Yay! I Got a Shiny Award!

#1

My favorite flowers are white and orange lilies, followed closely by Gerbera daisies (also in orange and white). I also have a sweet little hidden affection for tulips and daffodils, but those are slightly too ethereal and romantic for me. Something about the bright, bold colors of the lilies and the daisies and their big, wide-open faces really gets me.

#2

Chocolate is an absolutely essential component to the continuation of my existence. Even when we were grain and sugar free, which we’re going back to next week, I had a cup of hot chocolate every night. I had to. I can’t live without chocolate. 

#3

 I’m a big sci-fi nerd. I love Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Dune, The Lord of the Rings…I could go on, but you get the picture. In fact, when I was pregnant with Charlotte the Ogre and I watched all the Star Trek movies in a week, and I spent many hours reading the Trekkie Wiki. For that week, I was in serious danger of becoming a Trekkie.

#4

I desperately want to name my next daughter (if we’re blessed with another girl) Auden. The Ogre keeps objecting to this, saying that we can’t name our female daughter after a gay male poet, but I disagree. I think Auden’s struggles with his sexuality are so representative of the battle we all face against the culture of death that, frankly, the fact that he was sleeping with men and feeling terribly conflicted about it while most of the other poets of his time (read: the disgusting Beats) were sleeping with everything and feeling just dandy about it earns him my respect. That, combined with his poetic prowess, make him a worthy namesake for my child, in my opinion.

Auden, I love thee. Even though I feel slightly disloyal to Wilbur by saying this, Lullaby is my favorite poem ever written. And I can just see, in my  mind’s eye, my little Auden. She’s right there, with her little blond hair and big blue eyes. I just have to convince the Ogre. 

#5

I have a sparkling water problem. Seriously. It’s getting out of control. 

I guess it comes from all the time I spent in Italy, but I much prefer sparkling water to regular water. Here I buy the 99 cent Trader Joe’s brand, but in Italy my hands-down favorite water is Ferrarelle, which I thought was only available in Europe. But the other day I was winding my way through Whole Foods looking for coconut flour when the clouds parted and the angels sang and there, on the bottom shelf, were three battered-looking bottles of Ferrarelle. 

I immediately scooped them up and didn’t even blink when the cashier asked me to pay three dollars each for them.

I need an intervention.

#6

I have a tattoo on my hip, because once upon a time I used to think that I was cool. Back then, my tattoo was Exhibit A of my coolness.

Now, I’ve embraced my geek-dom. And my stupid tattoo is Exhibit A.

#7

I also have a nose piercing, which I love. It was a tradition among lots of UD girls to get their noses pierced during the Rome semester, and while I didn’t particularly like the look, I did it anyway because I was bored. 

Now, I love it. I’ve grown very attached to it. Every so often my piercing will get slightly infected and after worrying about dying from septicemia, my second instinct is always to fervently hope it clears up because I would be very sad if I ever had to remove my nose ring. 

In case you’re wondering, my parents hate it and the Ogre’s parents hate it, but the Ogre loves it. 

Okay, now that you know more than you ever wanted to know about me, let’s move on to rule three, shall we?