Lets see...I work from home on various things. I'm a photographer, Reiki practitioner, and I also do transcription for a company called Energy Arts that operates out of San Francisco. I used to live in California and I miss it from time to time. Mostly just the coast and the food.

I graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a BA in Literature and a concentration in Creative Writing and a minor in Education. I originally wanted to be a creative writing teacher and after all that schooling, I decided I didn't want to step foot back into school. I still write from time to time, but really not much any more. Every once in a blue moon I'll post a poem.

I have one daughter, Lorna, and my husband's name is Jim. We're just having the one child. That seems to be plenty for us! Ahahaha!

Aside from working from home, I also homeschool Lorna.

When I'm not busy doing work, I generally like to be outside. I like to be by the sea the most, but I don't get there very often. I love to garden, hike, camp, ride my bike...Anything that gets me outdoors. I'm a nature nugget. I do like to hang out in cemeteries. It is my version of "church." A place where I can be quiet and think about things. I also tend to like the macabre, anything ghoulish, the occult, metaphysics, and the paranormal. Although, I don't believe in Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster.

I also love to paint. I will never say I'm a painter! I love to paint. That doesn't mean I'm good at it at all. Ahahah! I just do it for relaxation and spiritual expression.

I also like to make my own jewelry. I do some beading, but that's about as "craftsy" as I get. I don't sew, crochet, knit, scrapbook or do anything else you could find down any aisle at a Michaels Crafts store.

I hate to cook, but I love to bake (and generally only at Christmas). Jim is the chef in our house. :)

I am a lover of all animals. If you're a dog person that feels the need to hate on cats and tell me how much they suck, then don't bother adding me. If you're a cat person that feels like telling me how much dogs suck, same goes for you.

I do have 7 cats, 1 fish, and a myriad of outdoor birds (my backyard is a wildlife sanctuary and a bird haven. Birding is a hobby). I'm trying to convince Jim to get a dog, but I think he might kill me because the animals far outnumber the people in the house.

I am a total movie whore and snob and freely admit that. I'm also a music whore and snob and also freely admit that. If you'd like to get an idea of what kinds of stuff I like, then you can go to this entry HERE.

I don't do a shit ton of TV and I never post about TV shows. But here are the few shows I watch. If these aren't on, then the TV isn't on and I don't even watch the reruns.

The Daily Show
The Colbert Report
The Office
The Deadliest Catch
Dirty Jobs
Ghost Hunters
Mythbusters

As far as my journal goes, I post about every day stuff, some quizzes here and there, a poll once in a while. Sometimes I'll post about philosophical/spiritual ideas. I'm not a religious person, but I'm open to all faiths. I don't push my views on anyone and all I expect in return is the same.

I won't tolerate drama, either in my journal or by a friend. If you're a drama person, we're probably not a good fit.

I'm totally honest and blunt. If you can't take me telling you when I feel you're being an asshat on something, then again, we're probably not going to be a good fit.

I also respect friends who can do the same for me. I don't expect my friends to agree with me all the time. If they think I'm being an douche, I'd like it if they'd tell me.

Oh, and if you can't tell, I have a potty mouth. Especially when I'm upset. "Fuck" is used almost as frequently as "the."

Overall, I'm pretty mellow, although I do have a streak of sarcasm that runs quite deep. I snark, therefore I am.

For those of you that like to just run down the stats on someone, here are some usual "deal breakers" for people:

I am:

*Moderate/Liberal
*Pro Choice
*Taoist/Pagan
*Virgo with a Cancer moon and Cancer rising. :)

I keep my friends list VERY tight because I actually like to know the people on my list. I wont add people just to have a list of 1,000 "friends" I don't know.

If/when you add me, please let me know why...Something in common? Was it something I said? You heard good things from me from a mutual LJ friend?

Just saying "added" doesn't tell me anything and it's generally a guarantee that you won't get added back.

If I add you, and later I feel we aren't really compatible, I will be honest and cut you as a friend. It's not meant as personal knock on you.

Thanks!

Some of my favorite quotes and passages:


Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.
~Buddha~

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
~Anais Nin~

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.
~Buddha~

Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.
~Buddha~

However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them?
~Buddha~

Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.
~Buddha~

If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?
~Dogen~

Sleep my little babby-oh
Sleep until you waken
When you wake you'll see the world
If I'm not mistaken...

Kiss a lover
Dance a measure
Find your name
And buried treasure...

Face your life
Its pain, its pleasure
Leave no path untaken.
~Neil Gaiman~ from The Graveyard Book.

i close my eyes
see you again
i know i've held you
but i can't remember
where or when
~Tori Amos~ from her song Etienne

I've lived
All this life
Like an ocean
In disguise
I don't live forever
You can't keep
Me here
~Pearl Jam~ from their song Can't Keep

“Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like '' Maybe we should be just friends '' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.”
~Neil Gaiman~

You can never step into the same river; for new waters are always flowing on to you.
~Heraclitus of Ephesus~

love don't make things nice - it ruins everything. It breaks your heart. It makes things a mess. We aren't here to make things perfect. The snowflakes are perfect. The stars are perfect. Not us. Not us! We are here to ruin ourselves and to break our hearts and love the wrong people and die! The storybooks are bullshit!
~Nicholas Cage~ in Moonstruck

Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of those rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.
~Norman Maclean~ from his book A River Runs Through It

There are people in our lives, and we all know them, that are able to give, even in the darkest of times. Even when they seem depleted. But somehow by giving, they gain this magical light. Even the most giving person needs a gift every once and a while, just to know they are seen and appreciated.
~Tori Amos~


A gift for me from the awesome spiced_chai






*My Secretary mood icons were found at moodmakers. They were created by motoredxheart and xangentstarling

*My Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind mood icons were found at crackified.