After stumbling upon a Pitchfork article that completely shat all over one of my favorite albums, I started thinking about favorites. The album in question was my guide down the rabbit hole of electronica. It's a little bit wacky, and a lot a bit psychedelic.

DJ Me DJ You's Rainbows and Robots was a huge part of my adolescence. Even now, I have the entire album loaded onto my phone which is a rarity for me.

While I was reading that article, I started to think about other things I've liked in the past. Some that have stuck around, and some that haven't. My favorite movie when I was 13 was Rat Race. Now, it's Carrie, which ousted Hannah and Her Sisters (because ew, Woody Allen come on). What's funny is that Scotland, PA has been second on my list for the duration of all of the switching around of favorites. Most of the list has stayed the same, actually. The Cruise, Judy Berlin, Harold and Maude, Little Shop of Horrors, Blazing Saddles...

It's funny to think about how parts of us change, while others stay the same. Is it fair to say that when we get down to our most intimate pieces, we will have parts of us that will always be the same? Our superficialities may change rapidly, but the core of ourselves shifts very gradually.

I implore you now to get out your idea books, and take stock of some of your favorites. If you don't have a "numbered list" think of the exercise as more of a cloud of things. Maybe favorite is too much pressure. When you think about things you may like to put in your cloud/list think about media, or people, or whatever nouns have brought you the most positive feelings. Maybe you saw a movie that didn't make you feel great, but it opened your eyes to something you hadn't considered before. Maybe you have a deep appreciation for something, but not an inherent ~like of it. There aren't really any strict rules to making your favorites list, however you want to define "favorite" is the right way to define it.

Think about some benchmarks in your life, and try to remember what things brought you the most joy at those times. School wasn't too long ago for me, so I'm still able to recall a few of my favorites from then. Portland had a really great oldies station called KISN FM for most of my childhood, and it was my favorite radio station. I liked watching E.R. (and still do!) it's one of my favorite shows.

Anyway, it may help to break things down in one or more of these ways:

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL // MIDDLE SCHOOL // HIGH SCHOOL // COLLEGE // NOW

MUSIC // FILMS // TELEVISION // BOOKS // PEOPLE // PHRASES

WINTER // SPRING // SUMMER // FALL

INSIDE // OUTSIDE

HOME // AWAY

Take as many pages as you need to create an accurate representation of your favorites. Don't be embarrassed of what you put on the lists/clouds either! (My favorite band is a vocal jazz quartet from the 70's, for instance.) Remember: no one has to see this list but you. It shouldn't be used as an exercise to show other people how ~rad~ you are, or make you feel like you need to put certain things on there to fit someone else's definition of cool. It's all you baby, just you.

Happy favorites~!

-Mac