here it goes:
1. i have a beatles website that used to be very popular.
if you really want to go see it (i am embarrased!), it's located here. i created it when i was 12, and haven't updated it since around 2003, i guess (i was 19, if so). i have been a pretty huge beatles fan most of my life. when i was 14, it was the 3rd most popular fan-created beatles site on the internet. i was contacted by patrick cousins, julian lennon (john lennon's first son, if you didn't know)'s manager who congratulated me on my dedication and html knowledge at such a young age. unfortunately, that little site demonstrates the extent of my understanding of html; i have not bothered to keep up with the times or learn new things like css. however, i am proud of what i accomplished, and i'm going to leave that website there forever :p.
2. i love visiting caves.
here's a picture brandon took of me in innerspace caverns in georgetown, texas (the red phone that's installed on the rock behind me always cracks me up. it's a natural formation, i swear! :p). i've also visited the caverns of sonora (before their infamous butterfly formation was vandalized) in sonora, texas, longhorn caverns in burnet, texas, and soon brandon and i are making a trip to natural bridge caverns which is on the way to san antonio, texas from austin. my love for caves started at an early age. my old neighbourhood in cedar park, texas has a wild cave preserve, but before it was fenced off (and before i knew someone else had already found it), i discovered a small cave in the middle of the woods. it wasn't big enough to crawl down, but it was a big discovery for a 9 year-old cave-loving girl! i love the feeling of being very deep underground, i find cave climate very comfortable, and cave life (including the rocks themselves) fascinates me. one day i'd like to go truly spelunking with only a light on my head and some cave gear.
3. i met the love of my life, brandon, through a blind-date type of situation.
my cousin worked at a game store a mall in austin while he was living with me and my parents (i was 17 at the time), and he told me about a guy that he thought would be perfect for me named brandon. brandon was a 15 year-old guy who played games at the game store, which is how my cousin met him. without my permission, my cousin gave brandon my phone number, and several weeks later, he actually called! my cousin thought we would be perfect for each other because of our mutual love for anime, neon genesis evangelion, specifically. little did he know that we both also loved the beatles! we hit it off right away; it was as if we were best friends who had known each other forever. a few weeks later, we met in person, and even though we lost contact and didn't actually hook up until 4 years later, there wasn't a day that went by that i didn't think about him. i knew that was true love, so i scoured the internet for brandon and ended up finding him on myspace! almost 3 years have gone by since then, and i am still as madly in love with him as i was from the start! he's stuck with me through heaps of medical troubles, finishing school, and my etsy business venture; i couldn't ask for more! i love this man!
4. i collect japanese antiques.
i have old japanese wall hangings and scrolls, figurines, plates, jewelry, chopsticks, and more. brandon and i have nurtured our collection with new additions every now and then, and we love each and every piece! many items came to me through the death of my beloved great-grandmother, who loved japanese culture so much that she always swore we had some japanese blood in us. i think i was the only one who embraced that side of her, but we lived so far apart (her in ohio, me in texas) that i am sad to say we did not really get to know each other and share our mutual fascination with all things japanese. when she died, my grandmother (her daughter) gave me most of her japanese items. i have taken excellent care of it all, and through those pieces, i fondly remember my great-grandmother.
5. i have ocd, but i think that's obvious to everyone :p. i used to count the number of steps i took, and i couldn't allow myself to step an even number of steps. i triple-check door locks. i constantly find myself doing things in intervals of 3, 5 or 9. things of that nature. it used to kind of rule my life, but now i have it under control.
6. brandon and i have a massive collection of dvds.
we have nearly 300 at my last count. of course, they're all in alphabetical order on the shelves :p. some of our stranger films include lost highway, the fountain, solaris, and wasabi. a few of my current favourites are the door in the floor, mr. brooks, the weatherman, and everything is illuminated. we also have several complete anime series sets, such as neon genesis evangelion, serial experiments lain, hellsing, and flcl. brandon and i absolutely love movies.
and lastly,
7. i am a buddhist.
i hope this doesn't offend anyone. above is a photo of the entrance to my meditation room ^. i have been a buddhist for the past 13 years (over half of my life), but kept my religious/lifestyle decision private until i moved out of my parents' house at age 22. they weren't comfortable or happy about it, but i can't change who i am, nor do i want to. buddhism has shown me all the guidance and wisdom i need to be happy and comfortable in my own skin, and i hope people see me as a helpful, nice, warm-hearted person, not just some weird girl :p.
well, those are some things about me that i bet you didn't know! feel free to comment, and also let me know if you decide to make a list like this for yourself so i can read it!
<3,
melissa
