.daniel.

General

Filmmaking and film history, art and art history, photography, music, illustration, sculpture, animation, art and furniture restoration, mechanics, electronics, cooking, gardening, nature, queer culture, meditation, mindfulness, the ocean, friends, nostalgia pits, bad poetry, lucid dreams, learning, writing letters, storytelling, puppetry, abandoned buildings, urban decay, pen-pals, playlists, animals, plants, and generally anything. I'm never bored and almost always interested.

Music

I like a lot of different things, but spend most of my time in the sort of goth, post-punk, deathrock, darkwave, dark ethereal arena. I also enjoy a good amount of metal (of various subcategories), industrial, shoegaze indie, and folk (of various nationalities). Along with goth (encompassing those subgenres), I have roots in queercore and punk. I like some classical music - a lot of the french avant-garde pianists. Not opposed to some pop and upbeat stuff, particularly of past years - I'm not as good with what's contemporary. I love listless, melancholic, charged, nostalgic, confident--- all sort of emotions in music. While I love my roots in darker music, and have long found my home in the goth scene, I try not to get too caught up about being genre exclusive or letting my aesthetic and passions limit me from enjoying other things.

I'll save us all a lot of grief and put together a list someday.

Movies

Since this (and television) is what is supposedly my "expertise", I feel like I've watched everything (obviously hyperbole). I especially enjoy horror, fantasy, and family adventure. Can't get enough camp or cult. Some action, sci-fi, and comedy. I won't say no to solids in other genres that seem less "me" like rom-coms. Can always tune in to a solid documentary - love a good animated feature. Honestly, I probably watch straight dramas and war movies the least. I could get into titles - but I'll save it for another time. I'm so anxious I'll leave one out.

Television

Okay look, the laundry list of shows I need and want to watch are endless- yet I'll rewatch Frasier and The Golden Girls till the day I die. What kind of goth am I? I also love teen "horror", especially if it is at a CW-quality level. Teen Wolf, Secret Circle, Buffy, Charmed - you get the picture. Newer programs outside of that realm I've liked: The Queen's Gambit, Feud, AHS, Schitt's Creek, Insecure. I'm positive I'm forgetting a lot, which is why I always hesitate to put down titles.

Books

I read a lot of non-fiction - especially lately. Biographies, artist diaries, instruction, analysis, theory, history. I won't bore you with the details. In fiction, while there are many titles, I'll always hold a soft spot for White Oleander, Great Expectations, and Jitterbug Perfume. I also enjoy a number of comics and graphic novels. I just finished Black Hole - not sure why it took me decades to get around to it since it's such a classic.

Heroes