Ten Obsessions, or, Who I Am

[peroxidepirate]

I wrote the following a few weeks ago, and I think it makes as good an introduction as any:

Somebody recently posted a query: what are your top 10 obsessions?

Wow, ten obsessions is a lot. I'm not sure I have that many... at least not that I can list in any kind of linear fashion. I need more of an outline format. But it's been in the back of my mind ever since, so here goes:

I. Food
    A. coffee
    B. cheese
    C. salmon
    D. favorite food of the year (2008: poblano peppers)
    E. local foods
    F. organic/natural foods
    G. vegetarianism (but see item C. above)
    H. wine
    I. my job (chef/kitchen manager/local foods coordinator)

II. Dogs
    A. my dogs
        1. watching them play/wrestle/run
        2. puppy kisses
        3. watching them sleep
        4. teaching them new things
        5. being outside with them (see point III, below)
    B. sled dogs/mushing (see points III & IV, below)
    C. dogs in general
    D. other dog sports (agility, dock diving, lure coursing, etc.)

III. The Great Outdoors
    A. winter (magnifies enjoyment of nearly everything else in this category)
        (see also point IV)
    B. walking
        1. with my dogs
        2. as transportation
        3. as therapy
    C. biking
        1. as transportation
        2. as exercise/full-body strength training
        3. with my little, pushy dog (bike-joring)
    D. all that beautiful nature stuff
        1. hiking
        2. snow!!!
        3. water (Great Lakes, ocean, lake, river, waterfall, it's all good)
        4. mountains (not that we have any around here)
        5. woods
        6. farmland
    E. rollerblading with my big, easy-going dog (roller-joring)
    F. public transit (weird, isn't it? but I really, really like taking the bus instead of driving.)

IV. Alaska
    Add together points I.A, I.C, I.E, II.A(4,5), II.B, II.C, III.A, III.B, III.D, and V. Mix until thoroughly combined. Taste and adjust seasoning (if possible, add remaining obsessions at this time). Set aside for at least two years, then serve with a gigantic road trip.

V. DIY
    A. cooking (see point I.)
    B. building/putting together household items
    C. clothing adjustments & repairs
    D. hair care (cutting/coloring)
    E. dog grooming (bathing, nails, etc... see point II.A)
    F. anything else I can figure out how to do or get someone to teach me

VI. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, also Angel, also the Buffy comics (and probably the Angel comics in the near future, but I haven't gotten to those yet).

VII. Music
    A. classic rock (basically all of it, inclusively)
    B. Dar Williams
    C. Green Day
    D. Metallica
    E. Ani Difranco
    F. Terri Clark
    .... I could keep going here, but now we're leaving obsession-land.

VIII. Kids/ Young Adult Fantasy Books
    A. Diana Wynne Jones
    B. Megan Whalen Turner
    C. Tamora Pierce
    D. Jane Yolen
    E. Louis B. Meyer (actually historical fiction, but that's splitting hairs.)
    F. Caroline Stevermer (solo, or with Patricia Wrede)
    .... and once again, this is just the beginning.

IX. Pirates

X. Knights & Medieval Stuff


Huh. Turns out I do have that many... and that's if you pretend that coffee is part of the food obsession, which might not be completely accurate.

The interesting thing is that it's an even split: the first five are who I am, what I'm really about, and those are the ones I thought of when I said I wasn't sure I had ten obsessions. They're all connected, as you can see by the cross-referencing in the outline (yes, I'm a geek), so the counting feels a little arbitrary. And the second half, items six through ten, are just things I like.

But, that said, this is going to be a repository for fan fic, so you'll mostly find things relating to points VI. and VIII. here.

Nice to meet you!