Issuing supreme power to you...one moment.

My self-summary Propose an edit

*Quick note* If you you IM me, having never spoken with me before, and I do not respond before the window expires, it means that the chat program's opinion to the contrary, I am not here. Sometimes I see people do the, "Hello? Hello? Well I guess you don't want to talk to me," thing. I can't say I get that - just try another time or send an email.

Random stuff time!

Before spending this year in Nebraska, I spent most of my life in Illinois. Nebraska seems wetter.

I like little chests with a bunch of tiny drawers. They're neato. I have one on my desk that holds my office supplies. I also like office supplies.

I don't wear makeup unless I'm in a play or it's Halloween. I wear some shiny lipgloss sometimes, but it's made by Blistex and smells like plastic cookies.

I am bossed around by a cat. She is bossed around by another cat. I boss that second cat around. It's kind of weird.

I volunteered at the library this summer. Being there felt more like home than my apartment. I really love libraries.

I don't get headaches often, but when I do I totally stop functioning. Very wussy. I think I could learn to work with it given time and practice, but I'm not really interested in inducing them so that I can do that.

Speaking of, I get headaches from a lot of perfumes and colognes. I'm not allergic, just sensitive. If you swim in some scent and then come around me, the practical meaning of that to me isn't, "look, human mating rituals, aren't I sexy?" but rather, "I want you to have the sensation of tasting my chosen body odor from across the room." I'm not really interested in half-man, half-sandalwood hybrids. The sexiest scent you can count on has three components: the human body; soap; and water.

I love water, and I'm really enamored of public fountains. Just walking by one is enough to lift my spirits, even if it's green and smells like fishrocks (those being the rocks at the bottom of an aquarium).

Speaking of fishrocks, I want an aquarium. I like the fishies - I had some as a kid before I was allowed to get the cat I really wanted, and though they didn't snuggle well (though I confess I was young enough to sort of try - luckily, I didn't kill the poor things but I have to wonder, in retrospect, if they were afraid of me) but I still developed great affection for Blackeyed Susan (who had a huge growth over one eye, hence the name). Today they'd be more animated wallpaper than anything else, but if I had one, then I could call the room with the aquarium my Ready Room and tug on my shirt front a lot. Though of course I would never do that. *cough*

edited 10/15/08

What I'm doing with my life Propose an edit

I'm preparing mentally and physically to go back to the Chicago area - finish out my contract at work at the end of this month, find a new job out there ASAP, pack my stuff and move it, the whole thing. It makes me kind of tired to think about it so soon after my last move, but it seems to be the right thing to do.

edited 10/15/08

I'm really good at Propose an edit

--- spelling

--- procrastination, and rapid intense bursts of work to make up for procrastination

--- well-timed quips

--- ill-timed quips

--- writing profiles! (this is completely useless 97.5% of the time)

--- organization (which is not to say that I can't make a mess, though, I'm pretty good at that as well)

--- enthusiasm! WOOO!

--- Wise and Otherwise

I have a preternatural gift for wrong turns.

If I am a superhero, my power is sense of smell. Lame, eh?

I am a mosquito delicacy. Put me out for bait and everyone else will be free to enjoy the cookout bite-free!

I like to sing and some people like my voice, though it's not a universally likeable one.

I am a passable kitchen technician.

updated 1/6/2008

The first thing(s) people usually notice about me Propose an edit

Judging from responses on here, it's either the intimidating big words or the smile.

I'd say either one is an adequate harbinger.

updated 1/1/08

My favorite books, movies, music, and food Propose an edit

BOOKS - I am largely a fiction reader; I lean toward the genres of science fiction, fantasy and horror. I have a fondness for themed anthologies (such as this). I also enjoy humorous non-fiction essays along the lines of Bailey White and David Sedaris.

I've read a fair amount of Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Roger Zelazny, Anne McCaffrey, Robin McKinley, Katharine Kerr and Diana Wynne Jones.

On a related note, I haven't read any Orson Scott Card lately - I loved him, but his politics, expressed through fevered ranting, have heartbreakingly tainted his fiction for me. That is not normal for me, I usually can separate the art from the artist, but he is so loud about his stance that it's leaching over with him. It is too bad, I wanted to learn how the Alvin Maker series would end. Then again, with Card, there's a good chance it was going to end with a huge leap forward in time, to a point when all the characters I cared about were either much older or long deceased, which would really just annoy the crap out of me.

MOVIES - the Aliens saga, All of Me, Amadeus, Beetlejuice, Chasing Amy, Clash of the Titans, The Dark Crystal, Death to Smoochy, Die Hard, Dogma, Ghostbusters, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Mall Rats, Maverick, Once Bitten, Payback, Pirates of the Caribbean, Robocop, Sleepy Hollow, The Terminator series, The Truman Show, Willow, The Witches of Eastwick

TV - Alias, Alien Nation, Angel, Arrested Development, Black Adder, Boston Legal, Buffy, The Daily Show, Danger Mouse, Firefly, House, The Invisible Man, It's Garry Shandling's Show, The Monkees, Quantum Leap, Red Dwarf, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Star Trek, Star Trek: TNG, Titus, The Twilight Zone, Whose Line Is It Anyway? (British version), You Can't Do That on Television!

