Things I Dig

• The Wire, the best television series ever made
• Mad Men and Deadwood, damn close to being the best television series ever made
• Hearing my wife say hi at the other end of the phone
• Hearing my wife say goodnight before we fall asleep
• Bobby Keys' saxophone solo on "Brown Sugar"
• My recliner
• Whenever my brother Rob does an imitation of my nana or my Uncle Tony
• DeNiro and Scorcese together
• Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee together in Do The Right Thing
• The Coen Brothers and anybody (although the one with Tom Hanks didn't work so well)
• Annie Hall
• Hearing my father recount the plot of any episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm"
• Paris in late spring or early summer
• Anthony Bourdain - on TV and in print
  
• Playing the bass and jamming with friends
• Otis Redding singing "These Arms of Mine"
• TEVA sandals
• Stand-up comedy live at a comedy club with a fake brick backdrop on the stage
• Wilson Pickett's cover of "Hey Jude"
• The Black Keys cover of "She Said She Said"
  
• Medium rare rib eye with a baked potato
• Turner Classic Movies
• Steely Dan
  
• The first cup of coffee
• Cargo pants (sad but true)
• San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood
• Hell, every neighborhood in San Francisco
  
• The perfection that is nine innings with three outs per side and 90 feet between home plate and first base
• Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail. Nobody nails down Nixon quite like the good Dr. Thompson
  
• Red Rocks Amphitheater
• Blue cheese (Gorgonzola and Stilton especially)
• Salman Rushdie
  
• Greenwich Village
• The sound of my nieces and nephews singing Christmas carols
• Kalamata olives
• All manner of Japanese cuisine, be it sushi, sashimi, teriyaki, soba, or tempura
• High quality bourbon (especially this one and this one) served neat or with a splash of club soda
• My wife's fried chicken
• Junot Diaz' amazing novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
• Cheeseburgers from 5 Guys
• Dinner out - especially if we are going here, here, here, here or here
• The "Restaurant Wars" episode of Top Chef
• Extra thick chocolate milkshakes
• Richard Ben Cramer's What It Takes (extraordinary political reporting and writing)
  
• The sound of a 12-string Rickenbacker and two-part harmony
• Any music that is designed to remind the listener of "Paperback Writer" or The Byrds' version of "Chimes of Freedom"
• My Kindle
• Buying Girl Scout cookies from plucky little salesgirls who set up card tables in front of the King Soopers
• Any opinion column written by the legendary Christopher Hitchens

That ought to do for now.