dandelionfiles

1. I have a basic distrust of most people.
2. I don’t believe in an interventionist God.
3. Libraries are like churches to me.
4. Some characters in books have been better friends to me than anyone.
5. I could read before I could speak.
6. I have never considered myself a great beauty.
7. I’m pretty sure no one else has considered me a great beauty either.
8. The older I get, the more I realize that I have other loveable qualities.
9. I am loyal to my friends.
10. I am generous to my friends.
11. I don’t have many friends.
12. The friends I have are the best friends in the world.
13. I’m glad that I’m growing old, because superficial male attention is pretty boring.
14. I don’t care for my job much.
15. I’m glad that I can have a job and support myself.
16. I am independent in many ways and becoming more independent all the time.
17. I believe in facing the things I most fear, even if I don’t always have the courage to.
18. I prefer to look at asymmetry rather than symmetry.
19. I’ve been diagnosed with a mental illness.
20. I’m constantly told that I think too much for my own good.
21. I like to think about things.
22. Not thinking about things has caused me worlds of hurt.
23. I’ve been really lazy in the past.
24. I’m learning not to be so lazy.
25. The only part of my face I dislike is my large chin cleft.
26. I have a love/hate relationship with faith.
27. I have a love/hate relationship with skepticism.
28. My dreams are often very vivid.
29. My dreams are often very wise.
30. The older I get, the less I like fried food.
31. When you’re self-absorbed, finding fifty things to say about yourself is pretty easy.
32. My favorite good-for-you food is an apple.
33. My favorite foods are bread and ice cream.
34. I eat lots of apples.
35. I don’t eat much bread or ice cream these days.
36. I have a very dry sense of humor.
37. I inherited my sense of humor from my dad.
38. I inherited my intellect from my dad.
39. My sister is smarter than I am.
40. My sister is less compassionate than I am.
41. I inherited my compassion from my mom.
42. I’m an OK writer.
43. I hate writing.
44. I hate television.
45. Most movies bore me.
46. I enjoy painting.
47. I love solving mysteries.
48. I love unsolved mysteries.
49. I love listening to music.
50. I love to laugh.

20 things about me (50's too much)

1. I am an unrepentant book addict. I once went to BA (Books Anonymous) and managed to "dry out" a bit, but a librarian infiltrated the group and slipped me some short stories and I've been far gone ever since.
2. I don't watch TV--not because of snobbery or somesuch, but because most times I like books better and the only TV shows I've liked in the past three years (Firefly, Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls) usually get great ratings from critics and then are promptly cancelled.
3. Exception to #2: I adore The Daily show, but that's not enough to justify a cable bill. Luckily, Jacklyn and Pros help by taping episodes for me:).
4. My cats are meglomaniacal. It's funny and scary all at the same time.
5. I'm taking a year or so off of my Ph.D. program in Social Psychology so that I can go back in remission--recently I found out I've had (fortunately relatively mild) multiple sclerosis for years and years and didn't know about it!
6. I always figured that each year I mustn't have been a good girl despite my hard work and intentions--I never got visited by the Sanity Claus
7. Pros saved my life when I was seventeen.
8. His lady, Jacklyn, utterly rocks and I hope to be friends with her for the rest of her life.
9. My friends are incredible folks--their blogs are worth your time. Check the new "links" on the right side over there.
10. I get bored talking about myself too much--I like discussing ideas and figuring other folks out more.
11. Yeah, the most important employer I have already knows about the MS and doesn't have a problem with it, so I don't know why I don't just use my full name on the blog profile, but I don't just yet.
12. October is my favorite month.
13. During High school, some well meaning family tried to teach me how to "be a girl"--they rewarded me for speaking "valley speak" (which I realized far too much later only made me sound like a moron) and used to buy "Sweet Valley High" and quiz me about these (really dumb) books. I preferred other books--specifically, the cache of H.P. Lovecraft I'd found in a few attics (yeah, the racism annoyed me then and it still does--I kept thinking, "what is this guy's problem with different nationalities"?). To amuse myself, I'd try to combine story lines from H.P. Lovecraft's tales and the (exceptionally dull) Sweet Valley High series.
14. The well-meaning relatives did not appreciate my efforts.
15. A nickname I earned in my late teens/early twenties was "My little Wednesday Addams". Every once in awhile, I still hear it.
16. I hate it when friends die, and still mourn a few that have exited life too quickly.
17. My friends are all ages--from 3 years old to one-hundred-and three!
18. I can't bring myself to write depressing things anymore, not only because it's boring but because life's too good to waste time on that. A favorite quote of mine was said by Oscar Wilde: "Life's too important to be taken seriously"
19. I'm a skeptic and proud of it. Sadly, that once was not true and it still makes me feel embarrassed to think about it.
20. I have two master's degrees--one in general Psychology from UD and one in Social from UK--with a Ph.D. to hopefully follow. If you're interested further, my focus is currently on how to prevent the abuse of power. I'm writing an ethics proposal now for a study I'm trying to start at the college I teach part-time at (wish me luck in getting it approved/being allowed to use students as a subject pool!)

