meme from sam: books, film/tv, music

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Sam Rasnake tagged me for the following questions. Except for titles, whatever is in itallycs I'm quoting from Sam.
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the last book I purchased: Native Son, by Richard Wright

the last film / network series I purchased : Being almost as poor as mice, I haven't purchased one in what's too long to remember, so I'll take liberties here and answer for the last film or tv series I've downloaded, which would be Season One of the brilliant, subversive, and powerful Showtime series, Dexter.

the last music or spoken word recording I purchased : Again, I've downloaded or received as gifts most of my recently acquired music, but I think the most recent collection I've purchased was Wilco's CD released about a year ago.

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As an adult, the following selections have influenced or impacted me the most...

the book: the ONE single book? wow. I'm not sure I really know; not sure I could choose just one, but if I had to, I guess I'd say Anne Sexton's Complete Poems. And if I had to choose a single book of hers, Love Poems for possibly more reasons that just this, but that was the first book of hers I read, which then prompted me to buy the complete collection. Yes, Love Poems it is. Oh, and even though I'm agnostic, I could never underestimate the impact the New Testament, which I learned first, and primarily, as a child, has had on me: so many of my values reflect so much of it, not to mention my politics. Oh, but Sam did specify "as an adult."

film / network series: I'd have to say Charlie Rose on PBS: there are films, and even a few television shows, that have had more of an immediate emotional impact on me, and it's hard not to choose one of those, but honestly the vast amount of knoweldge and insight presented on that show about such a wide array of issues, and for almost fifteen years (how long I've been watching it), has provided me with an education that I might compare roughly to my college education. Quite possibly even moreso. I'm certain I cannot even really begin to comprehend its impact.

music / spoken word recording: Another really difficult one. The Wishing Chair by 10,000 Maniacs. Although it could just as easily be a few others by REM, Tori Amos, etc.

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I think tomorrow I'll probably tag Tim, Nick, Paul, Jehanne, and Michi, who has great taste in music. But anybody/everybody: Leave a comment -- I'd be interested to see what answers are out there, especially to the second half of the questions.
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love. sometimes.

1. Honeysuckle is my favorite scent.

2. Last night I watched one of my favorite films, Double Indemnity, and something Fred McMurray's character said, that I don't even remember from the dozens of other times I've watched it over more than a dozen years, jumped out at me. That's one of the things that really takes my breath away about great poems, music, films, and any kind of art: every time you experience it, there's always something new about the experience, something you learn or see or feel that you hadn't before. I hadn't seen the film in quite a while, so there was a lot of that, but what really just stood out and up and jumped up and out and bit at an important artery:

How could I have ever known that murder can sometimes smell like honeysuckle?

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some new favorite things

• Words: The most recent issues of The Southern Poetry Review and Agni; The Great Shame byThomas Kineally; the poem/chapbook October by Louise Gluck; poets Jack Boettcher, Elizabeth Volpe, Alex Stolis, and all the work in the most recent issue of Siren
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• Music: The soundtrack to the film Prairie Home Companion; some old music from the 80's that I hadn't listened to in a long time, like Robyn Hitchcock and the Throwing Muses; "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon," by Urge Overkill, "Flinch," by Alanis Morisette, "Waiting on a Friend," by Rolling Stones (one of my favorite songs since I was about five but hadn't listened to it in a while), and "Extraordinary Machine," by Fiona Apple.
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• Art: Caravaggio
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• Film: The Land Girls; The Fever; Sicko
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• People: a baby named Kendall; John Edwards
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• Miscellany: The squirrels and chipmunks (which I found out are actually a type of squirrel, or so I think says one of my college animal behavior textbooks when it says "genus Tamias") that live or at least hang out in my backyard and under my back porch, especially this one little black squirrel (my favorites) who is not at all shy and that I could watch for hours. He runs up this huge tree and then right back down, and then about ten yards and under my porch, where he'll be for about a minute and then right back to the tree, repeating the whole thing over again and again. And I swear he works in tandem with this little chipmunk out there. The best thing is that when I go to get into my car, there are always a bunch of empty peanut shells all around my car -- and on my car, especially in this space right below the wondshield wipers. Jezebel and Rubyfruit Lulu (my cats) also like watching them from a window or behind the storm door or whatever those outside-the-regular-door doors are called -- their heads going from right to left to right, back and forth, 'completely absorbed. The only downside to all of this is that now, everyday, as soon as the sun comes up, and I do mean as soon as, Ruby wakes me up by running over me like I'm furniture, and then by going and sitting by the back door and crying until I get up and open the door so she can watch all these little animals out there. So now, instead of waking up at about 8 to get ready, or 11 on weekends, I'm awake by 6:00 in the morning, which is an ungodly early hour, and which cuts into me watching Charlie Rose the night before (on from 11:30 -12:30), because I just can't stay awake past midnight. And missing Charlie Rose makes me cranky. But I can sit on my back porch or in the grass under the sun when I get cranky -- and watch the squirrels, which is so therapeutic, so it all works out. What I'm losing in terms of intellect maybe I'll gain in peace of mind. Hmmm.