Now it's so cold that I had to turn the heat on for awhile. Sheesh! And they say California doesn't have weather. I just pulled the second batch of cupcakes out of the oven and now they're sitting to cool with the first ones... my kitchen (where I'm sitting) is still nice and toasty from the oven and it smells DELICIOUS, so all is well in the world. Time to answer some questions!

***9/9***

How do you feel about trinkets? You know - tiny toys or doodads that serve no purpose than to be cute, take up space and make us smile. Love them or waste of money?

Hum... on a sentimental level, I love them. On a practical level, I hate them. My spouse is a huuuuuge packrat, so our house is full of clutter to start with, and the more little trinkets we get, the more potential there is for clutter. I'm the clumsiest person on earth, so clutter = catastrophe for me, not to mention it just makes me plain anxious.

When I do get little trinkets (and they do drift into my life through lots of sources), I usually put them in my sentimental crap box. The SCB is a box of... well... sentimental crap. I sift through it now and again to feel all nostalgic and stuff, but the rest of the time it lives in a closet. If you send me little notes with anything, they'll almost definitely end up in the SCB-- I love collecting notes and they're so small that they don't make a dent in the box space, and they're great to reread later.

I'm rambling... anyway... trinkets: great in theory, not as great in practice.

Can melty things be shipped to you, or will they be in puddles by the time you open the package?

Yup! Even in the dead of summer, the inside of my mailbox seems to stay shady and cool.

Who likes pirates?

Everyone likes pirates! I'm not as in love with pirates as many people, but I am fond of them.

What are your feelings about Dia De Los Muertos?

On the part of the east coast I'm from, we don't really do DDLM at all. I think it's a cool idea, though, and I like the imagery that goes along with it.

What do you think about the Nightmare Before Christmas?

Back before I took ADD medication, I used to fall asleep during movies all the time. ALL THE TIME. I think I fell asleep during Nightmare Before Christmas something like six times before I actually saw it all the way through. It's a good movie, though, and I do like the art style a lot.

If candy is sent, would you prefer small amounts to a Halloween sized bag?

Yeah, sadly, due to my blood sugar issues I can't really sit down and eat a big ol' sack of candy anymore.

Do you like floral bath soaps, shower gels, etc? If so, what florals work on you and what don't?

Yes! I am fortunate in that my skin actually likes everything except mint. (I don't like some other notes on my skin, but that's another story.) Florals mostly behave beautifully on me. I'm particularly into lily, lavender, rose, ylang ylang... I'm not at all into jasmine, even though it does stay true on my skin. I like (and sometimes even love) violet, but sometimes it smells like pickles on me. Seriously, pickles... I wish I was kidding but I'm not. Neroli tends to smell bland to my nose. I love cherry blossoms. Hum... that's all I can think of to say about florals right now.

***9/8***

How do y'all feel about honey and maple? And different flavored honey, not just the standard kind?

Honey: I think I've mentioned before that honey is one of those things that vegans fight over. I don't seek it out to eat it and wouldn't really want you to send me a big ol' jar of honey. If it's in something else that is otherwise 100% vegan, I will probably eat it anyway.

Maple: yes please. I like me some maple.

What is your favorite thing to do on a cool fall day?

It used to be jumping in leaf piles, but those don't really form around here. I guess now it's to cuddle up with a blanket next to a window and read a book. Ooh, or take a bath. I might just be saying that because it's dark and gloomy out today and those're the two things I really want to be doing.

***9/7***

If you have pets, is there a SPECIFIC toy they like to play with; brand and size? Is there a treat/cookie they eat? What brand and size?

Guinea pigs are notoriously difficult to entertain with toys, and my dudes are no exception. For awhile, we had little bells that they could ring... Mister B loved his and would ring it fairly frequently, but Pingpong seemed to be TERRIFIED of his and would just sneak up to it, touch his nose to it, and then jump backwards in terror. In like two weeks, they totally forgot the bells existed. My theory is that they don't like toys because toys aren't food, and well... food is what piggies like.

The one thing that they DO always enjoy playing with are paper towels. Seriously. Give 'em a paper towel and they'll be amused for about an hour as they shred that puppy into pieces bit by bit. It's fun to watch and I do let them do it every now and again. Um... you probably don't need to send me paper towels though.

Oh! The one thing that they ARE in the market for are new tunnels. I used to have big cardboard tubes for them which they loved hiding in and running in and out of... but after about three months, those things were NASTY, so I had to chuck 'em. I'm sure they'd be pleased to get new ones. They need to be fairly big for the guys to get in and out of them... if you can put both your fists in at once, that's probably big enough.

What's your ringtone?

Fun fact: I have NEVER heard my cell phone ring. It's always either on vibrate or silent, which is how I like it. So... I have no idea what it sounds like.

Just to throw a silly question out there...Munsters or Addams Family, y'all?

Addams Family. I only dimly remember seeing the Munsters when I was very very young. The first Addams Family movie, on the other hand, was the first thing I personally ever bought on VHS. People used to call me Wednesday all the time when I was in middle school and early high school, which irritated the hell out of me then but is pretty funny now.

What think you about receiving tea accessories and/or miscellany (like mugs, cups, saucers, strainers/filters, honey, natural sweeteners [like stevia])?

Tea accessories are swell! I'm sort of up to my ears in coffee mugs right now, so those might not be the best idea... on the other hand, I can always use more cups and saucers. I don't do honey in tea and have thus far been unimpressed by stevia, but maybe you know something I don't know...

How do you feel about copies of music or dvd's that your witch might have that you might enjoy? Not just mixes, but whole copies?

That's fine with me.

Say, witches, I have a question about birthdays. do you expect/rely on other people to plans birthday outings and activities?

Oh ho ho. Story time! (But isn't it always?) I'm the third of five kids. My mom had a definite sorta... season... for having babies. Our birthdays all fall between mid-November and the end of February. Guess who is at the tail end? Yup, me. Combine that with the fact that three of my siblings are born on holidays (so easy to remember!) and the other one is just a couple of days after the one who is born on Christmas (hard to forget due to proximity) and... yeah... I've got the least easy to remember birthday in the lot. Naturally, this means that everyone in my family forgets my birthday every year. (Well, not quite. My dad's birthday is three days after mine, so he always remembers it. He's the oooonly one, though.)

As a result, I'm used to doing more or less nothing on my birthday unless I make it happen. It'd be nice for someone else to sort it out, but it's not something I rely on or expect.

Tarts? Yes/no?

Nope... no way to burn them, aaand I'm not supposed to have stuff like that in my apartment per my lease anyhow.

Woot! I bet the cupcakes are cool enough to frost by now. Awaaaaaaaay I go!