One of my friends made a list of 100 things about herself, but I decided to be brief for my version. Hopefully everyone on Dandelionfiles will give this a shot?

1. I am who I am
2. I am a writer
3. Two of my pieces have been published
4. Both of them were about someone who died
5. He’s been gone almost eight years
6. Sometimes it’s tough to recall his face
7. I’ve been singing all my life
8. I’ve been singing well since I was 16
9. I tend to use performance to hide
10. Nobody knows how shy I can be
11. I recently moved to Ohio
12. I miss Philadelphia
13. I had few friends left there when I moved
14. My brother moved out of state before I did
15. He also got married first
16. This is okay
17. My sister in law is the sister I’ve always wanted
18. I am getting married next summer
19. Marriage is more important the wedding
20. The wedding is mostly for my parents
21. My fiancé makes up for my deficits
22. I am more social than my fiancé
23. He is more practical than I am
24. I am afraid that I’ll be a terrible wife
25. Cooking and cleaning annoy me
26. It’s tough to get motivated
27. I’m working part time in a wine shop
28. My knowledge of wine is getting better
29. I’ve met some great people in the shop
30. I haven’t been social with them
31. My fiancé would rather stay home and watch a DVD
32. Romantic comedies make me cry
33. I can be very lonely at times
34. I don’t make friends easily
35. I’ve started substitute teaching
36. Both of my parents are teachers
37. They don’t understand why I can’t get a full time job
38. My student teaching left me unsure if I can teach
39. My gut tells me to get over it and get into a classroom
40. My mother is in poor health
41. Most of her problems are due to her weight
42. I’ve tried to help her change her eating habits
43. I’m bracing for her to die younger than she should
44. My father is too stubborn to die young
45. He is very like his mother was
46. She has Alzheimer’s now
47. I am terrified of inheriting this illness
48. I do crossword puzzles to keep my brain working
49. My late grandfather was a crossword puzzle addict
50. He would have loved my fiancé

Hordes of people gathered around the Arboretum, who denied responsibility for little Timmy's horrible death.

"We have signs up for a reason, people," a park ranger said.

That was enough to stir certain folks who had come to visit from Kentucky into action. The rushed the butterfly house with a variety of weapons, many of which they swore were "hunting rifles" although I thought they looked a little complicated for that.

These men--referring to themselves as "the Kentucky Calvary"--were bright and cheery in their camoflaged Kevlar. They charged the house, and suddenly the house was filled with sound and fury.

Screaming was heard.

The emergency squad, which had been called after the cops fell over from laughing at the whole mess, went to clean up the carnage. Instead of shooting any flesh eating butterflies, the Kentucky Calvary managed to shoot each other instead. Since they were wearing Kevlar, they didn't kill themselves but instead admitted to this reporter that they felt "like real dumbasses. Those little buggers are hard to aim at."

"The worst thing is that I lost my hat," a calvaryman who was wearing a baseball cap with artifical breasts and two straws attached to his favorite cans of beer on the side of the cap. "Man, I loved that thing." The man had tears in his eyes. Apparently, the "courage session" in which the calvary had drunk large quantities of Kentucky bourbon and beer had not only managed to elicit courage but had interfered with their shooting abilities as well.

What shall we do? Wherever can we go? The calvary has failed us!

Behold-the FLESH EATING BUTTERFLY