im special

My self-summary
It’s 2019... so maybe I’ll get around to updating this woefully out of date wall of text...

Update: I am NOT interested in dating any cis, het, white men (unless you’re a vegan feminist). I have no tolerance for straight white men any longer. You’re basically the worst people to date and y’all need to do some serious work on yourselves, individually and collectively.

(This whole profile is completely outdated. I'm too damn lazy to update it, since no one on this site is worth updating it for. This isn't tinder; make a damn effort, please.)

**PLEASE NOTE: As a general rule, I do not date anyone from NYC. I live in NJ and have zero interest or intentions to ever live in NYC. I don’t like the city, nor do I want to spend time there when I’m not working. Never say never, but I probably would not date anyone from NYC unless they were 100% what I’m looking for, vegan, successful, looking for a serious relationship (and don’t already have a primary partner), owns a car, will come here 95% of the time, and actively looking to move out of the city.

***PLEASE ALSO NOTE: While being vegan is not a requirement to casually date me, I will not seriously date anyone who can not see themselves becoming vegan in the near future. I will never call someone who isn’t vegan a “boyfriend”, because I could never be in a long term relationship that would lead to cohabitation or marriage with someone who murders animals. Full stop.

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I'm eccentric and unidentifiable, and I like to keep it that way. My path has been a long, meandering one (sans GPS devices), and this current pit-stop has me bouncing around North Jersey's Bergen County while I find a more permanent-ish abode, after a crazy last-summer adventure of working and living at a holistic retreat center in the Hudson Valley of NY. It was a toss-up between staying in my home state of New Jersey or living in a state of meanderment about the country; alas I decided to stay once I got a position in a local high school working with special needs kids. I thoroughly enjoy my job as I get to make an impact on some wonderful adolescents, all while brushing up on my long forgotten math skills and helping to paint a picture or two.

I went to school for Fine Arts, majoring in photography and printmaking, and minoring in Art History. If I didn't know any better, I would think I was born with a crayon in my hand. If I don't draw (or write) something everyday, I feel a little more cuckoo than normal. Creativity flows out of me, for better or worse, almost non-stop. Whether it is writing or drawing or photographing something or just making up crazy stories or songs for no reason, I'm always up to something. (You've been warned.)

I went back to being vegan earlier this year, after an unfortunate hiatus that was largely out of my control (flexes my vegetable-fueled muscles)... I eat healthily for the most part, and I'm a great cook.

I have one kitty cat, my sweet Noah, whose purrs are delightfully and adorably necessary. If you're allergic to cats, this will not work between us.

Another cornerstone of who I am lies somewhere in the mix of spirituality I am following. After growing up in the Christian faith, toying around with atheism and agnosticism, I have found myself somewhere in the midst of natural witchcraft, new age-y stuff, and Native American teachings. I believe strongly that the planet is here to help heal us through her plants and medicines, but even more strongly I believe that we are here to protect and help heal her.

I do not regularly drink alcohol, don't use anything I would consider a drug (other than very seldom tobacco use, and some recreational marijuana use), but I do use plant medicines to help heal myself and my mind. I don't think substances are evil, but I know the role they do or don't play in my life. (Read: Don't ask me out for a drink or to otherwise get "fucked up".)

I am not actively looking for a serious relationship right now. (However, if I met someone and it felt "right" I would be open to it.) I am deeply in the process of working on myself, but I do miss companionship, on platonic and sexual levels. Don't read that as I am looking for a hookup; I am not. Who i share my body and spirit with is a very purposeful decision. My last several partners have awakened a deeper sense of intimacy within me, and sex is something sacred to me.

Other than that, ask away. I am an open book, so they say.

Keywords: vegan, polyamorous, pansexual, hippie, treehugger, neuroatypical, spiritual, plant medicines, psychedelics, artist, author, photographer, compassionate, passionate.

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ASPIRATIONS
What I'm doing with my life
✯ Started my own vegan business in September of 2018, after quitting a job that I loved/hated, because I just couldn’t deal with the bullshit of rich people and their money and their lack of caring about what they’re supposed to be caring about (aka: education). Self employment is a strange land that I’m still trying to figure out how to best navigate.

✯ Creating art in a variety of medium. Doing a lot of line-work drawings, and a little less recently I have been getting more and more into pyrography and creating custom pieces which can be used as altarpieces and crystal grids. I have historically been a printmaker, and still frequently photograph a diversity of subject matter. Right now I'm working on a commission or two and working on a piece for a show.

✯ Part-time working for teo awesome and awesomely-delicious vegan food businesses. One: killing it in the kitchen and slaying it at events. (Except not really "killing" or "slaying" anything, dude, we're peaceful vegans.) Two: helping you traverse the most delicious pages of vegan words your eyes have ever seen, and then presenting those words in food form before your drooling faces.

✯ Spending time outside with Mother Nature. She's my main squeeze.

✯ Foraging! Do you have any idea how much wild food grows around us? I'm trying to learn much more than I currently know, especially about wild mushrooms. They make me very happy.

✯ Following my spiritual pursuits, including meditation and energy healing. (Bonus points: I'm certified in Reiki and Magical Awakening.)

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TALENT
I'm really good at
Trusting my gut = I have an amazing intuition. (We all do! But knowing how to trust it is not so easy sometimes...)

Drawing, painting, photography, and other artsy-fartsys.

Helping people.

Making delicious vegan meals in my make-shift kitchen.

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MY TRAITS
The first thing people notice about me
I've heard many things. Sometimes it is my hair or my sometimes-eccentric way of dressing myself, sometimes it is my smile or my eyes, sometimes it is that I have a great energy about me. Oh, and also, boobs.

