After kicking the idea of an online journal around for nearly a year, and after some serious prodding from Michele, I've finally joined in the fray.

I decided to start off with a list of random factoids to give a bit of insight into who I am. No, it's not comprehensive. Yes, they're silly for the most part. And if you want to know more, just ask. I'll be happy to answer any mail.

RANDOM FACTS

I was born March 9, 1973, which makes me a Pisces. And oh lord, do I fit the profile: dreamy, intuitive, indecisive, artsy.

My best friend was my grandmother. I doubt I'll ever get over her death. I miss being someone's "favorite."

I learned how to hold a grudge from her. I could win a gold medal if grudge holding were to be named an Olympic sport

Genetically, I have six half brothers and four half sisters. Yes, that makes me number 11. I refuse to claim any of them, though. It's okay, they don't claim me either.

I work for a mid sized police department in the mid west. I have become the little sister to 110 police officers. So, I don't need my biological siblings, thank you very much.

When I was little and wanted to be alone, my folks would find me under the dining room table, with all the chairs tucked in to give me privacy. Usually I had fallen asleep, reading. The first few times, they panicked when I was no where to be found. Then they wised up and looked for me there first.

My dad died a few weeks before Christmas when I was seven. Like most little girls, I adored my da. To the point of canonizing him after his death. That would come back to bite me in the ass when I got older and found out he was more human than I could have ever imagined.

My childhood nickname was Bug. I was often called, "Shelbug." My da bequeathed the name to me, saying I was like a bug because I got under his skin. My da didn't have much of a sense of the poetic, did he?

My best childhood friend, Kris, died shortly before my 16 birthday from leukemia. I miss him daily.

I am a product of too much TV as a child. Hell, I'm still a product of too much TV. Useless information abounds in my head, most of it revolving around game shows, cartoons, and sitcoms of my childhood.

We had about half a dozen dogs when I was a kid. I named each one of them Kasha. I must've had a subconscious Russian fetish.

I had three fish: Barry, Larry and Jennifer. I had really bad taste in pet names. Sheesh.

When I was 14, I had a Japanese fighting fish who committed suicide. I kid you not. He did a kamikaze nose dive out of his bowl. I haven't had a pet since.

I was an exchange student in high school. For someone who wanted nothing more than to leave home, I sure as hell was homesick once I got to France. I still miss my host family, though.

I speak French. Well, I used to speak French. Now, I can read it, write it and understand it. As far as speaking it? Well, a Midwestern girl speaking French. You picture it. It's best left unheard.

I attended the horror that was Girl's State the summer before my senior year. I think the VFW Ladies Auxiliary is a charter member of The Stepford Wives. There were 8 of us who were told we were spawns of Satan because we balked when they told us the best thing we could do was provide a nice home for our husbands. Quite possibly, the longest week of my life.

When I declared my minor as Women's Studies at university, my grandmother took to calling it, "the cult."

I was named "Most Promising New Minion of the Cult of Women's Studies, 1992." My WMS advisor has a warped sense of humor. It is of little wonder we are still close friends.

I have a mild obsession with Richard III. I risked hitch hiking in a foreign country just to lay white roses at Bosworth Field in 1994. Want to see me rabid? Try to say, in my presence, that he killed his nephews.

I used to read trashy romance novels on the average of 3 a week. Then I realized that no man is remotely like the men in the books. Oh yeah, and that sex is not even CLOSE to being as great as those damned books said.

I was a virgin til I was 24. I waited until I was in love. The whole experience was not quite how I pictured it, to be perfectly honest. But, I don't regret my actions, per se.

I think beets are the nastiest food known to man kind, followed closely by cottage cheese. No way I'm eating anything that is called curds and whey. Ewww.

I love hummus. I could eat it every day.

Earl Grey tea, baby. With a hint of sugar, a dollop of cream and a splash of lemon. Accept no substitutes.

My favorite movie is Lady Jane. Yes, I realize no one else has heard of it. Lady Jane was my first exposure to Helena Bonham Carter and Cary Elwes. After seeing this movie in 1986, as an impressionable 14 year old, I was smitten and Cary Elwes became the embodiment of all that was gorgeous in my eyes. I refuse to believe actual historical accounts that say Jane and Guildford didn't even like each other, let alone love one another. I'm a sucker for the Hollywood romance. Get me started and I'll recite lines from this movie til the cows come home.

The Princess Bride is a close second in terms of favorite movies. Cary Elwes again. What can I say? He really melted my butter as a teenager.

Now my tastes run toward dark, swarthy men like Gabriel Byrne, Daniel Day Lewis, Armand Assante, and Chris Noth. Oh, yeah, and Ewan McGregor. He may not be swarthy, but he's Scottish. And to hear a Scottish man say the word, "anything," well, my god, my knees just tremble and my knickers practically fall off of their own volition.

I watch cop shows, lots of cop shows...Law and Order, Homicide: Life on the Streets, Brooklyn South (I wept when it was canceled), NYPD Blue, and on and on. I work for a Police Department. It must come with the job. At least that's the excuse I'm using.

I'm a complete freak for British tv. I adore BlackAdder, Mr. Bean, The Thin Blue Line, Taggart, Ballykissangel, Murder Most Horrid. British comedy is the best, bar none.

Eclectic is the word when it comes to my taste in music. The music of the 80's evokes the most vivid memories for me. Folk, Celtic, and female singer/songwriters also play a huge role in my musical tastes.

I wish I were more musical. I sort of play the piano. Well, I own a piano. I took lessons. Whether I can play it is purely a subjective viewpoint.

I have a tremendous number of close friends I've never met. God bless the internet.

I fell in love once with someone I met via the internet.

Okay, more than once.

I have an embarrassingly high number of crushes. And they run the gamut. Some would surprise you. Hell, some of them surprise me.

I have a litmus test, for both friends and potential romantic entanglements.

I am an enigma