Reverb11, no. 4 | Things

A few of my favorite things in 2011:

1. Tea. This is the year I truly embraced tea. I've been trying for years, of course, because my Grandma drew a series of photos years and years ago of her cats sipping green tea in boats on water, so whimsical and dreamy. Because green tea is chock full of antioxidants, because it hydrates better than water, because it prevents bad breath and prolongs one's life. But this is the year that, in an effort to break up the routine of my work day a bit, I began bringing tea with my lunch--a black or green (with caffeine) for the morning, and a rooibos or otherwise herbal for the afternoon. Just recently I even discovered the joys of iced tea (unsweetened), which is now my standard order in restaurants--it cleanses the palate as well as quenches thirst.

2. Clothes on the Line. Admittedly, this is not a new favorite thing. But, this summer I forwent using the dryer completely--hung everything on the line from towels to socks to unmentionables. There is nothing more pleasurable than watching one's bed sheets whip about on the wind. All summer long I felt like a pioneer woman. Who needs electricity, am I right?

3. Caramel. Strawberry Cow Tails are my favorite mid-shift treat while working at the convenience store. And I had to ween myself off of sliced apples dipped into caramel sauce this year--around August, it became a problem.

4. Color. Life is too short to wear beige. This year I stripped my closet of all brown garments, and threw all my white items into a mesh laundry bag to be dyed. I was inspired by bloggers like The Dainty Squid, who seemed to have a monopoly on the rainbow. I still have a soft spot for the sophistication that wearing black lends, but most days it's a cacophony of color or bust.

5. Art Prints. This sort of goes hand-in-hand with Color. While my walls are not blank, exactly, they could use some attention, a little make-over. So, this is the year I began trolling Etsy and the flea market and my Grandma's house for art, in all its forms. Now, if only Frames were among my favorite things. I have all this art and nothing with which to hang it.

6. Wine. See #TheWinoDiaries.

7. Naturalism. When I was a wee lass, I wanted to be a zoologist/ballerina. My interest in the natural world has not faded any (though I'm less enthused by the thought of studying science, or studying anything, really, so intensely). And, with the help of the interwebs and a little free time during lulls at work, my knowledge has expanded a bit this year. Various of my tumblr tags and clippings in my journal prove the point.

8. Epic Fantasy. I finished the Lord of the Rings books this year, finished the Legend of the Seeker television series, started the books upon which LotS is based upon, the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind, and let us not forget my love for Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, a world in which I am still happily immersed, and I listened to a lot of pagan metal featuring accordions and windpipes. I want Wolfman and me to write an epic fantasy series of our own, or live one. This is the genre for me. I've even been inspired to try my hand at playing Dungeons & Dragons, but as I told my husband, I'd need to practice with him before I joined his group. And as he told me, "That might end up getting sexy."

9. Kale. So crisp, so flavorful, so full of vitamins and good things, and it holds up so well in soup (my favorite being a kale, white bean, and sausage soup--so tasty)!

10. Witchery. Songs about witches, witch figurines in my house, pretending to cast curses on the middle schoolers who throw garbage in my yard. All of that.