Shared: 30 Cool & Weird Things About Me

Once again, I am happily inspired by Syl at There's Bats In My Coffee and her post "30 Cool Things."  I couldn't think of just cool things about myself because I'm a weird dork so I'm doing a combo post. I'll let you decide which is which. :) And please feel free to tag yourself!  :D

1.  I was born missing a metatarsal in each foot so my 2nd toe branches off the metatarsal of the 3rd toe which makes my feet curve. That's why shoes are so difficult for me to find.

2.  I also have tibial torsion which, fortunately... kinda..., is offset by my feet. I've also trained myself to walk with my feet more straight so it's less obvious.

3.  I was president of our local chapter of the Business Professionals of America my Senior year of high school.

4.  I qualified for nationals in Business and Office Skills during the BFA competition but neither my school nor my parents could afford to send me.

5.  I started college as a Hotel/Restaurant Management major, switched to a Math major/English minor for teaching, but graduated cum laude with a BFA in Studio Sculpture.

6.  I had multiple art shows between ages 21 and 25 and now have pieces owned by people across the world.

7.  I was in the newspaper twice and interviewed on the radio once about my art shows.

8.  I was the Artistic Director for a local arts council in Minnesota when I was also in my early 20's. I was in charge of curating our art shows. It was a volunteer position.

9.  I used to do face painting for kids during various fundraisers.

10. I still make and laugh at poop jokes and innuendos.   Kids love me. :)

11. I won an all-expense paid trip to Savannah to meet Paula Deen. I wrote a 50 word essay on how I deal with my diabetes and was one of 6 winners out of over 10,000 entries.

12. I used to sell note cards, posters, and buttons/pins/badges at art fairs.

13. If I was single, I would probably be a hoarder but Andy keeps my packrat nature at a sane-ish level.

14. I collect cookbooks and recipes.

15. Sometimes cute pictures and videos of cats, puppies, baby elephants, etc. break me and my words come out as gibberish.

16. I anthropomorphize just about everything.  I can't watch hockey because I feel bad for the puck. :P

17. I used to be on the ritual commitee and, for a short while, treasurer of a CUUPs group in Minnesota.

18. The same night I left CUUPs, I was later contacted by someone to see if I was interested in starting a coven with him. When I had to leave MN for GA, we had 5 members and our own traditions. They were truly my family. I miss that sense of belonging here.

19. I identify as Pagan but with Wiccan tendencies. I am currently non-practicing, though.

20. Pizza is my spirit animal.

21. I eat leftovers cold 99% of the time.

22. I don't own a microwave. By choice. The only thing I ever used it for was to boil water or cooking frozen veggies so when I got divorced and moved out, I decided I didn't really need one.

23. When I got divorced, I chose my last name of Settarra (French for "beloved") instead of going back to my maiden name. I decided that I'm going to hyphenate when Andy and I get married (though it will stay Settarra here to protect his privacy).

24. I often get lost in my imagination which was a problem when I was a kid. As an example, when I was 3, I found a Scooby-Doo sandal on my way to day care (I thought I was a big girl walking alone but I found out later that my Mom followed me). I put it on my arm and pretended my arm was broken. When the teacher tried to get me to take it off for a class picture, I screamed because my arm was obviously broken.

25. I learned to read at a very young age. I was reading at a 1st grade level by age 3 and could understand most of the newspaper by age 4. They wanted to put me in 4th grade when I started 1st grade but Mom said no because she was scared I wouldn't fit in. I still didn't but how could she know? :)

26. I am a condiment whore. Our fridge is full of various sauces, dressings, mustards, etc.

27. I have sent grocery gift cards anonymously to friends going through hard times.

28. I am really good at planning parties and events and also enjoy it.

29. I am a list maker which comes in handy for planning parties and events. :)

30. I was in ballet when I was little. The only good things the teacher could say about me is that I was enthusiastic and good at spinning. I'm still good at spinning. :)

Tagged: The Darkling Tag!

I was tagged by the awesome Meagan Kyla at Coffin Kitsch for the Darkling Tag.  Thank you, Batty McGothson! LOL  I, in turn, tag 3 of the 4 people who actually follow me since Meagan already tagged one of them.  Bane at Goth It Yourself, Laura at Roses and Vellum, and Goth Gardener.  I would have tagged Syl at There's Bats in My Coffee, too. :)

What is your favourite candle scent? Anything apple-scented but not apple-cinnamon.

Do you have a favourite book? "Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett

Are you a tea or coffee person? Neither.  I don't even like the smell of coffee and I have yet to find a tea that I like.  Now, good ol' Southern sweet tea?  That's another thing entirely that I only enjoy every once in a great while. :)

What is your favourite perfume/cologne? Either "Funeral Parlor" by Vampfangs which is a musky combination of candles and flowers or "Purr" by Katy Perry which is sweet and flowery (I know, I know... but I like it!)  I do realize that these scents are not alike! LOL

Do you have a celebrity crush? I will always have a crush on Annie Lennox (Eurythmics) but my current crush is Gustaf Skarsgård as Floki in Vikings.

