My Favorite Things

More than just raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, there is an entire world of culture out there that finds a way to impact us in personally meaningful ways. Much of it slides past us without leaving a mark, but occasionally something grabs our attention and then refuses to let go, touching our lives and causing us to mark it as a favorite.

Be it a book or author, a movie or filmmaker, a musician or album, a performer, a comic strip, a piece of technology, your favorite place to be creative, or your favorite place to eat, investing ourselves in these items makes them a part of us, and they inform who we are in the world. From the life-changing to the comfortably reassuring, our favorite things become touchstones for how we navigate the cultural currents.

My Favorite Things offers contributors the chance to declare their own favorites and explain why that thing or those things are so special to them. Rather than critically objective arguments for greatness, these are the favorites that we cherish simply for what they offer us individually. The essays encountered in My Favorite Things are deeply personal, reflective in nature, and always fascinating in their ability to reveal how those attachments are formed and what they come to mean to each of us.

All the Faith in the World: Holiday

[13.Apr.09] :. Holiday is the sort of movie that gives those who do know it the satisfyingly superior glow of being in on something really good.
 

Shriekback and Me

[6.Jun.08] :. Rett Snotherly reflects on the familiar tale of the emotional ties to a beloved band stretching across time, and how the impact of youth's engagement remains a part of us that lingers years later.
 

Bob & Ray: The Two and Only

[28.Mar.08] :. Turning back the clock, Kerrie Mills explores the pairing of two men who became cornerstones of modern American comedy, as well as icons of the mid-20th century media landscape, Bob & Ray.
 

Let Me Into Your Mind: How J.Ralph Changed My Life

[29.Nov.07] :. Evan Sawdey gives his personal take on the familiar tale of first musical love, explaining how stumbling across the work of under-the-radar musician J.Ralph opened up new doors into a consciousness of music's capabilities.
 

Scud Mountain Boys: How to Burn a Silo

[11.Jun.07] :. Matthew Fiander rediscovers the Scud Mountain Boys with his own move south, and realizes that stories are rightfully entangled in their settings.
 

Bright Eyes: In Defense of Preciousness

[20.Feb.07] :. Despite all the self-absorption, and directly in spite of criticisms about the brittle timber of Conor Oberst's much commented on voice, Feldman lays her love for Bright Eyes out in public to defend the mysterious power of the hope that slips through the cracks in Bright Eyes' usually gloomy demeanor.
 

Jessica Lange: The Anti-Streep

[1.Nov.06] :. Can childhood epiphanies really translate into critical pursuits of acting nuance? For Matt Mazur they most certainly can, as attested by his lifelong devotion to the immersive acting of cinematic chimera Jessica Lange.
 

Street Fighter II: The World Warrior: “Here Comes a New Challenger!”

[12.Oct.06] :. In the twilight days of the old video arcades, a coin-op game emerged that changed everything about the way fighting games were played and created a minor renaissance. Ryan Smith reflects back on the heady youth of global warriors, quarter match challengers, and "shoryuken!" with the original Street Fighter II.
 

Radiohead: Kid A

[27.Jul.04] :.

On Kid A, Thom Yorke uses his voice more as an instrument than as a vehicle for his lyrics. And it’s a beautiful instrument—mournful and keening one minute, pissed off the next, jubilant the song after that.

 

Blonde Redhead: Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons

[24.Dec.02] :.

In the end, I was a damaged lemon in need of healing, and Blonde Redhead’s album offered me an empathetic treatment for my sadness. What a release.