Amanda

Hi. My name is Amanda, sometimes also known as Mandaray or Kuri. :) I'm a 19 year old atheist living in delightfully humid and lush Knoxville, Tennessee, where the Smoky Mountains are only about an hour away and we have 70 degree weather in September. I hope someday to become a professional writer and have already completed two novels, both of which are presently being edited. (Very, very slowly) I love video games, cooking, writing, reading, taking naps, growing things, taking pictures, hanging out with my cat, tea, exploration of the world around me, hiking, and watching entirely too much television. =D I'm a certified LiveJournal and Internet addict, and I'm also a host on a podcast by writers for writers that you can find at DeadRobotsSociety.com. I'm enthusiastic about pretty much everything and have a tendency to go off on crazy rants about random things that leave everybody in the room scratching their heads. My interests are wildly diverse, and there are lots of things I'd like to learn how to do someday, such as knitting and making jewelry. I like meeting new people but only if they're not idiots, and welcome comments, emails, messages wrapped around rocks and thrown into my front lawn, etc. =D

Matta ne!

Anything by Agatha Christie, all of the Sherlock Holmes stories, Diane Duane's "Young Wizards" series, The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, the Harry Potter series, Kushiel's Dart, (by Jacqueline Carey) the Julie of the Wolves trilogy, The Neverending Story, pretty much anything by Phillip Pullman, The Chronicles of Narnia...more will come to me later, I'm always rubbish at remembering which books I like. ^_^;;

Stranger Than Fiction, Pleasantville, X-men, X2, The Fifth Element, Van Helsing, Harry Potters 1, 2 & 3, Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick, Tomb Raiders 1 & 2, all Star Trek movies, (except the whale one) Serenity, The Incredibles, Shrek 2, all LoTR movies, Final Fantasy: Spirits Within (Yes, I liked it! Yes, I'm an FF fan! NO, the two are not mutually exclusive), Elizabethtown, Legally Blonde, Lost in Space, Batman Begins, The Dark Crystal, The Chronicles of Narnia, Spiderman, Spiderman 2, (I haven't seen 3 yet. Woe!) The Last Mimzy, 10 Things I Hate About You, Bewitched, Casino Royale, Finding Nemo, Hellboy, Love Actually, The Lake House, The Matrix, The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, The Neverending Story, Under the Tuscan Sun, The Time Machine, (the one from 2002) Titan A.E., Mean Girls, and all the Star Wars movies.

Doctor Who. I live and breathe this show. Do not get me started talking about it unless you've got a lot of time on your hands and are equipped to deal with a LOT of loud squeeing. Don't say I didn't warn you. =D

Other shows I like watching... Good Eats, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Eureka, Dog Whisperer, Meerkat Manor, Iron Chef America, Boston Legal, Men In Trees, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Midsomer Murders, Psych, Pushing Daisies, Bionic Woman, Heroes

Shows I like that got canceled: Firefly, Arrested Development, American Gothic, Star Trek: Enterprise, Dead Like Me, The Dresden Files

Shows I like that are over: Star Trek: DS9, Star Trek: TNG, Quantum Leap, Poirot, PBS' Sherlock Holmes series, Jekyll

Anime series that I like: Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon, Witch Hunter Robin, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Love Hina, .hack//SIGN

Zero 7, Morcheeba, The Supreme Beings of Leisure, Train, Nobuo Uematsu, Yuki Kajiura, Maaya Sakamoto, Yoko Kanno, Remy Zero, Garbage, KT Tunstall, Poe, Spoon, FC/Kahuna, The Crystal Method, Delerium, Esthero, Conjure One, Sweetbox, Anna Nalick, YeLLOW Generation, The Cardigans, Do As Infinity, ELO, Imogen Heap, Metisse, Massive Attack

Aside from the Dixie Chicks, I absolutely loathe country music. Other genres I dislike are emo, gospel, metal, rap, hip hop, and most pop songs. I like songs that are creative and took talent and skill to make. Rarely to I ever find myself liking songs that are of the tired "boy meets girl/girl meets boy" variety. I don't like music that's angry or hateful. I'm a big fan of classical music and instrumental pieces.

As my best friend likes pointing out, I am obsessed with food. =D It's true, though, and here are some of my favorite foods.

