01/3/2015 : Offline, for the most part.

• I'm sorry everyone but my dad's health hasn't been the greatest and most of my free time has been spent with my parents so not much swapping going on. I'll be back when I can! :)

Please do NOT send:

• Propaganda/Promotional items (political, religious, charity requests, random promos and freebie items, etc).
• Food items unless it's specific to the swap.
• Scented items, I get sneezy and a little snuffly. (And then the cats run up to see what all the noise is about. And then they'll want petting. And then we'll start playing with your mail scraps. And THEN I'll probably be late rating your swap because we've made a mess and wandered off for a snack to ignore cleaning the mess up.

Favorite and Favored Things:

For the most part, if there’s something you love and think I would be interested in, I’d enjoy seeing/hearing about it.

• I tend to melt into a bubbly, happy puddle over anything cute/kawaii, with animals or a whimsical theme.
• It has been hinted by friends that I secrete glitter in times of GLEE. (In my defense, I believe it's a type of glass glitter that ages well...)
• I adore nature, world cultures, reading, science and geeky things, astronomy, animal folklore and mythology, archaeology, sacred sites, image editing and photography (landscapes, animals, flower macros, astro photography), HTML and coding webpages, 3D graphics/manipulating pixels and foooooooood (adore sushi, loose tea leaves, raw oysters, desserts, tapas and dim sum, freshly pulled noodles and bloody rare steaks).
• I like clean and simple themes with only a few major focal points, art deco swirls and negative spaces and utterly love seamless, well blended and gradient colors.
• I don't tend to like modern art, things that are smushed together or random words/text.
• My decorating style is messy. However, when we clean up for guests ;), it's tries to be modern and sleek with whimsical/unexpected touches. I collect gemstones (love agate and quartz varieties), dragons, Disney villains and Pocket Dragons).
• I love fabric items like shopping totes, quilts, throws, hand warmers, zippered pouches and crafty things like miniature dioramas/altered boxes/matchboxes, handmade blank cards, mini felt ornaments, and felt stuffies.
• My favorite colors are rich jewel tones (esp purples and shimmery silver blues) and silver. I also like SHINY things, but in terms of ultra fine glitter, will o wisps or glass glitters.
• My favorite season is Fall (for both the Autumn Moon Festival and Halloween)! I love the rich colors, black kitties, turning foliage, pumpkins, cooler weather and decorating for Halloween. I'm also quite fond of Winter holidays (because, of course, I grew up in California and snow is three hours away meaning I've never had to shovel snow hehehe).

... However, I will enjoy receiving and appreciate anything you've taken the time to make/send me because it's a learning experience to help educate/refine my preferences :D

Postcards(/ATCs/Tags): I like both blank and naked postcards, there's regular usage and OCD hoarding of both. See also: Travel Wish List Exceeds Actual Budget ;)

This list below is for people who enjoy looking through their stash to match cards with profiles. All cards are welcome, although I really would prefer not to receive religious, charity, freebie/ads or promos.

• map cards and general travel/touristy
• photography (nature, and landscapes, astronomy, architecture)
• animals (tigers mostly but any type of feline, mythological creatures especially dragons, gargoyles, fairies and unicorns as well as horses, bunnies, red pandas and pretty much anybody with fur and claws)
• cute/whimsical
• libraries and books
• sci fi, cyberpunk, cute gothic and fantasy

Simple? A bipedal, carbon based life form which feeds on information, runs on caffeine or sugar and is often complicated by sarcasm, creative grammar and very late nights. See Flickr account for a Thori pictorial ;)

Otherwise... I’m native of San Francisco with Eastern China (Han Chinese and Ainu Japanese) roots with both hippie and yuppy tendencies. I was born into the signs of the Tiger in the Eastern zodiac and the Gemini with Leo rising in the Western zodiac which tends to describe my personality; slightly unpredictable, somewhat excitable, into a bit of everything and with the attention span of a goldfish. (Despite, of course, the Gemini constellation has drifted over the centuries and I’m actually a not-very-good Taurus based on current positions, shhhh ;)!)

Currently, I live with my husband and two cats in the “Outside Lands” of San Francisco where the temperature is about 65-70 degrees year round with a daily dose of fog rolling in late afternoon and I love it! The cats are utterly spoiled and the hubby is only occasionally spoiled because he's also occasionally male!stubborn so he's left to fend for himself during those times. Work wise, I am a physician's assistant and work with people that are considered both friends and family.

I’m a geek especially when it concerns the internet, technology, food and whatever I'm currently obsessed with collecting or crafting. We've already lost the dining room table and several shelves to glitter and the hall closet to sheep and assorted sparklies. Currently, I'm quite interested in learning and getting into drawing/sketching, stamping crafts, photography and jewelry making.

I also enjoy gardening and have a small back yard with fruit and herbs, two aerogardens because that’s the only way I can grow tomatoes and a plot at a local community garden for veggies. I also love collecting Disney pins (villains and foodie mostly), reading (adore Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams with Ilona Andrews as a current favorite), quartz crystals and gemstones, attempting photography and am interested in astronomy, ancient civilizations, different cultures, food and traditions, budgeting, researching trips and ..basically learning new and interesting things.

On the days off, hubby and I like to run our errands and eat out and then hide back at home. Every once in a while, we'll hit up a museum, the park, a city/cultural event or the zoo but we pretty much save our social skills and money for trips and vacations.

… as for the rest? It changes very little but it’s mostly just the waistline getting wider.