If you could change your name to a stereotypical 90s/2000s gothy name, what would it be?  (*giggle*)  Moonface Ravensblood :D

What are your top three tips for surviving hot weather while black clad?  Light fabric, UV-blocking parasol, and a fan

What song always makes you happy (doesn't have to be a goth band?)   Love by Matt White - it's so cheesily happy :)

Are you active in the arts (eg. Play an instrument, paint, write, etc)?  Yes!  I sew, draw, paint and just generally craft.

What is your number one non-gothy hobby?  Food.  I subscribe to a number of food magazines, read a bunch of food blogs, love cooking shows, collect cookbooks, etc.

Thought Provokers:

If you could be a supernatural creature, what would it be and why? I think I would be a muse so I could help people create.

What horror monster-based super power would you have?  Mess with people in their dreams >:)

Do you feel confident or comfortable interacting with other Goths or gothy people (online or irl)? Why or why not?  Goth or not Goth, if a person engages with me first, I am fine.  I just have a hard time approaching others and starting a game of small talk.  I was a lurker online for a long time before I got the confidence to comment on other people's blogs and now I wonder what I was so scared of. :)

Is there something you wish there was more of in your subculture? Like many others have answered, more acceptance and less elitism.  I've only fairly recently decided to use "Goth" as a way to describe myself but have been lurking the blogs and forums for a while.  There seem to be quite a few who believe their way is the "one true way" and everyone else is a poser.  I have also been a part of the Pagan and BDSM communities and they were just as full of the One True Pathers.  It seems to be common in most alternative scenes which is a little sad.  But the thing I like about the Goth blogs that I follow closely is that they don't buy into that philosophy

Care to share an embarrassing story related to your "darkliness"?  This isn't embarassing but I thought it was kind of funny. :)  There was a contractor from another conuntry that used to work on my floor that I would often run into in the rest room.  At first, she wouldn't make eye contact with me but over time we did the small talk dance.  Finally, one day, she asked me "Why are you so sad?"  I wasn't feeling sad... at all.  In fact, happy is my normal state of being.  I asked her what she meant and she said, "You wear so much black and bones.  Doesn't that mean you are sad?"  I happily explained to her that I just preferred black clothing and the bones helped remind me that life is too short to be sad.

Oh, this is kind of embarrassing.  I saw the movie "Fargo" when it was in theaters (I'm old LOL) and laughed hard for a good 2 minutes over the wood chipper scene before I realized no one else was laughing and people had shifted away from me.  :)

How are you at DIY? Pretty darn good if I have the right tools.  Not like Bane, though.  She is my DIY idol!

Confessional (aka True or False):

I love watching cheese romance films. Mostly true.  I'm also addicted to bad TV shows meant for teenage girls like "Gossip Girl".

I ALWAYS remember to wash off my makeup at night.  False.  Unless I get super made up, most of my make up has been rubbed off my the end of the day.

I sleep with plushies.  False.  Rustle and Sidia would get jealous.  It's already hard enough keeping Sidia from turning Rustle into a minion and taking over the world.

I wear non-black pyjamas most nights.  False.  I don't really wear pajamas and most of mt at-home-lounge clothes are black but there is some grey, red and pink thrown in there.

I think Andrew Eldrich is overrated. I'm really not sure on this one.  People seem to like joking about him.

I don't like vampires.  False.  As long as they don't sparkle.

I don't like clubs. True and false.  I want to like clubs but I get overwhelmed with sensory overload.  So if I do go to a club, I get there earlier and find a nice spot with a wall behind me where I can people watch.  I am also the dork with ear plugs because my hearing is bad enough on its own. :P

I don't enjoy graveyards. False.  If they weren't outside, though, I would enjoy them a lot more. :)

Blood makes me queasy.  False.  I've never had an issue with blood, mine or others.

I'd sooner faint than pet a spider.  True and false.  If someone introduces me to their spider and it seems friendly, I'm more than happy to pet it and play with it.  If it's some random spider on the street or leashed up in someone's yard, though, I'll keep my distance.

I don't like haunted houses. False.  The tourist trap ones are fun but they are not scary.  I can't suspend disbelief enough to actually get scared.  Real ones, however, are fascinating.  I'm a skeptical believer, though.  I believe in ghosts, spirits, hauntings, etc. but I also know/think a lot of phenomenon can be explained by the physical realm.

I've never read Dracula. False.  It's been quite a while, though.

I think "Bela Lugosi's Dead" is a long and boring song.  True.  Not my thing but I can see why other's like it.