some things that Chris likes

and a few he doesn't

December '05

Anything with frosting; Ivan Putski; "Telephone" by Petracovich; America's Test Kitchen; Sen. Ted Kennedy; The Office (American); Zooey Deschanel; crayons; Target; "I'll Believe in Anything" by Wolf Parade; Samantha Bee; the pick and roll; sneakers; "Early Bird" by Rodney Rothman; advent calendars; milkshakes; EO Wilson; women writers; "Maple Leaves" by Jens Lekman; Andre Iguodala; my four-year-old son singing along to the chorus of "This Year" by The Mountain Goats; scallops wrapped in bacon; Ethan Suplee on My Name is Earl; birds; running around Fresh Pond; Pompadoured; "Secrets of the Mall of America" by John Hodgman; Head-On; College Hoops 2K6; The Mid-Majority; The Box Lunch on 50 Briar Lane in Wellfleet, MA; Jeff Daniels in The Squid and the Whale; flannel sheets; my Leaf Hog; and doughnuts.

some firsts and lasts that Claudia likes

and a few she doesn't

November '05

first time I saw Johnny Cash; my son's first words; Roseanne Barr's first stand-up appearance; first love; first tube of lipstick; first crush; the last Newhart episode; The first Godfather movie; the last time I saw Johnny Cash; the first time I read the New Yorker; my first bicycle; first publication; my first and hopefully not last trip to Paris; My first date with my husband. It happened about eleven years ago. We stayed up all night talking and walking my dog throughout Burlington, Vermont. It was chilly but not too cold. We walked to the Dunkin Donuts and split a small coffee and frosted donut.

first crush; my son's first trip to the emergency room; Roseanne's last stand-up appearance; first hangover; the last Cheers episode. It was all about Diane, Diane, Diane. What about Rebecca?; first break-up; the last Godfather movie; the last time I read the New Yorker; Kubrick's last film; first and last time I was fired; first period; first rejection letter; My first date. It was a double date. We went to see The Goonies, and then went Goony golfing. My grandpa told me the boy should pay. The boy didn't want to pay, so I ordered a Happy Meal and watched him gobble down his big fries and burger. My friend Louanna paid for the movie. My date liked her, but she was with the cute quarterback.

some stuff
brad likes

a few things
he just doesn't

OCTOBER '05

Road trips, news bloopers, bloopers in general, shooting guns, surfing, finding sand from the beach in various places/bodily crevices weeks later, fearless wanderer, hanging out with the same group I grew up with years later and noticing how little things really change, having my best friends girlfriend playing free shot with the guys, roman candle fights in my parents backyard, trying to get a llama to spit on us while chasing it in the dark through a field, andy feuk (and his killer art), saying killer in a sentence and watching my best friends girlfriend laugh quietly to herself as to say, “he still says that?”, fig newtons, my wife heather, gel pens, going back to school (kinda), watermelon, my God-given ability to eat an entire watermelon at one sitting and still want more, dancing so much at chris’ wedding that my feet, calves, and knees hurt for two days afterwards, Aarons puffy dance, new socks, new shirts, fire pits, William shatner, star trek TNG, spike tv’s ultimate fighter I & II, the margaritas I make, being unemployed, alpine slides, looking at my nice shirt after chris’ wedding the next day and not exactly knowing how it got so dirty (and when I say dirty, I mean, it had full on DIRT all over the inside), the life aquatic with steve zissou, bill murray, reno 911!, listening to a speech given by the president and listening for all the mix ups and bumbles (“the country of our country is a fabulous country”, and “id like to think that humans and fish can co-habitate.”), my whole family, flank steak, Stacy and Clinton from TLC’s what not to wear, chipotle, ice tea lemonade, dogs, bowling, jujitsu, being called a retard (that will always make me laugh. bad I know, but funny), chocolate milk, adams peanut butter, midgets, flip flops (bonus points if yours have a bottle opener on the bottom of them like mine do), dr. dre, wu tang, wyclef, sasquach, sushi, laura linney, las vegas and everything about it, single deck blackjack, getting dealt two aces then splitting that hand to get a blackjack on one hand and a 20 on the other!, the wave pool at Mandalay bay, the shins, treasure island, the rio buffet (seriously. This is hands down the best buffet in the history of the world.), buffets, all things pirate themed, knowing one of my best friends just recently flew a friggin’ jet, the fact that me – one of those “non-literary” types just edited Hobart. Suckas.

