Requisite Introductory Post, Nuts and Bolts

Well, it's a good question, really.  Why the hell are you reading this?

Probably because you're a friend of mine, and, for some reason, a glutton for punishment.  Or, you stumbled onto this somehow, and, well, same thing.  In any case, here we are.

I'll be tinkering with this off and on for a while, I expect, as I've found that sometimes FB is too limiting for the stream-of-consciousness rants/questions/existential explorations that surface in the turbulent stream (well, some days, admittedly, it's more like a sewer runoff) that is my mind -- and that, for whatever reason, people find these things interesting, or at least a way to pass the time.

If you know me, but don't know me well, or if you don't really know me at all, you're in for -- gods, how do I say this without sounding like everyone and their dog when they start a blog? Well, you're in for something.  I don't know what, for two reasons: a) I don't know how you perceive things and b) I don't know what this is going to turn out to be yet, if anything.

If you know me at all, though, you probably know that I've got an opinion on a lot of things, and that I can be kind of a mouthy broad.  I'm bitchy, self-deprecating, seeking and sad by turns, like the rest of you.  What you may not understand about me is that when I'm bitchy, particularly about some sort of major issue, it's generally because I'm sad about said issue.  We'll talk more about that, I'm sure.

In a nutshell, though: I'm a mid-to-late-thirtysomething (today), happily married to my best friend (who understands me better than I understand myself), with a career that I love and that I take very seriously.  I have been described as well-educated, which I suppose is true since I have a piece of paper telling me I'm a Master of Arts, well-read, and well-spoken.  As far as I'm concerned, most of what I know is a list of what I don't know but would probably like to at some point; I've read a lot of things about a lot of things; and I'm lucky if I can tell a story or answer a simple question without turning into Grandpa Simpson.  Look at how long this post is, for pity's sake.

I live with -- I refuse, since I'm having a decent day so far, to say "suffer with," but talk to me later -- a number of autoimmune disorders and the dubious gifts of my forebears.  My primary demon at the moment is how I accept the limits these place on me without giving in completely: I'm a woman, after all, raised in an "empowering" environment; I was a very bright kid, to boot, so this precocious girl-child was taught from an early age that there are no limits as to what she can do.  Reality has taught me that, well, when your legs forget how to work stairs and your fingers forget how to hold an object, that can be kind of limiting.  Letting these limits define me is right out, as this vessel is but temporary, but allowing them to somehow circumscribe my world is a necessity.

My mental, emotional and spiritual journeys have taken me to some terribly interesting places, and have proven to me that I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of what self-excavation and the exploration of the Other will reveal.  I'm some flavor of polytheist, though I can't quite tell you whether it's vanilla or rocky road.  I just know that there's Something Bigger Than Us out there, that It takes interest in us on occasion, and presents Itself to us in a wide variety of, ah, interesting ways.  I most vehemently do not, however, believe that Deity tells us that one form of Itself is the "correct" one to believe in; that Deity would have us killing, maiming, or torturing each other (physically, emotionally or mentally) over how It presents Itself; and that we are all of us, everywhere in the Universe, children of Deity.  We are, as so aptly stated by the Minbari and many other fictional and non-fictional entities, made of the stuff of stars.

Seriously, go look it up: there's a pretty finite amount of "stuff" in the Universe from which to draw.  Some of it's in pretty much everything, which leads to a logical, if elemental (ha) conclusion: everything is connected.

So, ah, I suppose those are the main things about me to get out of the way.  You're welcome to ask about anything else, if you're so inclined.  You should know that I'm highly opinionated, if you don't already know that; and that, while I try to be diplomatic, I'm often too tired to bother and wind up being, well, blunt.  I also like commas.  And semicolons.  Oh, and coffee.  I like coffee a lot.

Actually, let me clarify something: I take life very seriously, which is why I often seem to not take anything seriously at all.