Because Reasons...

Alrighty. I'm here, it's still 4/25 somewhere, like New Mexico, and I'm writing. I'm unhappy and tired, but I'll give you what I've got. This *should* be a fun post, so I'll try to get there. We cool?

This picture kinda makes me smile at least. Yes, I am holding a sign that says a dragon burned down my castle whilst literally panhandling with a plastic tiara and a singed shirt.

This was for GISHWHES, and it's me at my weirdest and boldest and most fun, and GISHWHES was a wonderful thing for me both years I did it. I kinda hope to be doing it again this year.

Anyway, weirdness is the topic, and I have plenty of that. Unfortunately it's four weird traits that YOU have and I am bad at talking about me successfully. So, we pull the teeth.

Traits. Weird traits.

1. Driving to un-mad/non-routine driving:  I got in a car and I was hooked. I loved the freedom, I loved night drives, I loved exploring. I drove to get away, I drove to be independent, I drove for work, even. And I still love it. Part of it is control, and that's not that weird. I like driving places because then I can leave when I want to, and knowing that helps me be more comfortable when I'm places that I'm not sure I want to be (hello, introvertedness on full display!).  But I also drive to calm down. I know people always say "don't drive angry" but driving actually helps me feel less stressed, more calm, more sane and less mad. Also, I like knowing multiple routes to the places I want to go and taking them often, even if one way is a little bit longer or has more traffic. I just would rather have a change in what's outside the window than save five minutes most times. This drives more logical people nuts, so I try to save it for when I'm alone, but luckily, almost everyone I'm close to indulges me in the wanderlust sometimes.

2. Talking to myself: I know it's not necessarily that weird, but I get more weird looks when I step out of the car having a conversation with myself than I care to admit. Usually I'm just going over what I need to do, or where I need to go or something, but I don't always curb it just because the car door is open, and sometimes I embarass myself with it a little bit. I think it's a function of being an only child for so long, and living on my own so long. I actually think I made my cat Ana a bit more of a vocal critter because of how much I talked to her when I lived in Los Alamos and was pretty isolated because of my baker's hours and general unwillingness to put myself out there to make friends at the time.

3, Severe Weather Obsession: Most of my close friends know about this. And now I'm  using it for good, as I've become a trained storm spotter for the National Weather Service by attending a class a week or two ago.  When I was younger I was terrified of even a regular thunderstorm, but as I got older I just became fascinated. It's especially tornadoes, as it's literally one of the most, if not the most, powerful force on earth, but sporadic and mysterious and here and gone. It's this random burst of incredible destructive force, and yet one house stands and another doesn't.  I've learned a lot over years and years of watching shows and documentaries, but I learned more practical stuff in my class.  Now I feel like I can take something I am randomly obsessed with and hopefully help my community. Last year was the impetus, when an EF-1 touched down in my town and the neighboring one, and neither community had sirens or warning for it til afterwards. I saw the rotating wall cloud but I wasn't sure I was seeing what I was. We went to the basement, it touched down, tore up a local food joint everyone loved, and tore the roof of the high school off in the next town over. If that had been a bigger tornado, I really don't want to know what would have  happened to the places I grew up in and where a lot of people I love still live. So I'm glad that instead of just watching two weeks of tornado shows as breakup therapy, now I can use the meteorological stuff I just learned to call it in and hopefully get word out should another storm come through here.

4. Intentional word murdering: So yes, I fight grammar nazi tendencies. But in my spare time, when not writing, I also like to murder the English language. The easier to pronounce the word is, the more I like to butcher it.  Car? Three letters. One syllable. It will now be "the cray."

Usually, I did this alone, or sometimes with my mom, who likes to call scissors SKISSORS or knives kuhnivees herself at times. Then I met the boy who now holds my heart, and I do it way, way more often. Early in our relationship, we had a sort of epic rap battle style mispronounce-off of the word "helicopter" which went on until we got to obscure units of measurements (hectarecopter) and left off at the completely insane "heca-lobster" which is sometimes what we still call them. I have, in fact, gotten confused looks from friends in recent years because of the new prevalence of this weird trait, when I yelled back at them to get in the CRAY. Oops.

So there's four weird things about me, and one other one: I'd drink milk with just about anything. Spaghetti and meatballs is a milk meal deal or no deal. No milk, no spaghetti.

Alrighty. Well, I do feel a bit better. Being weird tends to make me feel more comfortable, even if it's just on a blog.

So...goodnight?