This is one of those way-more-info-than-you-wanted-to-know kind of pages, hahaha! But I’ve had this up on my blog for well over a decade, so it’s cemented into the internets now, ha.
And if you’re a kindred spirit in some way, hi!! *waves at you*
It is a fact universally acknowledged that viewers of “About me” pages are in search of Interesting Details of the webpage creator.
(You win points for catching the above literary reference.*)
It is time to bow to audience expectations and provide said facts. In an Interesting Manner.
The short story:
I’m a freelance graphic & web designer who designs blogs & websites & offers WordPress training. I work at home & love it; I’m a total nester who loves everything home & hearth. Being lady of the house is my favorite thing to do…but I’m also a serious technophile who’s had a crush on computers since the 8th grade, when we did BASIC programming on Radio Shack computers. My current “stable” of computers includes a 27″ iMac & a 12.9″ iPad Pro (and PC laptop I inherited that is a backup if needed). I have at least six more computers in the apartment in various states of not-working (my oldest is a Mac Performa).
If you ever saw the movie THE NET with Sandra Bullock, that’s me.
The working at home & living online bit. Not the being-chased-by-bad-guys bit.
Just to be clear. ;)
I always say I’m “over-educated” because I have three degrees: a Master’s degree in English Literature, a Bachelor’s degree in English, and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, as well as a summer cert from the University of Cambridge (Cambridge, England). I taught at universities & colleges for years, but I then realized academia wasn’t for me. I love teaching, but not in the formal system (which is broken in so many ways). I now indulge this love by teaching clients how to use WordPress & how to use their sites for their various needs, and it’s incredibly fulfilling.
Despite the topics of my degrees, all of my work experience before teaching involved some form of computers & layout & design—wait, who am I kidding? Teaching involved that, too, since I made websites for my classes, loved laying out class handouts, and ran the computer classroom while in grad school (and forced my students to watch & write about THE MATRIX). I’ve always been a designer & computer geek at heart, so to now be able to make a living doing computer work full-time, and at home, is a dream come true.
While I love to spend my days designing & coding, on my off time & downtime I’m still online devouring pretty pics on Instagram and Pinterest & reading favorite blogs. I also love TV & movies – but I’m really, really picky about what I watch (and I rewatch favs more than I watch anything new). I’m also a reader…and a book hoarder, so much so that it’s always been hard to get friends to help me move because they know what they’re in for with all the books. Heh. I had actually pared down my collection some years ago, but it’s building back up. #Icannothelpmyself I tend to read ghost stories, sweet romances, historical romance, and some epic fantasy.
As for TV & movies…well, a sample of favs includes: Movies: Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, Hackers, Top Gun, the Bourne films, The Adjustment Bureau, Practical Magic, A Room with a View, the 1995 Pride & Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility (Emma Thompson one), Howard’s End (Emma Thompson one), Under The Tuscan Sun, Sabrina, Somethings Gotta Give, The Blind Side. TV: Downton Abbey, Elementary, Sherlock, Major Crimes, Chuck, Alias, Suits, Covert Affairs, Fringe, Bones, Cougar Town, Doc Martin, As Time Goes By, Absolutely Fabulous, Keeping Up Appearances, Lewis. And lots more I’m forgetting at the moment…
The longer story:
I’ve been making websites since 1997. That makes me a cavewoman in internet years.
I am a Florida native; I was born & raised here.
I taught university courses, writing & lit & pop culture, for 7 years.
I am happy not to be in academics any more. Literary theory, while interesting at first, eventually sucks the life out of books like a starving vampire set loose in a city. Not that I’m bitter.
I worked in publishing (design & writing) for years before and after my time teaching.
I used to love meshing computers & techy stuff with literary theory. As proof, I give you one of my academic book reviews that’s still online.
I ran the computer classroom while in grad school. We used MUDs back then (text-based virtual realities).
I got to spend New Years Eve 2000 in London & saw the new milenium rung in by Big Ben.
When in London I stayed in a great hostel that’s near the King’s Cross tube station & used that station often; back then I did not know the Harry Potter significance of King’s Cross.
When I was in Cambridge was when I first heard of Harry Potter; it was in all the bookshops. I was always thinking, “What’s the big deal? Just some kid’s book.” HA!
