Fairly small, bird figures, made with ceramic and/or other (i.e. carved/shaped glass, bone, wood, stone, etc.) materials, 
the more realistic or unusual looking the better. However, since many of them are fragile (ie. when living with an active feline),
and I don't have an enclosed/glass fronted cabinet to display them now, they are packed & cushioned in storage indefinately.
I also collect autographs of "famous" lesbians (ie. along with photos of me with them) on a T-shirt with the word 
"Dyke" printed boldly on the front; I call it my Famous Dyke Shirt! 
I wear this shirt in public on occasions when I especially want to express our LesBiGay Pride!
I was an adult when I started collecting the bird figures, but I'm not sure how I actually started. It might have been when I purchased a pair of carved crystal sparrows as a wedding aniversary gift for my parents. Although, this was a gift for them, I thought they were so beautiful, that I wanted them for myself. Eventually I did get them back, after my mom died and my father gave most of those decorative type things away. Since 1984 or 85', when that aniversary was, I think was when I started looking for different and affordable bird figures.
I'm still thinking about this one.....?
The birds are cute or pretty, and I just enjoy looking at the different ones. They help me feel kind of calm & happy.
My Dyke Shirt is cool to wear down the street and see the reactions I get from strangers that pass me. Usually, they're just staring at me because of my height and shape, but then they notice the word
It's probably my Famous Dyke Shirt, because I have many autographs on it already, even Lily Tomlin with her partner Jane Wagner. Of course, I'm still waiting for a few other names, like...(see below)!
To have kd lang personally sign my Dyke Shirt, along with a few copies of the photos I took of her at her concert in Chicago (i.e. Chicago Theatre; October 16, '92.), then get my picture taken with her would be my ultimate wish/fantasy!! I often have dreams where... "I get this opportunity on the spur of the moment, but I can't find my photographs or shirt in time before she has to leave!"
By accident, since I usually don't seek them out on purpose. Occasionally, I meet other kd lang fans when I'm talking about and/or showing off my photos of her or other "famous" lesbian performers!
Italian, Asian - mostly mild Thai, Cantonese or Japanese; Spanish - not necessarily Mexican; along with good ol' American dishes, like: 
, fried chicken, barbeque ribs, roast beef with round potatoes & vegetables or hotdog w/ mustard & relish, fries or chips on the side.
Although it's sad to say that, as both a lesbian & animal advocate, I'm not vegetarian, I will always refuse to eat Veal in any form!
(?) Most often, non-alcoholic, non-coffee-tasting and/or caffeinated, since I'm not particularly fond of these tastes, they are more expensive and they're prohibited with my medications. Moreover, I grew up with multiple alcoholics... need I explain more?!
Still, I'm not adverse to an occasional taste of Bailey's� Irish Cream, especially mixed with hot chocolate... Yummm...! Also, I have been known to actively participate during my friend, Toni Jr.'s, "Vampire-Slammer" Parties on rare occasions. Always, I stop after just a couple of tequilla & selzer shots w/tomato juice chasers, to remain sober and avoid puking all over her bathroom. Mostly I enjoy that fun activity with friends I trust. Then I'm very satisfied with non-cola sodas, plain or mixed fruit juice/drinks, assorted fruit-flavored/herbal teas and chocolate milk/shakes. 
Never have I drank coffee, or had a desire to do so; I don't particularly enjoy the smell as well as the taste of it.
Some of them, but I'm usually too poor to eat out much or go to really nice restaurants. I'm also willing to try new tastes or cultural traditions, with the exceptions of very hot/spicy and the other foods mentioned below.
I think so, but that depends on what a person's standards are. I'm not too fancy, but I do my best, avoid using my sleeve as a napkin, and most times usually I'm considered okay.
Yes, most of them,
I especially enjoy spinach, very small green peas with cooked onions or garlic, asian snow peas, green beans, carrots, bean sprouts, broccolli, asparagus, most kinds of lettuce and raw cabbage used in green salads.
Some kind of meat or seafood stir-fry with rice pilaf and the above veggies. I also love pasta with marinara, meat or cream sauce & cheese.
I'm still thinking about this one.....?
I'm still thinking about this one.....?
Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough Ice cream ...or spongy strawberry shortcake with vanilla ice cream & whipped cream. 
Assorted other desert treats!
[No nuts, thank you!]
Too many calories and culinary choices; not enough will power or ability to exercise adequately!
They are but simple pleasures... Walking with Nikki, my sheltie, and taking her to the park to run & play with the other neighborhood dogs; Downhill skiing in winter, though I haven't gone for many years, due to either lack of funds or vacation time and now increasing disability. I enjoy hiking & exploring natural areas, like forests & dunes, along with canoeing down peaceful rivers, etc., but I haven't been able to do it for a few years now, again, mostly due to increased disability and/or unable to keep up with my average-size friends who enjoy the same activities for longer time periods.
I live only a block from the beach (ie. along Lake Michigan), so I enjoy just going there to both people/dog watch and/or relax/meditate with the sounds of the waves & seagulls. Swimming, picnicing & camping are also fun, but I sunburn easily & get annoyed and/or eaten alive by the bugs, especially chiggers! Then I'm usually more than relieved to return home to a modern bathroom and a clean, dry bed w/ firm mattress. -- Since I'm also a photographer and wildlife enthusiast, I enjoy bringing my cameras to try and capture nature's beauty on film for my vacation souveniers.
