What are you a fan of?

[KarmaContestant]

I am a fan of many things. Some of my favorites:

Plants and gardening. I've been intrigued by plants since I was a kid. While interest goes up and down it's always there - my focus right now is vegetable gardening, though most of my gardening past has been more ornamental or houseplant focused. I really love HGTV, but certainly do wish they would put more emphasis on the Garden part of their moniker. I get the most excited about unusual heirloom color variations, like yellow podded peas or red carrots or purple brussels sprouts.

I *love* beer. And wine, but I am unabashedly snooty when it comes to both. When it's up to me, I only drink wines from Spain or Argentina, and only varieties that are endemic. So, while I love tempranillo and malbec, you won't catch me drinking a Spanish merlot or an Argentinian chardonnay. Interestingly, the malbec grape is French in origin, though almost exclusively grown for wine in Argentina. I'm more open when it comes to beer, but it has to be craft beer and it has to be brown in color - none of that mass market yellow pilsner swill that dominates the palate of many American beer drinkers. I like porters, stouts, black ales and nut browns or scottish ales the most. I buy beer and/or wine almost every single Friday on my way home from work.

I am a fan of books. Anne Rice & Clive Barker are my favorite fiction authors, though I love books by dozens of writers. I especially love non-fiction books about science or history. There's a picture of John Waters circulating on Facebook, at a desk surrounded by books with a quote that says something like "If you go home with someone and they don't have any books, don't fu*k them." I completely agree - book collections are the sign of an intelligent, open, and independent mind, and *that's* sexy.

For a long time, I was a huge fan of Transformers. They were my favorite childhood toys and I still follow the franchise through blogs and fansites, though it's been a long time since I've bought a toy robot. Michael Bay and his unholy union with Hasbro ruined them for me, turning them from affable robots disguised as cars, planes and trucks, into hideous metallic alieny-robot-things that look like monsters.

Punctuality is one of things I am a big fan of. It might very well be one of the most important qualities a person can possess. I learned at a very early age - if you are not 10 minutes early, then you are late. I do not like being late, late people, schedule delays, rescheduling, slow or fast clocks and I HATE HATE HATE WAITING FOR SOMEONE WHO IS LATE, especially if it involves meeting for drinks or food. Seriously, if you say you'll be there at 3:00, be there at 3:00, or even better be there at 2:50 because I will be. When I learn that a friend of mine is chronically late or has developed an issue with punctuality, I just stop inviting them to do things or meet. Don't waste my time. I wouldn't do it to you.

Music instead of TV. I cannot stress this enough. I grew up with parents who played the stereo every day. On weekends, it was on from morning to night. TV was rare and as an adult I prefer to keep my lifestyle the same way. Music entertains and stimulates creative activites and thinking that are often squandered when watching TV. To quote from Depeche Mode's song Painkiller, "Uh, my stereo man is my number one high."

Originally Posted by chiliD

Ancient Aliens

At the end of the day, I've always got time for an episode of Ancient Aliens. I love that show.