I was born in a little shack just outside Bedford Falls. My parents were honest, hard working circus clowns. Cotton candy and Jack Daniels were all we had back then, so Ma and Pa did their best to raise a gifted child when they weren't "mixin' it up" in prison. I remember nights when Pappy would sit with me out on the porch. He'd stare for hours up into the midnight sky. "Make Believe Bastard Child", he'd say. "Make Believe Bastard Child, someday this big, wide world will all be yours". I can still feel the lump in my throat, the tears in my eyes. "Try not to fuck it up".
I graduated from high school early; I was only 26 yrs old. I was the first member of my family to ever sit through all 12yrs of High School, let alone graduate. That was some party we threw that day! Ma and Pa took care of everything - spoons and needles for everyone! All 323 of my adopted Nigerian brothers and sisters were on hand. You'll forgive me if I get emotional. It was a little cramped in the trailer. Still, you can't contain love like that.
I had scholarship offers from all the big schools: Southwest Louisiana State Junior College, Northwestern Maine Eye Institute, Harvard University and Cambridge School of Beauty Therapy (long story). Thing was, I had no time for college. The world was my crack pipe and I had to take my puff. I said goodbye to the folks. It was difficult, what with having to wait for visiting hours and Pappy not believing I was his boy, but we cried and cried.
So... I may not have won that elusive anchor spot on the History Channel or developed a vaccine for the plague (well, you know.. the next one), but I'm confident that I have what it takes to succeed in life. In fact, Ma always said.. "Life is like a box of stale, used chocolates - yeah, you usually get screwed out of the damn cherry, but not always. Now go pour Mama a drink ". Uh, uh huh.
Films .. Cinema Paradiso, It's a Wonderful Life, Field of Dreams
Shows I Watch .. Curb Your Enthusiasm, Alias, The Sopranos, The OC
Playwrights .. Neil Simon, David Mamet, August Wilson
Play .. All these years later, it's still... Thornton Wilder's Our Town
Poets .. Pablo Neruda, Octavio Paz, Anne Sexton, Charles Bukowski
Poem .. Rimbaud's "A Season in Hell"
Authors .. Roald Dahl, Toni Morrison and John Irving
Artists .. Mark Rothko, Howard Hodgkin, Jackson Pollock
Art Genre .. Abstract Expressionism (especially the Color Field movement)
Musicians .. Amon Tobin, Beck, Yo La Tengo, Belle & Sebastian, Stephen Merritt, Beth Orton
Places .. New England, Carmel/Big Sur, Mendocino, Block Island
View .. from Nepenthe - a restaurant in Big Sur (800ft above the crashing surf)
Restaurants ..
Best Mexican .. La Superica, Santa Barbara (deliciously inexpensive gourmet tacos)
Best Cajun .. Heaven on Seven, Chicago (God I miss this place)
Best Italian .. Rosebud on Rush, Chicago (Great food; great date place)
Best Chinese .. Chinez, Irvine (every dish is perfect)
Best Brats .. Jody Maroni's, Irvine (best grilled brats I've ever tasted)
Best Steak .. The Flame, Chicago (their Peppercorn Steak is unreal)
Best Ribs .. Wingnuts, Costa Mesa (delicious babyback's drenched in a whisky bbq sauce)
Best Pizza .. Lou Malnati's (Chicago), Ledo's (Chicago) and Sally's (New Haven, CT)
Best Burger .. Portillo's, Chicago, Tom's Place, Anaheim
Best Tacos .. Wahoo's Fish Tacos (mmmm.. love the "Pig Bowl"), Chipotle Grill
Best Hot Dog .. Gold Coast Dogs, Chicago
Bars .. Nick's (Block Island), Iggy's (Chicago), Splashes (Laguna Beach)
Inspirational Source .. Emerson's essay on Self Reliance
Cologne .. Issey Miyake
Suit .. I wear Joseph Abboud, but.. if I had $1300 to blow on a suit .. Armani
Vacation Memory .. Staying at The Breakers in Palm Beach as a kid..
Childhood Cartoon .. Speed Racer. Damn I wanted the Mach 5. Still do..
Smells .. Tobacco shops, suntan lotion, hazelnut coffee, the ocean, pot roast on a Sunday
Quote .. "I'm not an enigma. I'm a contradiction" - from "Croupier"
"This is What I Want from a Girl" Song .. "Somebody", Depeche Mode
Living Gods .. Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits
Foreign Langauge to Hear Spoken During Sex .. Spanish, of course ("Aye, Papi")