ohpossum

My name is Ann.

Anne Shirley would say that Ann without an "e" looks just dreadful. oh well.

I work part time, am married to a college art professor and live (reluctantly) in Florida. I have 2 sons, one age 12 and the other born September 2011 - life is getting exciting!

I like to cook dinner and bake when I can. Favorite beverages are hot tea and hot chocolate. Canada has a hot chocolate called Gourmet du Village - if you send me some I will love you forever ( @wunderland - you complete me!) I enjoy getting recipes, I'm an omnivore with vegetarian leanings.

I have pets... a buncha cats, a salamander and one pup: half jack russell / half pekingese. For many years we only had rescued greyhounds, so regal - but this little dog is the anti-elegant; she roots, she digs, she licks. The man calls her a jack russell terrorist. I appreciate all animals in general and have fostered orphaned possums in the past.

I love old houses, old books, kitschy images and 70's tv shows.

I like things that are citrus-y scented like lemon or pink grapefruit. I also like earthy scents like patchouli.

I enjoy farting around in the garden, planting butterfly & hummingbird attracting flowers. My small yard is mostly shady and I work around that because I love the big trees. I grow herbs and plants for caterpillars to eat, orchids, night blooming cereus and carnivorous plants. I'm trying my hand at succulent containers. I like quirky garden ornaments and markers. The backyard is my place to go when I need some peace.

My dream job: to be a jewelry maker/silversmith and running a side business of a cryptozoologically themed mini-golf (my off time would be spent competing in roller derby.)

I have a serious cookie dough problem. It rarely makes it to the oven.

Illustrators I like are Edward Gorey, M.C. Escher, Tony Meeuwissen, Bobby Chiu, Charles Addams, Richard Scarry, Raymond Briggs, Tim Biskup, Jan Pienkowski, Garth Williams and Alison Bechdel. My favorite comics are Mutts, Bloom County & Opus, Peanuts, Lio and Non Sequitur. I don't get to read it but I like Get Fuzzy because I grew up with Darby Conley.

Bobby Chiu's artwork

Do you live in Arkansas? I'd love to pay for you to ship me a big ol' chunk of slag glass in a flat rate box --- or swap something for it.

I go to Dragon*Con.

Puzzle piece shapes are close to my heart - my oldest son has autism.

Suzanne Vega, The Police, Led Zep, Pink Floyd, Queen, Tom Petty, Cat Stevens, Johnny Cash, Sting, Coldplay, Snow Patrol, Sarah MacLachlan, Keane.

I like the npr show "Hearts of Space."

Something else I find soothing are cd's that play nature sounds such as birds, cicadas, streams, crickets, rain, ocean waves, seagulls, etc. These are great for tuning out the news in the car or getting to sleep at night.

I love kids books: The Little Broomstick by Mary Stewart, John Bellairs, Beverly Cleary, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (original Witch trilogy,) Richard Peck, Little House books, Nancy Drew & Trixie Belden, classic fairy tales and fables, Frances Hodgson Burnett, L.M. Montgomery, Harry Potter series, Judy Blume, Ruth Chew & C.S. Lewis.

Grown up stuff includes: mysteries, southern literature, Tolkein (his Father Christmas letters to his kids are awesome,) Ray Bradbury, Sharyn McCrumb, Barbara Kingsolver, Anne Sexton, biographies, Greek mythology, true crime, diaries and novels told in letter form and collected letters.

I am a huge Alison Bechdel fan (I own all of her books,) if you make me anything DTWOF related, I will not only cherish it forever... I will write her and tell her about it. Cause I'm pesky that way.

Movies

Ed Wood, Frida, Wall-E, Pixar movies, The Right Stuff, Tombstone, Amadeus, Coal Miner's Daughter, Hitchcock films, The Shining, Moulin Rouge, Evil Dead & Army of Darkness, Mulholland Drive, A League of their Own, The Abyss, Goonies, Blade Runner, anything Ray Harryhausen, Wallace & Gromit short films, Tim Burton movies, Galaxy Quest, Steel Magnolias, Alien, Aliens, Ringu, The Ring, Once Upon a Time in the West, Clash of the Titans (original,) Twister, LotR trilogy, Close Encounters, Tremors, The first 3 Star Wars movies, the first 3 Indiana Jones movies, Bram Stoker's Dracula, so many others I can't think of right now...

Television

Diners Drive-Ins and Dives, Fringe, Supernatural, Battlestar Galactica, Xena/Hercules, The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, My So-Called Life, Masterpiece Mystery, V, American Gothic, King of the Hill, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Max Headroom, Robot Chicken, MonsterQuest, Murdoch Mysteries, Twin Peaks, X-Files, Dr. Who, Land of the Lost (70's version,) Mystery Science Theater 3000, Brisco County Jr., 48 Hours Mystery, creepy murder shows, Star Trek (original,) Next Generation, Voyager and DS9.

Former art major. I like to do crafty stuff with paper (not into scrapbooking, though,) origami, collage. I like to carve my own rubber stamps out of plastic erasers but also love store-bought ones, they have so much detail. I also knit, make small felt stuffies, bake sculpey, sew with a vintage featherweight machine, and write letters.

I would love to receive anything handmade by you. I love when folks doodle on their letters, postcards or envelopes

• Night scenes: moons, stars, silhouettes, bare branched trees, warmly lit windows
  • hair barrettes
  • Bubo the mechanical owl
  • afternoon sunlight
  • slag glass
  • airstreams/vintage trailers
  • handmade bookmarks
  • Butterbeer!!! (I've had it and it is A-MAZING)
  • paisleys
  • scarab beetles
  • cryptozoology: jackalopes, yeti, sasquatch, ufo's, mothman, loch ness...
  • vintage books
  • snowy scenes
  • mushrooms & toadstools
  • graveyards, creepy stuff, haunted houses, Halloween, zombies, skeletons, Day of the Dead
  • colors: rose, periwinkle, all shades of green, cobalt blue, peacock blue
  • retro sci-fi (rockets, spaceships, planets)
  • San-x mixed cats, tarepanda
  • greyhounds
  • bugs, slugs, spidery things
  • carnivorous plants
  • beads: glass, ceramic, carved, semi-precious
  • sleestaks
  • flowers: lily of the valley, forsythia, daffodils, mountain laurel, honeysuckle, dogwood, passion flower, peony
  • trilobites
  • heart shapes
  • shamrocks & claddaughs
  • terrariums
  • dangly earrings
  • beach glass & beach china
  • mountains, wooded scenes, streams, meandering pathways, ferns
  • Autumn

Jensen Ackles, Chris Noth, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Bruce Campbell, Sean Bean, Marc Singer, Joshua Jackson, Ed Harris, Julian Sands, Michael Keaton, Nathaniel Parker, Martin Freeman, Matt Frewer, Sean Astin, Tommy Lee Jones, Legolas, Gary Cole, Katie Sackhoff (girl crush!)

imported chocolate ~ bottlecap magnets ~ coin purse ~ plant seeds ~ a tattoo! ~ amigurumi ~ shrines ~ salty snacks ~ hand dyed or kettle dyed yarn ~ bookmarks ~ return address labels ~ unused postcards ~ hot chocolate ~ decorated matchboxes ~ handcarved stamps ~ batik fabric ~ folk art ~ unique buttons ~ shoo fly pie kit ~ Pixar stickers ~ Jip & Janneke

cancer
bigotry
proselytizing
meanness
homophobia

tried & true trusty swappers who've blown me away with their thoughtfulness:

@wunderland

@sarita

@motes

@onyx

@catestalkergc

@beckra

@creeny

@nativegan

@christie1981