Behind the Blogger Challenge: Day 1

Day 1: A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

Me this afternoon

1.  I have an addiction to books.  Seriously.  Take a look at my bookshelves!  Keep in mind I'm a writer (read: crazy, artistic sort), and have been in too much pain and too depressed to clean lately!

Katya showing off all the books on the desk. They are three rows deep.  Don't let her fool you, she hasn't read them all already. 

Our cookbooks!  The two Joy of Cooking ones are DH's, and the rest are mine

These are not on a shelf, they are just sitting next to me on the couch

These are my writing books. Two rows deep.

This is our HUGE bookshelf.  The top two shelves are two rows deep.  The next to the bottom shelf has four rows of books.  The bottom shelf is my LGBT books with various publishers.

Almost all the classics and works of literature are on this top shelf.

This whole bookshelf is on health issues and self-help books.

The top two shelves are my spirituality shelves and the bottom shelf is full of books on women's studies, mostly during WWII.

My Harry Potter books.  All hardcover, and the 7th is a first edition my brother-in-law destroyed and them denied.  They had his HUGE handprints on it even!

I made this little cherry shelf when I was 13.  

The top row is supernatural romances two rows deep, the second row is lesbian romances published by Bold Strokes Books, the third row is lesbian romances and mysteries published by NIAID and romances by Bella Books.  Also, on the bottom shelf, are my cat books.

2.  Until I got sick I thought that not mopping, vacuuming, dusting less than twice a week was a crime.  One of the worst things about being a spoonie is not being able to keep a clean house anymore like I used or as often as I used to.  I miss the smell of Pledge and bleach!

3.  I'm obsessed with Islam, but have no intention of ever becoming Muslim.  I study Islam every single day and you'd be amazed once you start really studying it, the similarities between it and Catholicism.  I was raised Catholic.  I really admire hijabis and niqabis as well.

There exists a huge double standard about Muslimah's veiling.  They are considered "oppressed" and "extremists," even if they CHOOSE to wear it, yet a nun veiling is seen as pious, pure, and religious.  No one questions the nun, just the Muslimah.

4.  I'll tell my first crush story...My first huge girl crush (that kind of girl crush, not the "you're so cool" kind) was when I was 12 and in P.E.  This one girl, B, was so beautiful, I fell in love at first sight.  I couldn't define it yet at the time as a lesbian crush, but I knew she was on my mind constantly.  I daydreamed about having kids with her someday and raising a family and naming our daughter the same name, but I knew I was weird, so I didn't tell anybody.  I wanted so bad to touch her lovely hair, I knew she must smell wonderful.  Every time I saw her my heart beat fast and I'd mess up whatever I was doing and I'd get tongue tied and my face would turn red.  There was no way I could talk to her!  I did manage to say "hi" about three times that year, but no more than that.  Ah, first crushes!  Of course, she's straight, but I didn't come out until I was 28 anyway.

Ariel crushing on Meg

5.  I have Ehlers-Danlos Sydrome.  EDS is a genetic connective tissue disorder that causes the collagen in my body to be made faulty.  Collagen occurs throughout your body.  A normal person's is like cement, while mine is like a rubber band.  My joints dislocate and I live with severe pain and fatigue; my EDS has also caused me to have other medical conditions.  Please learn more about EDS at the EDNF or EDS Today website.  I have many friends who also suffer from this horrible syndrome.  One of them is going in for surgery soon and I'm worried about her.  I am 30 and already on a walker because of EDS.

6.  I absolutely love South Park.  My favorite characters are: Eric Cartman, Kyle Broflovski, Mr. Garrison, and Randy Marsh.  For anyone who has never watched South Park, Cartman is a hateful, but hilarious, fat kid, Kyle is his arch enemy and often the voice of reason, Mr. Garrison is their teacher, and Randy Marsh is Stan's dad.

Kyle Broflovski getting mad

Randy Marsh getting groovy

Eric Cartman eating Cheesy Poofs

Mr. Garrison and Mr. Hat corrupting young minds, I mean, teaching

7.  I am a very political person.  I try not to bring politics into my blog very much, but I like "talking politics" on twitter and facebook.

8.  My favorite movies are Napoleon Dynamite, Star Wars, and But I'm a Cheerleader.  Napoleon Dynamite is something you will either love or hate.  I like the Star Wars I grew up on.  My favorite of those are The Empire Strikes Back.  But I'm a Cheerleader is a funny gay coming of age moving, in which Megan (Natasha Lyonne) finds out she is a lesbian, even though she's feminine and (gasp!) a cheerleader.  She's sent to a sexual redirection camp and meets Graham (Clea DuVall).

I love But I'm a Cheerleader!

Graham (Cle DuVall) and Megan (Natasha Lyonne)

Napoleon Dynamite (John Heder) and Kip Dynamite (Aaron Ruell)

Kip and Lafawnduh (Shondrella Avery) getting married

The Empire Strikes Back 

9.  I'm 30 years old.  I've wanted to be 30 since I was 18.  Is 30 everything I thought it would be?  No.  I didn't expect to be disabled, or still so depressed, or to be living in poverty.  Hell, I thought I'd be a vegetarian by the time I was 30 and have read War and Peace.  Instead, by the time I was 30 I became disabled and it changed my whole life.

10.  I have a pink Playboy bunny lighter I got today.

11.  I am a Gemini.  I don't know what time I was born, so I can't get anymore detailed than just Gemini.

12.  I forgot to drink water today.

13.  I have pen pals from England, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Northern Ireland, Canada, Singapore, and the United States.  Unfortunately I haven't been good at returning letters lately.  My closest pen pal lives in the state above mine, while I think the furthest would be Australia.

Belgium

Germany

Northern Ireland

14.  I am currently working on building up my Women in WWII library.

15.  I can't make it through a day without writing something.