Happy Sunday (hopefully)

Hi, guys. I have been ignoring the blog for the last few days, and I owe you several "Beauty Villains" posts. I haven't forgotten.

In addition to this being The Winter Of Surprising Amounts of Central VA Snow, it's also The Winter in Which The Meadelettes Were Constantly Sick. Lulu has gotten her first tooth, but it brought along much clinginess, crying, and trouble sleeping. Since her immune system was slacking, a headcold from hell took up residence. We've been bogged down by tissues and saline nose drops. Stellar.

I do not have the brain power for proper blogging (Lack of sleep, dudes! Sister wakes up every half an hour!), but thought I'd do a fun post. I'd love to hear from you, too, to get to know you a little better.

100 Random Things About Me

1. I hate peas.
2. I am fluent in American Sign Language (ASL).
3. I studied ASL and planned on becoming an interpreter, but never did because it is so impersonal for the interpreter.
4. I thought ASL was incredibly easy to pick up, but I do not learn verbal languages well at all.
5. I studied studio art when I first went to college (and dropped out before finishing my Junior year).
6. By "dropped out" I may mean "failed out".
7. I have, during periods of my life, suffered from depression. Hence #6.
8. I thought about going back to school to study Art History & Cultural Anthropology, and even took some classes (which I loved), but never finished. Maybe I will some day. 
9. I am amused by people who think all anthropology is about digging up dinosaurs.
10. My favorite store is Anthropologie.
    

American Visionary Art Museum
Baltimore, MD

I love folk art. Traditional American folk art is gorgeous, but I love folk art from all over the world.

I love just about anything handmade.

I am also a fan of Outsider Art. 

I cringe whenever I link to Wikipedia, but do it anyway because it's sometimes the only place that you can get a succinct-ish and fairly accurate description of something. 

I am a Grammar Nazi, and mentally mock everyone and anyone who misuses it.

Especially people who are smarter than I.

I love the color orange.

And fuchsia.

It took me a long time to remember how to spell "fuchsia", and it still looks weird to me.

My third favorite color is taupe. I love taupe.

For years and years, brown was my favorite color. Is that weird?

I am irritated when people say their favorite color is black, because I am a geek who immediately thinks "black is the absence of color" and mentally scoffs at those people.

Hats look good on me, but I dislike wearing them.

I love shoes, especially really feminine heels. I would collect them just for their sculptural qualities if I had the money to do so.

I never wear them, because of my painful feet.

I am dead curious to know how many people don't know who the woman holding the shoe is, and why I chose her picture to accent the conversation about shoes.

I know that I am a diseased Nail Polish Addict, because I noticed her manicure and admired it.

I adore lilacs. Adore them. But I'm madly allergic to them. I still stick my face in them and sniff them whenever I see them, and put vases of them all over the house when I can. They only bloom for a week; that's why god made antihistamines.

Second favorite flower: freesia. (It smells like Fruit Loops!)

But that's not why I love freesia. It's a strange-looking flower in a way, and that's why I enjoy it. Plus it comes in lots of cool colors.

I also enjoy irises, calla lillies, sunflowers, and tulips. 

I recently worked part time at a florist, and it was quite possibly The Best Job Ever (aside from being a makeup artist).

My favorite brand of ice cream is Ben & Jerry's.

My favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor is Imagine Whirled Peace.

Me second favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor is Cherry Garcia.

Non-Ben & Jerry's ice cream is best if it is black raspberry.

I like ice cream and think about it a lot.

I will not eat mint chocolate chip, and am grossed out by it.

I am grossed out by mint. It makes me hurl. (really)

One of the nastiest personality traits, in my opinion, is condescension.

I am obsessed with Mexico, especially the folk arts of Mexico.

My honeymoon was in Oaxaca, Mexico and it was spectacular.

I can't wait to go back! 

We were there mere weeks before the riots broke out.

During my honeymoon, I was 6 months pregnant and addicted to chewing ice.

It wasn't until the day before we left Oaxaca that I realized I had been asking for "ice cream" in my water instead of "ice".  (see #4) It explains many of the strange looks I was getting from the waiters.

I want to live in Chicago.

Or NYC.

I used to collect stuffed animals and am still fairly certain that plush toys have souls.

I took horseback riding lessons! I was raped by my trainer. I quit riding lessons.

