Faves

Authors

I could seriously run a used bookstore out of my house. Maybe I will someday. As a teen, I dreamed of opening a bookstore (before Amazon came along). Then, in my 30s, I thought running a newsstand-coffeeshop hybrid or a store that sold only cookbooks would be fun. While books never became my business, they’ve always been my escape. These are the people I’ve read most:

F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, John Irving, Michael Chabon, Douglas Coupland, Larry McMurtry, Jeff Shaara, John Scalzi, Jonathan Lethem, Cormac McCarthy, V.E. Schwab, Erik Larson, Amor Towles, Anthony Doerr, Grady Hendrix

Musicians

Music has always been a big part of my life. As a kid, I played the violin and cello. As an adult, I play the guitar (but very badly). Inspired by memories of going through my parents’ vinyl in my formative years, I got into record collecting about four years ago and have already filled ten crates! Here are the groups and people I’m listening to the most these days:

Wilco/Jeff Tweedy, The Old 97’s/Rhett Miller, The Hold Steady/Craig Finn, Radiohead/The Smile, Death Cab For Cutie, Jason Isbell, The National, Alison Ponthier, Boygenius, Waxahatchee, Noah Kahan, Pearl Jam, Vampire Weekend, Zach Bryan

Movies

Growing up, it was always a special treat for my family to go to the movies instead of waiting until something showed up on HBO. Video rental stores were a game changer for us, and I worked at one in college. I received two free rentals a shift, and you better believe I took advantage of that. When I moved to Austin in 2012, I couldn’t believe its film culture. I quickly rose to the highest echelon of Alamo Drafthouse’s loyalty program (Top Brass). It was a no-brainer when they started selling an all-you-can-see pass. Here are the flicks I love:

Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Rear Window, the original Star Wars trilogy, Blazing Saddles, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, Groundhog Day, Back To The Future, Spaceballs, The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Lost In Translation, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Metropolitan, Barcelona, The Royal Tennenbaums, The Departed, Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, Inception, Interstellar, the Beniot Blanc mysteries, the Denis Villeneuve oeuvre, most Marvel movies, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, La La Land, Baby Driver, The Batman, Perfect Days, The Taste of Things, the John Wick movies

Artists

Both my grandfather and mother painted — and my brother dabbled — but my creative output is limited to writing and photography. That said, I’ve been known to travel to Houston, Dallas, or San Antonio just for an art exhibit. I love to view the works of:

Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, René Magritte, Julian Onderdonk, M.C. Escher, Frida Kahlo, Ansel Adams, Georgia O'Keeffe, Edward Hopper Andy Warhol, Ed Ruscha, Dan Flavin, James Turrell, Robert Frank, Stephen Shore, William Eggleston, Bruce Davidson, Alec Soth, Yayoi Kusama, Roger Shimomura, Robert Polidori, Shepard Fairey, Kehinde Wiley, Skylar Fein

Restaurants

I’m a decent cook and baker, but I prefer to dine out on the weekends. Especially in a town with as good of a food scene as ours. Sure, fancy places are great, but I also like the local chains. Here are the places I go to the most (or want to go to right now):

Jack Allen’s Kitchen, Stiles Switch BBQ, Interstellar BBQ, Eldorado Cafe, Emmer & Rye, Tarka Indian Kitchen, Tacodeli, Ramen Tatsu-ya, Kerbey Lane Cafe, Sawyer & Co., 24 Diner, Tumble22, Hopdoddy, Bartlett’s, Elizabeth Street Cafe, Uchiko, Via 313, Suerte, Pecan Square Cafe, Canje, June’s All Day, Little Ola’s, Joann’s Fine Foods, Maie Day, Mattie’s

Hang-out spots

Being self-employed means I spend entirely too much time at home. While it’s nice to have a five-second commute, I often need a change of venue. At those times, here’s where you’re likely to find me:

Merit Coffee, End Of An Ear Records, Caffé Medici, Waterloo Records, Houndstooth Coffee, BookPeople, Alamo Drafthouse, Radio Coffee, Half-Price Books, Epoch Coffee, Breakaway Records, Austin Film Society Cinema, Antone’s Records, Easy Tiger, Cosmic Coffee, Mañana, Jo’s Coffee, Lou’s Eastside, First Light Books