I loved my time in Cambridge so much, but thanks to watching the series Inspector Lewis and reading A Discovery of Witches, I am now jonesing to spend time in Oxford.
Also on my life bucket list: Have tea a Highclere Castle.
I am a cat lady & am not ashamed. Kitties rule.
I love birds; I worked for a seabird sanctuary in my early 20s.
I get excited when I hear birds & will run to a window to look. I will also name birds when I see them (and usually, my companions could care less). Titmice! Chickadees! An ibis! A hawk! Sandhills!
I have a birdfeeder on my patio & watching all the birds is one of my favorite things to do.
I want a nice DSLR camera with zoom so I can do bird photography; I love going for nature hikes & seeing birds (or even seeing the kestrels that sometimes perch not far from my windows), but I can’t ever get decent photos of them.
I love coffee. I don’t like iced tea, but hot tea is ok at times.
I love to decorate & rearrange things—this goes for my home as well as my blog.
My mom was a voracious reader, and I grew up surrounded by books; she read lots of pulp horrors, and I read a lot of them too, but now I really dislike the genre. But she instilled in me a love of books and that a home isn’t a home without several bookcases overflowing with all kinds of books, and I will forever be grateful to her for that. :)
The older I get, the less I’ll put up with bad writing. If I start a book & the writing is just too horrible, I’ll get rid of the book without finishing.
I re-read favorite books all the time.
I love used bookstores more than new ones. Used bookstores are full of many possible treasures & all kinds of gems you can’t find in a big-box bookstore.
I used to ride & show horses, and some days I really miss it.
I adore jets & love seeing jets & love going to air shows. This is all thanks to TOP GUN, naturally. When it came out, it had me wanting to go off & join the military so I could fly jets. My dad, ex-military, quickly talked me out of that. These days I just enjoy the eye candy when I can.
I love seeing jets in movies; I love good jet scenes in action/scifi movies as much as I love beautiful set design & styling.
(News of the upcoming Top Gun sequel…I just hope & pray they don’t ruin it. Please, please let it be good. Supposedly music will be by the same people who did it for the original! I’m remaining cautiously optimistic.)
I have long hair & plan to always have it; I will wear it in a stylish updos when I’m an old lady, like the Dowager Countess or Isobel Crawley.
When I’m 80, I want to dress & act like the Dowager Countess of Grantham. I cannot wait!
Speaking of Maggie Smith, I became a lifelong fan of hers, Judi Dench, Helena Bonham Carter, Denholm Elliot, Rupert Graves, Simon Callow, and the lovely Julian Sands thanks to the absolutely perfect film A Room With A View. Still have my VHS copy that I got in the late 80s/early 90s, too (but now have it on dvd & as a digital copy). Still watch it regularly.
I adore pretty much anything that Dame Judi or Dame Maggie does, and I want to be just like them when I am the age they are now.
I am an utter Anglophile and costume-drama-phile. Have been since my teen years (thanks to Dame Judi & Dame Maggie & Helena).
I’ve enjoyed bits of sci-fi costuming, but one of my real dreams is to amass a huge Victorian & Edwardian wardrobe. And attend huge, lavish costume balls & Austen weekends & other historical re-enactments.
I adore historical things (Victorian, Edwardian) at the same time that I adore modern & techy things. I’d love to own a coach-and-four and be driven around town in it while I use my iPhone or iPad. Heh. :D
When I love a movie, I’ll watch it a hundred times & usually learn it by heart. And will always enjoy quoting it.
“This is not at all what we were led to expect.”
“I thought we were going to see the Arno.”
“The signora distinctly wrote: ‘South rooms, with a view, and close together.’ Instead of which she has given us north rooms without a view and a long way apart! [sighs] We must hurry and get dressed, dear, or we’ll miss our dinner on top of everything else. She had no business to do it. No business at all!”
From A Room With A View, Helena & Maggie exchange at the beginning.
“This…this isn’t real?”
“What is ‘real’? How do you define ‘real’? If you’re talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then ‘real’ is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain. … Welcome to the desert of the real.”
From The Matrix, Neo & Morpheus exchange.
…
*From up top: The reference is from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: “It is a fact universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”