inspirations. these are the people and things that have inspired me. click on the thumbnails for additional information regarding these specific subjects...
the siren. tori amos sings like a mad woman of the forest. she does not adhere to everything "cool" that's why she is cool.

i was in a coffee shop, my head swirling with thoughts. suddenly, i was aware of tori amos' voice in the background, asking me through her song: when you gonna make up your mind? when you gonna love you as much as i do? this moment forever ingrained in my brain as that moment of clarity when i realized it is ok to be me...
josh groban is only 21 years old, yet his voice seems to have been around for centuries. there is that feeling of sadness when you hear him sing. he sings as if you're the only person in the room.
natalie merchant has a voice that you'll either hate or love. her strength though, is her songwriting. the only way to listen to her is play her CD and forget that it is playing. she'll draw you in.
audrey hepburn was the epitome of grace and beauty. ethereal and swan-necked who graduated from model to chorus girl to starlet to oscar winning actress for her first American film, roman holiday (1953).

born in brussels to an english banker and a dutch baroness, hepburn appeared in a handful
of small british pictures before she became hollywood's last screen goddess.

in her later years she worked as a tireless ambassador for UNICEF. she was married to the actor mel ferrer (1954-1968).
hedwig and the angry inch.

it's one of those movies that make you think. is it about a girl, or a boy? is it about redemption or forgiveness? is it about hedwig or her angry inch?
keith haring. in the 80's, keith haring completed thousands of public works. keith haring, aged 31, died of AIDS in 1991. the immense body of work left in his wake is now traveling the world in several exhibitions organized by the keith haring estate.
"Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can pretty much change your life forever."

Dear Felicity,

Here it goes. I've watched you for four years. Always wondered what you were like... what was going on in your mind all the time that you were so quiet, just thinking, drawing in your notebook. I should have just asked you, but I never asked you.

Well, this makes me sound crazy, but I'm okay with that. So take care of yourself.

Love, Ben
P.S. I would have said "keep in touch", but unfortunately we never were in touch.
the witching hour by anne rice

this book drew me in. it grabbed and took a hold of me. it's over 1,000 pages but it unfolds like a poisonous flower, you want to stop but cannot. the story opens with a woman in the veranda. before her story is over, it will take you across distant lands, back and forth time, and a family and a heroine so intertwined with love, hate and a secret.
the rocky horror picture show

when tim curry bursts into the scene, throws of his cape revealing a bustier and a string of pearls - you know you're in for a good time. the cult movie of all cult movies is even better if you go to the midnight showing. Who can forget: I'm just a sweet transvestive, from transsexual, transylvania ha-ha!
 
sailormoon created by naoko takeuchi,
circa 1995 - 2000

it is called a shojo (magical girls) - the main character is a crybaby named tsukino usagi. when i first read the manga, it was full of humor. the action in the series and all the transformations are excellent. the anime version (japanese not DiC) is both raw and intriguing.
san francisco museum of modern art (sfmoma)

one of the most beautiful museums i've ever been in. the first museum on the west coast devoted solely to 20th-century art, the sfmoma opened in 1935. the museum, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1985, rose to international prominence under the leadership of henry t. hopkins. “modern” was added to the museum’s title in 1975 to describe its purview more accurately.

the museum as one of the firsts to recognize photography as an art form. it has one of the biggest collections of photographies including one that is a maze, a symbolic figure of finding yourself through the photos shown.
margaret cho, the queen of comedy

in margaret's bits i find a lot of things I can identify with. her first routines that gained her fame tapped into her own ethnicity for laughs. to some, they enjoyed it for "stereotype asian" jokes. for me, the attraction to margaret's comedic stylings was simply because no other comedian on television had the same woes as me and my mother. she's raunchy: periods, oral sex and even fisting but the heart of her shows is her asian mother and her ethnicity.
and last but not least, this one so dear to my heart -- for my uncle billy
hiv awareness
(links to the whitman walker clinic)

i lost my uncle billy. you don't have to lose a loved one because of this deadly disease. the HIV/AIDS epidemic is a global crisis that requires both prevention and treatment. people have the right to information, education, and access to services in order to safeguard their sexual health and maybe save their lives.

if you do have someone who has this disease - love them, hug them. you are their hope, you are their dreams....