= graying. broad-shouldered. badger-like. hands like spades. scottish.
= art school graduate. painter. bookworm. sometime tutor. grumpy misanthrope. daydreamer. general nerd.
+ art. crafts. art history. psychology. golden era hollywood. the 1940's. vaudeville. burlesque. wine. decadence. theatre. film. turquoise. hips. carpentry. comic books. corduroy. comic books. cheese. rainstorms. redheads. eccentrics. barbara stanwyck. anything retro or kitsch. psychedelia. stockholm. reading. museums. amsterdam. mindfulness. humbleness. old pin-up art. records. kissing. dusty bookshops. painting. music. sleep. sandwiches. girls with freckles / glasses / large book collections. cobblestone streets. daydreaming. quiet, rainy day introspection.
- overcast days. most music and art after the mid-eighties. arrogance. movie franchising. smokers with entitlement complexes. druggies. loudmouths. political correctness. militant vegans / feminists / religious nuts (anyone who revels in judgementally trying to tell others how they should think and live their lives, basically). 'reality' television. scrambled eggs. sports. madonna / lady gaga (same shit, different decade). artistic blocks. 3D. 75% of what passes for humour on the internet.
. . . 'it's not easy having a good time. . . even smiling makes my face ache.'