I’m taking a short break from my usually-scheduled bookish content to share a few facts about myself that you might or might not already know. I hope you enjoy this sneak peek into the life of your favourite Rancity picture book author – librarian – blogger!
1. I have terrible cat allergies, but that didn’t stop me from bringing home a homeless kitten when I was about 11 years old! I knew my dad was a totally pushover when it came to cats (despite sharing my terrible allergies), so I made sure to ask him if I could keep the poor little (who turned out to be an insane feral cat who only really ever liked my dad), before my more sensible mother had a chance to chime in. Kids can be pretty devious!
2. I studied French and Spanish in high school and German in university, but alas I’m not fluent in any language besides English. I can still have a fantastic monologue with myself in Deutsch, though – thanks GER 101!
3. I’ve been to Japan three times (2015, 2016, 2017) and have travelled the country almost tip to tip (I’m coming for you, Okinawa!) – I’ve been obsessed with Japanese culture since I was an angsty, anime-loving teenager, and my obsession shows little sign of waning. I’ve written a few posts about my trips to Japan, which you can find under the TRAVEL tap, if you’re interested!
4. I can touch the tip of my nose with my tongue.
5. I’m terrified of spiders. Like, comedically terrified.
6. I don’t eat bananas. Can’t stand them, won’t touch them. Never, no not ever will I knowingly put banana in my body – not baked, not blended, not even when served as part of an otherwise delicious ice cream parfait.
7. I am addicted to Slurpees, but only Coke/Pepsie Slurpees (I’m not a cola purist, but I am set in my Slurpee ways).
8. My first job was as a McDonalds cashier when I was sixteen years old. Thankfully it was a short-lived stop in my career journey. I have, at other times in my life, been a costumed historical interpreter at a living history museum, a school registrar, a summer camp leader, an ESL tutor, a bank teller and a legal secretary, among other things.
9. My middle name is in te reo Māori, honouring my family’s connection to New Zealand.
10. I drink a lot of tea, primarily black, unflavoured tea with milk. I am partial to an iced tea in the summer, but I’m not very fond of that plain black unsweetened tea you get in the States, blech. It at least needs some lemon!
I hope you enjoyed this brief interlude from my regular bookish posts! I can’t guarantee that I’ll be back to blogging regularly, as my schedule is unpredictable, to say the least, but I’ve certainly missed writing, so hopefully I’ll get a chance to pop on here every once in a while!
What a lovely post. 🙂
What sorts of symptoms do (or did?) you have when you were around cats? I have asthma attacks from any exposure at all to dander, so living with one would be life-threatening for me due to how severely I react to them. I think it’s wonderful that you’re still able to have a cat.
Wow, you’ve had so many different types of jobs! How did you move between different fields? Did you take courses? Volunteer somewhere to get experience in that field? Something else? I’m impressed by the fact that you managed to do that so often.
Thanks so much for commenting! I have asthma as well(as did my dad), so you can understand why my mother wasn’t too thrilled with us having a car! Wheezing, coughing, sneezing, itchy red eyes, we had it all! My poor mother was a non-stop vacuuming machine! Suffice it to say she was the only cat we ever had, and she was never replaced!
Honestly my spotty job history was largely motivated by the fact that I had a general bachelor of arts degree from university and no idea what to do with my life, so I bounced around from here to there just trying to figure out what to do! I ended up doing a lot of entry-level jobs before finally going back to school to get my Masters in Library and Information Sciences, which is how I got my current job as a librarian! In that case I also did a lot of volunteering first to get experience, since it’s a pretty competitive job market right now!
Thanks so much again for your thoughtful questions, and for stopping by!! 😊