Calochortus

Female, Presbyterian, botanist, flexitarian, tea-totaller (with some coffee on the side). Half-Punjabi, half-Texan, all nerd.

I currently live with an old Labrador retriever, a young Shih-tzu x terrier mix, and a skittish natural grey cockatiel who sings like a robin.

My main go-to crafts are knitting and crochet, but I also like claywork and sewings. I'm also pretty durn good when it comes to pixel art, so I've been trying to get into cross-stitch.

I love plants of all kinds, but my favorites are monocots from the family Liliaceae. I like dicots, sure, but showy monocots are really pretty. Needless to say, spring is my favorite season.

I also love animals of all kinds -- pretty much everything except ticks. I'm a biology nerd, so I'm good with spiders, snakes, worms, and even less-represented animals like liver flukes.

I tend to like any kind of postcard -- touristy, non-touristy, cardboard from cereal boxes, etc. Not that good with racy illustrations, violence or crude humor. However, I love nature, music, anything with an interesting history, vintage cute (Holly Hobbie, Strawberry Shortcake, etc), and kawaii.

I'm mainly a black tea type of person, but I'll try anything once. I'm not much on artificial flavors (specifically cinnamon and vanilla) or chocolate, but I love fruity teas! I like coffee, too -- medium and light roasts are my thing, but I'd be up for a robust dark roast, too. I'd be ok with well-labeled, well-packaged loose leaf, but would most likely prefer tea in sealed bags, since some of the mail I've been receiving has been coming to me wet... ><

I used to volunteer on an organic farm and I'm now working in clean energy, so I looooove most organic/natural/non-GMO/fair trade/cruelty-free/clean energy anything! I'm ok with conventional, so don't feel pressured by this paragraph, but darn I love local organic wild hybrid strawberries and organic fair trade chocolate (though I'm allergic ;_;).

I'm not one for intolerance -- I've been racially and religiously profiled before and I don't really care for that kind of stuff. I kindly request that prejudiced ideas and statements not be used in any swaps or conversations, please. Instead, why not talk to me about what you like?

I really have issues about evolution, though, since I use it as a tool for my work. I'm very vocal about the correct view of post-Darwinian evolution as well as the history of evolution. It really irks me when people stuff Lamarckian evolution into Darwinian theory and don't even take into consideration folks like Cuvier or Malthus (or the ever-important evolutionary aspects of population biology). I could go on, but please don't start me off because I'll dive straight in and pretty soon I'll bring quantum physics into the equation and then the apocalypse will happen.

I'm allergic to:

• banana and cantaloupe (ragweed cross-allergies)

• Cats (;^;)

• leather and furs

• Shellfish

• Monosodium Glutamate (umami flavoring)

• Codone drugs (not that anyone's going to send something like that, but listed for posterity's sake)

• Creepers (really)

I'm sensitized to chocolate, but can eat a little at a time and not have any really adverse side effects.

My sense of style is... almost non-existent. Check the link to my poupee closet to see (you'll agree).

I like classic lolita styles, bangles, brooches, and hair baubles. I have a soft spot for animal (whole and alive, not fur pattern), plant, and pastry/tea motifs.

Being half-Punjabi and Texan, I like South Asian, Texan and fusion styles.

I try to get my swaps out at least a day or two before the deadline. My post office will only process mail received in the mornings, so I'll usually mark items sent the day after I post them just to be on the safe side unless I post them the morning of the deadline.

Please feel free to send me a pm if I haven't rated something you sent for a while -- I've had a few problems with the SwapBot rating page, so it's possible I just haven't saved your rating properly. I prefer to add some kind of comment to all my ratings, though, so my ratings might take a few days. Be warned, though: I'm a major introvert whose culture is different from 99.99% of the world, so every message you send me will have to be thoughtfully mulled over and thoughtfullly responded to in a culturally neutral way that is clear and concise and does not have any homonyms that might be confusing. That might take a while unless you're asking for a spreadsheet with massive amounts of data (I can do that in a day, especially if it's biological in nature).

If you're a Christian wondering if you can send religious things to me, please do so! If you're of another faith and are wondering the same thing, I'll happily accept as well! As long as it's respectful to everyone, I'm good with it.

If there's something else that you think might offend me or if you're wondering if I'd like something, feel free to shoot me a PM and ask -- I'm pretty good with answering messages.