January

I am a teacher with a mega-commute (70 miles each way to work...don't ask). 53 yo, married, with two sons. We currently live in the Hudson Valley of NY, although we have also lived in MA and Pittsburgh, PA. We are still Steelers fans because of that.

To pass the time on my commute, I listen to music, podcasts (This American Life, Ask Me Another, Wait Wait..., The Moth, Selected Shorts, and I listened to Serial.) I don't like books on tape, though. I also talk on the phone - love my hands-free system.
In my free time, besides playing around in my basement studio, I go to boot camp, hike, cook, read, and I'm a crossword puzzle fanatic. Must be the Times and I must do it in ink. I also love to do KenKen.

SHOWTUNES SHOWTUNES SHOWTUNES. I am a huge musical theater fan. Happily, since we currently live near enough to NYC, we go in as often as we can (afford), to see shows. And I listen to the soundtracks and sing loudly in the car (again, on that long drive). Also like folk and contemporary music, such as - The Decemberists, John Mayer, James Taylor, Gregory Porter. I also really like Bruno Mars, but I don't like much pop music.

Jhumpa Lahiri is one of my preferred authors, and I tend to like fiction written by Indian writers. I like to read modern fiction and family sagas.
Some books that have stuck with me include -

The Paris Architect

The Pearl that Broke Its Shell

The Language of Flowers

The Night Circus

The Red Tent

The Midwife of Hope River

Orphan Train

I do not like mysteries. However, I love the series by Alexander McCall Smith called The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. They are set in Botswana and although there is technically a mystery included, they are gentle and beautiful and funny and make me feel as if I have visited Botswana.

Art journaling

Gelli printing, especially with deli paper

Mixed media

Lettering

Faces, especially odd ones

Stencils

Collage

Stamp carving

Art foamies - kind of a new-ish product

(I follow Julie Balzer's blog...really like her style and use of color)

(I also follow a quilting blog called Exuberant Color - her use of color is incredible)

I love all kinds of pens - especially paint pens (the sharpie paint pens are good, so are Molotow), gel pens, markers (love the Pigma micron pens), white pens. I have trouble passing by pens without buying a new one.

Dislikes -

Steampunk style

Holiday-related things

Animals - except I do like birds

I love bright colors (but not neon).

I love folk art - outsider art - primitive art

I gravitate towards modern art.

I like the quilts and color combinations of Kaffe Fassett.

I like explosions of colors and patterns.

I am drawn to faces. I cannot really draw well but I am trying to learn how to draw faces. If they come out odd, it's fine.

Pens. Pens. Pens.

Paper ephemera - such as maps, sheet music, art-y magazines, colorful papers, old ledgers

Journals - I like to make my own junk journals

Blank books

Mechanical pencils