Please allow myself to introduce... myself.

Everyone likes to talk about themselves, but no one likes to admit it. ;)

I'm one of those people who not only doesn't like to admit it, but also hates doing it for the risk that the response will confirm that she's terribly uninteresting.  That said... the topic requires it.  So, I'll pretend to be humble, blush, smile, and tell you anyway.  ;)

What sorts of things do you say when you go to introduce yourself?  I tend to say that I'm 26 years old, I'm from Indianapolis, Indiana - which is a city something like the lovechild of Chicago, IL and BFE, Kentucky - and I like to write.  I could mention my job but I'm currently a "temp" which you never really want to mention upon first meeting people. ;) I could say what I look like, but I'm not really tall or short, not particularly fat but not by any stretch of the imagination thin... I have brown eyes and color-changing hair (it's dark-blonde right now.  I think the natural color is some kind of brown, and with a little salt-and-pepper last I checked my roots)... and, otherwise, I'm pretty nondescript.  I tend to get "you look like someone I know..." a lot, because there's nothing particularly spectacular about my appearance (except those fantastic long eyelashes. ;)  Those are terribly fun.)

So, I'll tell you, instead, why I wanted to do this LJ Idol thing.

I've watched my friends beldar and the_dark_snack participate in this a couple of times without jumping on the bandwagon for no other reason than that I just wasn't paying enough attention when the time rolled around.  I LOVE the idea of a writing "contest" like this, because not only do I love to write, but I am a TOTAL COMMENT JUNKIE.  If I HAD access to LJ during the day, you'd see far more posts from me.  As it is, I tend to post by emailing myself a post and then copying and pasting it via my Superphone (a T-Mobile Dash with Windows Mobile 6 installed) onto LJ. I love technology. ;)  And I love reading and commenting on friends' journals as well.

I have always loved the idea of a living journal... someplace where we can put our thoughts and get other people's thoughts ON them.  I love the idea of someplace where we can very, VERY, openly, be ourselves... and almost always find that there's someone else out there who doesn't think that we're a total freak.

And I love to read.  I love to find new friends and read them.  I love to read what THEIR friends have read about them, and what they think of it.  I love, to read, you.

And so I'm here to read you and write to you... and that's pretty much me.

Other random defining Crys characteristics:
I love science fiction and fantasy
I sing (and occasionally play the guitar) and have an ecclectic taste in music
I'm either extremely talkative or incredibly quiet, without any real median
My favorite season is Fall
My favorite color is purple
I'm Pagan
I love animals
I have a "Chasing Amy" view on sexuality... we fall in love with who we fall in love with, we're attracted to who we're attracted to, and I'm not willing to rule someone out on the basis of something as random as gender
I, sometimes, live in my own little world. =)

I am officially cheered.

So first I got to hang out a little bit with per_solo  in an IUPUI parking garage because I wanted to see him but I didn't think I'd be great company for hanging out with a bunch of people that I don't know very well when I've had a tiring, stressful, and ultimately fruitless day (and he was going to hang out with a bunch of friends of his that I don't know that well).  We talked for a while about nothing in particular, I bitched existentially about meaning and direction and the stock market are all bullshit excuses for thinking that we are more than just drops of water in a pond, and he gave me lots of huggles and a little bit of encouragement.  And then we talked about books we're listening to (because I have just discovered the wonderfulovelyness that is the audio-book.)

We're both going through Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series, but today I spent most of my time listening to stories from Callahan's Crosstime Saloon by Spider Robinson.  And it struck me that in their own way both books are about fellowship.  Callahan's is much more uplifting, of course, but they were both about fellowship.  I was reminded of how wonderful it is to have good friends... not just CLOSE friends (honestly, I have very few of those, so far...) but GOOD friends, and there's a difference.  I've had close friends as far back as I can remember, but rarely have I had such GOOD friends.  =)  It's so, so nice, even when things feel like they're going a little bit to shit, to have GOOD friends.. folk I feel I can be honest with, folk I honestly believe give a shit about what's going on in my life... folk who will walk to the talking line and make a toast, smash their glass against the back of the fireplace, and then tell you their tale without flinching... and sit right there and listen just as raptly as they'd like you to when you tell yours.

Yeah, if you're not a Callahan's fan you don't really get that completely, but you get it enough and that's what matters. ;)

After getting home, I started doing my hair and then decided to sit down and read some of the LJ Idol introductions.  I commented on a few but quickly realized that I couldn't possibly comment on EVERYONE... but they were all incredibly entertaining and many of them not a just a little uplifting.

So I feel better.  I mean, I wasted some time and some cash going to that "interview", but hey... at least it was my crappy credit that lost me the job, and not something truly disheartening like INTERVIEWING BADLY, you know?  *shrugs*  It could be way worse.

So I'll truck on, because that's what we do.  But I know I have you all here beside me and behind me, even when I can't comment on your journals all of the time and don't always have the time to step up to the talking line with an empty glass and a meaningful toast... melba or otherwise.

You're here.  And that's what's important.  And that's what lifts my spirits this evening.  So... thanks. :)

Love,
Crystal