"Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do...Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do."
The following is just a small sampling of my favorites since it would take me forever to write them all in (especially since my lists keep changing over time) and they'd take up a heckuva lot of space here!
ACTORS:
In no particular order, mind you! (And yes, some of them are deceased, I know that!) Richard Burton, James Mason, Jody Foster, Sean Connery, Gerard Depardieu, Brian Cox, David Ogden Stiers, Liam Neeson, Anne Bancroft, Richard Dreyfuss, Derek de Lint, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Sally Field, Dennis Hopper, Shirly Maclaine, Warren Beatty, Alan Bates, Emma Thompson, Anthony Hopkins, etc. There are just too many to name!
BANDS/MUSICIANS/SONGWRITERS:
These first three are my all-time favs, the rest are in no particular order: Justin Hayward (solo & BlueJays) and the Moody Blues (I've been listening to the Moodies ever since I was a toddler! Scary, eh?), Crowded House, Split Enz, Leo Kottke, Simon & Garfunkel, Eurythmics/Annie Lenox, Steely Dan, Bread, America, Pet Shop Boys, Crosby Stills & Nash, Roxy Music, David Bowie, The Beatles, Chicago, Willie Nelson, U2, kd lang, Blondie, B-52s, Robert Palmer, Enya, Clannad, Queen, R.E.M., Sting, Eagles, Abba, Duran Duran, Styx, The Monkees, Thompson Twins, Level 42, The Police, Madness....and quite a few more. The radio station I listen to most often is Classic Rock-only, if that gives you any insight into what I like.
AUTHORS/BOOKS (I'm not gonna list ALL the books from ALL the authors I've read, just a few and I've highlighted my all-time favs):
Adams, Richard:
Watership Down, Maia (there's
more, but those are my favs)
Alcott, Louisa May: Little
Women, Little Men
Byrne, Beverley: A
Matter of Time
Donaldson, Stephen R.:
Mordant's Need I & II
Gabaldon,
Diana: Outlander,
Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, Drums
of Autumn
Gardner, John: Nickel Mountain
Hoban, Russell: The Sea-Thing Child
(children's book)
Ishiguro, Kazuo: Remains of the Day
Kaufman, Pamela: Banners of Gold
May, Julian: Intervention
and all the following novels.
McCaffrey, Anne: ALL
the Pern and Crystal Singer novels.
Nabokov: Lolita
Penman, Sharon Kay: Here Be Dragons and
the others in the series
Rankin, Ian: ALL of the Rebus novels! I don't read books from this genre very often but I was completely hooked after just one.
Rawn, Melanie: Everything
she's done so far..I love those sunrunners & dragons!
Rice, Anne: Belinda
(Anne Rampling), Lasher &
Taltos (Witches), Vampire
Lestat & Queen of the Damned (Vampire
Chronicles), The Mummy.
Riley, Judith Merkle: A Vision of Light
Sagan, Carl: Contact
Seton, Anya: Dragonwyck
Stewart, Mary: Touch Not The Cat, Crystal Cave
(actually I've read all her mysteries...loved 'em!)
Suess, Dr.: The Foot Book, Sneetches, Green Eggs
& Ham, everything!
...again, there are so many more I could list ...I read about 3-4 books a month!
MOVIES (SOME MUSICALS):
Extra-special films to me, in no particular order: Watership Down (animated), Jean de Florette (French), Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, The World According to Garp.
Lots more favs but no where near all, in no particular order: Manon of the Spring, Lolita, Stealing Heaven (of course), Farenheit 451, Jaws, Man from Snowy River, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, My Fair Lady, Sweeny Todd, The Music Man, Little Shop of Horrors (off-Broadway show & movie...saw both), 2001: A Space Odyssey, Return of Martin Guerre...to be continued.
FOOD:
Chocolate (hehehe...no doubt about it!)...preferably Godiva, Cornish Game Hens - deboned and stuffed, Pears Helene (poached, spiced pears stuffed filled with a dollop of currant jelly set in a pool of thick, vanilla custard sauce and covered with a rich, dark, alcoholic chocolate sauce...it's too die for!) Salmon steaks with asparagus and Hollandaise sauce which then reminds me of Eggs Benedict which then reminds me of another favorite breakfast treat: Belgium Waffles with strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and blueberries topped of with real whipped cream. Darnit! I'm getting rather hungry now! Oh, yeah...I love a good steak and mixed greens salad but the steak has to be a filet mignon or forget it. Spinach souffle, cheese-garlic grits casserole, fried okra, real Southern cornbread made with white cornmeal, fried catfish (with a cornmeal batter), hushpuppies, real pit BarbQ with a vinegar-based sauce, ice-cold root beer, homemade lemonade, sweetened ice tea with plenty of lemon... mmmmm