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I was going to start with, "I'm somewhat introverted, so I have trouble volunteering information about myself..." but after some deep, time-consuming reflection (read: staring blankly at my screen for FAR too long), I think my difficulty with talking about myself has more to do with familiarity... I KNOW myself .'. I'm just not all that interesting to me....

I love people who can draw me out, who have the patience and the interest to peel away the layers....

I have a HUGE (by today's standards) family; four brothers and three sisters (with a vast multitude of nieces & nephews. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I don't know all their birthdays, and now that I'm thinking about it, I don't even know all their middle names.)

Most of us live within a 10-mile radius of ground-zero (i. e., 'Mom's house') yet we seldom see each other outside of holidays & birthdays. Life gets like that....

I, personally, am #7 child. (Which only means that there are no photographs in existence of me before my kindergarden class picture. Life gets like that, too.)

According to OkC, compared to other girls (I'm):

more into sports, more loving, more optimistic, more moral, more compassionate, more literary, less adventurous, less selfish and finally, I'm less thrifty....

(Gotta say, I have a problem with a few of these assessments. The 'less adventurous' kinda' irks me, I'm not sure where that comes from... and the 'less thrifty'? I'm the only female I know that actually DISlikes shopping!)

Edit: Brennalass tells me she hates shopping, too. So make that "...I'm one of the two women in this country that actually DISlikes shopping!" We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming.

Traits I share with myself are interesting, tho'... When comparing me to myself, OkC says:

You're both less adventurous, You're both more ambitious, You're both more into sports, You're both more compassionate, You're both less selfish, You're both more mathematical, You're both more moral, You're both more literary, You're both more loving, You're both more optimistic, You're both less pure, You're both more spiritual, You're both better mannered, You're both more emotional, You're both more romantic....

So I guess I'm definitely NOT 'soap opera character' material... I suppose I DO tend to react emotionally to things, but I'm too polite to inflict my reactions on anyone...?

(Come to think of it, that's pretty much true....)

Interests... fine, here goes, in random order: TCM, nutrition, massage, crocheting, fitness, muscle cars,house- and garden-plants, cats, books, films, BW entrainment, cooking....

(You know, I have a MUCH shorter 'Lack of Interest' list... I'll get back to this....)

I recently began a major re-construction of my life. I left a 10-year position in Corporate America to pursue a passion, and I've never been poorer-yet-happier in my life!

(And the most hilarious aspect of the above statement is that, after adding the qualifier "poorer-yet-" the number of 20-something OkC males lookin' to hook up wit'me because I'm '...so beautiful and intelligent...' dropped by about 76%!)

Edit: My Mom passed away in December, and I've taken over the daily care of my disabled vet big-brother. I figure this is as good a place as any to let that be known.

Word games (I play a mean game of Scrabble!), Fixing things (even non-girlish things, like plumbing), Finding my way (I seldom get lost, no matter HOW hard I try!), Listening [but that's just because I'm (usually) actually interested], Figuring out stuff (like html codes, you should SEE my MySpace!), Singing, but only when nobody's around to hear it.

(FYI, I DO make a sound....)

...is that I'm usually not wearing shoes, even in winter.

...are my eyes, they're somewhat largish and (I'm told) disquieting if not hidden behind glasses.

...my (in my opinion) ridiculously unruly hair, which insists on behaving only if I let it do exactly as it pleases.

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Loved ones, coffee, sumpin' to read, coffee, my favorite pillow, coffee, the 'net and walnut oil....

The past. The future. The lives of the people in the cars around mine on the highway....

Why I'm apparently best suited for 20 year-old Canadians, even though I tested 10 years older than my current chronological age in 'The What Is Your REAL Age Test'...?

And why am I only 98% my own friend? What's up with THAT?

...on the net. ( I need a life! :)

...that in general I'm too private to be willing to admit much voluntarily (Ref.: Self-Summary) although I'm likely to answer a direct question. (Just so's you know: if you DO get an answer, it'll be honest, so make sure you can handle that!)

...you have a question. Or something to actually SAY.

Actually, there is probably a variety of reasons why you should message me. For expediency's sake, I'm just gonna list the reasons why one might refrain from doing so anyway:

You shouldn't message me if you're polyamorous. I don't share. No, you can't change my mind on that. Move along, now....

You shouldn't message me if you're looking to get lucky. The quickest way to get your ass blocked is to be disrespectful. Seriously.

(No, seriously!)

You also shouldn't bother to message me if you've answered less than, oh... say... aw, I dunno... 800 questions. (That's a number I'll admit I selected more or less just randomly. A girl's gotta draw a line somewhere!)

I've actually worked on this profile, in a conscious effort to be as honest and upfront as possible about who I am.

So, just as I wouldn't respond to a "Psst! Hey, lady!" coming from a dark alley, I probably won't respond to an email from someone who's answered 2 dozen questions and has posted only a picture of his dog's left foot.

Nothing personal.... :)

A final caveat, stolen from miloelsa:

DON'T message me if you are just going to send me nude photos. All it'll really show me is just how under-endowed you are in the only department that actually gets me hot...

(That'd be your brain, Pee-wee....)