holly is a journalist-sometimes, explorer, poet, web-geek + book nerd. infp, 'benevolent creator', an idealist and optimist. my life is characterised by a series of fleeting but deeply moving moments. i like to read all day and fill my pockets with acorns and go for wee wanders to unknown places. i am adventurous, but I get attached to the same clothes and often dress with the philosophy, 'i am going to wear this cardigan every day until there are more holes than fabric.' i'm terribly whimsical.

i do things. taking long train rides and short subway adventures, writing letters, intersectional activism, playing, veganism, sleeping in and waking ridiculously early, sensual photography, picnics, smelling books, making lists, yoga + meditation, cooking and baking, camping and hiking.

i like how beautiful people are when they first wake up, linguistics, theoretical physics and string theory, dark matter, victoriana, damp climates, historical revisionism, street poetry, synaesthesia, moleskine journals, critical race and queer studies, teaism, botany.

i read books that smell old and pressed with words, like they have been read a hundred times. novels: i capture the castle by dodie smith; lighthousekeeping by jeanette winterson; if on a winter's night a traveller by italo calvino; breath, eyes, memory by edwidge danticat; the dharma bums by jack kerouac; the history of love by nicole krauss; pride & prejudice by jane austen; jane eyre by charlotte bronte; their eyes were watching god by zora neale hurston; his dark materials trilogy by philip pullman. nonfiction: a brief history of time by stephen hawking; the elegant universe by brian greene; whipping girl by julia serano, the universe in a single atom by the dalai lama; the miracle of mindfulness by thich nhat hanh; how to be an explorer of the world by keri smith; notes from a small island by bill bryson; days of war, nights of love by crimethinc; the botany of desire by michael pollan; killing rage by bell hooks when elephants weep by jeffrey masson. poets: diane di prima, staceyann chin, suheir hammad, kelly tsai, gary snyder, allen ginsberg, sonia sanchez, naomi shihab nye, margaret atwood, pablo neruda, yehuda amichai, mary ruefle, boris pasternak, w.b. yeats, rainer maria rilke, rives, anne sexton, ruth weiss, lawrence ferlinghetti, guillaume apollinaire graphic: the arrival by shaun tan; the plain janes by cecil castelucci; xkcd; natalie dee

i watch cinema: holiday, his girl friday, casablanca, kontroll, lakshya, tmavomodry svet, det sjunde inseglet, aimee & jaguar, harold & maude, alphaville, lost in translation, big eden, breakfast at tiffany's, harvey, before sunrise, waking life, secretary, y tu mama tambien, the girl in the cafe, bande a part, the great debaters, diarios de motocicleta, star wars. television: i love lucy, black books, father ted.

i listen hip-hop, trip-hop, electronic, experimental, classical (european, indian, middle eastern, etc.), film scores (terrible addiction-to), jazz a la coltrane and monk, shakuhachi, bluegrass, soul, r&b, everything that's good.

i eat + drink tea (sencha, gunpowder green, matcha, bai hao yinzen, earl grey, russian caravan), dry red + white wine, good beer (dogfishhead, bell's), good coffee, bad coffee, edible flowers and foraging-type food, jams and marmalade, fresh mint and cilantro, quinoa, lentils, rice, vegetable makizushi, paratha, dosas (ok, nearly every sort of S. Indian/Karnataka cuisine) cardamom, cumin, misir wat, cinnamon, houmous, stuffed grape leaves, blueberries, crusty bread, sunflower seeds, almonds, walnuts, scones (proper ones), dark chocolate, tomatoes, asparagus, limes, lemons, oranges, cantaloupe, pineapples, courgettes.