after Mel, Jasmine, Jenny, Berry, and Namid all tagged me on facebook I figured OKAY FINE YOU ASKED FOR IT. Plus like 6 more of you have done it here! *jumps on bandwagon*

1. The problem with me doing things like this is that I can never manage to be succinct. Interesting, since when I was writing for classes I always fell short of the length requirements, and I couldn't pad it out with fluff... maybe I just can't write less than a paragraph or more than a few pages, heh.

2. I once applied for a job as a writer -- can't remember the exact job description now -- and as my sample writing I included an essay I wrote for a philosophy class. It so impressed the person hiring that ze called me for an interview, and damn-near gave me the job, but at the last second ze realized that I hadn't finished college yet (ze hadn't noted the year on my resume) and backpedaled. (that was okay with me since the job was less writing and more summarizing math-y stuff) That was a HUGE deal to me, as I was very insecure about my writing ability (or any of my abilities, for that matter) and the attitude of the interviewer made me feel like I had a gift.

3. I hate glasses. I don't like them on me because I feel like they are a barrier between me and the world, and I don't like them on anyone else because the glare keeps me from being able to make full eye contact. In the right lighting and with the right coating they don't, but usually they do. (I do like the look of them but only in pictures, in person I'd rather be able to make un-barrier-ed eye contact) My partner and I both plan to get laser eye surgery as soon as we can afford it. For now, I usually wear daily contacts, because my eyes are too sensitive to re-use them or even to wear them for more than 8-10 hours at a time.

4. I don't have a great love for meat, but I'm not a vegetarian. I understand the ethical reasons for not eating meat, but since I know that plants have feelings too and I feel their life force as much as I do animals, I feel it is just as much killing to eat plants as it is to eat animals. I do not feel it is wrong to eat anything -- including people. As long as my body was treated with respect, I would not mind if someone killed me for food (if they would otherwise go hungry). I would prefer that they asked first, but if they needed my body to survive, I would be happy to provide that. So, when I eat I try to remember to thank the animals and plants who gave their lives to make my food (and I wish I could ask first!). Ultimately I would like to raise all my own food. I think I could eat an animal who was a friend, but not until I felt like they were old enough that they might die of old age, and I dunno how I would tell that, so I'm not sure.

5. Strange food habits: I have an aversion to meat other than turkey, chicken, or fish -- but every once in a blue moon I crave a burger. I don't like cow's milk but love goat's milk. One of my favorite foods is tuna, cream cheese, and salsa mixed together and eaten with soy rice crackers. I love making coffee with egg nog as creamer. Instead of normal dressings I like cottage cheese and salsa on my salads. I love love love cheese and could never go without it. Anything made with cheese and tomato is pretty much guaranteed yum to me.

6. I hate to prepare food and don't usually enjoy the actual process of eating. If I could just take a pill and get all my nutrition and energy for the day, I would do that almost every day -- every now and then I'd go to my favorite Mexican restaurant, have a smoothie, or eat some raw veggies/fruits. Which is why I LOVE odwalla bars. No preparation, a compact amount of highly-nutritious food, and lots of energy.

7. I loooooooove fairy lights ;-) for my spiritual birthday last year, my partner made a spiral of blue lights on the ceiling of the living room. I have violet lights on the ceiling of my sanctuary and on one wall of the bedroom (though the ones on the wall faded to fuchsia grrr).

8. I love natural light but also love nudity, dilemma! we have nearly-sheer fabric hung on the windows so that I can have both, sorta. When we move I want to be at least on the second floor so I can have naked windows and naked me.

9. I'm always naked at home except for socks and shoes/slippers. (my feet easily get cold though nothing else does)

10. I'm a tidy dirty person. I don't care if dirty dishes sit forever, as long as they are scraped free of gunk and sitting in a neat stack next to the sink. I don't care if the couch is covered in cat hair as long as there isn't anything on it that doesn't belong. I don't care if everything is covered in dust as long as it's in the right spot. Unfortunately, my partner is exactly the opposite, and ze sees my perfectly-arranged books and decorations as 'clutter'. Which is why we will each have a room of our own when we move! (the bed will be in zir room)

11. I find 'suspenseful' scenes (especially of someone slooooowly walking in the dark) in movies/shows to be really annoying. For me, it's as if someone is telling a story and pausing for three seconds between every word. If watching alone (as I usually do) I always fastforward them.

12. I used to never watch any shows, but then they started making shows like The Mentalist and Ghost Whisperer and Lie to Me and Fringe and In Treatment and other shows that explore the psychic/psychological. That FASCINATES me.

