So a few things do happen to be of interest in me:
Photography: being single at the time of this writing, most of my photography is a solitary affair with long drives sad and alone. Maybe it's an introverted thing, but my subject nowadays is mostly Landscape and experimental/abstract. Previously it was shooting friend's portraits, nudes/boudoir, some street and a few other things that would capture my interest. No there's no particular body of work worth mentioning - some are longer term, and it seems like I'm always looking to find my voice. I've seen so many great photographers and realize that this is just a hobby and not a lifestyle. While film has been brewing in the back of my head, I think if I shoot film it might very well be medium format.
Mid-Century Modern - in particular Polynesian pop and the tikis are what really draw my interest. There are several good books out there, not just on the culture, but also of tiki bars and drinks. Maybe it's harping back to what we idealized as a better time, an atomic culture. Of course reality was a different time - but certainly interesting looking back into things that were 20 years before I was born. The world of travel was so different, and nowadays with the internet, images and information are clicks away. But outside the world of exotica, there's also the subculture of the 1950s and early 60s that I do find (such as Bettie Page - whom I adored since the late 80s).
Arts & Craft: I'm not particularly good at anything except drawing crappy cartoons or doing watercolor at work. For some reason it's only when I'm in duress or stressed that I have to slave away to make any kind of meaningful life - that the better drawings or cartoons seem to go my way. Sometimes they're one or more panels of life's experiences, thoughts, or musings. But regardless, maybe I got lazy somewhere along the line, or I don't have the quality time to do anything decent - so I keep my drawings simple. I have a little arts & crafts section in at my work cell, jail, cubicle. I try different mediums but nothing ever seems to come of mind. And since I don't really stay home on weekends, I don't have the time to really stay home and master or partially master any particular tradecraft. My Dremel set is mostly virginal, wood burning/carving is kind of a joke.
Music has always been a part of my life; since the day I saw my first Black Flag and Dead Kennedys stickers on lamp posts and then being introduced into the suburban punk scene in Huntington Beach; the world had change. Even when I sent from skateboarding to surfing, the music or my group of friends haven't changed - I was still hanging out with the skinheads and mods at Huntington Beach High School. Then the whole world opened up after moving to Australia - just at the right time as Australia's impression in music really hit its stride. Those were good times and to have different perspective growing up in the 80s in Australia. John Hughes films wasn't everything. But then in Hawaii is when my love for Hawaiian music was cemented greater than the times my family would visit during the summer months of my youth. This stretched into the realms of various Pacific Island, and eventually what was later classified as World Music with their acoustic, Brazilian, African beats. Music has been a catalyst to the international - richly diversifying and beautiful. This again led me down the path to (not New Age thank god); but electronic dance music and electronic chill/lounge music that was so big in the late 90s to today. There were more to life than a Starbucks, Barnes & Noble coffee shops, or dance floors.
But having the opportunity to DJ for a few years with a rich library in my head, even to this day I feel the need to discover new songs and beats that are aesthetics to my ears (regardless of the gene minus Country).
I'll briefly mention here, amongst punk, there's also a variety of subgenres within that that fringes out to crossover. I'm glad it's not necessarily defined, as it should never be - but you have the purists of 1977 up to current. And I like it all.
There are good movies and bad movies; one's I watch for entertainment, technicality, plot; from cinematography, directing, acting, editing music, and getting vested. So yes, everything from Casablanca, Breakfast & Tiffany's, Sabrina, (I do seem to have a strange attraction to Audrey Hepburn), all the way to Godzilla vs. King Kong (2021). The whole span of years. Yes Star Wars and Star Trek can be enjoyed together. Action, Adventure, Classic, Noir, Science Fiction, Fantasy - it's there. Strangely, not so much into comedy or romantic comedies.