KATRINA!, kevin federline, the wear and tear that massive amounts of driving puts on your vehicle, not being on vacation, not being in a close vicinity to the beach (any beach), having my best friends girlfriend playing free shot with the guys and having her hit me so hard with a stick across my back that it left an immediate raised-welt, going back to school, when I eat all the watermelon, dancing so much at chris’ wedding that my feet, calves, and knees hurt for two days afterwards, all my old socks, star trek deep space nine, PETA, people who care more about animals than humans, not having eggs or milk in the fridge, when I pour the milk onto my cereal only then to find out that its sour, my ability to clog any toilet anytime anywhere, this thing in my esophagus that stops food and makes my chest hurt sometimes when all I want to do is eat what is in front of me, when the aforementioned problem gets me in a restaurant, when the aforementioned problem gets me when someone is talking to me and they have no clue the pain that im trying to not show but I know they can tell that im trying to hide something, when someone asks too many questions one right after the other, the eagles, franz ferdinand, reno, sean penn, the fact that I know who Stacy and Clinton are from TLC’s what not to wear, books with small font, people who name drop, people who think they are better than other people, panda express, the lingering inner thigh pain I feel after a night of bowling, not being trained in any submission fighting styles (that would be killer!), the cost of freaking textbooks, stores that don’t allow you to use your debit card for anything under $10, my computer, stupid drivers who arent aware of their surroundings, most drivers in general, UPS (what can brown do for you? How about never deliver our packages when we are home so there is no one to sign for them!), FEDEX, rafael palmeiro, wiping, remembering how my grandma once told be that she would bang my head against a wall if she ever caught me being mean to animals, tom cruise, bill maher, adam corolla, losing all my money in vegas, putting $100 down on black and watching it hit on red, leaving las vegas, leaving las vegas broke (and wanting more!), boils, studying all day and not having much to show for it, fearless wanderer’s powerpoint complications, running.

some stuff
Savannah likes

a few things
she doesn't

SEPTEMBER '05

Jean-Pierre Jeunet movies; (French band) Air; eating lunch at Whole Foods by hitting the sample containers…repeatedly; indie movies at Pittsburgh Filmmakers; snowcaps; the campiness of Japanese Iron Chef; Chairman Kaga’s sequined jackets and ruffle-edged gloves; The Pharmacy Bar in Adams-Morgan; shooting pool at Bedrock Billiards; Hobart!; tooth-enamel-dissolving saki (surely this is a petroleum product); Munich’s Pfälzer Weinprobierstube; Dahlmayer’s Specialty Grocery; the miniature lobsters in their floor fountains; Stammtisches; Daatchi mit Sahne (plum cake with cream); going to the Hofbrauhaus specifically to watch the tourists; knowing there’s a strip club across the street from all that Bavarian wholesomeness; unsavory-looking nudists in the Englischer Garten; pickled herring in sour cream; stock splits; the artists Louise Bourgeois, Matthew Barney, and Robert Wilson; Paddington Bear; Mustang GTs; green olives; red peppers; anisette and cognac; rice milk; rum raisin Ritter Sport chocolate; gorgonzola; diner food; Feel Good Inc.; Fight Club; Mujaji; Michel Houellebecq; Gunther Grass; Max Frisch; Zero 7; the paranormal; the filmmaker Zoe Beloff; my subscription to Granta; brunettes; boys with belly hair.

