Twitter games

So everyone's seen the "recommend 5 _X_ to get to know you" games floating around twitter, right? Right. Well, I found the best one:

But then I thought it would be fun to do some of the others, too. And, of course, some of the Whys, because it is oh so hard for me to narrow things down, but lord knows I love defining myself by my pop culture.

For the above, mantophasmatodea are two fold. One is because we had some in the lab in South Africa, and they are adorable. And two because it is still incredible to me that an entire new ORDER of insects could be discovered in the new millennium. (They've since been reclassified as a family within a new order, but the point stands.) Pneumoridae are the grasshoppers I worked on while I was doing research in South Africa. Wetas because they are awesome and so very New Zealand. Delta Green Ground Beetles were my favorite of my five thesis species, and they happen to be a species of concern on the Jepson Prairie Preserve, purchased by TNC in the 80s. So, you know, synchronicity. And a Costa Rican Zebra Tarantula because we had a pet one growing up, Seemani.

If that weren't enough... (also, I'm sick. This is what my cold-addled brain does.)

5 comic book runs/graphic novels

Maus. Maybe the first one I read? And so brilliant.

Watchmen. Again, just one of the best books of all time. I also happen to be in the minority for loving the movie, but it might be the casting that gets me.

Sandman. Neil Gaiman is very brilliant and I love a lot of his ongoing work, but this may be the pinnacle for me. I love a lot of the ideas and conceits in here.

Local. One of the best presents I've ever received. It's all about a young woman with wanderlust, and her eventual homecoming. Gifted to me just as I returned to San Francisco.

Bone. Stupid, stupid rat creatures!

Hon mentions:
Persepolis - too similar in genre to Maus to be in the top 5, but totally great.
Understanding Comics - so great.

Thinking more broadly about newspaper runs, well, then the Far Side, Foxtrot, Calvin & Hobbes, and Pogo would be up there (I've never read a lot of Pogo, but he's featured prominently in my childhood.) And Sluggy Freelance for being the first webcomic I followed regularly in college. Bunny with a switchblade!

My problem with a lot of comic runs is that they go on too long. I like early Locke & Key, Fables, and Y the Last Man, but I don't think Locke & Key quite stuck the landing, and I stopped reading the others about 5 collections in. Saga's holding up pretty well, but I'm a bit behind.

5 albums

Can I just use this?
If not:
Version 2.0 - Garbage
Rent - OBC
Elastica
Crash Love - AFI
Awesome as Fuck - Green Day

Hon Mentions:
No Need to Argue - Cranberries
Sixteen Stone - Bush
Haunted - Poe
...Like Clockwork - QotSA
To Venus and Back - Tori

Seasonally appropriate: 5 horror movies

Carrie. The best horror film.

American Psycho. One of my all time favorite films.

Trick r Treat. The best halloween movie.

Scream. It's hard to overstate just how much of hit this was for our age group when it came out. Plus it holds up so well. It's scary, it's funny, it's clever. I love how ghostface is clearly a person running around in a costume and sometimes gets the shit beaten out of them.

Silence of the Lambs. Okay, *technically* the best in terms of prestige. Between Clarice and Scully, it's a wonder I didn't want to join the FBI when I grew up.

Hon. Mentions:
28 Days Later. So great. I love the cast.
Cabin in the Woods. The spiritual successor to Scream. I love it so much.
Stake Land. Because there's nothing scarier than religious zealots.
Sleepy Hollow. Because peak Tim Burton. One day I will be rich and I will have someone make me Katrina and Lady Van Tassel's dresses.
Red White and Blue. Because it's an underground film, with nothing supernatural about it. Just damaged people who end up hurting each other.

5 songs

Another Day - RENT. Because tattoo.
I Think I'm Paranoid - Garbage. Because favorite song.
Hysteria - Muse. Because guitar solo.
Veni, Veni Emmanuel - San Francisco Girl's Chorus. Because Girl's Chorus.
Jessica - Allman Brothers. Because my song.

Hon Mentions:
How about I just link to my top 100 iTunes songs of March, 2017, and this list of 100 desert island songs?

5 TV Shows 

(With the caveats being that the show must be complete; I've seen the full show; and really using those I would most want to do a complete rewatch of to help narrow things down)

Hannibal. My fave. Other dark prestige shows would be Penny Dreadful, Breaking Bad, Carnivale, and Dexter.

Farscape. This only supersedes Doctor Who for my Sci Fi pic because I don't have a lot of interest in rewatching the Matt Smith era. (Other sci fi picks: Person of Interest, Sarah Connor Chronicles, Dollhouse)

It's Always Sunny. Because this narrowly beats out Black Books and the IT crowd for my favorite hilarious misanthropes. Shut up, dog!

