Likes

• Relationships. I am continually fascinated by human relationships and how people interact. Friendships, romance, intrigue, even enmity grabs my attention; anything that involves passion.

• Language. I love learning new languages, and I pay attention to the language that I speak. I read, because I love language. I coo at a gorgeous turn of phrase, at cleverness, and at stark naked this-is-what-I-am use of language. I still want to be a linguist, someday, and spend all of my time working with language, and meaning behind language. Currently, I only speak English and a smattering of French, but I've studied Spanish and Latin in the past, and will be studying Russian next year.

• Books. I don't just love to read; I love the smell, feel, and look of books. Reading is, however, the driving motivation behind acquiring them. Books are my release, and my escape, and my inspiration time and again. Some of my preferred authors are: Dorothy Sayers, Steven Brust, Emma Bull, Pamela Dean, Dorothy Parker, Terry Pratchett, Vernor Vinge, Lois McMaster Bujold, and I could go on, but why don't you just go look at another list I have which details what I've read since late 1997. I often dream of opening up a used bookstore when I retire.

• Music. Nothing blisses me out more easily than putting on headphones or turning my stereo up really loud and just listening to music that I like. I prefer folk music, and tend to focus on female singers, but my tastes can vary pretty widely, ranging into anything from rap to showtunes. Some of my favorite artists are: The Nields, Dar Williams, Cowboy Junkies, Madonna, and Flash Girls, but you can look at my list of currently loved albums to get an up-to-date picture.

• The beach. It feels cheesy to add that, you know -- 'Shelly? She likes beaches.' Regardless, I am in heaven when I am on a beach on the Atlantic Ocean, specifically in North Carolina. I like having dried sand on my calves, I like diving into waves, I like hearing seagulls screeching and the smell of cocoa butter wafting through the air.

• Passion. I love recklessness, allowing feelings to overflow, getting uncomfortable, knowing how to cry, irrationality, unexplainable emotions, and saying things that probably shouldn't be said.

• Control. I love being able to say 'now is not the time to be emotional,' and I love the ability to have discipline, to Get Things Done. I envy that in other people, and I take joy in finding that in myself.

• Laughter. Laughter that doesn't involve hurting anybody, laughter that is genuine, laughter that is contagious. Laughter is spontaneous happiness.

May 20, 2000
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