Math; the Pennsylvania Turnpike; short on-ramps; 180 degree circular off-ramps; laptops with mouse keys that flip onto my lap when I press them; turning 30; math; Emeril Live; Dulcolax commercials; The Real World; the pig-laden meat platter at the Pfälzer Weinprobierstube (especially the crispy, burnt-flesh portions); bureaucracy; the smell of marigolds; all manner of root vegetable; road rage; the word ‘no’; the smell of Napalm in the morning; airplane bathrooms; sitting next to someone on the bus and listening to their entire phone conversation (and actually hearing both sides); overly long phone conversations; getting on the wrong bus outside my apartment building because I’ve had no coffee yet and am consequently walking around squint-eyed and delirious; ending up in Georgetown instead of downtown and not paying attention quickly enough so I could have gotten my sleepy ass off the bus sooner; dead-end dates that last four hours and should end in fifteen minutes; public laundry facilities; brussel sprouts; the overdue library book police; unpleasant realizations; coconut-flavored rum; the morning after.

some stuff we like

a few things we don't

JUNE '05

Mos Def in the Woodsman; Don Cheadle in everything; Tony Danza in Crash; Chappelle's Show; getting random episodes of The Simpson's on dvd at the library; everyone that came out to our first fundraiser; generic mountain dew; burrito bars; getting postcards in the mail; new socks; new towels; life in Ann Arbor; three day weekends; spending your Monday off, in beautiful weather, at an outside cafe, eating crepes with bananas and nutella, making fun of people as they walk by, and brainstorming ideas for upcoming Hobart projects; going to elementary school talent shows and having the most fun you've had in a long time and just sitting back and enjoying the crazy talent and creativity of a bunch of third graders; spicy foods; the name of the upcoming Hobart "minibook" division: Short Flight/Long Drive Books; Dan Wickett's Emerging Writers Network; Judy Budnitz and her new collection, Nice Big American Baby, and her "who knew?" illustrating skills (well, maybe everyone knew she was an awesome artist, but we didn't) and her generosity in donating an illustration for the Hobart fundraiser; Julie Orringer and her collection, How to Breathe Underwater (have you read this yet? cause it is fucking great and so if you haven't yet, go do so now); imdb.com; Michael Ian Black; getting a huge phonebill and realizing it is because you haven't paid it in a few months (wait, no. that should be over on dislikes. well, not having paid your phone bill for a few months is pretty cool); Zero Effect (we've been able to convince approximately zero people to watch this movie since we started recommending it like three years ago but we're not letting that stop us. it is great! really!! email us and tell us you've seen it and agree and don't understand why more people don't talk about it!); Scarlett Johansson

almost all non-Mos Def rappers in movies (OK, there are actually plenty of exceptions to this rule -- Busta Rhymes in Narc; Ludacris was actually pretty good in Crash; Rza and Gza, while playing themselves, are hilarious in Coffee and Cigarettes -- but you still get the idea); sitting down at the computer to work on this update, then suddenly, half an hour to an hour later, remembering that you put some food in the oven; the acting, writing, and almost everything except the first shot of Darth Vader in full Vader regalia in Revenge of the Sith; George Lucas; being singled out and called out at said elementary school talent show as a liar ("this song is dedicated to Aaron Burch. it is called "why did you lie to me." he's sitting right there in the fourth row. c'mon Aaron, stand up"); late night talks about politics; when your favorite shorts start fading and get holes in them but you continue to wear them because they are your favorite but then finally the moment comes where they are just too far gone and you have to retire them; the absence of a new season of Chappelle's Show; the fact that Paul Feig's Undeclared isn't on dvd; the laborious chore that is this stupid, monthly dislikes list; ourselves for complaining about this list almost every single outing; trying to download and set up a mailing list program and getting about two steps in before just being made to feel like a complete idiot for not being able to figure it out despite all its claims of how easy it is; new, too-skinny, Lindsay Lohan; when your girlfriend gets up to go to the bathroom halfway through a movie and never returns, and when the movie ends and you expect her to be sitting outside the theater waiting, you can't find her because she has wandered off and is sitting in your car reading