Potatoes, Medjool dates, (I'll eat Deglett Noor too, but only if I have to) Rice, Tomatoes, Eggs, Pretty much any and all vegetables, particularly eggplants! Yum-o! ^_^ Turkey, blueberries, oatmeal, (but only rolled oats or pinhead oats-- anything else, as all true Good Eats fans know, isn't worth feeding to a horse!) apples, sushi, sashimi, grapefruit

In addition to loving food, I have a lot of food intolerances (lucky me) and have been a picky eater pretty much since Day 1. I'm willing to fudge the rules a bit in certain areas, but here are a few ingredients which I will not consume under ANY circumstances:

Wheat flour (I'm not gluten intolerant, though), sugar, cane sugar/juice/syrup/etc., honey, corn syrup, (also known in my household as The Liquid Death) peppers, (this includes hot peppers and all varieties of Bell Peppers) chicken, and anything made from a pig

sings These are some of my favorite things--oh, sorry. ^_^

• Dragons. This is my NUMBER ONE favorite thing of all time!! I'm an Earth Dragon in the Chinese Zodiac and I've adopted it as my personal symbol. I love dragons of any shape, size, type, color, material, etc. I have dragon necklaces and a dragon incense burner, as well as statuettes and rings. The more dragons, the better.

• Egyptian stuff. I'm a total Egyptology geek, especially when it comes to their mythology. Isis is my favorite goddess.

• Bookmarks. I know, it sounds weird, but I love a good bookmark almost as much as I love a good book. I'm not above using any random piece of paper that's at hand when I'm reading, but there's nothing quite like getting ahold of a really good bookmark that lasts you awhile, y'know?

• Pens & notebooks. My mom literally has to pull me out of the notebook and pen aisles at the grocery store. I'm dangerous.

• The color pink. Couple this with stars or sparklies and I'm sold.

• Jewelry. I'm a huge jewelry addict and am especially fond of gemstones and sterling silver.

• LiveJournal icons. For the uninitiated, this means a clever looking 100 x 100 image you can use as your avatar on LiveJournal. I collect them by the hundreds and have a truly vast repertoire of Doctor Who and TARDIS themed icons. ^_^

• Snail mail, especially postcards or photos from far off lands

• Sparkly things. I frequently lament how young children and preteens get all the cool looking clothing with lots of bright colors and sparklies on them. Unfortunately everything I buy with sparkles on it seems to shed its glittery-ness all over the rest of the laundry it gets washed with...sigh

• Clothing. I love clothes shopping and finding that perfect shirt/pair of jeans/socks/whatever. Unfortunately a limited budget keeps me from indulging in this activity too often. Sigh.

• Tea, of course! How could I forget tea? Green teas are my favorite, and I'm also fond of herbal teas and chamomile. I hate citrus teas or sweetened teas, and am usually not particularly fond of fruit teas, though I'm flexible in this area. (For example I have an Apple Blossom Green Tea in my cabinet that I ADORE) Black teas are OK, but are sometimes too strong for my tastes. White and red teas are always a hit. Celestial Seasoning's Madagascar Vanilla Red tea is my favorite flavor from that company. I also like Chai teas, and don't mind getting teas you have to add a little milk to. I also enjoy cinnamon and jasmine flavored teas, but no lavender flavored teas, please!

• Quotes. Sounds strange, I know, but I get a big kick out of funny, clever, or meaningful quotes from books, movies, and TV shows. Usually this means Doctor Who, but I'll quote pretty much anything.

• Candles. Love candles. Scented, unscented, doesn't matter. I'm also fond of creative and cute candle holders.

• ThinkGeek. 'nuff said.

• Scarves. I'm sure this is partly my inner Doctor Who fangirl talking, but I adore scarves of all shapes, sizes, and colors. As long as it's fantastic, comfortable, and outrageous, I love it. I could spend obscene amounts of money collecting scarves.

I really like the idea of doing crafts, but unfortunately every time this word comes up it always seems to relate to really crummy looking "old lady" stuff, like doilies and farm-themed stuff, or houses made out of Popsicle sticks. I'm more into beautiful things, like jewelry, or things that take creativity or can be useful. Unfortunately my skills at crafting are pretty much nil, though I can do a pretty decent Macrame bookmark. :) I'd love to learn how to knit, sew, and make jewelry someday.

I've been playing video games since I was I don't know how young, and I was raised on stuff like Blake Stone, DOOM, and Heretic. Later my game preferences widened and matured, and these days I've settled into being an RPGer with a pretty mean Tomb Raider streak. =D

Keeping in mind that I'll play just about anything, these are some of my favorite video games of all time:

FFX, Summoner 2, Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, pretty much anything Tomb Raider, (though I wasn't terribly fond of TR4) Amplitude, Stronghold, SimCity 4, Startopia, Dungeon Keeper 1 & 2, Neverwinter Nights & expansion packs, Beyond Good & Evil, Need for Speed, No One Lives Forever, James Bond: EON, The Sims.

I tend to avoid games with excessive violence and zombies. I also hate hack 'n' slash games. They're boring. I like things that involve a good mix of strategy, storyline, good characters, and just enough violence to satisfy me when I'm feeling cranky without being over the top. =D