The Real "About Me" Page

   I have decided to write a better "about me" page than the one that is available as part of the blog. I thought I would like to write a longer, more thorough explanation of who I am. Just in case anyone was wondering.
   First things first, the above photo is about as close as you will ever see of a self-portrait. I might post a few photos of myself when I was a small kid, but I refuse to get in front of the camera. No exceptions at all. No "selfies" here. I don't need photos of myself at a place or with a person to prove I was there. I have memories and the photos I take and that is good enough for me.

  Next I will tell you a little bit about me. Not what I like, but about me personally. I am a 40something(honestly- I've stopped counting) stay at home mom. I have one daughter, a teenager. I do not post photos of her on the internet, nor is she allowed to yet. I don't even mention her real name anywhere, she is simply known as "kiddo" and always will be. I was born in Texas, near Houston, and grew up there. I moved to Tennessee, near Nashville, in 1996. My mom moved here and I followed because I suppose I really needed a change in my life at the time. Went to work at Kroger and met my husband there. I am fairly conservative, I believe in God and the Constitution, I obey traffic laws to the letter and I love police officers.
  Now to discuss what makes me "me", my loves and obsessions:

• STARSIGN: Capricorn
• FAVE COLOR: Green, Black
• LUCKY NUMBER: 12
• MOVIES: O Brother Where Art Thou, Star Wars:A New Hope, History of the World Pt 1, 1776, Monty Python & the Holy Grail, Elephant Man, Gettysburg, Lego Movie, Guardians of the Galaxy
• BOOKS: any map book, "The Stand" Stephen King, 
• MUSIC: Beatles(George), Garth Brooks, Chris Gaines, Def Leppard, Duran Duran, some country, no pop music after 1990(I refuse to listen to any new music out there)
• TV SHOWS: Cops, Aerial America, Sleepy Hollow, Daredevil, Deadwood, X-Files, South Park, CSI(original & with Grissom only), nearly any history show
• FAVE SPORTS: football, hockey, baseball, 
• FAVE FOOTBALL TEAMS: Titans, Patriots, Broncos, Falcons, Lions
• FAVE HOCKEY TEAMS: Predators, Bruins, Avalanche, 
• FAVE BASEBALL TEAMS: Braves, Astros, Red Sox, Rockies, Tigers
• FAVE COLLEGE TEAMS: Tennessee, Michigan, Houston, Texas
• RADIO STATIONS I LISTEN TO: Sports talk, conservative radio
• ADDICTIONS: World of Warcraft, Dr Pepper, road trips, visiting cemeteries, history, learning, Lego
• DREAM PLACE TO LIVE: Wyoming, in the middle of nowhere, no neighbors, in the snow
• FEARS: Heights, flying, bugs, 
• FAVE FOOD: Mac&Cheese
• HATED FOOD: quite a few-but especially onions
• PET PEEVES: Bad drivers, loud music from neighbors
• FAVE SUPERHERO: Iron Man
• FAVE ANIMALS: cat, cougar, horse, wolf, meerkat
• HOW MANY PAIRS OF SHOES DO I OWN: 2
• TYPICAL BREAKFAST: fruit bar & a diet Dr Pepper
• FAVE CLOTHES TO WEAR: I only own tshirts & jeans, a hoodie for cold weather
• JEWELRY?: extremely plain wedding ring, that's all I own
• MORNING OR NIGHT?: Morning, though it gets harder to wake up as I get older
• PETS: at the moment, 4 cats
• TATTOOS?: No thanks
• FAVE HOLIDAY: Halloween, I love ghost anything, plus it means Fall & Winter are here
• INTROVERT?: Yes, extremely, and terribly shy. Quite severe social anxiety
• HOW MANY FRIENDS?: Zero, if you don't count family members
• RELATED TO ANYONE FAMOUS?: Cousin of the guy who let John Wilkes Booth in the back door
• COFFEE OR TEA?: Tea, Earl Grey please, I hate coffee
• FIRST CRUSH?: Anthony Hopkins in "The Elephant Man"
• FOREIGN LANGUAGES?: A little French, a little Russian
• WHERE MARRIED?: Justice of the Peace in Sevierville, Tennessee
• HONEYMOON?: Hiking in the Smoky Mountains, then weekend in a cabin
• TRAUMATIC LIFE EXPERIENCE: Saw best friend hit and killed by car in 1985

   I have lower than low self esteem. I am certain all of my photos are horrible. But I love to take photos, so if they only ever make me happy, I suppose that's enough. Here are some answers about my photography:

• FIRST PHOTO TAKEN: I recall being allowed to snap a photo of the fish at a temple on a trip to Hawaii when I was 7
• FIRST CAMERA: A 110 instamatic, probably around age 10
• FIRST PHOTO WITH THAT CAMERA: a squirrel at the San Jacinto Monument on a field trip with school
• FIRST SLR CAMERA: Pentax K1000, 1984, saved up summer job money to buy it
• FIRST PHOTO WITH THAT CAMERA: A Flock of Seagulls concert, the drummer showed me how to load the film before the show
• FIRST DIGITAL CAMERA: Fuji FinePix, Christmas 2002
• FIRST PHOTOS WITH THAT CAMERA: Christmas 
• FIRST DIGITAL SLR CAMERA: Canon Rebel XTi, May 2008
• FIRST PHOTOS WITH THAT CAMERA: Birds in the yard
• CURRENT CAMERA: The same Canon Rebel XTi, same camera for 7 years, only one I have
• PUBLISHED?: Once in a Civil War magazine. Also have a photo on display at a rest area in Tennessee

   And finally, collections. I like to collect things, lots of things!

• ON MY DESK: Pop!Vinyls: Tom Brady, Han Solo, Angel(Buffy), Tenth Doctor, Will Riker, Star Lord, Rocket Raccoon
• HATS: I love ball caps, have dozens of them, including my "Tin Cup Cast & Crew"
• LEGO: We can't afford very many sets, but I'd say we have a pretty decent collection
• HOCKEY STUFF: Have hundreds of pucks, dozens of sticks, jerseys, cabinet full of cards. I don't actively collect this anymore and would sell if the price was right. 

    
   If you have any questions, want to know anything I forgot to cover, please ask either in the comments here or on Twitter @graveskaut !

TL;DR version: we might get along if you are a conservative who loves history, road trips, sports, the United States, roadside America, abandoned places but not trespassing, and cemeteries. :)