Route42, 41

These things are always awkward, but I guess if there is one thing I can talk with some sense of authority about, it is myself.

Currently an English major at a local University. While I love books, my real attraction to the English department was on the writing side. Of course, writing rarely pays any bills, so I've got graduate school on my horizon after getting my undergrad degree.

I'm a big fan of all forms of pop culture: books (obviously), movies, music, tv, and sports.

With books my passion is children's/young adult books. Specifically one of my desires is to really give critical weight to this overlooked genre. Aside from that, some of my favorite authors include Agatha Christie, Tad Williams, Madeleine L'Engle, JK Rowling, and my latest obsession, the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley.

My latest movie obsession has been in watching Criterion blu rays. I have a nice starter's collection, which includes jawdropping films like Last Year At Marienbad, M, Stagecoach, Wages of Fear, Vivre Sa Vie, and more. For less intellectually "there" stuff I enjoy comedies (ala The Hangover, Superbad, The Princess Bride, etc), horror (Triangle, The Descent, Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Saw franchise, etc), smart Tarantino-type stuff (Jackie Brown, Inglourious Basterds, and Pulp Fiction), with my passion being animated films (Disney's Robin Hood, The Great Mouse Detective, The Incredibles, Wall-E, etc, etc). And a lot more.

Somehow my music tastes are even broader than in film... I won't bother listing everything, or even much at all. But I used to write reviews for several online magazines and consider my ability to explain why I like certain music (and not other music) to be pretty fabulous. Favorite band is Sonic Youth, with a close runner-up going to The Residents.

I'm running out of space, so just a quickie last paragraph: I love sports of all sorts (heh, that rhymed), but nothing matches my passion for baseball, and especially th