by Anthony Van Dyck.

Philip was nineteen when this portrait was painted, the spoiled darling of London society. (He's much better looking in person, if you get the chance to see him hanging in the National Art Gallery in Washington D.C. I visit him every chance I get. He was purchased from the Hermitage museum back in the thirties when the Soviets were secretly selling off scores of Russian art treasures to buy bread for their people. Andrew Mellon purchased Philip and many other famous paintings that now make up the core of the collection in the National Gallery. There was a national outcry in Russia when it was discovered that Philip was one of the paintings sold.)

He's much better-looking in person. Trust me.

ETC.

My favorite things to eat are
1. Wilbur Buds (what the Hershey Kiss wishes it was)
2. Lindor Balls, dark (yes, I have many cavities)
3. Black raspberries (I weep for those of you who live in regions where there are no black raspberries.)
4. Rice Krispie Treats
5. Amish sugar cakes (these are actually big cookies)
6. Maryland crab cakes
7. Roast turkey with all the trimmings
8. Really good celery
9. Breyers mint chocolate chip ice cream
10. Potato chips

Things I hate:
1. Green vegetables
2. Ticks
3. Not having 20/20 vision
4. Computer glitches
5. The current trend in women's clothing

I wish I looked like this:

Okay, this is getting silly now. I'll stop.

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