Sometimes I feel like a robot, an extension of this computer attached to my arms. In order to shake that feeling, I endeavour to stay connected to the outside world by consuming ideas, books, music, films and television. To start off the new year, here’s a list of some cultural obsessions in no particular order. Hopefully, they’ll inspire you, too. I’ll post more as my tastes evolve.

MUSIC: Anything by the All Girl Summer Fun Band (esp. “Later Operator” and “Jason Lee”) or Mercedes Sosa, The Smiths (”Girlfriend in a Coma”), Fiery Furnaces (”Don’t Dance Her Down”), Broken Social Scene (”Anthems for a 17-Year-Old Girl”), Hidden Cameras, The Shins (”New Slang” and “Caring Is Creepy”), Magnetic Fields. ART: Shary Boyle, Pheobe Glockner, Lisa Smolkin, Sonja Ahlers. TV: Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars. MOVIES: Garden State, The Aviator. AUTHORS: Sujata Massey, Marge Piercy, Emily Dickinson, Sparkle Hayter, Nalo Hopkinson.