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MEDIA
Favorite books, movies, shows, music, and food
"Culture is not your friend!" - Terence McKenna

I have largely removed myself from being an intentional consumer of pop culture. For the most part, I don't watch TV, I don't watch or read the news, I don't listen to the radio, I don't stay up-to-date on current movies, and I even cancelled my Netflix account (blasphemy, I know!! --- Ah, but now I am "borrowing" a friends account for the necessities!). By freeing myself from the tethers of the control of main-stream media, I have opened up endless possibilities for my own creative output. In other words: by not putting the mass-consumed poison of "entertainment" into my brain, I am able to create a life full of beauty and full of what I choose to curate it with.

Of course, I hate rules, especially self-imposed ones, so I do still partake in some of what would be considered the current culture trends, such as:

Books: I've spent so many years working in public libraries that think I should have earned an honorary MLIS by now. I used to read a lot of graphic novels and nonfiction. Lately, I have been in a reading lull, and what I have been reading has been pertaining to my studies. Jodi Picoult is my favorite author. She retweeted me once!

Movies: I have a soft spot for animated films that remind me of my innocent youth (oh, nostalgia, you old friend!), as well as documentaries that remind me of my mission in this life (to save the world!).

Shows: I really don't keep up on much anymore, but what I do try and stay up with: Silicon Valley, Vice, Homeland, The Fosters, Law & Order: SVU. Long time fan of Daria, Gilmore Girls. Just got turned on to Preacher and I am quite enjoying it so far! VICELAND is the only tv channel worth a damn on this stupid box. Also just got into This is Us, and goddamn, get a box of tissues.

Music: 90s alternative rock will forever be my favorite. Other than that, Ingrid Michaelson. Lisa Loeb. Sara Bareilles. Incubus. Weezer. Nahko and Medicine for the People. Supaman. Trevor Hall.

Food: As a cook, and a vegan, I love delicious and innovative healthy plant-based cuisine. I don't care for pizza and fast food, and I do try to source all my ingredients from the healthiest and most responsible sources. Food is my favorite thing.

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NEEDS
Six things I could never do without
✯ Uno. (and other games, board and card variety)

✯ Two-toned prints, and other visual representations of art that I can create and/or surround myself with.

✯ 3-toed sloths, and other ridiculously cute animals.

✯ Fortune Cookies, and other nomable sweets

✯ High Fives from my friends and family

✯ 6? Because seven ate nine (and other terrible jokes)

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HOBBIES
The last show I binged
Bob’s Burgers.

Tina is my spirit animal.

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MOMENTS
Ideal weekend routine
What is commonly referred to as a “weekend”, aka Saturday and Sunday, is actually typically my busiest work days of the week. Although, as it is currently the off-season for Vegfests and other Vegan party times, I actually have the commonplace luxury of two days off in a row.

Regardless of time of year, and when my personal weekend falls, my ideal routine would be a sleep in, a yummy breakfast/brunch/lunch meal (I’m always pining for scrambled tofu and vegan sausage!), and a stroll through nature, followed by more delicious vegan food, some couch time with Netflix or a video game, and the wonderful freedom of knowing no one else owns my time.

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SECRETS
The most private thing I'm willing to admit
I’m less and less private about it, but: I’m autistic!

It’s not a bad thing, I don’t see it as a disability (more like, different-ability), and I’m proud of who I am.

I’m not saying it is easy, because it isn’t, but it is sometimes very difficult to exist in a world that is not designed for the way your process things.

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DATING
You should message me if
you can construct an interesting first message that is neither a “hru” or the same novel that you copy and paste to every woman on this site.

I get dozens of messages every single day, and I’m telling you right now that your “hi”, “how are you”, “what’s up”, etc messages will get you exactly nowhere.

While I love receiving an influx of messages, I painfully cannot reply to them all. I know! Though my fingers can work miracles, they do need a rest every once in a while.

I will keep a special eye out for the right one, mind you. Knowing what you want before seeing it is difficult. Here are some things that I particularly enjoy:

✯ Intelligence is sexy.

✯ Conscientiousness about the world, including food.

✯ Loves to wipe tears from your eyes from laughing so hard.

✯ Loves to give a tickle behind the ears to the small animals in my life (bonus points if our animals get along!).

✯ A degree from an Ivy League school in cuddling (with attached list of references, please).

✯ Hair that can be tousled, braided, finessed, stroked, or otherwise played with. I want to get caught up in it.

✯ I won't respond to one word or one sentence messages. Those get immediately deleted. C'mon boys, at least give it a try!

✯ If you voted for Donald Trump, please do not talk to me, or anyone else ever again. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. Go directly to Jail, and take your orangey, bigoted, idiotic, repulsive dictator with you to where he belongs.

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OUTDOORS
A time I felt "at one" with nature
Psychedelics and a mountaintop.

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VEGETARIANISM
Why I am a vegetarian (or vegan):
I am vegan, first and foremost, for the animals! Compassion is the key to my heart.

I also love the health benefits, and the reduction in my environmental footprint.

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ART & DESIGN
What I make
I mostly create using pen and ink, and sometimes watercolor, but historically I've been a photographer and a printmaker. I also dabble in ceramics.

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PETS
Cats or dogs?
I’m a self proclaimed cat lady.

I like to say I have 2 1/4 cats, because my youngest is a super tiny permakitten. We don’t know what caused her to stay so small, but at about 6 months old she weighs a whopping 1.7 pounds.

I do also LOVE doggos, and can’t wait to someday have my own pupper.