There's me, a special friend and Nikki my dog on a beautiful crisp and sunny autumn day. The temperature is barely reaching 70�F, the breeze faint and the leaves are just beginning to fall. I'd love to camp and hike in some hilly wooded area, where there's a stream of fresh water to cross via stepping stones. I'd like to laugh watching my dog run crazily to try & catch the tree and/or ground squirrels that seem to come from nowhere and run into or up to hiding places she can never find.
In the early evening the sky is our clock, so we gather wood to light our campfire and cook our dinner, often pausing to listen for bird-calls as they settle before dark. When the sky is dim, we let the fire start to die but we stay close enough to keep warm as we gaze up to infinity, hoping to see some shooting stars.
Nikki is exhausted from her games of chase & fetch, so she curls up to sleep in our tent as the two of us humans huddle closely and whisper jokes or other nonsense to each other, still looking for stars to wish on!
Soon we're too tired to watch the sky any longer, so we extinguish what's left of the fire and settle in our sleeping bag for warmth, languid loving and eventual sleep.
Some cows grazing in a nearby field awaken us with their morning "mooos", before the sun ever lightens the sky. Still, we huddle against the early chill of dew on the ground and try to sleep longer. We're safe from bears and/or other wild animals wanting to steal our food, but as we're rising we can watch the does and their older fawns as they browse near our campsite in the early dawn dappled sunlight. Almost every day we stay there is similar, but we're never bored or longing to return to civilization. That life is but a few miles away and can wait until we are saturated by THIS environment and WE ARE SATISFIED!
er...Biological or Universal? Just to keep things clear here I'll introduce ya'll to my biological family here in this context, but only in basic, objective & chronological terms:
The oldest is Mary Pat (ie. baptized Mary Patricia), 6 years older than myself, is a PI (ie. personal injury) attorney, possible partner within a prestigious law firm, downtown Chicago, is married ~29 yrs. to a family practise doctor, has two children, Patrick (3/82) & Katie (6/85) and lives (same house for ~28 of those years) on the far southwest-side (ie. Beverly neighborhood, not even a � mile from where we all grew up).
The next one is Tom (ie. Thomas Philip), about 3 yrs older than me, works for the Federal goverment in V.A. benefits, has never married (ie. though he is definitely straight), has no children (ie. that anyone is aware of
Phil, just a 1� yrs. older than me, is the 3rd in the family. He was born in October 1956, baptized Phillip John (ie. starting to see a pattern here?), he was named after my maternal grandfather, Judge Phillip Sullivan, but this was far too high a position to aspire to, for him or myself. Both of us seemed to struggle in elementary, high school and then college, as well as other areas of our lives, but now at least Phil has a decent job in the mortgages dept. of a local bank. He is also a divorced father of a darling 7 year old daughter, Kathleen, and lives in a suburb close to Chicago's southside.
TO BE CONTINUED; 3 MORE TO GO!
Watching TV while eating a meal. -- That was then; this is now. Since most of my siblings have families, each with 1 to 5 children, we mainly get together for meals, etc. on the main holidays like, Thanksgiving, Christmas & Easter, occasionally to watch fireworks on July 4th, etc.
The movie Ordinary People with Mary Tyler Moore.
...My Dad!! Twentyfive years ago I couldn't even imagine myself saying I still liked or loved him, much less say I admired this man!
My father recently turned 80 years old, (ie. Nov. 3rd, 2001) and survived another heart attack, which involved getting a 2nd angioplasty with stent to aid his prognosis & ease his chest pains, etc. By itself, along with current medical technologies progressing to meet the needs of the elderly, this phenemonon seems hardly noteworthy or something admirable. Still I consider it an achievement made possible more by my dad's will & faith (ie. he's a devout Catholic who also constantly prays for health, strength and that his children will either return to their original faith or not stray too far from the earlier church's strict rules), moreso than any talented cardiologists! My dad has survived many brushes with death actually, but I won't describe them all now.
I call my dad "The Miracle Man" for a few reasons. For more than half of his early life he was a heavy drinker/alcoholic (ie. though he denies that label to this day and was never active in AA), sometimes landing in the hospital detox. ward, then psych. ward for a few weeks because he'd also self-medicated on several Rx drugs, different MDs had prescribed upon his request or their redundant diagnoses of severe depression or bi-polar illness, etc. He eventually sobered up for good when he realized he might die young from either the booze or the combination with his inherited hypertension & heart disease, etc.
Now, he's the oldest living male of his family line (for at least 2 generations); his 2 brothers died in their fifties/sixties and both of his parents died of heart disease in their forties or fifties. He has 2 living sisters in their mid-seventies, one of which has a heart condition, while both have been mentally deteriorating with Altzeimer's over the last few years. Although it's too soon to know whether he will outlive his sisters by age alone, but at least he is still active mentally & physically and he claims he will never enter a nursing home to be cared for on any level! More about him and other nuclear family members elsewhere...!
Guess what?
� 2000 - 2004+
This page hosted by
(?) I hope you will eventually come to understand why I won't explain this any further. 
Here's a recent video-photo of my dad in Sept. 2002. - Click Here To View It Larger! 
There's even more...!
[email protected]
Get your own Free Home Page
