Red pompadours and Sugar

Well, it looks like I’m turning into a once-a-week blogger. I suppose I could post my history papers as blogs, but I’d hate to bore you all to tears. I have to remind myself, while I find them fascinating, 99% of others do not.

So this time I thought I’d write about my favorite things. Well, seven of my favorite things, actually.

1. First off, I absolutely love anything considered a dessert*. Cake, pie, ice cream, tarts, candy…and any other baked good you can think of. Usually, I don’t go overboard when I eat them, as in I don’t consume an entire quart of ice cream in one sitting, but sweets are always in my apartment. At the moment, I have two kinds of ice cream, chocolate chip cookies and candy corn available at my disposal. Last weekend during my hometown’s Autumn Leaf Festival, I indulged in my yearly favorite, the Poor Man’s Caramel Apple. I was on an all day sugar high after that beast.

*Note: although I’m in love with most types of sugar, I absolutely refuse to add it to my coffee, tea, and cereal. Ever. Yuck.

2. Another love of mine is 18th and 19th century female British Literature. It’s kind of a weird obsession, but ever since I read Jane Eyre in 7th grade, I was hooked. I even stole the book from my Junior High English teacher. I don’t know if it’s the repressive Victorian culture or the silly British accent I have in my head every time I read a book, but I’m hooked. My favorite authors are Jane Austen and all three Bronte sisters. This summer I picked up an “adaptation” of Jane Austen entitled Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I haven’t had time to read it yet, but the book incorporates two of my favorite things, so it can’t be that horrible.

3. I could be totally generic and say that I love music, but instead I‘ll be more specific. I do love music, all kinds actually, but my current musical obsession is Ray Lamontagne. The man’s been making albums since at least 2005, but I’ve only recently discovered him. He looks like he’s been living in the woods for the past ten years with his beard and shaggy hair, but he is amazing. Here is my favorite song by him, Empty. Again, amazing.

4. In recent years I can proudly say I’ve become a bit of a beer and wine snob. In my undergrad days I was all about the cheap-ass-beer and hard liquor, but I’ve come to learn the err of my ways. My beer can no longer adorn the words “Budweiser”, “Miller”, “Keystone”, “Natural Ice”, or “Busch” in the title. There’s this amazing micro-brewery in my town that I frequent at least once a week. I honestly probably spend more time there drinking than I do in the class room. Sad, I know. I’m still working on developing a taste for stouts and other dark beers, but I‘m just not a fan. I‘m a lager and ale girl.
Earlier I mentioned I love sugar. While this is true, it does not pertain to my love for wine. I hate really sweet wines. I can’t get through more than a few sips before I want to gag. I prefer very dry wines. Red or white, doesn’t matter. My all time favorite wine is a red wine from Italy who’s name I can’t pronounce. When I buy it, I recognize it by the bottle rather than the name. It’s hit or miss to buy in the liquor stores. Some carry it, and others don’t. When I see it, I snatch it up quickly.

5. I’m in love with Conan O’Brien. I mean, I’d probably have his illegitimate child if given the chance. Typically, I don’t go for middle-aged men with red pompadours, but the man is so funny. And smart. And tall. When I went to NYC a few months ago, I browsed through the NBC store, and wouldn’t you know the only thing I bought was a Conan O’Brien refrigerator magnet. That’s how I show my love.

6. Now this next love of mine is probably the most embarrassing. I’m a (closet) Twilight fan. For years I refused to pick up the books, but this summer, a friend of mine told me I just had to read them. I agreed to read them if only to prove the point that Twilight is silly and for angst-y teenagers. Instead, after reading them, I was in love. Of course I’m completely aware that they’re books about vampires and that vampires are not real, nor would I ever be one of those crazy fans who dresses up and goes to Comic Con, but I honestly could not put the books down. I think the four books combined were about 2500 pages and I read them in about 10 days. Now don’t laugh, but I’ve even pre-ordered my movie ticked for New Moon that comes out in November. For this I am shameful.

7. My next and final favorite thing is kind of creepy. I kinda sorta have a thing for cemeteries. No, I’m not some crazy Goth chick obsessed with the occult, not at all. I think it’s because cemeteries have so many stories behind them. Everyone buried there was once alive and had secrets. I find it fun to look at the dates and imagine what their lives were like. The older the cemetery, the better. My current favorite is a small family cemetery about 10 miles from where I live. It’s a few miles down a narrow dirt road and the vegetation is so overgrown it’s easy to miss. Of course there are rumors about how haunted it is, but I’ve never witnessed anything, day or night.
When I was a kid, we lived near a very large cemetery and used it for a variety of activities. It had a ton of empty grassy areas where we could go sled riding, play tag, and play hide and seek. I was never fearful of it (at least not during the day) and found myself wandering for hours, looking at the different stones and dates. Growing up with cemeteries has given me a great respect for them.

There are so many other things I love, but it would take all day to write about them, and I just don’t have all day. I’m actually exhausted from babysitting my niece and nephew all day. I don’t know how Cassie does it everyday. Perhaps she should have won the Nobel Peace Prize instead of Obama. Lol!

Enjoy!