The Book Vine

Hello there. It's very strange to be writing for anonymous masses... or probably more apt, random internet wanderers trusting their path to StumbleUpon. Hopefully, random blog reader, you will be amused by my rambling attempts at cohesive thoughts and hilarity. Or not. *shrug*

Anywho, here goes...

I am 27 (eek!). I'm currently in a relationship of almost seven years (holy cannoli, this April I'll become a Commonlaw Wife!), the boy part of which is named Thomas. I'm also the pet human of two diva cats, Alfie (short for Alfalpha because of his 'do), and Indica (more commonly known in the household as "Girl".). Here are some piccies for your viewing pleasure!

The first picture is Alfie in his "No, don't READ, PLAY!" pose. The second is Indica being nosy with a bunch of books that were given away. Alfie is in the background, sleeping. Look for the cow spots. :)

Anyway, if you couldn't tell from the abundance of books in the above pictures, I enjoy reading. My favorite authors are Stephen King and Jane Austen (yeah, like polar opposites, right? That should give you an idea of the range of my reading tastes), but I'm willing to give anything a try. My absolute LEAST favorite book is Beloved, by Toni Morrison. I know that book is beloved (ha, get it?) by many people, but either they had an interpreter (read: Cliff's Notes) or they possess superhuman metaphorical deciphering ability. To me, it made NO sense whatsoever. That's why I hated it.

I generally gravitate towards emotionally difficult books, about death and loss and heartache and suffering. I think that looking at all the ugliness in the world and in ourselves makes me appreciate life all the more. But I cannot stand books, or movies for that matter, that are emotionally exploitive, meaning that they are dishonest and fake. Honesty is a must for me, no matter what.

I own too many unread books, but keep buying more. It's a compulsion. I just love the way that they look on my shelves. Books are beautiful, don't you agree? Some of my (many) favorite books are The Shining, The Stand, The Dark Tower series by Stephen King, Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb, Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, and I Am Legend by Richard Matheson.

The rest of me, in a nutshell: In addition to reading, I sometimes enjoy knitting, but I can only knit straight things. I can also crochet, somewhat, but not even straight things end up truly straight when I crochet. *sigh* I love food, all kinds, but I could live on Indian food. We have a great Indian food buffet about 20 minutes away that I visit as often as I can. I work for one of the top online travel companies, but I don't get free travel. Boo! I live about 3 hours from New York City, and love wandering around people-watching. I am going to NYC this coming weekend to go to a Joe Hill booksigning and meet up with Jackie, which should be AWESOME. :D

I like loud angry music, like Rage Against The Machine or the Deftones, but NOT death metal. I dislike loud obnoxious stuff in general, otherwise. We have three TVs in our house and watch none of them. We have a huge collection of movies, and watch some of them occasionally. I love to sleep. I have 8 tattoos, with plans for more. I tend to ramble a lot.... Yeah. There you go. Toodles!