Influences

Alternatively, a list of things that sort of make me tick on an everyday basis. For chronological purposes, I tried to include things only from the high school me or before. A lot of other things have come along since then, but these are sort of the things I count as "formative" to who I am now when I think about them.

Brian Kinney: I know he's been mentioned a bit already, but he really is sort of crucial to the working of my psyche. Also, he can do this:

Daria: Very 90s of me, I know. How can you argue with this, though?

Blink 182: Once I got past posters from Scholastic book fairs (you know the ones I'm talking about, all full of cute baby animals or shiny race cars), there was a point where I had nothing but Blink 182 posters in my room. No, I didn't hear about them until Enema of the State. I just appreciated the dick jokes and the fact that they gave me awkward little teenage ladyboners.

Libraries: Mainly because of reading, but also because of the way books smell. Not new books - library books have this very specific odor from being in so many different people's houses over the years. It's like you consolidate all the smells of humanity into one place, and it makes you feel peaceful. Also, they're generally quiet places, which is nice to escape to every now and then.

Jungle Juice: The stuff of high school party legend. Essentially a random mix of whatever alcohol/related other beverages happen to be around. I once tried it mixed with maple syrup, which was actually surprisingly tasty (although the intense amount of alcohol also probably helped kill whatever taste buds I had going). This I credit with showing me that I could get drunk and not become my mother; that I could make stupid choices and survive them.

Ozma of Oz: I can't really define what it is about this particular Oz book that I like so much. I have read a lot of the other ones as well, but this one I've read probably over 20 times. There's just something about it I keep coming back to.

Tommy Boy: There really isn't a situation that a line from this movie can not be used effectively. Whenever somebody can actually quote it with me, I get all JoJo the Indian circus boy on them.