8 Odd Things About Me

First:
Terri update - excuse, I mean Dr. Terri update. She did it! And, with so much panache and extreme coolness I can't even express right now with my travel-ridden and sleep-deprived brain. In short, she rocked, she was told that she has a responsibility to publish her dissertation as a book, she got offers to participate in class teaching at Pacifica, to be part of a book her advisor is writing, to possibly teach a whole course on her dissertation topic (all expenses paid!), and invitations to publish in respected journals. All in all, more than we could have hoped for. The trip was terrific, although we ended up driving straight through the night and sleeping in the van by the beach (another blog post), and are completely and utterly wiped out today (thank goodness I took today off to recover, unpack, and go to Terri's surgeon consultation).

A short highlight: Celebratory Dinner at The Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara. We were seated outside on the fancy-schmantzy patio, overlooking the ocean, right next to the fireplace. I think it was the best table on the patio. During our fabulous (and vegetarian!) dinner, the waves constantly crashed, twilight turned to evening and the stars came out, and we had the most fabulous 4-part chocolate-tasting dessert ever, with a flourless chocolate cake that almost did me in. I swear, I had a hard time not shouting "Oh my god!!" about this cake, it was that good. And they surprised Terri with a small 'Congratulations' platter with berries and special chocolates. It was pretty much the most perfect celebration dinner imaginable.

We want to move there.

And now, since I've been tagged by Julie, 8 Odd Things About Me

1. I learned to read at age two. I think I even remember this -- I remember sounding out words, and I remember doing this in my old bedroom before my brother was born - therefore, before age 3 at least. My obsession with reading and books started very early. I used to make my friends so mad at me when I would go over to play and would end up wanting to stay in their room with all their books (books that I didn't have! Which I hadn't read! I coudn't resist!) and just read instead of going out to play.

2. I am only 3 classes short of a minor in German. I love learning languages and German came so easily and was such fun. The only reason I didn't continue was because my studio art classes were 3 to 4 hours long and I just didn't have room in my schedule. However, Deutsche ist meine Lieblingsprache.

3. In my early teens, I was completely into 80s hair metal. Completely. Poison, Cinderella, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Whitesnake, you name it, I loved it. Looking back, I have no idea why, except maybe because my next-door neighbors were into it, and maybe because the idea of grown men wearing so much makeup just intrigued me. That, and it's just super fun music.

4. I am a closet handyman. On the outside, I'm pretty much all femme. However, there is an overall-wearing, nailgun-toting, loves-to-fix-the-problem handyman just below the surface.

5. I completely believe in ghosts, spirits, psychics, any and all manner of woo-woo spirituality and occult/metaphysical kookiness. The house I grew up in was haunted (my oh-so-down-to-earth brother concurs with me on this), and I just know there are unseen forces and beings all around us. But that's another post altogether.

6. Some of my happiest moments are when I'm camping, cooking on a Coleman stove, nothing to do but roast marshmallows and light sticks on fire. Ask me sometime about 'ember art'.

7. In high school, I was senior class president, a member of the Honor Society, president of Students For Social Responsibility, started our school's recycling program, and planted a memorial garden in front of the school. All this while being my tiny high school's sole Goth (or, since I didn't even know what a Goth was, I was my own interpretation of a Goth). What the heck happened there?

8. Although I'm a graphic designer, I have almost zero interest in computers and most digital gadgetry. I have decided that I want my own digital camera, because I like blogging and I want to include more photos. However, I LOVE email. If email could be transmitted through pens and books, that would be perfect.

And that's me!