Alright, sure. I'll give it a shot
My favourite album
...And immediately I have no idea how to answer. I'm not particularly committed to any favorite for very long, if only because I thrive on variety. If I had to pick a strong contender or three, though, I'd probably say
Change by The Dismemberment Plan,
All Hail West Texas by The Mountain Goats and
Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot by Sparklehorse. Both of these are albums that hit me at exactly the right moment in my life and are in that category where I can't even look at them critically anymore, simply because I can't imagine my life without them. The reason I'm picking those three is, because of the albums that do that, they don't just take me back to a particular time/place, but every time I put them on, I feel like they connect on that same level with whatever's going on currently.
My favourite lyric
This is even more impossible. The first thing that leaps to mind, and an apt self-description, is "I am healthy, I am whole, but I have poor impulse control and I want to go home, but I am home." (The Mountain Goats, "Riches & Wonders")
My first gig
Belle & Sebastian and Sleater-Kinney in Washington D.C. Weird, weird combination of bands, but fun.
The book that changed me
Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson. It's about so many beautiful things, observing and contextualizing experiences and understanding who people are and who you, yourself, are. And it's all so beautifully written, lyrical and kind of understated. It gets me every time I read it, which has been a few times now.
My favourite painting
I dunno if I feel knowledgeable enough about art to really zero in on one. I really, really love Edward Hopper generally, though, like
this one. And Magritte's
The Lovers leaps out at me as well.
My style icon
*snort* Lord, I don't know. If I see an outfit I particularly like, I might say something about it, but I don't really pay that much attention to what any particular person wears. About 85% of the time, I'm the jeans/thrift-store t-shirt/maybe a cut over-or-under shirt type and that's the extent to which I think about such things.
My favourite place
In day-to-day terms, my boyfriend's house in Portland. It's kind of the hub of a weird social circle and not unlike living an interactive sitcom--the kind of place people just sort of gravitate to, full of a lot of dynamic personalities (4 people live there, about 7 or 8 more [me included] are there at least a couple nights a week, about 15 others show up regularly from time to time), but relatively little drama, especially for that many people (and that much booze).
In broader terms, I like the American northwest as a whole.
My favourite album artwork
There are a couple I can think of...
This one, because it takes you a minute to realize what's interesting about it and I like the blue color palate.
This one (although I like the color version on the LP more, I can't find a decent version of it--
this is the best I've got).
This one made me laugh really hard for a minute and then I realized how perfectly it captures the feel of what's within...
I could go on for a while on this list, actually.
My idol
I try to avoid idolizing--it's dehumanizing. And a list of people I respect would take too long.
My alter ego
I AM the alter ego.