demographics, they are a-changin'...

good mornin' ladies. sorry i've been so quiet recently. it started out that i simply was not around a computer for long enough amounts of time to update or respond to stuff. then i found myself in the middle of a shit storm that has effectively sent me down into the depths of i-don't-want-to-leave-my-room-or-talk-to-anyone depression.
it's a beautiful day outside today though, currently 62 and sunny and only supposed to get up to 79 today, so i am determined to take steps to pull myself up, get some fresh air and exercise, and let my brain start working on some solutions.
first, though, i want to fill out the demographics questionaire (all of your answers to which i have greatly enjoyed reading...another great get-to-know-each-other idea, thanks kat!), what i can of it anyway...i no longer have answers to some of the questions, but i'll explain more of that further down.
so....

Current location: denton, texas, the smaller isle of blue in the sea of red (austin is the bigger isle of blue). denton is about 45 miles north of dallas and ft. worth, it's where I-35 splits into 35E and 35W (or comes back together, depending on which direction you're traveling), and it's home to the university of north texas and texas woman's universtiy (where i sooooo should have transferred instead of TCU, oh well). sometimes referred to as "austin-lite," denton definitely has the cool university town vibe that the rest of the metroplex is missing. it has a much younger, more artisitc, and more open-minded population than the rest of the area. we still have our idiot rednecks, too, though. it is still in texas afterall. what i found when i moved to denton 2 years ago that i had really been missing up to that point is a most amazing community of women...lots of lesbians, but lots of not-gay women who are just cool as hell too. like i've said before, my denton girls remind me very much of my cottey girls in the way we bond and relate to one another.

Current job: the only one i have at the moment is as a section cellist with the san angelo symphony. i also get the occasional wedding quartet gig.

What this means I actually do all day: since the symphony thing only happens for one weekend a month (and not every month), this means i'll be spending more time at the gym and on housework until lynn and i come up with a solution to my employment problem. when it is a symphony weekend however, i generally make the 4-5 hour drive to san angelo, doing my best to get there on time for an 8 p.m. friday night rehearsal. we rehearse again saturday morning from 10-2:30 and then have the afternoon off to entertain ourselves in a very texan, very military and patriotic, not-at-all-vegetarian-friendly town, until we reconvene for the performance at 8:00 saturday night. sometimes i drive back to denton after the concert, arriving home around 3 a.m., and sometimes i go back to the hotel and then leave the next morning. i do get some social time in, as i have made friends with a few other symphony members. my friend bev (who took my main picture and bunch of others which you can find posted on myspace) lives down there, and usually insists on taking me to dinner. she's got looooong spiral curly hair like mine, and we've been mistaken for sisters a couple of times. a few months ago, she paid me to come down a few days early and spend as much time as possible giving her cello lessons (she decided to teach herself to play and started renting a cello as her 35th bday present to herself).

Current Significant Other: lynn michelle rooks, the love of my life. whereas my life feels as though it's on an out of control spiral in many areas, for the first time ever, my love life is rock solid. she and i just fit perfectly, and balance each other's neuroses and psychoses perfectly. we've been together not quite a year (we gained the official "girlfriend" title at the end of july but began dating in the middle of may) and have lived together since the end of august. though we haven't told many people, we are engaged. i wear a ring she had worn continuously for 15 years on my left hand, and it's the only one i don't take off. someday when there is cash flow left over after bills, etc, we plan on having a hybrid celtic pagan/hindu ceremony. you will all be expected to be there of course.

Current Pets: our menagerie, my biggest source of frustration aside from never having enough money. i had 2 cats when lynn and i met. we now have 3 dogs and 4 cats. guess who was an avid animal rescuer with her ex. first of all, my 2 kitties, nathan and mouse. i've had nathan since the summer of '01; he was a gift to me from my horrible abusive ex andrea, and i kept him when we broke up two weeks later. i got mouse from friends of mine who moved to austin a few years ago and were unable to take all of their menagerie along with them. then there's bandit, lynn's kitty who is not friendly with other cats and gets to live in the house with us. and stella, lynn's other kitty who was a middle-of-the road rescue; she's 14 years old, deaf and blind, and such a sweetheart. but since she has difficulty finding the litter box (and nathan has just always had a problem using it), she, nathan, and mouse all live in the garage. they have their own heater, a/c unit, fans, box jungle, etc.
and then the dogs. the dogs, the dogs, the dogs...drive me crazy. if it were up to me, we would either have no dogs or just georgie. georgie is lynn's one-eyed st. bernard, "heaven in a dog," big sweet teddy bear. my only complaint with george is that he sheds and drools too much. we have dried st. bernard slobber all over the walls from when he shakes his head and sends it flying. it's gross. then there's langley the great dane. he has no manners and likes to eat things he's not supposed to, like the arms off the leather recliner my parents passed down to me, the futon mattress that was part of his bedding in the corner, a couple of different pillows, anything i accidentally leave on the counter. he also can be a mean asshole sometimes; he and georgie cannot currently be in the same room after lang drew blood from george's ear. he and i weigh about the same, and i'm pretty damn muscular, so that's about 150 lbs of dog. and last, but not least, is rascal, the autistic dalmatian. and i'm not just saying that to be cute, because dalmatians definitely have the reputation of being special breed. he's waaaaaaaay more special than most dalmatians. his mannerisms are very similar to those of some autistic students i worked with at one point. i'm sure he has a sweet soul in there somewhere, but more than anything he just pisses me off and gets under my skin. he claws the backs on people's legs, knocks anything over that he can, scratches at all the doors, barks at the slightest noise, and is a general pain in my ass. he's also the biggest road block to the change of direction that i would like to take, because we could never adopt him out to anyone else and we can't possibly take him on the road. after these guys are gone, i don't think i ever want a dog again.

Current Hobby: i guess faire could be considered a hobby. i've been going to the renaissance faires for about 5 years now. i didn't go this last weekend because i was in san angelo, but i'm looking forward to next weekend. i've recently made friends with some of the people who work out there (some of whom i've had contact with for years, but only in a playtron-cast member way). i have said for several years that i would love nothing more than to leave this rat race behind and go travel the faire circuit for a while. this dream has only gotten stronger as i get to know the people who actually live that life. part of why i was away from the computer for a few days last week is because i was down at scarborough faire jamming around a campfire, sleeping in a treehouse apartment above one of the shops, doing yoga on the stage where they have the knife throwing show on the weekends, and just getting a general taste of what it's like as a ren faire gypsy. coming back to my daily grind after two days of that sort of sparked the beginning of my downward spiral.

My goal for one year from today: this is a bit trickier since i'm at such a crossroads at the moment. if i could have it completely my way, i would be on the road working the faires, living off the grid. i'm not sure what skill or craft i'd be able to bring to the faire world with me though. so i guess at this point, my goal is just to be somewhat financially stable, with all the current turmoil far enough behind me that i can actually laugh at it.

My five-year plan: to be married to lynn and have solid plans for becoming mommies if we're not already, and to be free from the daily stress of not having enough money for the life we're attempting to lead, either because we're living a life that uses less (1st choice) or we're making more...

so there we go. a quick glance at the clock is telling me that i don't have to explain everything else that has happened in the last 4 days right now though; i've taken up too much time being overly verbose already. i will get to that later today. time now to don some workout clothes and go force my body to produce endorphins; it's necessary to my survival today.

love to you all!!
namaste