maybe i should have been an anthropologist

it has occurred to me recently that as i'm slowly returning to doing all of the things that make me most happy, what i'm really doing is attempting to steep myself in a nice rounded mix of culture... and not just my own. i'm hungry to dig right into the finer things in life. I'm wanting to do movie nights, sure, but not just any old movies... i want to watch great foreign movies, and legendary old movies... i want to read books - but again not just any books - i'm looking for the classics again. i've always sought out the classics. I've done it since I was in high school and first learned what the classics were! - and it was almost never for a class. People would ask me (even when I wasn't a student anymore) what class i was reading "that book" for... and I'd answer that I was reading it for pleasure. They're time tested, and proven to be great - otherwise they wouldn't still be well known - they would have faded into history by now... that's the heart of my reason for wanting to read them, but it's not the whole reason. I think I also want the cultural knowledge that goes along with reading those books, and watching those movies.

For example, i was researching Film Noir earlier for my first movie nite of the new year... and i came upon Strangers on a Train, which happens to have been filmed before either of my parents were born. Even so, I have heard that particular movie referenced so many times in contemporary pop culture that i feel like i already know the movie. it would undoubtedly have even deeper significance for me every time it's referenced, though, if i had the background of actually having watched the movie.

it's the same with food - i love trying new foods, and foods from different regions of the world. i'm probably the most adventurous person in my family when it comes to food... not to mention actual travel. i've been to at least 13 countries, and can't wait to go see more! i just can't help it... i want to expand my cultural horizons, and the more i get, the more i seem to want.