All About Me
They say that true gentlemen are born, not made. I believe the same is true of insanity. You can be born with it, or life can make you that way. In my case, I had no chance. It was in my genes and people with the same genetics raised me and imprinted me with their insanity, ergo, I was destined to a life of craziness. Not the babbling kind where you sit in the corner and drool while you count your toes (I have ten, but I promise I don't drool when I count them. Much.) but the kind where you just look at the world a bit skewered from clinically sane humans. Luckily, I learned to find humor in my inability to walk to the same drummer as everyone else. And occasionally I can walk to the beat long enough to fool most people into believing that I'm "normal."
I'm "over 50", fluffy (I hate the word fat) and always felt like one of those girls that would have been described to a potential blind date as having "a great personality." I wasn't ugly as a teenager--fluffy didn't come along until 20 years later--but my personality has always been my best feature. If I don't laugh a half-dozen times every day I consider it a waste of a perfectly good 24 hours.
I started to read when I was four and I haven't stopped since. I can easily go through a book a day. And not just the easy fun stuff (like Charlaine Harris's True Blood series or Janet Evanovich's Number series....both of which are favorites!) but deeper stuff including classics and gory thrillers. I speed through and still manage to retain enough to be able to talk you through the story.
I have always loved story telling. I use mine for good instead of evil (most of the time) but I will always feel blessed that I grew up in the South where the ability to spin yarns is in our genetic code. My dad used his talent for selling used cars, making my mother jealous and making his friends laugh. I use mine as an outlet for my depression and for sharing my humor. I am a true Gemini... two sides to every story, two faces in every mirror.
I'm happiest when I have deadlines looming, projects piling up and never a moment to sit and complain about being bored. I have had as many as three novel and non-fiction manuscripts going at the same time while I take a break to write a couple of contracted magazine articles, create a new website and write a few hundred blogs. And help keep our farm running. I don't multi-task, I multi-live.
My house is a wreck. I blame it on too much to do and not enough time to do it, but if I'm honest (dammit, do I HAVE to be? *whine*) I just don't have the inclination OR the genetics OR the early training to be a good housekeeper. I don't care enough.
On the other hand, I do have an excuse as well as a reason. We started a remodeling project at the same time that we were closing one business and starting another. Plus all my writing projects taking up time. Occasionally I wake up with the urge to nest and I paint a wall, or hang a picture or (heaven forbid these mornings come often!) sweep and mop and wash windows. But, I never make a bed unless company is coming and I have to admit that I am uncomfortable in homes where everything is neatly in place and pristinely clean. I function better in chaos but in an orderly chaos. To the outside world it looks like a hurricane hit, but I know where everything is and why its there. Want to screw with me? Move something and don't tell me. I'll go nuts within an hour.
I love gardening, especially working with heirloom plants and herbs. I like putting a seed into the dirt and watching a plant emerge that is identical to the ones I picked from my grandma's flower garden five decades ago to decorate my mud pies.
 |
| Buford with his favorite Aunt Lori |
Horses touch my soul in a way that nothing else ever will. Dogs will always be part of my heart and my life. I devoted 30 years to breeding and exhibiting and I now know enough to make me want to slit my wrists when I talk to pet people who don't care enough or don't want to know the facts. Sometimes you can know too much about something. I am madly in love with our bluetick coonhound, Buford. I had wanted to get a coonhound puppy to dabble my toes in the dog-showing world again. But, a shelter in Tennessee emailed me about a "wonderful" dog in their shelter that desperately needed a forever home. Something about his picture touched our hearts, so we made the eight hour drive to adopt Buford. And haven't had a single regret. He IS the coolest dog I've ever known. His little mutt sister Lizzie is not impressed by Buford. She tolerates him. But her favorite pastime is rolling around in his bed when he's not looking. And stealing his bones. Buford weighs 110 pounds, Lizzie weighs 9 so I'm not sure whether she's plucky...or just stupid. We added another bluetick to the family a year ago. A show quality puppy bitch, Twister (long story in her name, the kind that blogs are made of) that is "a character" to say the least. We've threatened to sell her to gypsies a thousand times, but then she grins at us or nestles up against us while we nap and we forgive her the insane barking, the transporting of garbage from the kitchen can to her "nest" in the yard and even the occasional chewed shoe.
We have a herd of miniature goats, flocks of Serama and Cochin chickens, two horses and two donkeys. On our 17 acre farm, much of which is being allowed to grow wild as a wildlife sanctuary (that's our story and we're sticking to it). That may change if the raccoons don't learn some respect for our chickens. I own a gun. I know how to use it. Spread the word.
That's me in a nutshell. If you check out my resume http://bobbye-land-hudspeth.viviti.com/ you'll see that I've had a checkered career past and I've left a lot of hobbies and jobs in my wake. Instead of seeing that as somehow proof of my instability, I prefer to think of it as giving me background for the novels I'm writing. And, as someone who recently saw my website but hasn't met me described me to someone else "If I ever fly to Australia, I'm going to hope that someone like her is sitting beside me."
