In the spirit of WordPress, I’d like to introduce myself using “Howdy.” My name is Michelle, and I’m a new addition to the MoneyMakerSpy team as a guest blogger. While I’m new, I do plan to dive in and start producing interesting content for each of you. Shane, Mark, and co. have given me a pretty amazing opportunity here. I’ve always been really interested in interacting with the public through the interwebs, and I intend to take full advantage of it and learn as much about blogging, content writing, & copy writing as I can.

I’ve perused the site a bit and gathered some intel on its main focuses. The general focus seems to be on universal things we all find important, such as making money for financial security or wealth, the advancement of technology, improving one’s health, coping with the ups and downs of life, and the woes of humanity.

So, now that I know a little about y’all’s interests and the things important to you, here’s a bit about me: I wanna start off by saying I’m really bad at these intro posts/about me things. I always kinda wanna just say something like, “I like things and stuff, I guess.” But that seems slightly vague. Oh…it appears I’m prone to hyperbole and understatement. If that helps you to understand me better.

Basically, I’m a nerd. And I’m a nerd about a few things. I love what I love, and I love these things unabashedly and intensely. These things are: Joss Whedon and all things attributed to him, watching TV, reading, writing, crocheting & crafting, listening to music, eating food, & relaxing with family and friends.

• Joss Whedon is the man. He’s a writer, a producer, a director, an activist, and King of the Nerds. He’s brought or helped bring us masterpieces such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dr. Horrible and the Sing-Along Blog, Firefly & Serenity, Dollhouse, Cabin in the Woods, Much Ado about Nothing, and, of course, The Avengers. I’m not gonna elaborate on him too much. That’d take way too long.

• Watching TV: I’m super serious about my television watching addiction. And I don’t use the term addiction lightly. It is indeed an addiction for me. Because of it, every other area of my life has, at one point or another, fallen by the wayside, and not in a good way–as though there could be one, eh? But seriously, I watch a lot of TV. It’s the perfect medium for storytelling. I tend to stick to the following genres: dystopian, apocalyptic & post-apocalyptic, supernatural, horror & psychological thrillers, sci-fi & fantasy, and crime fighting, in one form or another. But like everyone, I like to laugh and I do love comedies, too.

• Reading: I like fiction, and I’ll read it in just about any format: novel, short story, graphic novel, etc. The genres I read are the same as the ones I watch, with the exception of fantasy. I can’t read it. I just can’t. I have no interest or patience for reading 5,000 words purely describing a bedroom. Nope. I’m not a huge fan of non-fiction, unless it focuses on a subject matter I find compelling, but even then, I tend to always go for fiction. Though, I do tend to read a lot of critical work, whether it’s about other writings, writers, or television.

• Writing: Naturally, I’m a much better critical writer than a creative writer. The reason behind this is mainly that I’m far too OCD to write creatively. Just setting up the organization of a creative piece causes me too much anxiety. Critical content just meshes better with how my brain works. I also tend to be a bit of a grammar nerd. It’s what I’ve done professionally and scholastically for way too long for it to not be ingrained in my brain. This blogging thing is something I’ve always wanted to do, so I’m glad that’s coming to fruition, finally.

• Crocheting & Crafting: Crocheting is my main crafting outlet; though, I do other crafts from time to time, too. Primarily, I crochet scarves, beanies, and blankets. Eventually, I plan to donate a lot of the things I make. There are tons of charities out there looking for crocheted items for homeless, babies, and military folk.

• Listening to Music: I hate the question, “What kind of music do you listen to?” I just hate it. It’s very difficult for me to answer because, well, 1. I find music to be highly personal, and 2. I like a wide-range of music. I like lots of stuff from Led Zeppelin, Florence Welsh, Fiona Apple to Metric, City & Colour, Mumford & Sons, and The Lumineers. I like music that is good and doesn’t make me want to stab myself in the ear with an ice pick, I guess.

• Eating Food: Food is good. I like it. We all need it. I really like bacon. I’ve also been on a bit of a pesto kick lately. It’s delicious. I’m a fan of cheese and pasta, too. Basically, things that’ll kill most people if they eat a lot of, I eat a lot of. My friends believe that my body runs on dark matter. None of us are quite sure how I haven’t had a heart attack yet (*knock on wood*).

Those are the things I love and why I love them. I’ve got a big family. I have 6 brothers and I’m the only girl. It’s made life interesting and fun. They’re super awesome though. I love my parents. I’ve also got a rather large adopted family. If my friends put up with me for an extended period of time, I adopt them into my family. Putting up with me is no easy task, so they’re rewarded, or trapped, with me forever.

Now for a list of things I’m not so fond of?

• Orlando, FL: aka the WORST place in the world. It’s where I live, and it’s not awesome, in any way. 1. The weather is crap–year-round. The weather man says it’s 88*, but what this really means is it feels like 190* outside. You’ve gotta factor in humidity. Orlando is all humidity. Also, it rains. All the time, but this confuses people. It confuses people who’ve lived here their whole life. It flabbergasts them, and this dumbfounds me. Which leads to my next point. 2. The traffic. Like anywhere, the weather has an effect on traffic, but in Orlando, it has an extreme effect on it. The rain mysteriously causes Orlando drivers to forget not only what this strange substance is that happens to be falling from the sky, but also how to drive in it. Without fail, it’s like all of the inhabitants of this city suffer from short term amnesia at the onset of rain. On top of that, Orlando is so spread out. If you’ve been to here, you know better than to measure distance in miles. You measure it in time. The time it takes you to get from one place to another. It doesn’t matter if it’s 2 miles down the road. It’ll take you like 15 minutes. You have to include the 8 million traffic lights you’ll stop at. It’s pure insanity. And dangerous. Don’t even get me started on the bugs & wild life, beaches, and theme parks. Ugh.

• Exercising: that sounds a lot like work. Enough said. No thanks; I did enough of that as a kid.

• Loud Noises: I’m an easily startled individual, and it’s not so much fun being scared, contrary to popular belief. Loud noises hurt my head and they make me angry.

• Mathy things: (it’s a word. I promise). It’s not that I don’t understand math. I do. It’s just that I don’t like it, even though it’s what controls this entire universe. I especially don’t like when it starts hanging out with the alphabet. That was the devil’s work, I’m sure of it.

I love learning. My family and I always “joked” that I’d be in school for the rest of my life just collecting a variety of degrees. This was my plan, but apparently those things called bills need this other thing called money, which one can only get from working. Pft. Who knew?

Back in 2012, I graduated with my B.A. in English. I always planned, and still plan, on going to Graduate school, but there are just way too many options. I’ve never been able to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up (which I’m honestly constantly trying to put off–it’s not as much fun as it was advertised). My aspirations for the future changed on what seems like a weekly basis. Why couldn’t I be a lawyer who focuses on the literary and societal merits of the works of Joss Whedon? That’s a thing, right? But then…there’s the sciencey part of me who is super into physics and anatomy and all the cool things the human body can do and does. See my problem?

Professionally, I’ve worked in exactly two industries since I began working when I was 15: the food industry and higher education. They aren’t as dissimilar as many might think. But, I’ve always worked a lot (until recently–I’m currently unemployed). In fact, while I was in college as a full time student, I worked at least 2 jobs. Looking back, I have no idea how I managed all that. I guess sleep wasn’t really a priority.

Well, I suppose that’s enough of me ranting and rambling for now. But you’ll be hearing from me from time to time, and I hope to hear from you.

-Michelle