The site is coming out quite nicely. Jesse pointed out that I really need a ‘Home’ tab so people don’t have to click the ‘Lexeme Sketches’ to return to the main page. That will be coming as soon as I figure out how to put in the code to make the tab happen. I have also added an ‘Illustrations’ tab for artwork people have given me, and I put in an illustration by my friend and colleague Charles Gearhart that he did for my story Mirror, Mirror. I now have to figure out how to subdivide the tabs to where I can separate my stories and articles when I post them because I am strongly considering putting my Pirates of the Caribbean fan fiction Mirror, Mirror on here. The problem is that it’s 32 chapters long, so I have to figure out how to post 32 chapters on one page. LOL — wow, what a chore that will be if I figure it out.
For now, I would like to post 10 Random Things About Me:
10. 
Mariah Carey — I’m not sure why, but I have always been such a fan of hers. I stopped listening to her stuff after the album Rainbow because she really took a heavy R&B and rap route (I’m not really into that), but her voice is truly amazing and soulful, and some of her songs really strike a personal chord with me. What’s surprising to know is that she was bullied and felt out of place when she was young, and that’s how I felt all the time when I was young. I think her songs “Outside” and “Close My Eyes” were the songs that spoke to me the most at that age. Although I mostly listen to rock and oldies, sometimes I put on one of her albums when I’m in the mood for her.
9. Pickled Beets — Mom, hide the jar! When I was a kid I used to pile pickled beets so much on my plate that my mother used to have to take the jar off the table so I would eat something else on the table! They’re just so full of Vitamin A goodness that I can’t help but to eat a whole jar by myself. Eat carefully, though — they stain!
8. Anime — I can’t help putting in something about my obsession with anime. No they are not your typical ‘cartoons’! Anime is totally different from American cartoons in a sense that A. anime is not all slapstick comedy like Bugs Bunny, B. anime comes out in episodes that usually run in a continuing plot line, and C. the characters are well-developed. I think the longest anime I have ever watched was Rurouni Kenshin and Bleach (which is still running after 300+ episodes). My first anime fandoms were Sailor Moon and Lupin the Third, and I just kind of branched out from there. My friend Jimmy recommended Neon Genesis Evangelion and Blue Seed; Jocelyn got me started on Bleach, and I have recently become a huge fan of Tiger & Bunny (shown left), thanks to my friend Mariana, and Axis Powers Hetalia. I have attended Anime St. Louis for the past two years and cosplayed Bleach, though this year I think I really want to go as Rufus Shinra from Final Fantasy 7.
7. Star Trek — Want to know how nerdy I really am? I’m a Trekkie. If asked the question, “Kirk or Picard?” I’d answer Picard in a heartbeat (because Patrick Stewart is just awesome), though there is something to be said for Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) from Star Trek: Enterprise. I have seen every episode of every Star Trek series, even The Original Series (TOS), and of all the series, my favorites are probably Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Enterprise (I so hated when this one ended). Of the movies, my favorite movie with TOS cast was probably The Wrath of Kahn and my favorite Next Gen movie was First Contact. The new Star Trek movie was pretty awesome visually, but the plot line just didn’t do it for me. For one, there’s two Spocks now. Two Spocks. In the same timeline. Generally when there’s an alternate timeline involved, one of the characters goes back to his rightful time, but this was not the case. Oh, and Vulcan was destroyed. Destroyed. Obliterated. Wiped off the face of stellar cartography.
6. Lady GaGa — Huge fan. She’s kooky, her outfits are downright strange, and she never wears pants, but you know what I love about her? She’s perfectly comfortable with being her weird self, and I like weird. Her actual name is Stefani Germanotti, and she grew up in an Italian family and attended a Catholic school in New York. Most surprising fact? She was bullied, even though she looked perfectly normal before she was famous. She is often compared with Madonna because she is so controversial and risque, but you know what? So was Elvis Presley when he came out on the Ed Sullivan Show rocking his hips. I think she has a great attitude, and I respect her creativity, even if it is ‘strange’. Plus, she plays her own instrument — the piano — and she writes her own songs.
