This is a fun one

I have had the honor of being "tagged" by Lisa of Maple Grove Cemetery blog spot.

Here's how this works:

The Rules:1. Post these rules.
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post.
4. Create 3 new questions for the people you tag.
5. Go to their blog and tell them they've been tagged.
6. No cheating & saying "if you're reading this you're tagged". You have to legitimately tag 3 other people.

11 Random items about me....
1. I’m a HORRIBLE speller.

2.  I think that late afternoon sunlight is the most beautiful thing in the world.  There is just something about those rich golden sunbeams that make me feel that all is right in the world. J

3. I find cemeteries peaceful.  I don’t know why. Perhaps it’s because I live in the “city of the dead” AKA New Orleans, so I’ve been immersed in the culture of respect for the dead and a strong belief in the supernatural.  I remember going to the cemetery on All Saints day with my grandmother to clean up the family tomb, so it’s not something that I automatically associate with funerals and sad memories.  My grandparents would tell me stories of our deceased relatives when we visited cemeteries, so I have a lot of comforting memories connected to them.

4.  I want to cage dive to see great white sharks.  They fascinate me.  Their teeth are just unbelievable!

5.  I cannot stand inserts in magazines.  I go through the entire magazine and rip them out before I read anything.

6.  Chocolate milk is my guiltiest pleasure and funny addiction.  If I don’t get my chocolate milk in the morning, look out!

7.  I’m dyslexic.

8.  I lost my home, my day job, my dream job, my community and most of my worldly possessions in hurricane Katrina.  It was the most difficult but also the most character building experience in my life.  I learned a lot about myself, about other people and about what is and isn’t important in life.  I wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone, but I  hope that people who haven’t experienced a loss like that can gain an understanding and knowledge from people who have.  It’s very humbling, going from having more than you could ever want, to not having an appropriate outfit to go on a job interview.

9.  I call “gloomy” days Tim Burton days.  All of his movies have that same, beautifully haunting washed out/gloomy atmosphere. It makes those non-sunny days more positive :)

10.  I’ve always believed that I’d be “somebody” some day.  I just realized that recently.  There’s never been a time when I thought, “I’ll just live life under the radar and that’s good enough.”  I want to be known for something that I create.  Whether it’s something that I write, paint, sculpt, choreograph, I want to be recognized and share the excitement that creating brings to me, with others J It doesn’t even have to be on a “famous” scale.  I feel like my yard haunt and my Halloween creations are helping me achieve that and drive me to always be better J

11.  I’m a DIY kind of girl with a lot of things.  I don’t do salons; I cut my own hair, give myself facials and do my own nails.  Also, recently, my husband kept “forgetting” to fix our leaky toilets.  So, with the help of YouTube, I figured out that the flaps were bad and how to change them myself.  It makes me feel empowered to be self sufficient.  It also saves a lot of money!

These are the questions Lisa asked....

1. What did you really want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a lot of things.  I wanted to be an elementary school teacher, an artist (visual), a writer, a marine biologist, an Olympic ice skater, a ballerina and an anthropologist.

I know… what a mish-mash of options! So, I danced for 22 years, in two different local dancing studios.  I assisted teaching at the first studio and then when I moved to the second studio, I got a job teaching all ages in tap, jazz, ballet, modern, lyrical and musical theatre.  Teaching dance was the most rewarding and hard working 5 years of my life so far. That was the dream job that Katrina stole from me but I’m at peace with it.  I think that things happen for a reason and I think that the reason that I’m no longer doing that is to peruse other talents in ways that being a full time dancer would have never left time for.  So, I consider that my fulfillment of my teaching and ballerina dream J

In college I studied English Literature (quite a challenge for someone that is dyslexic!).  That taught me a lot about writing.  I do creative writing when the mood strikes, but I’ve yet to attempt publishing anything.  I think that one day I will though.  I just don’t think the time is right yet.

Of course, now my big obsession and hobby is creating Halloween props.  I’ve NEVER taken any type of art class or training, besides what I did in Elementary school.  I’m learning a lot from forums and blogs and just general stuff on the Internet and it is WONDERFUL!  This is the most creatively alive that I’ve felt since my dancing days.  I think of my haunt as my own personal art gallery.  It’s thrilling to have people view my haunt and ask questions about it’s components’ construction.  It’s bliss when someone says, “You made that!?!”  It’s a very, very rewarding hobby J So, I feel like this is my artist fulfillment stage of my life J

In closing, my “paying/day” job is as a lead secretary in a branch of the Depart Of the Interior.  I love my job and the people that I work with.  It’s not what I had always dreamed of and not what I went to school for, but it’s great J

2. What are you most afraid of?
I’m terrified of aliens.  UFO shows give me the heebie jeebies but it doesn’t stop me from watching them ;)  I don’t know what it is about them, maybe it’s their freakishly long fingers, their huge void of emotion eyes, their deathly pale skin or the fact that they abduct people in the middle of the night, jetting off into the expanse of SPACE and do weird experiments on them!  GAH!  I get sweaty palms just thinking about it. I know it’s just hypothetical that they even exist… but I’m not taking any chances!

3. What is the most exotic place you've visited? 

Hmmm, this is a tough one.  I really haven’t traveled all that much and I’ve never been out of the States. I’d have to say that Vegas was the most “exotic” place that I’ve ever visited, simply because it’s so bright and busy and colorful and LOUD. 

Other than that, I’d have to say it’s tough to contend with the exotic qualities of where I live. New Orleans is a pretty exotic place.  EVERYTHING here is a cause for celebration.  The culture here is a chunky gumbo of many cultures.  It seems that New Orleans pulled out the most eccentric aspects of any culture that settled here and kept it. The language is a mixture of French and Spanish and Cajun and God knows what else.  The food and architecture also reflect that mixture.  It’s a very religious city, but also very relaxed.  We KNOW how to throw a party or two or three ;)  It’s a very superstitious city, dotted with crumbling old cemeteries and offering ghost, cemetery, vampire and haunted tours by lantern light.  The climate is very exotic.  It gets hot here, and I do mean HOT.  It was hot in Vegas, but it was a dry heat.  If you’ve never experienced a humid summer in New Orleans, then you haven’t experienced the true meaning of the word hot.  The landscape and the wildlife are all exotic too.  From the blood thirsty mosquitoes, to the curious looking nutria and the ever coveted crawfish, we have some pretty strange critters running around J

So, I’d have to consider New Orleans the most exotic place that I’ve ever experienced.

This has been fun :)  I hope that the 3 people that I select enjoy doing this as much as I have.  It's a little break form the norm that I post, but I figured that it was fun getting to know my fellow bloggers :)

OK, my 3 victims are:

1. Dr. Theda of Dr. Theda's Crypt

2. The Frog Queen of Frog on the Pumpkin

3. Justine of Justine's Halloween

My 3 extra questions for you are:

1. What is something that you cannot get through the day without?

2. What makes you laugh?

3. What do you do to relax?

I hope that you all enjoy partaking in the fun!