CorvoRidente

I am:

• Still new to this swapping thing, but determined to do good, timely work for folk. You'll notice there aren't a lot of completed swaps listed--it's because I limit myself to one or two at a time, to be sure of sending quality.

• FINALLY DONE WITH THE MASSIVE CONTRACT! :D Looking forward to playing more now that more of my time/creativity's available.

• An Aquarius with a Scorpio moon, according to Western reckoning. A Water Dog with Sheep ascendant, according to Chinese reckoning. And they're both fairly accurate.

• A proud mother and a gleeful wife. The boyo's 8 in early 2012 and has his first-level blue belt in Tae Kwon Do. The husband has attained the answer to the question of life, the universe, and everything and is developing a fondness for gaudy aloha shirts.

• Not religious. Tend to strike me as too much finger, not enough moon. That said, I've got a head full of mythology from various places, and there's a soft spot in my heart for Pan and Hermes, and for tricksters and fierce mothers and the halfmad wisdom of age. Anything nodding to those spirits will brighten my day beyond words. And I love religious iconography (esp. Orthodox depictions of saints), as long as there's no proselytizing attached. In my eyes, a blessing is a blessing, whoever's wishing it on you and whatever's granting it.

I'm a data junkie--everything's food for the idea hamster, and I'll try any affordable thing once.

Current adorations are bookbinding, electrolytic etching, jewellery-making, photography, polymer clay things that don't involve a pasta machine or knowing how to make canes, and the dying of fabric and hair.

I'm fascinated by dollmaking, but I don't yet grok the engineering of things more complex than Dotees or kokeshi. Lots of reading & trial/error to do...

I love jewellery, but only tend to wear it if it's a gift or a personal talisman. I love stone beads & silver wire; pearls, glass (omg, lampwork!), & polymer clay beads rank right up there close. Still haven't developed a Thing for Swarovski crystals, but I keep learning. Just starting to dip my toes into beadweaving-- :D So many ideas, so little time...

If it's in the context of a rainbow or Hawaiian print fabric, I love them all in technicolour.

Otherwise, my husband and I both tend to wear a lot of black, green, grey, cranberry, and blue. Muted or jewel toned; navy before cobalt before turquoise, rose before Barbie-pink, and olive or hunter before kelly, you know?

My little boy isn't particular at ALL, as long as it's comfy. Dinosaurs, lizards, bugs, or tie-dye improve anything, in his opinion.

When I can set out time to do it, I dye my hair purple.

White taunts me--I fight the urge to dye or write on it, and I live in fear that if I wear it, it'll attract some strange stain.

The prettiest sights in the world are sunsets and oilslicks.

I'm a musical omnivore, but oldschool bluegrass (think Bill Monroe), growly/screamy/noisy metal (Kittie and Cannibal Corpse, for example), and most rap set my teeth on edge.

I like to be able to understand lyrics, but I don't mind running them through a translator if the tune is good. I also like expanding my horizons.

Artists currently in play:
Josh Ritter, Faun, Gowan, Korpiklaani, Mumford & Sons, Cats Laughing, Iron Maiden, Motörhead, Charles Mingus, MeatLoaf, Blues Traveller, Queen, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, S.J. Tucker, Eve 6, Ingrid Michaelson, David Crosby, Gogol Bordello, & Sliotar.

This is right up there with music: I'll read the first four pages of anything, but I love F&SF best.

Authors currently in the stack on my bedside table: Spider Robinson, Robert Heinlein, Scott Lynch, Larry Correia, Jim Butcher, Murakami Haruki, Neal Stephenson, Harlan Ellison, & several cookbooks.

Also a huge anthology of Russian poetry that I expect to spend the next year digesting, because omfg, I can't just shotgun that stuff, it's got to be savoured to be grokked.

I admit it--I'm a pirate. At the moment, the best "television" is fansubbed anime. I work my way through series online. If I understood more Japanese and knew how to get my hands on the raw stuff, I'd be fansubbing and contributing, too.

When I can catch them, I watch NCIS & CSI. I don't hunt too hard, though, because all my favourite shows tend to get cancelled. Firefly & Dark Angel, anyone?

• Dark Chocolate and corn chips. Together. Try it!
• Sweetgrass & sandalwood.
• String of any variety, from silk sewing thread to cotton embroidery floss to 6mm hemp rope to sinew.
• Fuzzy fabrics, double awesome-points for gaudy funfur.
• Off-centre senses of humour and the quotes that come with. ("Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results"--Einstein; "Good intentions are no substitute for knowing how a buzzsaw works."--Heinlein)
• Vintage pin-ups/noseart. ESPECIALLY Alberto Vargas's work.
• Ursula Vernon's art.
• Canids, corbae, & ursids. Coyote, Crow, & Grizzly, if specificity is your thing.
• To a slightly lesser degree, spiders, squirrels, & rats. What can I say? I love me some scavengers.

• Leather, fur, feathers, bone, teeth, & claws, provided I learn how they were harvested. ("This 'yote was killing my goats, so I shot it; here're some teeth." = "This leather/fur came off a coat I never wear.") > "I bought this bunny pelt @ Hobby Lobby." Make any sense?

• Story. Tell me a memory, tell me a dream, tell me a legend, tell me an old wives' tale. Tell me the stories your grandparents told you. Story's the un-sticky silk we walk on to get from person to person & moment to moment. I never get enough of it.

• Synthetic not-funfur fabric. 100% Polyester, acrylic, or nylon make me twitch. Blends rock, though.
• Beads with holes too tiny for a needle & thread to go through.
• Hot pink anything (although if there's enough black or brown to balance it out, I'm soft on that one...)
• Precious Moments-esque things. Something about the moe eyes & uber-sentimental inscriptions...~shudder~
• Makeup. Although if cosmetics are the point of a swap I've signed on with, I am obviously soft on this one,too. Brown hair have I, & blue eyes, & toastgold skin. And I'm allergic to arnica. /tmi
• Overscented things. My husband gets headaches from several naturally-derived aromas, and I get headaches from synthetics; subtle scent is good, but full-on perfume/potpourri is a no go.

My beloved husband smokes, but my son and I boot him outside to do it. I will do my level best to keep his habit and your swap-bits apart from one another, but if there's ever a problem, LET ME KNOW and I'll figure out a way to fix it.

The flipside of this is that I'm one of the few (we nicotinic few) who won't mind a smoky article as long as it's not intended for my son, and if we're talking pipe or cigar smoke, I will actively enjoy it.

Because tobacco-scent, we both seem able to stand without threat of migraine or anaphylaxis.

Funny old world, ain't it?