Favorite Book-The Old Man and the Sea-Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway’s story about a down on his luck fisherman, Santiago, may not be the most action-packed required high school reading, but the morals behind the story bring more depth and meaning to every one of Santiago’s subtle, struggled actions. After not catching a single fish for eighty-four days Santiago goes out to fish again because his livelihood depends on it and on this day he hooks a gigantic marlin, which drags him out to sea for three days. Within this story lies an interesting look at the ethics of work, one’s relationship with work, as well as how a man deals with the struggles of nature.

Favorite Movie-Exit through the Gift Shop-A Banksy Film
Hoax or not the new Banksy film, Exit Through the Gift Shop, is a showcase of how modern street art came to be, a questioning of art and its market, and a lot of footage featuring a possibly genius, possibly crazy, Frenchman. In short, this is a Banksy Film about a guy trying to make a film about Banksy; sort of. Thierry Guetta is a French man living in L.A. who continuously to films everything. He ends up getting wrapped up in street art through his cousin and the rest takes off from there; however, Banksy, in his typical style, keeps you wondering about the sincerity of it all.

Favorite Album-Who Will Cut our Hair When We’re Gone?-The Unicorns
The Unicorns, a Canadian band formed in 2000, had only a five year run, and in that time produced a limited amount of material. However, they did record “Who Will Cut our Hair When We’re Gone,” which many consider their masterwork. With a variety of lyrical topics ranging from unicorns, to ghosts, to buying matching clothes, The Unicorns present it all with a hint of innocence, a good bit of goofyness, and the smarts to back it up. All of this is mixed to perfection with their not quite muddled guitars, lo-fi electronic sounds, and drumbeats that sound like they’re digital but are actually acoustic.