We are the Dreamers of Dreams

Weird

He's known me long enough now that it doesn't shock him when I bring home something odd, whether it's a book, DVD, CD, or some odd toy or kitchen gadget that I've found. It surprises him sometimes, because story ideas or curiosity can lead me so far out of left field I might as well have gone shopping in the parking lot, but he accepts the oddities and most of the time seems to enjoy them. I've only scared him a couple of times, but he's learned that he can ask me what the hell I'm doing and I'll explain it. These days, though, I think he just assumes it's something that I'm going to be using for my writing and doesn't worry.

He has his own share of strange things that have led me to ask him what's going on in his head. Both of us have had our fair share of people who have judged us because we aren't conventional. I feel insulted when people say something about tolerating each others' quirks, because merely tolerating someone else's eccentricities isn't enough. If you're going to have a meaningful relationship that lasts you have to accept each others' differences because that's the only way you're going to be able to live with them.

It's all lead me to conclude that there is only one place in the world where the word normal applies, and that is as a setting on household appliances.

Current Mood: good
Current Music: "Now that I've Found You" Terri Clark

Eccentricities

I really don’t have to make up any eccentricities for myself, I have plenty. I guess it didn’t dawn on me until I left home for college. I have a pretty extensive music collection and my aunts were always borrowing things from it. I tried to keep track of it when they did because sometimes, they’d forget that an album had been borrowed and it wouldn’t turn back up for a couple of years or more. In an effort to make sure my music stayed together my mom decided to pack it up into boxes. She called my dorm for the express purpose of telling me that I was obviously a total freak because no music collection should have Todd Snider albums alongside Charlie Daniels, Edwin McCain, Aerosmith, Frank Sinatra, Sam Cooke, and the soundtracks from “Man from Snowy River” and “Jurassic Park.” I told her mine did, and it was fine. I neglected to mention that it would soon contain Danzig along with as many Chieftains albums as I could afford.
The oddities extend to my books as well. I am one of those people who will read anything if it sounds interesting. The resulting mishmash of my home library makes me pity the poor fool who ends up having to go through my estate. I have books about illustration and animation, as well as comic books and graphic novels (which together don’t see all that bad). I’ve got tons of fantasy and horror novels, along with books about folklore. I read literature, I like Shakespeare, though I pretty thoroughly detest “Romeo and Juliet” but I find I like those kinds of books far better when I’m reading them because I want to instead of because they’re assigned. I am completely unashamed that I regularly scope out the Teens/Young Adults book section at local bookstores because, frankly, there are a lot of high quality authors who are writing excellent books that it would be a shame to ignore.
I suppose, though, that the eclectic nature of my media consumption is most obvious in my DVD collection. I am an animation fanatic. I also like action and horror movies. If you want to see a hilarious facial expression on another person, go into a Blockbuster video sometime and buy “Doogal” and “Hostel.” The kid behind the counter clearly thought I was some kind of psycho from hell. I like the occasional chick flick, but it’s really not my favorite genre. I’m much more the kind of person who wants to watch a comedy or a good sci-fi/fantasy adventure. Of course, I’m also a fan of cheesy movies too. I’ve got just about every episode of “Flash Gordon” that I could get my hands on and I routinely cruise dollar movie bins because sometimes I find things like “It Came from Under the Sea” and “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms.” Sure they’re ridiculous and the special effects are terrible but they’re so much fun to watch I just really can’t help it.
When I get older, I’d love to have the money to build a hobbit hole out in Grey Rocks, Wyoming. I’m not talking some silly little play house thing where you can escape for a weekend, I’m talking a genuine, full-time living, Tolkein-intended hobbit hole. The key here is comfort, which as any good fan knows, is the most important thing to hobbits. I want a big comfortable house, decorated with original dragon artwork all over the place, except the bathroom, which I would want decorated with mermen. I’d also want it to be very eco-friendly and efficient. I’d put in a kickass media center and an awesome kitchen and it’s absolutely essential that the place have a very large library (because by then, I’ll have been able to get my hands on everything on all 3 of my hellacious lists (there’s a DVD one, a CD one, and, naturally, a book one)). There will also have to be secret passageways and Murphy beds.
I’d be the crazy lady that gets packages all the time and always has people out at her house but no one really knows exactly what she does for a living. I’d love to get my Ford Taurus, named Horatio, completely restored and that’s what I’d drive most of the time, except maybe when I felt like zipping around in my Mini Cooper. I probably wouldn’t make a very good millionaire, come to think of it, my extravagances really aren’t all that extravagant. I mean, sure there would be a big chunk coming out of that money initially, but after that, well, I don’t think it’d be that bad. That fact might actually make me the most eccentric millionaire of all.

Current Mood: nauseated
Current Music: "Show Me the Way to Go Home" Richard Dreyfuss & Roy Schieder