(deep breath)
Travel. I like being in new places. I just don't like going to new places. But part of this is based on the fact I have a chronic condition that makes extended travel very painful - and this is topped up with a crippling fear of flying.
Desserts. I know some of them are delicious. But even the ones I like always feel like homework.
Television. Even the shows that I know are well-written and well-acted tend to lose me after a few episodes. I just dislike being expected to invest that much time in something. Even the longest Russian novel doesn't bang on the way the Sopranos (for example) did. An exception was all three seasons of Twin Peaks, particularly the last season, which I loved every minute of and never want to see again. I also loved Dr. Who as a kid, because it was such a puzzle-piece approach to TV.
I think beaches can be sublime environments. To walk on, to photograph? Beautiful. To lie on with sunglasses on and bake yourself under the sun? I don't get it. I'd rather take a hot bath. No skin cancer.
Nice, France, is an abomination. Monaco is equally objectionable.
England's country houses are mostly cold and ugly and vulgar and were built and inhabited by philistines. The older Tudor places can be quite charming, but I have never understood the fascination with them.
Florida has wonderful things in it, but the negative aspects cancel out the good millions of vacationers see in the place.
I have never understood the appeal of Joan Crawford. She was phenomenally beautiful as a young woman and a photographer's dream - but I can't think of a single signature performance that means anything the way that Bette Davis did in "All About Eve", Lauren Bacall did in "To Have and Have Not", Katherine Hepburn did in "The African Queen", Ingrid Bergman did in "Gaslight", Judy Garland did in "The Wizard of Oz", Marilyn Monroe did in "Some Like it Hot", Barbara Stanwyck did in "Double Indemnity", etc,. etc., etc. "Mildred Pierce" seems to be the going standard, and it's not much of a performance, although I know she is giving it her all.
I dislike receiving gifts. Giving them., I'm fine with. Getting them, I hate.