Parks & Rec. Because I love all Schur shows, but I particularly love Leslie's dedication to public service, summed up by her use of this Teddy Roosevelt quote in the finale; "Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."

Planet Earth. Because nature shows.

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. Because fancy murder mysteries. And because I did nearly a complete rewatch while I was dying this summer. (Poirot and Veronica Mars are other mystery faves)

Hon Mentions:
Justified. It's just so good. Boyd is the best.
Misfits. I've definitely rewatched large chunks of this.
Lost. I did a rewatch of the first 4 seasons at one point while waiting for the fifth to premiere.

5 Theater shows

Cabaret. Because I love both versions. And Kander and Ebb.

RENT. My musical fave. 

Angels in America. My play fave.

Lieutenant of Inishmore. My playwright fave.

Hamilton. Because I really love the genre of American political history in musical form (see also: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and 1776.)

Top 5 Deciduous trees

Coast Live Oak

Monterey Cypress

Eucalyptus

Japanese Maple

Quaking Aspen

5 Books

The Man in the Brown Suit. My favorite Agatha Christie

The Raging Tide: Or, the Black Doll's Imbroglio. FIGBASH! (My first Gorey!)

My Antonia. My favorite book for a long time

The Bone People. One of the best Booker-prize novels I've read

Bridge of Birds. One I reread pretty regularly

Hon mentions:
The Lost World. Sarah Harding 4eva.
The Diversity of Life. E.O.Wilson is the best.
My Life with the Chimpanzees. Except for Jane Goodall, who is the actual best.

5 OTPs

Crichton/Aeryn (I mean. OTP. One is in the name.)

But for 5:

Nick & Nora

Rose & Ten

Fitzsimmons

Jack & Phryne

And for 10:

Philip & Elizabeth

Desmond & Penny

Mulder & Scully

Ben & Leslie

Brian & Justin

Gomez & Morticia

I mean. #relationshipgoals

And the nearly impossible:

5 Movies

Cabaret

Dead Poet's Society

Run Lola Run

Princess Mononoke

The Haunted House

Hon Mentions (not mentioned anywhere above):
Sam Rockwell: Mooooooooooooon/Confessions of a Dangerous Mind/ Galaxy Quest/ Lawn Dogs
Musicals: Across the Universe/ All that Jazz/ Rocky Horror Picture Show/Moulin Rouge/ Fiddler on the Roof/ Newsies/ Nightmare Before Christmas/ Pitch Perfect/ Chicago/ Evita
Drama: Chinatown/ Gosford Park/ Casino Royale/ LA Confidential/ the Great Escape/ the New World/ Zodiac/ Vertigo/ Usual Suspects/ Only Lovers Left Alive/ Adaptation/ Almost Famous/  American Beauty/ Black Swan/ Assassination of Jesse James/ Children of Men/ Braveheart/ Brooklyn/ the Hateful 8/ the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo/ Never Let Me Go/ The Prestige
Action: Mad Max Fury Road/ Batman Returns/ Leon/ the Fifth Element/ V for Vendetta/ X2/ Watchmen/ Wanted/ Snowpiercer/ Batman Begins/ Captain America the Winter Soldier/ Gone in 60 Seconds/ Independence Day/ Inside Man/ Jaws/ Jurassic Park/ the Two Towers/ the Matrix/ Mr. and Mrs. Smith/ Ocean's Eleven/ Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl/ Raiders of the Lost Ark
Historical, tragical romance: Titanic/Bright Star/Shakespeare in Love/Last of the Mohicans
Romances that don't suck: Thin Man/Carol/Bringing Up Baby/Sense and Sensibility/The Scarlet Pimpernel/ Thomas Crown Affair/ It Happened One Night
Robin Hood: the Adventures of Robin Hood/Robin Hood
Cillian Murphy: the Wind that Shakes the Barley/ Sunshine/ Perrier's Bounty/ Inception
Comedies: Clue/Cat Ballou/ Monty Python & the Holy Grail/Fish Called Wanda/ Steamboat Bill Jr./ Sherlock Jr./ College/ the General/ the Martian/ Murder by Death
Women in the wild: Tracks/Wild
Nature docs: Microcosmos/Winged Migration
Taika: Hunt for the Wilderpeople/What We Do in the Shadows
McDonagh bros: In Bruges/Calvary
Animated faves: Secret of NIMH/Fantasia/Brave Little Toaster/ Anastasia/ Finding Nemo/ Howl's Moving Castle/ My Neighbor Totoro
Fantasy: Stardust/The Dark Crystal/Labyrinth/Princess Bride/Mirrormask/ The Fall
Don Hertzfeldt: Rejected/World of Tomorrow
And the rest: Empire Records/ Interview with a Vampire/ Cruel Intentions/ Little Women/ Go