25 Random Things About Me

1. My favorite holiday has always been Halloween.

2. I’ve been a Goth and a Wiccan since childhood and I blame Dark Shadows for both. That’s also why I love anything with vampires, I own two pairs of professionally made fangs that could be used as the real thing. I’ve also always been a night person. I was born at 4:30 in the morning.

3. I love to dress up and go out dancing. Dancing is one of my forms of ‘therapy’, it makes me extremely happy. I’m a combination of several types of Goth including – vampire, traditional, romantic, cabaret, hippie and perky. I’d like to be more Victorian but I live in a subtropical climate and frequent a club with no air conditioning. I was a New Wave club kid in the early 80’s, and would to out dancing and to Rocky Horror every weekend (I was a non-participating cast member, i.e. I dressed up, helped out the cast and got in free but didn’t have to perform).

4. My favorite author is Shirley Jackson and my favorite book of hers is ‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle’. I have always loved to read. I prefer reading to television.

5. I have loved photography since childhood. I have to take self portraits if I want to be in the pictures because I’ve always been ‘the photographer’. One of my favorite presents of all time was a real 35mm camera when I was about 14. I used the same camera till my mid 30’s. Digital photography has changed my life.

6. I’m a Mac 🙂 I’ve had Macs since the early 1990’s (LC, Performa, G4, Power Mac), I’m on my fourth CPU, and I have owned 2 iPods, 3 iPhones and an iPad. I will never buy a PC.

7. I’m an obsessive collector of many, many things. I collect assorted antique postcards, vintage Halloween items, 50’s TV lamps, gothic paperback books, gypsy & belly dance items and belly dance DVDs, cat figurines, wolf items, assorted books, poison bottles, funeral ephemera, Joan of Arc related items, makeup & nail polish (especially anything blue), corsets, costume jewelry, vintage clothing & hats, Italian charm bracelets, European charm bracelets & necklaces…

8. My favorite color is royal blue. The color I wear the most is black, but I love to wear black with a jewel tone or bright accent.

9. I got the nickname Morticia on my 30th birthday because the Addams Family movie had just come out and I was nuts over it, and I was always a Charles Addams and Addams Family fan. My ex-husband threw me a surprise Addams Family birthday party, complete with a cake with Thing on it.

10. I own 6 domain names (and have owned more than that at once). I have 6 Facebook pages and one Facebook group. My personal website, Morticia’s Morgue has been on the internet since 1997. I am mentioned in two published Gothic books and am quoted (anonymously) in American Vampires by Norine Dresser about my experiences growing up as a Dark Shadows fan.

11. I met my ex-husband at a Dark Shadows party. He also met his previous wife through the Dark Shadows festivals. I will be a two time divorcee in (hopefully) another month or so. My ex-husband will be a three time divorcee. My first husband was a four time divorcee, and is on at least his fifth wife now (that I’m aware of). I met him working security.

(Less obvious things about me)

12. I love to hula hoop. I have two large hoops and two poi hoops and I practice with them every day. I’d like to take some lessons. I love to roller skate also but I only like to do it indoors so hooping is my only cardio right now. I have next to know aerobic endurance, I never have.

13. The only other form of exercise I enjoy is lifting weights. I’ve been doing it since the late 1970’s and used to subscribe to Muscle & Fitness. My first husband and I owned a gym in New Braunfels for a short time in the mid 1980’s. My favorite machine is the leg press, which we don’t have at my apartment work out room. When I buy another house I am going to buy a multi-station machine, I’ve been wanting one for many years. I saw the American Gladiators live tour when it came to Houston in the 1990’s 🙂

14. I am a natural born spell checker. I can spot a misspelling a mile away. I used to read the dictionary and encyclopedias for fun. I’ve studied French, German, Spanish and Arabic, but I’m not fluent in any of them. I’d like to re-learn some of them in the future. I am much too verbose for my own good (as you can tell). I had a blog for years but it crashed

15. I have always had terrible health. I was born anemic and with a mitral valve prolapse of my heart. I have lifelong allergies that have gotten much worse the older I get. I have a lot of food allergies and have developed an allergy to all forms of anthistamines. I have teeth, bad joints, tinnitus, TMJ, high cholesterol, low thyroid and multiple sclerosis. I had 20/400 vision growing up, had retinal surgery in college, had RK surgery in my late twenties, and it went bad in my late 30’s and now I have bad night vision and have to wear bifocal contacts. I am almost finished with menopause and I’m not even 50 yet (I started in my 30’s). I had perfect skin until I developed rosacea and the skin allergies simultaneously in my mid thirties.

16. I’m a native Houstonian, but my favorite city is New Orleans. I plan on moving there in the future. My brother and I were adopted from different parents and as children we looked almost identical. I’m Irish, English and German (that I know of).

17. I was an amateur artist up until my mid 20’s. I did a lot of pen & ink, charcoal and pastel drawings. I won several awards for it, but I never wanted to do anything creative for a living, I think it would ruin it for me. I rarely draw anymore, my computer and my camera are my creative outlets.

18. My first job was at the Houston Public library. When I quit I had over 200 books checked out. The library is not a good place to work if you love books.

19. I own two Smith & Wesson pistols, a .38 airweight and a .357 magnum. I have had a concealed carry permit (which needs to be renewed). I am a pro-gun liberal. I used to work as a security officer for Harold Farb apartments. It was one of my favorite jobs.

20. I’ve wanted to work in law enforcement since my 20’s but never got the opportunity, and now in my 40’s, I’m working at the third largest Sheriff’s Office in the US as a 9-1-1 call taker and communications officer.

21. I drove a cab for a short period. I love to drive. I used to drive over 200 miles a night for one of my security jobs. I’ve owned 5 sports cars, including a 1973 Corvette, and a motorcycle.

22. I was a full time Ebay powerseller for 8 years. I’ve bought and sold over 23,000 items on EBay, and have over 15,000 positive feedbacks.

23. My father was the financial Vice President of Foley’s department stores. I also worked there for a total of 16 years. My father’s name was on my paychecks 🙂 My brother and mother also worked there for several years. I worked as a salesperson, a store detective, an internal investigations sales auditor and in the largest buying office in the store, Ladies Better Sportswear.

24. I’m an organizing nut, I actually enjoy sorting and organizing things, and I love to throw things away. I always feel I have ‘too much’ stuff. It took two professional movers almost 12 hours to pack and move all of my belongings when I moved from a house to an apartment last year. I have hanging racks and shelves in every spot physically possible and still had to put some of my things in storage until I can get another house. I have spent a lot of money at the Container Store and Bed, Bath & Beyond.

25. I love music. I will listen to music in any language. Drums and piano are my favorite instruments. I love Goth, but I will listen to almost any genre but rap and country. I have a lot of jazz, chill, New Wave and European music. Two of my favorite groups are Rosenstolz (German) and Les Rita Mitsouko (French)

And lastly, this is my favorite ‘person’ in the world –

phoebe_jol

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