bookczuk

I'm totally intimidated at the thought of writing this and not knowing what everyone else has said, but I'll give it a shot.

You'll find me as bookczuk or momczuk on many sites (but please, pronounce it right-- it's book chuk, like how many books could a bookczuk czuk...) I'm an avid reader, passionate BookCrosser (if you haven't checked out www.bookcrossing.com make haste! I'll excuse you while you go visit the site!), Pysanky artist (some of my work is in a set over at flickr), beader/ bead jewelry, crochet (beginning amigurumi) polymer clay (prefer to work with Fimo)-- I've tried and loved lots of different projects so am always game for new stuff. I live by the ocean, but head for my beloved mountains whenever I can. I love the water, especially the brooks and creeks that tumble over rocks. I look for gnomes and pixies when I walk the woods... bears too! I don't like creepy crawlies, especially those that are poisonous, bite or sting. I love to cook, tending towards simple, clean, unprocessed foods. Saturdays find me at our local farmers market happily picking out our veggies and such. I like toying with the camera, but am not very good. I like to write, too and am bookczuk over at live journal, though the majority of my posts are "friends only" for privacy.

One biggie is I am allergic to natural rubber latex (as in deathly allergic.) If I don't come in direct contact with it, I'm okay, but things like latex balloons or handling something with rubber gloves could really do me damage, so please be careful.

Now that I've totally a) scared you, b) bored you, c) made you roll your eyes, I'll tell you that my favorite color is blue and I tend towards earth tones.

Mother of one heading off to college in the fall. Hoping Swap-bot takes up some of the time I would otherwise spend missing him.

Need more info? (Yikes! That scares me!) Ask away!

Top on my list of likes are my husband and my University bound son. We'd be empty nesters in the fall except my 85 year old mother lives with us, which is kind of like having another teenager at home, only this one's hard to discipline.

I like to think of myself as earth friendly and aware.

I love reading, laughter, good company, red wine, fine chocolate, good coffee (none of the flavored stuff), rooibus tea or English or Indian black teas.

We tend towards simple and unprocessed in our foods-- fresh fruits and veges, no preservatives or additives, good, rich, extra virgin olive oils, whole grains, etc

I have a great group of internet friends on BookCrossing and Live Journal who are very special people and a lot of other friends locally.

Special places in my heart are Charleston, SC; Rabun county GA, Bavaria, Tuscany, England, and soon Stanford, where our son is heading. Also any place with clear waters, moderate temperatures and hot springs I'd probably love, especially if there were mountains nearby.

I enjoy things that are whimsical and/or have a sense of humor/wit. Give me something with good design and clean lines (it can be modern or vintage/retr0-- that doesn't matter.) I'm much happier with simple than with frills, which goes along with my Virgoian nature.

I've mentioned it already, but I have a very severe allergy to latex/ natural rubber. Artificial rubber is okay (ie neoprene etc). Vinyl and plastic are not latex and are okay. Latex balloons are a no-no, as is handling whatever you send with latex gloves. If you're uncertain, don' risk it. Ask and I'll be happy to try and help you figure it out.

You can get loads of information on latex allergy at this site: http://latexallergylinks.tripod.com/

As I've said above, I love lots of crafts and try many, many things because I see a picture and it appeals to me. But my passion by far is writing pysanky (Ukranian Easter eggs). Everything about it appeals to me, from the historic folk art aspect, the colors, the skill, the smell of the beeswax, the feel of the eggshell as I work it, the symbolism used etc. if you are unfamiliar with pysanky, you may want to check out some photos of some of my egg art over at flickr (try this link: http://tinyurl.com/yu343h

I also make lots of jewelry-- beads and wires mostly and love hand crafted glass beads, though I don't blow glass myself.

I crochet, but not in Charleston in the summer and have just started working on some amigurumi, though I have no pictures up yet as I am still beginning and shy. (Plus my critters are a little lumpy!)

I've done a lot of polymer clay work in the past-- i prefer working with FIMO over scuply, but that's just me.

I'll try crafting just about anything as long as it doesn't involve natural rubber!

Heavily scented or perfumed things, flavored coffees and teas, cutesy or country cottage type stuff. (I appreciate it, but don't want to live with it...) I'm also not fond of things that are too fussy. I like good design and clean lines.I'd rather have one nice, useful item than a lot of little tchotski. I have a friend who is the queen of cheap, and it drives me nuts, because then I have to do something with the junk she gives me. I have another friend who prowls goodwill, but always finds really great stuff. I'd rather the one single well suited item than a bunch of "made in Chinas". Honest.

High on my list of likes is my family. They're all a lot of fun and are also interesting people.
Chez czuk currently consists of me, mr czuk, our son guyczuk and my 85 year old mother.

Occasional visitors include my two brothers, their brides and my young nephew.

Also occasionally visiting are my step-daughter and her family (husband and three darling daughters (ages 9, 8 1.)

Yes, just about anything is good. I don't like slashers, true crime or horror-- things with gratuitous sex/violence, but most other things I'll read: fiction, fantasy, science fiction, bio/memoir, foodie etc. As I said, I'm a BookCrosser, and you can check out my bookshelf at http://www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf/bookczuk

I particularly like books that aren't on the top 10 of the NYT list, first books by new authors, books that have time travel in them.

I will admit that I've gotten to the point in my life where I prefer happy endings, or at least ones that aren't going to make me cry or have bad dreams.

You can check out my amazon wish list if you want. I try to keep it up to date, but fail miserably usually.

Jazz and Classical are the tops on my list, but I like smatterings of other things as long as they don't make my ears ring and my head hurt. I'm game to hear new sounds though.

I sing with my church choir and grew up to the sounds of big band, musicals and the Beatles.

I just can't do international swaps right now, as much as I'd love to. Limited finances. : (