deborah

Hi!

I'm a university student in Santa Cruz, CA, originally from Los Angeles. I love reading and doing things with my hands, espcially knitting and origami.

Most of the books I read are YA, coming-of-age or fantasy, but I do love an apocalypse or dystopia--Battle Royale, The Hunger Games, The Road, I love this sort of thing. I love historical fiction, too, including myth like Robin Hood and King Arthur, though it's hard to find good historical fiction that's not romance. Anything about castles, kings, knights and dragons...

J.R.R. Tolkien -- And not just Lord of the Rings, everything! Letters from Father Christmas, Farmer Giles of Ham, Smith of Wootten Major... Some of us are dorks to the nth degree ;) To be fair though, I do love Lord of the Rings above almost any other book. I've been in love with Faramir for years...

Friars Club books and other books of jokes and riddles, I love the funnies.

I also love classic poets. Theodore Roethke and Robert Frost are my favorite.

Craft books (especially knitting and cooking/baking) are awesome, too. I like very, very basic science books, as I am especially bad at science but curious, and ancient history up through the rennaissance. Also books dealing with the social aspects of wars, though I'm less interested in battles and such.

Sometimes I really like memoirs. Day-to-day life in all circumstances, even normal ones, fascinates me.

When it comes to factual books, how things work or history, I like children's books as much as adults' books. They're always clearly laid out and, I admit, I like the pictures.

Generally I like short story collections, either of various authors or Agatha Christie.

I generally do not read romance.

*Knitting! I absolutely love knitting, knitted things, knitting patterns, yarn... I generally dislike garish colors, not crazy about orange or bright green, but anything tastefully done is all right in my book.

*Origami

*Crochet

*Writing. Does this count as a craft? It should. I love writing and wordgames, crossword puzzles, that sort of thing.

Mostly classic rock and howtunes :D

I love Aida, the Tim Rice version. It's probably my favorite musical. Others I like are Rent, Chess, Next to Normal, Fiddler on the Roof, Spring Awakening and Wicked.

*Horror films

I love horror films, but not all of them. There is something to be said for slasher flicks (mostly that they offer an adrenaline boost and are laughably bad) but too much blood or a film with no plot is too much. Horror-torture is... no. I can go for a psychological horror, though, like 'Believers'.

*Musicals (especially Rent and Fiddler on the Roof)

*the Sharpe series -- Who doesn't love Richard Sharpe? I know I don't! (Yup, I don't not love Richard Sharpe. Wow that's bad phrasing!)

*all things Muppet

*Lord of the Rings -- I know generally people like either the books or the films, but I enjoy both. Admittedly I'm constantly making excuses for Faramir's behavior in the films... but, for one who enjoys fantasy and knights in shining armor, Lord of the Rings was a dream come true.

*Battle Royale-- I can't even begin to justify this one

*The Simpsons

*My Family

*Dr. Who

*Futurama

*Blackadder

*Robin Hood

*Crusoe

*Father Ted

*Little House on the Prairie

*Little Mosque on the Prairie

-anything handmade

-soft things

-food: most snacklike things, shortbread cookies are awesome, chocolate (Who doesn't love chocolate? I love sweets as much as anyone but I'm definitely a milk chocolate girl, including chocolate with mint or caramel or peanut butter. A lot of people don't like that... I totally do. I'm the type of person for whom a Snickers bar makes the entire week better.)

-puzzle (crossword, logic, etc.--not sudoku!) magazines

-anything related to magic, faeries, unicorns, dragons or the Arthurian legend

-things nature themed

-anything Celtic themed

-fingerless gloves and legwarmers (for some reason the thrift stores near here love these... and the eighties will return! I love these things)

-Tea/coffee (coffee smells nice, but I don't drink either)

-Incense/candles/alcohol (not allowed where I live)

-On hair things: I don't mind receiving hair items that I can use (cloth headbands, clips, etc.) but my hair is not long enough to wear ponytail holders, scrunchies, etc, so if it's a hair-related swap or that's just something you thought of, no scrunchies!

-Republican items that aren't jokes (for example: a calendar supporting George Bush, not ok. A calendar of Bushisms, definitely ok.)

-anything anti-gay

Other than that, no worries. I'm fairly difficult to offend. Crudity and nudity don't bother me at all. Religion is a gray area. I'm interested in learning about other religions, but if for example you are my partner in a knitting swap, don't knit in a cross or anything like that.