13. I'm still really, really sad and angry that they canceled Moonlight. There's only one season but oh, I love it so much! They really dialed down the sexism (such a relief for me, not having to cringe every time someone says something 'romantic' aka 'knight-and-princess-sexist-shit' -- surprising, with a vampire theme!) and the dialogue is really witty and all the cast members worked beautifully together -- such chemistry! -- and the female lead was refreshingly rounded (and instead of hiding that, they dressed zir in clothing that showed it off!!!) and the male-male friendship was intimate without 'making up for it' with sexism and violence. AMAZING, really. My partner and I are re-watching it now.

14. I'm a very relaxed driver. I prefer to go exactly the speed limit, because I feel no need to go over. (if I have to get somewhere in a hurry I get my partner to drive because ze enjoys speeding and I really dislike it, heh) I do not understand why people prefer to stress themselves out by competing and racing when they could just relax. I always drive in the slow lane so that the racy people can go around, but if it's a one-lane road I will not speed up to please the person behind me. If they climb up my tailpipe I will slow down until they pass me -- I will slow down 20 miles under the limit if I have to. Let them endanger themselves and waste gas. They either back off or pass me, and then I go back up to the speed limit. If I'm feeling really kind and there is an easy place to do it, I'll pull over and let them pass, but that doesn't usually happen.

15. I'm also very focused when I drive, and do not like to talk, touch or be touched when driving. If I'm in a new place where I have to make a lot of quick turns, I do not like to even have music on (though I do most of the time). Most of the time I will not answer the phone or even check it while driving.

16. The other day I was trimming a coffee filter and my partner said, "I love that you're recycling those" and I asked for an explanation because it didn't seem like recycling to me. Ze said that some people would just throw them away because they didn't fit and get new ones, but instead I went to the bother to trim each one to size. I think about that every time I make coffee now, and it always makes me smile.

17. I love being alone and being around people an equal amount, but I need more alone time than social time.

18. I'm never bored if left to my own devices. Even as a little kid I remember being baffled that people get bored, and wondering "why don't they just think?" Thinking has always been fun for me. I might mentally design landscapes or houses, or have conversations with people, or create myths and fantasy creatures and humanoid races for my imaginary world -- back when I was little. Now my thoughts usually drift to feminism/equalism, spirituality, designing landscapes (the one thing that has never changed), or my lovers/friends.

19. Like J said, "if I'm on the phone with someone, I'm always doing something else at the same time. Sitting down and doing nothing but talking on the phone isn't enough for my brain/body to feel stimulated and active, even if the conversation is very interesting and important to me." I recently discovered that photo-editing/icon-making is the PERFECT background activity for me while talking on the phone, and that raised my quality of life by several points!

20. I think it is unreasonable and rude to expect anyone to drop what they are doing to talk on the phone at whatever time you call. Like J said, "No one is ever entitled to getting in touch with anyone else." This is why I almost never answer the phone. No one seems to GET this! Usually when someone calls, I am not at the exact right moment for talking, so I don't answer. I finish whatever I am doing before calling them back, or if I don't feel like talking I don't call them back. And if they scold me or complain about how long it took for me to call them when I finally do, I never talk to them on the phone. I won't put up with being pressured or scolded.

21. I've always wanted to own a GIGANTIC house so that I could have tons of people come stay on holidays ;-) and just drop in for a week whenever. And maybe live with me. I don't like the idea of living in a house with just me and my partner -- that's part of the reason I want to stay in an apartment for a while yet. I just like the feel of having other people around.

22. kinda ties in to 21 -- if I was suddenly extremely rich, I'd buy land, have 8 little four-room eco-friendly solar-powered houses built in a circle with a larger building in the middle that has the only kitchen in the center (with glass-walled connecting hallways so it's like a wheel, each hall-section having a door facing in and a door facing out), and there would be a massive pool (shaded by the solar panels :D :D :D) on the grounds (with a fantastic slide!!!) and of course my dream garden, and I'd hire people to farm organically and spiritually for me and whoever wanted to live in my awesome little village :D And the land would be very wooded, with a 1/2mile driveway so that even though it wasn't very far from a big city, it would have a sense of forest. And I would also have dairy goats and rescued horses. And assuming I was EXTREMELY rich I'd also donate a ton to my causes.

23. my monetarily-supported causes: Equality Now, Georgia Equality, CHRIS Kids, RAINN, Legal Momentum, Big Trees Forest Preserve, & The Snow Leopard Trust. btw, if you want to give me a little something for my birthday but don't want to spend a lot, donate even the smallest amount to the Big Trees Forest Preserve and it will mean THE WORLD to me, I feel rather desperate that I can't afford to donate right now. I can't express how much I need that place to stay intact and well-taken-care-of.

24. My birthday is in four days :D

25. My holy books include: The Secret Life of Plants, the Bible, Betty Eadie's books, Michael J. Roads' books, Melvin Morse, M.D.'s books, and Talks with Trees. These are the books which have shaped and inspired my spirituality (so far).