Breakfast. It’s really unspecific. It’s not that I like the first meal of the day. I like bacon and sausage, and salted country ham with red eye gravy. I like grits (but not as much as just plain hominy). I like biscuits, though toast will do. I like eggs: scrambled, fried in an omelet, baked in a quiche, poached on a muffin, but not just fried. Waffles and pancakes don’t really do it for me, though they're okay. It’s more about protein, though dirty rice or hash browns are nice. I like breakfast – sometimes for dinner.
Coffee. I drink it all day long. I take it with me to work in a thermos (two, actually). I drink French Roast most mornings. I like it strong but not overpowering. In a perfect world I’d drink Sumatran most of the time. If I win the Powerball I’ll probably stop buying the French Roast. With Splenda.
Drambuie. In a brandy snifter. With two (maybe three) cubes of ice. the price means it’s not something I taste often....
Good Literature. Steinbeck and Hemingway, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, Camus and Proust, Pramoedya and Rushdie, Homer and Aeschylus and Sophocles and Euripides, Joyce and Yeats – I could go on. I like novels and poetry (Blake and Burns, Dickenson and Frost, and others) and short stories. I like good literature.
History. Not so much U.S. history (since I usually know how the story ends), but a good article about the Taiping Rebellion or the rise and fall of Srivijaya; or a good biography of Akbar or maybe something on the Punic Wars.
Kindergarten. Last year I got to spend a small portion of my work day involved in reading instruction in a kindergarten classroom. It was the best part of my day at work.
Languages. I’ve studied Latin and German, Malay and Chinese. I’ve done linguistic field work with native Finns and speakers of Luganda. Ands I've been fortunate enough to live in places that exposed me to languages like Thai, Tagalog, Chamorro, Hawaian, Tamil, Pohnpeian, and a few other tongues. Studying a foreign language often makes you think about the way you think. There’s nothing like a good discussion of ergativity to make you question the grammatical categories in your head. Loud Music with the Windows Rolled Down on a Cool Morning. I’m eclectic. The music isn’t really the issue so much as the volume. Sometimes it’s Hank or Waylon, sometimes it’s Van Morrison, sometimes it’s Skynyrd or the Allman Brothers, sometimes it’s Kenny Chesney. There’s something about driving through the fog at 7:30 AM on a work day, scaring the deer with Stevie Ray Vaughn or Johnny Cash.
News. I love current affairs and politics. But I also like following world events. NPR is a good source. But I enjoy reading news more…
Scenery. I enjoy driving through rural Appalachia. Other places will do…
Steak. Ribeye or porterhouse, t-bone or a good sirloin. I like a nice thick steak, seared on each side but still cool in the middle…
University of Tennessee Football. What can I say? I bleed orange and white.
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