I was blonde as a baby, but can't pull off the color now.

I am a good cook.

However, I cannot make Jell-o. (WTF?)

I curse like a sailor.

I have a terrible sense of smell. I wish they made something like glasses or a hearing aid, but for the nose.

I love peaches, but not peach-flavored things. *shudder*

My first pet was a beagle-mix I got in 1st grade. I named her Cupcake.

My first pet as an adult was the bunny I got in college. I named her Hazel after a character in Watership Down.

For the longest time, if you asked me what my favorite book was, I'd say Watership Down.

I owned two other bunnies, both of whom also got names from the book.

In my 20s, I owned 7 cats. The first 5 were named after Native American tribes. The 6th came with the name Kenny.

I refused to name the last one for a long time. He became known as "The Cat Who Doesn't Live Here." Later, that was changed to Bobert.

The first dog I owned as an adult was a red doberman-mix named Killian.

I used to tell people he was an Irish Lagerhound. Some people acted like they knew what that was.

Killian died two months before Ara was born, which was a shame because he loved babies.

Now, my husband and I live with two cats, both of whom are more useless than most cats.

I worked for animal hospitals for 10 years. It was great, but the pay was shitty.

Aside from Oaxaca and Niagra Falls, Canada, I have only been out of the country one time: The Dominican Republic.

The beaches at our DR resort were guarded by men with rifles. I was terrified. That was nothing compared to the taxi cab we rode in, which had blood splatter on the window trim and ceiling.

The first time I saw a gun was when I was 18. I was dating a Marine.

I really dislike guns, but I will never vote to limit your right to have one.

I am also strongly Pro-Choice.

My worst job was at Target, where for some reason they thought I'd be good for the little food place at the front of the store. I was great with the customers, but hated the job. I also had morning sickness, and handling hotdogs and popcorn made me ill, literally. I quit after only a few months.

I forgot to mention that I have, several times, owned snakes. I stopped owning snakes when I realized I couldn't feed them the food they wanted (rabbits!).

I was once bitten by a 50 pound, 5 foot long Burmese Python named Sneakers. She bit my leg and arm. It wasn't my fault, or hers.

I'm scared of pit bulls, but not of snakes.

In the span of two years, I dated about 7 guys named Steve. It was a popular name for babies of the 70's, apparently.

I have a brother named Steve.

I love cheesecake (more than ice cream!).

I collect Day of the Dead items, with a focus on skeletons.

I want a Day of the Dead tattoo (probably a sugar skull).

I already have 4 tattoos.

I also want tattoos to represent my girls! I already have them planned out; just need the money.

One day, I want to own a Jeep.

I am driving my 2nd Nissan Sentra. Well, technically my 3rd (I returned one the day after buying it because it started shooting black smoke out of the exhaust pipe! I bought another one the next day - from someone else).

I hate getting my picture taken.

My natural haircolor is a Great Unknown. I have been coloring my hair for over 20 years.

 My favorite painters are Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock. The first time I saw a Jackson Pollock I got chills (I had never heard of him before at the time).

I, too, paint in their style, Abstract Expressionism (but on no level near theirs!).

I was raised Catholic.

I stopped being Catholic before 8th grade, but was Confirmed anyway because I didn't want to upset my mother.

My mother now goes to an Episcopal church; I don't go to church unless there's a wedding or funeral.

The Catholics who educated me would be sad to know I believe in sex before marriage, birth control, and the right to chose; that being gay is not wrong or a choice; that gays should get married if they want to, and that priests should get married, too; and that the Catholic educational system is a bad joke.

At one time I wanted a career in politics or in the government. I now don't pay attention to either.

I have fibromyalgia, which sucks. It means constant pain and exhaustion. 

I am incredibly outgoing, but an introvert. What? It happens!

I grew up in a very multicultural area, and I really don't care what color you are or who you sleep with or who you pray to. Really.

I could nap professionally.

Books and magazines were my addiction for years and years. Now I can't concentrate long enough to finish a fashion rag!

If I had a totem, it would be a hawk.

image sources: ASL, lilacs, freesia,  ice cream, Imelda Marcos, American Visionary Art Museum, Jell-o, Indian Cat, beach babes with guns, python, Rothko, Pollock, ferrungous hawk,