rlanto

I am 27 years old, female, divorced, social worker, graduate student. I am getting my Master's degree in Women's Studies and Anthropology. I study women's issues in Nonwestern countries.

I currently live in Dayton, OH - a smallish metro area north of Cincinnati.

My favorite colors are red and turquoise. I love color (except pink - I really do not like pink).

I have two cats (a very dark brown fuzzball named Chade and a hyperactive calico named Amber). They are the loves of my life. I pretty much just love cats in general. I don't really collect anything in cat form but I do love getting toys for my babies, especially Amber she loves toys.

When I can, I enjoy a good glass of wine (red are my favorites and I'm always looking for new and interesting recommendations). I do collect wine corks and wine bottles. I use them to decorate my kitchen. Right now, I'm on a hiatus from that because I'm moving in a few months.

I love popcorn. It's my favorite work snack. If you have a local type of microwave popcorn that isn't common - I'd love to try it!.

As far was music goes, most of my music has some type of interesting cultural influence. My favorite is celtic rock (think Flogging Molly, Enter the Haggis, SevenNations). But I also love traditional or folk music from anywhere in the world. As far as "Top 40" - it's best to avoid it. I love to receive mix cds with new music I haven't heard before.

I don't really listen to music too much in my car, despite spending nearly an hour a day in it. I listen to audiobooks (on cd). I do love to read actual books, I just have very little time to read. My favorite authors include Karin Slaughter, Kathy Reichs, Tamora Pierce, JK Rowling, JRR Tolkien, and Terry Tempest Williams. I listen to crime/thriller audiobooks, mainly. Although I add in Harry Potter and other YA fantasy books to the mix for variety. I would love to get gift certificates to iTunes for audiobooks or a used audiobook (on cd). Audiobooks are expensive, so I wouldn't expect anyone to purchase me a new one.

I watch a lot of movies and television at work. I am a social worker on third shift. I do crisis intervention to a closed population. If my clients aren't in need of anything, then I really don't have much to do. SO! Netflix and I have become BFF. My tastes in TV and movies runs about the same as my taste in books - crime/thriller/suspense and fantasy/sci fi. My favorite TV shows are:
* Criminal Minds
* Heroes
* All of the Law and Orders
* The Dead Zone
* Eureka
* Bones

As far as movies:
* The Silence of the Lambs
* The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
* Stardust
* Pretty Woman
* The 25th Hour
* Love Actually

I crochet a lot at work. I love to crochet. I am always in the market for handspun and/or handdyed yarns to work. I also love patterns. I have books and piles of patterns. I also have binders of patterns that I have collected off the internets and used. Variety is fun to me.

The last extremely important thing to me is cooking. I am an avid kitchen wizard. I love to cook with garlic and cheese and butter. I love to eat as much as I love to cook, which is handy. I think for purposes of swaps - food is out of the question from internationals because of customs. However, recipes and dried spices are not! I love working with new spices and especially love new recipes. From USA, locally grown spices and honeys. I know honey sounds strange, but I love it. Honey tastes different depending on the type of flower, type of environment, etc. I love trying new honeys.