5. Soft Things — I love soft things. Blankets, comforters, pajamas, beds, you name it. In fact, I love soft things so much that I often have a difficult time getting up in the morning (aside from the fact that I am not a morning person) because I am wrapped in the comfort and warmth of soft blankets and pillows. Not to mention my pajama bottoms that are flannel, cotton socks (I hate sleeping without socks because my feet are always cold), and a loose t-shirt. Who wants to leave all of that?
4. The Beatles — I could not resist. I have been a huge fan of the Fab Four since I was in fifth grade. How did I get into their music? Well, my parents grew up in the 50s and 60s, and they accumulated a bit of a record collection. Mom used to play an oldies station while she cleaned the house on Saturdays, and I really enjoyed the music. In fact, I listened to little else growing up other than ‘oldies’ and classical music. Mom and Dad always were pretty open toward music, though not as much toward my older brother’s blaring Motley Crue (which I loved), and I always had an open mind toward music, too. I was exploring their generation of music when I discovered an album among their collection titled The Beatles: 1962-1966 in their record cabinet (that’s LP to you young whippersnappers) that had all their best hits from when they first started in 1962 to around the middle of their career in 1966. I was enthralled by their music. In one double LP album, I could audibly trace how much their music changed from the start of their career. Such innovation! They were not afraid to experiment with new sounds and ideas. Since then I couldn’t get enough of them. Beatlemania overtook me and I was soon digging through dusty boxes full of old, obsolete albums thrown into the most remote corners of antique shops and raiding what few record shops were left; I collected any kind of memorabilia I could get my hands on that my allowance would let me buy. I loved the Fab Four so much that I even endured some pretty horrible teasing at the hands of my peers for my ‘unique’ obsession. Ten years after high school, I am still remembered as ‘the resident Beatles fan’.
3. 1956 Bel Air — I would love to own one of these someday. This should come as no surprise considering my love for retro things. Of course, I would have to fight my parents over it since they owned one when they were first married. Unfortunately my dad had to sell it. According to my parents, their red-and-white 1956 Bel Air was a damn good car and it was almost like a tank because cars were much better quality back them. My opinion: just effing gorgeous. Most girls dream of driving dinky little sports cars — not me. This is the car I would love to get my hands on.
2. Airplanes — I want to learn to fly. My first plane ride actually happened when I was a kid, I think around 8 years old. My dad and I went out to the airport back in my hometown to eat at a pancake breakfast where some volunteer instructors, private pilots, and student pilots were promoting the flight school. Dad figured that I should experience flight at least once in my life because we never flew anywhere for family trips; we always drove. I remember we went up in a Piper Cub and I thought it was so cool to see the world from a bird’s eye view. Dad has always wanted to learn to fly, and thanks to that trip, I formed an interest in it as well. Little did either of us know at the time that I would actually (and ironically) marry a pilot and get lots of chances to fly. Thanks to a few flying lessons with Jesse, I am now the world’s worst at begging for airplane rides any time he can provide them. In the span of 7 years of marriage, I have flown to Florida, Colorado, and various places across the Midwest. But Florida and Colorado — those were by far the two coolest trips we ever got to take. Flying over Kansas, however, is much like driving across it — a whole lot of nothing for miles, although the Cessna Aircraft Factory is in Wichita.
1. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes — probably one of the best books I have ever read. It was introduced to me by my high school English teacher Mrs. Bugg near the end of my junior year as the book of choice for the novel unit. The book is told in a series of progress reports by Charlie, the first human test subject for a surgery to increase his intelligence by artificial means. Algernon is the name of the lab rat who underwent the same surgery and appears throughout the story as a parallel to Charlie. The book touches upon many moral and ethical themes, including the treatment of the mentally disabled. My teacher used to make us read only one chapter at a time and then complete a worksheet for each chapter, but I wound up finishing the book two weeks early; it was that good. My teacher started to lecture me about how I didn’t follow directions, but I had to explain that I couldn’t put it down because I just had to find out what would become of Charlie — I had made a prediction about his fate, and I was dreadfully curious to see whether I was right. Mrs. Bugg couldn’t stay upset about that, and at the end of the unit, she let me keep my copy of the book. And yes, I still have it.
