mintdill

I have diverse interests. I love to fly kites, am a voracious reader, movie watcher, and lover of all things pink. I love to laugh and most things will at least make me smile, from a quick dry wit to a goofy slapstick to a sardonic satire. I occasionally write poetry, but would not presume to call myself a poet. I've always wished I were more creative and artistic, but as I was not blessed with the hands of an artist I settle for the appreciation of the gifts of others. I have three cats and spoil each of them as they rightly deserve. I enjoy street fairs, farmer's markets, and exploring the locale in which I currently find myself (wherever that may be on any given day).

I love love love to cook. Currently I'm a vegetarian transitioning to a vegan diet. This wouldn't be such a difficult thing for me if I weren't a cheese whore. I lub cheese. (my made up word, lub = an equal measure of love and lust) However, my interests in the vegan diet have redistributed themselves in that my love of animals has become much more important than the health benefits such a diet will provide me. I love to find vegan recipes in "ordinary" cookbooks or to play around with those that would not otherwise be considered vegan ... I also love the way a vegan diet has expanded my knowledge and love of various tastes and textures, thus I am always quick to purchase any vegan cookbook that catches my eye. I'm almost at a point where I need a separate bookcase just for my cookbooks.

I only decorate with snowmen at Christmas. I am in the midst of decorating my entire kitchen with cupcakes. These are my only collections, but not my only vices. LOL ... I'm a nurse and couldn't be happier with my chosen career. After three years I still consider myself a studier of buddhism, but not a buddhist.

Essentially, I'm always in the midst of something, but never actually there ... I have multiples of everything currently in play: always reading several books at once, knitting projects that I start and will always finish but not before I start another, cleaning is a project that is embarked upon one room at a time and by the time I'm done with the last it's time to start again on the first ... and so it goes. It's not that I don't enjoy the finished result of any of these things, I do ... I find a peace and satisfaction with completion ... but I enjoy the journey more than anything, the doing is so much more fun than the done.

Well, there is always more to know, but I think I will leave it at that. I hope it helps. :D

what I pledged

Anything from Dean Martin to A Perfect Circle, from Morrissey to Tool, from Vivaldi to Keith Urban, from The Gufs to VAST, from Death Cab for Cutie to Fat Boy Slim. Pretty much everything except reggae and rap, but even those are subjective.

Just a sampling of what I love:

Once Upon a Time in Mexico Blow Madness of King George Old School Stranger Than Fiction Raising Arizona Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Bubble Boy Groundhog Day Man on Fire Wedding Crashers Dan In Real Life Chocolat The Count of Monte Cristo Love Actually Meet the Parents Enchanted 13 Going on 30 When Harry Met Sally 50 First Dates Sweeney Todd Amalie It Could Happen to You Pirates of the Caribbean (I, II, and III) Bennie & Joon Nacho Libre An Inconvenient Truth

What I'm hooked on:

The Office Frasier Lost Project Runway Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia

It's truly hard to narrow it down. I have stacks and stacks! LOL ... Yet if I had to name a few that have had an impact on my life, they would be:

Memories of My Melancholy Whores (G.G. Marquez) The Year of Magical Thinking (J. Didion) Heart of Darkness (J. Conrad) Winesburg, Ohio (S. Anderson) The Bean Trees (B. Kingsolver) The Driver's Seat (M. Spark) All Quiet on the Western Front (E.M. Remarque) Love Medicine (L. Erdrich) A Tale of Two Cities (C. Dickens) A Long Way Down (N. Hornby) The Phantom Toll Booth (N. Juster)

My mother just taught me how to knit over Christmas 2007. I'm currently getting my feet wet, so to speak, but loving every minute of it.

For a beginning knitter that hasn't gotten through many projects, I've got quite a stash started! I've found there is immense joy in just looking at and touching yarn. I've found I'm a much more tactile woman than I thought ... I can't keep my hands to myself when I'm in my local yarn shops. I just have to touch.

I've also found a love of knitting books. As a book lover in general, this wasn't such a stretch for me, but I'd have to quit my job and knit full-time to get through all the projects I want to do. Unfortunately, that is not only impracticable, it's unrealistic because I'm such a slow knitter at this point it would take me more than one lifetime to get through it all! LOL ...