I am participating in Susannah Conway‘s August Break 2015 on Instagram, and today’s prompt was “five facts about me.” So, ever the overachiever, I decided to narrow my five facts down to random things that I collect or have collected.
- I have an unholy obsession with ramekins. I have at least four different sets. I am not even sorry because 1) they’re cute, 2) they serve as both cookware and serving pieces, and 3) they make individual portions. I have a whole drawer that’s just ramekins and cookie cutters. I hardly ever open this drawer without making some sort of appreciative squeaky noise at the cuteness that it contains.
- I collect coffee mugs from various cities. Pictured here are my New York mug and my New Orleans mug (well, one of them). If friends go on trips and feel the need to bring me a gift, that’s my favorite gift to get. And don’t get fancy – I like standard-sized mugs.
- I am working on a patchwork blanket made up of knitted squares that I will eventually weave together. This started out as “I’m going to make lots of dishrags” and quickly evolved into “I don’t need that many dishrags – that’s ridiculous.” So…blanket it is!
- My favorite wine stopper is a crystal pig. I bought it when I was a member of P.I.G.s, the Performance Interest Group of the Communication Studies department at UNT. I had a brief period of collecting pigs, but that didn’t last long. This is one of the few remaining items from the collection.
- And last but not least – the Smallville collection. Or, rather – the Lex collection. One of my first online communities was the Smallville fandom. I participated pretty frequently. I read and wrote fanfiction. I was a member of the Michael Rosenbaum Message Board (MRMB, for short). Best of all, I traveled to meet other fans in person whom I had met online. Some of them actually became pretty close friends. *waves* I don’t have all my Lex paraphernalia, but the Ty Nant bottle (Lex’s water of choice) and my Lex action figure are two of the pieces that have survived.
What unusual collections do you have?
M. Suzanne Terry 
We have shot glasses because they’re easy to find and carry when one is out around the world on vacation. I have a collection of tools and craft supplies. What would I collect if money and open land were no object? Cats. I would collect every cat that wanted to live with me. My picture would be next to “Crazy Cat Lady” in the dictionary. And I’d have a staff to help take care of them – since funds would be unlimited. And people who couldn’t have cats due to space limitations – or whatever reason – could come visit them for free. 😉
I think my mother would do the same – just fill the farm up with cats. I would like to visit a cat farm. I accept this.
I was really into Smallville too, though my interest started waning after Season 4. I also use ramekins for all kinds of things. 🙂
Smallville did have lulls. There was a large period of time when even diehard fans called it “our big, dumb show, but look how pretty.”