geekphd

I'm a second-year doctoral student, and I love friendly strangers and putting together stuff for people I know will appreciate it. And, of course, I love getting things in the mail!

I have many enthusiasms, including the Victorian era, Doctor Who, classic rock, baking, knitting, reading, writing, coffee, Chagall, gardening, teaching (I teach composition at a local community college), studying foreign languages, backpacking, comic books, really good licorice, folk rock (think Richard Thompson or electric Bob Dylan), classic children's literature, and of course my three beautiful cats!

The colors I wear most tend to be gray, brown and black, but I do love pretty rosy pinks, dark clear reds, bright Mediterranean blues, and muted greens (yes, I am irritatingly specific about color tones).

I'm not very glam and rarely wear makeup at all, but I do like nice lotions and things; owing to sensitive skin, though, I use mostly natural products.

My favorite fragrances are sharp citrus scents and sweet, but not overly floral scents. Nothing too heavy or musky. I particularly love the scent of lotus.

As far as flavors...I'm pretty adventurous. Black licorice and white chocolate are big nos, though, and I rarely like things flavored like bananas, though I love bananas themselves. I'm also not a fan of flavored coffees and teas, nor do I like herbal, green, or white teas--black tea for me! I love unusual treats with a lot of flavor. For recipes, I'm a big fan of the one-pan dish and anything that begins with an onion. Onions are good.

I hate to say this because it sounds spoiled, but I've had to throw out too many swap items. Please don't get me drugstore-type stuff. We all do panic runs to Target sometimes and that's cool, but I really don't want cheap, useless stuff. I prefer simple, elegant, unusual things, especially things that are useful. I have too much useless stuff as it is. If you're having trouble thinking of something, just go to a second-hand bookshop and grab me a book of poetry, drama, or literary criticism.

I probably don't want candy that could be picked up at a gas station.

Oh, and as I live in Texas, anything meltable probably shouldn't come my way between April and early October.

Favorite music is, as mentioned above, classic rock and folk rock, but I also enjoy the occasional Baroque piece as well as some newer indie music like that of Regina Spektor or Thea Gilmore. I'm not pretentious, though: I'll also shake it along with Shakira, under the right circumstances.

Novels: Dreamhouse by Alison Habens, North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, Evelina by Fanny Burney, The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford.

Poetry: A Working Girl Can't Win by Deborah Garrison, Did I Miss Anything by Tom Wayman, In Memoriam by Alfred Tennyson.

Children's Lit: Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll, The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper, Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild.

This is difficult--I'm not a very big movie person. I'll wimp out and say the Godfather, for one. Labyrinth, for its wonderful childhood memories. Enchanted April for sheer beauty. Still Crazy for madcap fun. Trevor Nunn's Twelfth Night is my favorite Shakespeare adaptation ever. Blame It on Fidel is a new favorite as well.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doctor Who, Heroes, West Wing, House M.D. Oh, and Cracker, a British series from the '90s that is still the best television ever made, IMHO.

Knitting, a little pattern sewing when I'm not terrified away by the cutting and pinning, the occasional collage, and calligraphy back in the day, though not so often recently.