looseleaves

Howdy! I'm Andi, 21, and I take joy in the simplest of things. I am constantly on the look out for new hobbies or activities to amuse me, especially now that I'm taking a year off from full-time studies. I live in Dublin, Ireland, and needless to say I need something to cheer me up in this gloomy weather (although lately the clouds haven't been congregating as often as they did this time last year, which is good) -- receiving mail is a perfect way!

• Photography

I have recently acquired a fully-manual SLR, the Nikon FM2, and I am enjoying every second I spend engrossing myself in it! I am only on my second roll of film and can't wait till it's done. I am doing a 365 Project with the intention of learning and improving and it is indeed quite a challenge. I, however, am starting to understand the limits of a point and shoot and am saving up for a digital SLR (not so easy when you don't have a job lol). If you have a budding interest in photography then perhaps we can do a project together.

Also, any tips or whatever you think I might find useful would be very much appreciated. Suggestions for photo projects are welcome also :)

• Cooking and Baking (preferably from scratch)

I jog at least three or four times a week and I do Pilates as well so I watch my diet and usually prepare my own food, which I thoroughly enjoy :-)

I will give a short list to give you an idea of what I listen to (I love mix CDs by the way, and any recommendation wouldn't go unnoticed):

Massive Attack, Regina Spektor, Broken Social Scene, Sia, The Decemberists, A Perfect Circle, CocoRosie, Andrew Bird, Modest Mouse, Goldfrapp, Jeff Buckley, Band of Horses, Rilo Kiley, Iron and Wine, The Mynabirds, Oi Va Voi, Emily Jane White, Nine Inch Nails, Spoon, Death Cab for Cutie, Mumford & Sons, Arcade Fire, PJ Harvey, Björk, Mew, Garbage, Beatles, Built to Spill, The Shins, Muse, Cursive, Bright Eyes + Conor Oberst, Arctic Monkeys, White Stripes, The Strokes, Arcade Fire, The National, The Smashing Pumpkins,The Smiths, The Pixies, Pearl Jam, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Portishead, Psapp, Lostprophets, Astrud Gilberto, Frank Sinatra, Elton John, James Taylor, The Carpenters, Lupe Fiasco, Stone Temple Pilots, ... you get the idea.

I love true crime, mystery, and psychological thrillers; History books (currently reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich); Fantasy books (Robin Hobb, JRR Tolkien, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Philip Pullman, David Gemmelletc.); Graphic Novels (Marjane Satrapi, Neil Gaiman, Will Eisner, Art Spiegelman, David Mazzucchelli, Craig Thompson, etc.). Other authors whose works I have read/I am reading are Jeffrey Eugenides, Roberto Bolaño, Chuck Palahniuk, Philip K Dick, Mark Twain, Bret Easton Ellis, Haruki Murakami, Truman Capote, Don DeLillo, Glen Duncan, James Ellroy, Kurt Vonnegut and loads more!

I think old hardbound books are lovely!

Dexter, Castle, CSI, Criminal Minds, Father Ted, Family Guy, Daria, Scrubs, FRIENDS, National Geographic, Discovery, various Animes

Old Boy, City of God, Fight Club (and other David Fincher films), Hellboy, Let the Right One In, Amélie, American Beauty, The Big Lebowski, Shutter (Thai version), My Neighbor Totoro (anything Studio Ghibli, Virgin Suicides, Battle Royale, Al Pacino films, Y Tu Mamá También, Malèna, Lolita, films by: Quentin Tarantino, Al Pacino, Stanley Kubrick, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Judd Apatow, Steven Spielberg, etc.

• Postcards (PostSecret -type [would really love these], handmade, vintage, comic/cartoon-ish, maps, fabric, paintings, anything Japanese, funny political postcards, abstract, music, sea creatures, creepy but not corny, your own photographs turned into postcards, anything that is unique or famous to your city/town/country but are not necessarily landmarks) I prefer them in envelopes because I'm starting a collection of stamps as well, but if not that's fine by me.
• Mix CDs
• Mail art
• Letters or snail mail pen-pals
• One-of-a-kind bookmarks
• Drawings or any art work, poetry, short stories, etc. (your own)
• Playing cards that are unique to your country (I play cards a lot lol)
• Jewelleries: wooden and/ or bronze
• Accessories or items with designs/prints that are unique to your country or culture (e.g. Japanese chopsticks, Matryoshka dolls, etc.)
• Design/Textiles: Asian, African, and European
• On that note above, I love ethnic sling bags and scarves very much!
• Colours: Earth tones and dark shades. I like black as well.
• Ephemera
• Puzzles or brain teasers in any form or shape
• Film photography
• Vintage photographs and things
• Sea and flying creatures
• Tea
• Anything unusual or interesting
• Handmade things
• World cultures (would love to hear about culture, customs, etc.)
• A piece of you that will allow me a glimpse of your personality, what you love doing, etc.
• Tried and tested recipes (I eat anything and I love chilli foods!)
• Beef jerky, mmm! Because I can't seem to find it anywhere in good old Dublin.
• I'd love savoury/chilli meat snacks and Japanese snacks :-)
• Japanese chopsticks
• Coffee? Sure.
• Journals and papers

• Anything religious
• Candies
• Pastel colours
• Kawaii stuff or anything too cute or girly
• Gothic stuff
• Lip glosses. I only use lip and cheek tints.

I understand that trust has to be established on here but I am really interested in doing private swaps in the future! :)