i am moving past and giving notice

i was tagged by one of my favorite Portlanders, Lori, this week. she says it is in an effort to get me back to blogging. i admit that i've been extremely negligent of this space, but i promise that they are all great reasons and if you wanna come buy me a cup of tea or a yummy brown ale, you might even get to know what those are! :)

so, in an effort to get back in the saddle (oh, the stories i have to tell from my mississippi adventure! and i've been visiting a naturopath! oh my!) and put my resolution of semi-transparency into practice, i'll start with this glorious meme:

8 things I'm passionate about:
1. Writing. Funny as that may seem considering my blog has been dormant since October, I consider writing the fire that keeps me going. Right now my writing has found a new home in letters to those in my heart.
2. Watching Doctor Who. WHY OH WHY have I waited so long to get into this?!?
3. Baking, especially for my friends. I really love experimenting with flavors and textures, but all for tickling the palates of my dearly beloved.
4. Genuine people. I have a several of them in my life and thank Pete for that. Life is a lot better with them around.
5. Mississippi. It took me moving 2500 miles away to realize how much she is in my blood and how much I really love that about me.
6. Music. This going without saying to the people who know me best. Hell, that goes without saying to people who have just recently met me. Music is how I communicate with the universe. It is salve for when my soul is pained, it is fuel for my creativity and it is a language easily shared.
7. Photographing serenity. If you really feel the need to know more about this, let's look at my portfolio.
8. Getting to hear smiles over the phone (and seeing them in person).

8 things I want to do before I die (not all realistic):
1. Write the definitive profile on Neko Case.
2. Open a patisserie.
3. Get some damn grandkids.
4. See Israel.
5. Learn to knit.
6. Influence some awesome comic artist to render some rad new character based on yours truly. (God bless america, I hate when people say that!)
7. Meet Rob Sheffield (author of Love Is a Mixtape)
8. Make the perfect swing skirt.

8 things I say often:
1. Dang!
2. God bless America! (alternately, use the GWB pronunciation: Amurrrica)
3. Look at what I found! It's a kitty!
4. You're a real peach.
5. I might just hug your face off.
6. What is up, my b!?
7. I'm really sorry to hear that.
8. Asshattery!

8 TV shows I recently watched:
1. Doctor Who
2. Firefly
3. Masterpiece Theater (Persuasion)
4. Freaks & Geeks
5. Wire in the Blood
6. The Adventures of Pete & Pete
7. Heroes
8. Wonderfalls

8 Songs I never tire of listening to:
1. "The Way It Is" - Nicole Atkins
2. "No Children" - The Mountain Goats
3. "Always See Your Face" - Love
4. "Box of Rain" - The Grateful Dead
5. "Honey" - Erykah Badu
6. "My Favorite Mutiny" - The Coup
7. "Good Woman" - Cat Power
8. "Walk Away Renee" - Four Tops

8 things that attract me to my friends:
1. Sense of humor (Sincerely, I think if someone does not have even the slightest sense of humor, we will not get along much less be friends.)
2. A great music collection (I'm kidding! er, mostly.)
3. Snarkiness
4. Honesty
5. Mouthy! (RE: Opinionated)
6. Open-minded
7. Empathy.
8. Authenticity (please take the mask off, okay?)

8 Things I learned in 2007:
1. Leaping gets you into really great places in life.
2. I can do it on my own in my own sweet time.
3. Say what you want to say when you want to say it. Regrets are so 2006!
4. I really fucking love Mississippi.
5. Casey Parks is quite possibly one of the best friends I could ever have and I am elated that we get to take advantage of our time together.
6. I can build fires!
7. I am a pretty good writer on the road to being a great writer and it's time I embrace that.
8. My heart in winter can burst into flame.