MUSIC - general categories: I like folk music; I'm fond of musicals; I grew up on rock and it's what sounds normal to me; I have no aversion to pop or top 40, though it's seldom impressive; I "ought" to like classical but for the most part I don't; I like some country but most of it leaves me cold; I can't deal with much rap, though I'm glad the sampling trend seems to be over, it used to annoy the crap out of me, and I can't help but be amused by nerdcore; I get off on punk, including the screaming kind that sounds like it hurts; I am a sucker for funny and/or geeky musicians you mostly just find on the internet.

Musicians: White Stripes, Jonathan Coulton, Indigo Girls, Heart (from the 70s, when they rocked), Carole King, Paul and Storm, Ookla the Mok, Julian Lennon, Sara Bareilles, Flight of the Conchords, Dead Milkmen. There are plenty of others, but lists like these need gestation time.

WEBCOMICS - reading webcomics qualifies as a hobby for me. I read quite a few on a regular basis. Here are ten of those that I find to be excellent: dinosaur comics, Dr. McNinja, FriendlyHostility, Girl Genius, Girls with Slingshots, Punch an' Pie, Questionable Content, Something Positive, Wapsi Square, XKCD

FOOD - Ahh, gustatory pleasure: I'm a fan.

I can find things to enjoy in most cuisines. I am familiar with Italian, Mexican and Chinese, and somewhat so with Indian and Thai, and I've tried and will continue to try things outside of that range, but I am also fond of contemporary American fare.

I am an omnivore but I have lived with vegetarians, pescetarians and at least one no-red-meatian. Even within restrictions, there's a lot of room to work.

My sugar jones is ridiculous in scope; it may be balanced by my love for pickles, mustard and green olives.

I'm not particularly picky, but I do have some aversions: most seafood, ginger, beets, the combinations of sweet/savory and sweet/sour. However, I'd try a dish with one or more of these components, even if I'm dubious.

I also prefer my pasta just a little firm. I will turn it down if it's overcooked.

I'm fond of sandwich shops and I like to make bigass bitchin' salads.

updated 7/20/08

The six things I could never do without Propose an edit

--- cerebrum and cerebral cortex

--- Broca's Area

--- Wernicke's Area

--- frontal, parietal and temporal lobes

--- basal ganglia

--- Cheetos

updated 12/1/07

I spend a lot of time thinking about Propose an edit

stuff. Some examples:

There are bits of value in the muck that is the libertarian/objectivist school of thought. The challenge is culling the crap and coming away with the goods.

If necessity is the mother of invention, then laziness is the mother of efficiency.

The value of thought changes vastly based on whether or not it is recorded.

I try to be eco-conscious, and I would like to live greener than I do, but I don't want to put much more energy into it than I currently am, and I'm also concerned about the possibility of becoming an annoying twat about it.

It seems like most internet friendships have only a very limited viability, and even basic chat stamina - the ability to have a real conversation for more than fifteen minutes - seems to be an uncommon trait.

On a related note, it is amazing how many people fail to grok that an interest in sex is not exactly a rarity among the denizens of the internet, and talking about sex does not put one head and shoulders above the crowd.

For a more in-depth example, when I started thinking about "The most private thing I'm willing to admit here" the most recent time out, I didn't come up with awkward or titillating information - instead it made me think about the interrelationship of privacy, secrecy and lying, about how unless one is extremely careful there can be an unhealthy amount of overlap among those, and how most secrecy protects nothing while giving powerto the secrets themselves, opening the secretive and those around them up to harm.

This is the Cliff's Notes of what was here before I cut it, and that's not abnormal for me. This I would consider to be fair warning.

updated 4/16/08

On a typical Friday night I am Propose an edit

somewhere inside a shifting Venn diagram of a variety of activities:

chatting, websurfing, going over my to do list, doing something from said list, watching a DVD, going out to dinner, cleaning, working on a project, working on actual paying work, reading, procrastinating, plotting my weekend, petting cats, ignoring cats, being silly, reading, staying up too late.

updated 3/29/08

The most private thing I'm willing to admit here Propose an edit

I've seen people who walk around with the appearance of flourishing egos - but if you so much as brush up against them the wrong way it all deflates and you see how small and vulnerable they feel inside, hidden.

That's not me. Every indicator I evince of having a honkin' fat healthy goose of an ego is nothing but an accurate reflection of reality.

edited 10/15/08

You should message me if Propose an edit

--- you trend away from l33t and netspeak (a little is fine, and chat is casual, but I'm fond of complete words)

--- you want to talk about webcomics

--- you are local and want to discuss the possibility of hanging out

--- you are not local and wish there was a possibility of hanging out

--- you can accept my disinclination to use the Oxford comma

--- you just found the coolest link and want to share with somebody

--- alliteration gets you hot

--- you have some staying power in chat - I like to talk, and while it's fine if everything you think is worth saying can be expressed in three hours or less, it means that you and I are not compatible in any context

--- you have noticed there is a typo in my profile, and you would like me to fix it (I would also like to fix it, I just haven't noticed it yet!)

--- you and I have a high match percentage - who am I to naysay so fine (and damn sexy) an algorithm as OkC's?

--- you and I have a high enemy percentage - I am fascinated by the idea and I want to know why people would be rated as my enemies!!

--- you are in the process of systematically insulting every living being in the universe, and I am next on your list

updated 4/06/2008

Tests She's Taken View all