But enough about me...

Oh, wait, I mean MORE about me!

Recently some of you have been posting comments like "Who ARE you, you captivating woman of mystery?" Okay, I might be paraphrasing. At any rate, I'm a new blogger and you guys don't know me very well so here is a list of the five most interesting things I can think of to tell you about myself, in no particular order:

1. I can belly dance.

It's by far the coolest thing I know how to do. I've been studying, performing and occasionally teaching the art of raqs as-sharqi (a.k.a. danse orientale, Middle-Eastern dance, belly dance) for going on twelve years. I got into it by accident, and it's a pretty good story that I will save for another post. I own a number of very fancy costumes, some of which are covered in bling, some of which are designed for various folkloric dance forms and most of which make me look dead sexy. In a completely classy and respectable way, of course. I will post some pictures of those too.

Belly dancing is the only athletic pursuit I've ever been good at and therefore the only one I've stuck with for any length of time. And, really, as long as I do it regularly it's the only workout I need. It has also been the most powerful form of therapy I've ever found; learning to dance has been the biggest factor in getting me over the body-image issues I developed during childhood and it has allowed me to regain ownership of my body, psychologically speaking. Someday when I'm feeling brave like Kato I will tell you more about that.

2. I'm a mom.

You've met Thing One and Thing Two already, and I will be posting more about them later. A lot more. This post, however is about me. I'm a little stumped as to what to say about myself as a mom without talking about my husband and kids, but here goes...I like to think I'm kind of a cool mom. I let my kids do body art with markers and paint, and I let them make messes as long as they're willing to clean up after themselves (with help, when necessary). I cook with my kids and get them involved in picking out food and preparing the family's meals. We listen to and occasionally play some really good music together. We spend a lot of time outside and take field trips to interesting places. We read together a lot. I try to give my kids the space to figure things out for themselves and also to be supportive and give them guidance when they need it. I try to help them be competent at the things they need and want to do (as opposed to alternately doing everything for them and ignoring them like my parents did for me), which takes a lot of patience now but will hopefully make things easier for all of us later. I also nag and yell and give a lot of time-outs, which my kids really do not think is cool.

I don't remember ever doing things with my parents as a kid - oh sure, I remember doing things near them or in the same room with them, but nothing that I could really say we were all actively involved in together. When we weren't in school my brother and I were mostly left to our own devices (our favorite device being the tv, of course) and occasionally we got taken to do kid activities that the 'rents would observe and not really get involved in. As a result I try to make sure I have fun (and also do chores and other things that aren't so much fun) WITH my kids every day so they can have a sense of belonging and being part of a community that was completely missing from my household growing up.

3. I have superpowers.

You might have heard about people who are supertasters - whose perception of taste is more acute than average and who are naturally suited for careers as chefs and sommeliers. Well, I'm a superfeeler, in both the tactile and emotional senses. For whatever reason, my nervous system is wired so that I am more sensitive and responsive to physical and emotional stimulation than most people are. Things that are merely annoying to most people are painful for me (like tickling), and things that others find painful are sometimes almost unbearable...of course I bear them anyway, being the kind of hardcore badass that I am. You'd think it would work the other way too - that things that feel good to most people would feel astoundingly awesome to me - and it does to a limited extent, but a lot things that other people find very enjoyable, like massages for example, just tend to overstimulate me. I also have highly sensitive emotional radar; for instance, I'm the kind of person who can walk into a room containing people who are behaving in a perfectly civil manner and know without a shred of doubt that they just finished having a fight because of the tension level in the room. This has actually happened on more than one occasion. I absorb other people's stress, and also their joy; at times I have trouble distinguishing my own emotions from those of people around me. Fortunately my levels of sensitivity are decreasing as I get older. And, of course, giving birth (twice!) has radically changed my perspective on pain.

I also have superhearing - which turns out to be more of a curse than a blessing when you live with small, noisy children - and according to a test I took at one of the EPCOT science exhibits when I was in high school I have amazing color perception, for whatever that's worth. What I haven't figured out yet is how to use my superpowers for good. I'll keep you posted, though.

4. I love food.

Yeah, sure, everybody loves food. We have to if we want to survive as a species. My love for food goes waaaaay beyond the survival instinct, though. When I say I love food, I mean EVERYTHING about food - flavor, texture, recipes, my relationship to it, its relationship to culture and the economy, the politics of it, the ecology of it, religious traditions surrounding it, where it comes from, how it's processed - I find it all utterly fascinating. I am the kind of person who will stuff you with food anytime you come over to my house. In fact, one good use I HAVE found for the aforementioned superpowers is to figure out the best things to serve people based on how they're feeling.

I also firmly believe that food can save the world. Okay, maybe it's not be the ONLY thing that can save the world but certainly an integral part of any world-saving solution. Supporting local agriculture can help stabilize your local economy and cut down on fossil fuel consumption and the resulting environmental impact. Improving school lunches and teaching families from all socioeconomic sectors how to eat healthier would do more for healthcare reform in the US than any bill that Congress could possibly pass. Organizations like Heifer International and the UN's World Food Programme work to increase food security worldwide, which has measurably resulted in not only in better health for the recipients of such programs, but also in greater equality for women and less violent conflict over resources, among other benefits. Okay, okay I have enough to say about this to fill at least ten more posts, so I'll save the rest for later.

5. I am musical.

I have studied various forms of music since I was...um...I don't remember exactly. Little, anyway. I've always been fascinated by music, at times obsessively so, because it's one of those things like poetry that appeals to my brain on both a structural and emotional level. I played clarinet and trumpet in elementary school band; I took piano and guitar lessons off and on over the years. Okay, wow, so it sounds like I was some kind of musical prodigy...actually the reason I tried out so many instruments as a kid is that I kind of suck at playing instruments. It turns out I have poor hand-ear coordination. I love music and I feel like I get it on a level that a lot of other people don't, but I just couldn't find a way to produce it that I could stand to listen to until I tried voice lessons in ninth grade. Finally! An instrument that was always handy, that I didn't have to worry about tuning, that I could always - well, mostly always - count on to play the note I wanted it to play. Best of all, singing gave me a way to communicate with other people that I finally felt comfortable with...which is another long story that I will save for another time.

I stuck with the voice lessons all through high school and my first year of college, at which point I switched majors from music therapy to linguistics and no longer had the spare time or energy for singing in non-shower-related venues. Of course I kept singing in the car and around the house, and occasionally through the years I have found other musicians to jam with who thought it was cool to have a trained vocalist sit in with them. I also discovered through belly dancing that I actually do have enough hand-ear coordination to be a decent percussionist; I have picked up reasonably good djembe and dumbek technique over the last few years and I'm generally pretty handy with things that shake, rattle and jingle. Recently I served as the official Music Mom at Thing One's preschool co-op, which mostly involved singing, drumming, clapping, marching and leading preschoolers in doing what they do best: making noise. It turned out to be a lot more fun than I expected and it reminded me how much I miss making music when I don't get to do it regularly. Right now I'm playing around with the idea of putting together a regular family-friendly music circle with some friends, and I'll keep you posted on how that turns out.

So that's some interesting stuff about me. Hope you've enjoyed it. Stay tuned for more. And, hey, now I have a bunch of ideas for stuff to write about, so many thanks to all of you who have been egging me on politely encouraging me to write about myself. Blog ya later! :)