One of the weird realities of an online existence is that unless you put yourself out there all the time, in every place, there’s no way to really know someone. I realized recently that while I’ve always been pretty candid about my everyday life over on LiveJournal, unless you know me in real life, I’m really only presenting tiny snapshots of who I am over here. My LiveJournal has been friends-only (only other LJ users that I mark as a “friend” can view my entries – if you add me, I’ll probably add you back) since I began graduate school in the fall of 2006 – I realized that perhaps future employers didn’t care to know that I often spent weekends throughout my undergraduate career playing silly drinking games with Tang whilst watching Monty Python & the Holy Grail for the umpteenth time.

During reflection last month, I chose to switch to posting unique content 3x a week, with the Sunday Arts & Free Graphics Saturdays features also occuring on the weekends. Now, however, I think I’ll take those remaining days & be more open about, well, me!

Blogging is such a unique medium; constantly evolving to meet the needs of the writer & the reader. There may be some other changes in the near future, particularly to the layout. I’m still trying to find the proper way to say what I have to say. Thanks for sticking around so far!

As for the photograph above? That faerie currently has a home in my bathroom, although in the shot above she’s covered in much snow. She’s just a plastic thing I picked up oh, about five or so years ago in the clearance section of a garden store. But she’s really quite versatile – in addition to being the avatar for most social networking accounts, all her little crooks & angles allow room for necklaces, washcloths, & other things to dangle. I rather enjoy having such an unusual object on my bathroom counter – I think they’ll be a home for her no matter where we end up.

Continued from earlier this week: images, colors, & concepts that symbolize who I am.

Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises. Pedro Calderon de la Barca

God has a brown voice, as soft and full as beer. Anne Sexton

Why make so much of fragmentary blue
In here and there a bird, or butterfly,
Or flower, or wearing-stone, or open eye,
When heaven presents in sheets the solid hue?
Robert Frost

Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions. Pablo Picasso

Images, colors, & concepts that symbolize who I am. I thought it might be a fun experiment to do this!

yellows & oranges = sunshine for all!

I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it. Alice Walker

Pink: it’s not even a question! Aerosmith

And the softness of my body will be guarded by embrace
By each button, hook, and lace. Amy Lowell

Everything in life is gray, you know. Jeannette Walls

Later this week I’ll hit the blues, greens, & in-betweens I love – the whole color wheel. Stay tuned!

So, I’ve been creating content here for just under two months, & I’ve been blogging for much longer than that. A lot of people come here from LiveJournal, where I’ve been writing since 2001, but not everybody does, so I thought that perhaps I ought to properly introduce myself with some random facts.

I have two kitties, named Wilson & Chase – & yes, they’re named after the characters from House, MD. I got them when I was very deep in that obsession; shortly after I was first introduced to the show. Many people asked why I didn’t name them Wilson & House – it’s my opinion that, although I love the character of House, no kitten deserves to be named after him. They’re two & a half now, & two of the sweetest kitties you’ll ever meet. Chase often forgets about gravity & is absolutely obsessed with water, but he’s also one of the cuddliest kitties I’ve ever had to privilege of knowing. Wilson is incredibly soft & is only cuddly on his terms; but it’s always a surprise & a treat when he jumps onto your lap. He has one of the most hilarious glares you’ll ever come across in a cat, & oh, I just love him to pieces.

Sam has a wonderful older girl whose name is Squeaker. You’ve never met a more friendly lap cat – all she asks for in life is a lap. She’s got the absolute loudest purr you’ve ever heard! It’s almost as though she has extra chambers somewhere in her body that vibrate as she breathes. Absolutely amazing. Of course, her snoring matches her purr decibel to decibel, but she only rarely wakes me up at night, so I can’t complain too much. >^.^<

My preferred style is shabby chic/French country. I adore pastels, butterflies, faeries, & wildflowers, & surround myself with them as much as possible. Lavenders, greens, pinks, blues… I’m a Sagittarius (I LOVE being an archer!), which means I feel very connected to nature, so I often decorate with earthy tones & other various aspects of the outdoors. Sunshine is an absolute must-have in my life – which explains why I’m so affected by the greys of winter.

I drink a lot of iced tea; at least a quart on most days. The flavors vary; usually with whatever I’m obsessing over of late. My favorites are Republic of Tea’s Ginger Peach, Tazo’s Wild Sweet Orange as well as their Zen, Harney & Son’s Citron Green, & Twining’s Earl Grey. As much as I love tea, though, I’m very, very far from being a tea snob (As I’ve talked about before, I pretty much hate people who are snobs of anything). I often brew my tea in the hot water from my tap, I absolutely despise loose tea (I cannot handle floaty things in my drinks), & I’m perfectly happy using tea bags.

I adore teen fiction, but I generally dislike the teen problem novel genre. I absolutely understand why it exists & I think it’s very important, but personally, I’d rather just read a good teen fantasy. That’s not to say that I won’t read them, but it has to be getting quite a lot of starred reviews & talk amongst blogs & whatnot before I’ll pick it up. Someday I’ll do a list of my favorite teen novels, but I should warn you – there are many.

I have what is possibly an unhealthy addiction to relaxation muzak. You know that display of music at Target, with titles like “Above the Clouds” & “Peaceful Garden”? Yep. I have both of them. I just cannot get enough of them! I listen to them all the time, at work & at home. They truly do relax me &, because the melodies are so simple, my brain doesn’t go into overdrive trying to analyze them. See, when you major in music, you take MANY classes that teach how to rip music down to its very core, & I find it very hard to turn off that part of my mind when I listen to classical music. So although most people can listen to Mozart & find it relaxing I, sadly, cannot.

Pride & Prejudice is my all-time, very favorite movie. No questions asked. I enjoyed the book, but (& I know this will probably break some of your lovely hearts), I don’t much care for the BBC Mini-series. I’ve honestly never found Colin Firth particularly attractive, & what can I say? I adore Keira Knightley. The 2005 movie is just so pretty, & I think it’s a fantastic adaptation. Casting, location, mood, music – I think it’s all perfect. I’d give just about anything to live in the Bennet house.

This? Is exactly the style aesthetic I was talking about earlier. Which is probably why I think the movie is so pretty.

My vision for this blog is to simply add some sunshine to the lives of those who read it. Although this isn’t a personal blog, I do write about all the things I care passionately about.

If you ever want to contact me, please feel free to email me @ theforgottenfairy@yahoo.com.

Anything else you’re dying to know about me? Give me a mini-interview – what do you want to know?