Please read at least the first paragraphs of my profile before contacting me! I don't respond to "Hello" messages with no substance. That includes flattery. Thank you.

If you would like to contact me, please take the time to look over my profile and write about something that might have caught your interest, then share something similar about yourself. "Hello" works fine as a conversation opener in-person, but not for e-mail message correspondence.

I'm sorry, but I do not use chat programs. If you see that I am online it means I'm busy reading or writing longer messages and not that I'm available to immediately answer  questions or to write chat-type messages, one line at a time. Also, when I say "e-mails", I'm not referring to outside e-mail address exchange. I prefer to write my e-mails through this website.

It's the middle of 2023 but my situation of being semi-isolated has not changed much. in 2021 I was able to do some traveling, but it's been just over a year now since I did that. My life is quiet. I am mobility-impaired, though still independent and able to drive. I would like to start getting out more if my health will allow it. In the meantime, I have lots of stories to share, past and present. I love hearing from people from diverse backgrounds... and we are all from diverse backgrounds!

From late 2020: This past year has been unusual, as I'm sure everyone is well-aware. I'm hoping next year will bring many improvements. I can't say that living in semi-isolation with the coronavirus threat has been all bad, though. I've actually strengthened connections with some of my friends and have learned to reach out to people in different ways than during the time when spending time with people in social settings was much more possible.

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Previously:
I'm retired, but still keep very busy with social activities and a myriad of hobbies. I guess my main hobby is taking nature walks with my camera along so I can get close-ups and landscapes of all the beauty I find in the world outdoors. I'm also a movie buff and enjoy learning about scientific and other subjects.

I enjoy making friends all around the world as well as here in the U.S.. Please feel free to message me if you're sincere about writing.

I prefer to write e-mails rather than "chatting". I do not give my e-mail address or any messaging app information to people I don't know well.

Feel free to message me, but please say something more than "Hello" and it would be even better if what you say couldn't be copied and pasted into 100 messages. I generally will not answer "hello" messages from people with newly created mostly empty profiles.

I am not looking for romance, flirting, or a relationship.

I'm also not an English teacher, although I don't mind helping someone with English writing as we exchange communications about our lives and interests. I love writing to people all over the world and I appreciate the fact that you are writing to me in a foreign language. It doesn't have to be perfect. I like to try to learn a bit of foreign languages, too, as I'm able. I'm mainly here to make friends.

I'm mostly a visual person, so although I like to read, I also tend to be more likely to look at the pictures first! I collect things. Over the years, my collections have gotten a bit overwhelming, so I'm in the process of weeding them out now, but I have hundreds of illustrated children's books and a fair number of toys (especially of the "happy meal" variety), loads of CD's and DVD's, and other books on a universe of topics. I also love arts and crafts and have tried my hand at drawing, abstract pour painting, working with polymer clay, and beadwork. I also love to sing.

I love the musicals of Stephen Sondheim, plus other Broadway shows, mostly from earlier years although I'm always open to something new. In Atlanta, there's a very active group of original singer/songwriters and I enjoy attending their concerts on a regular basis. They do a variety of music including folk, celtic, blues, jazz, and a capella singing. I've also attended a fair number of classical chamber music concerts around town and when I sing, my voice seems best suited to classical music, although I'll sing almost anything I can wrap my vocal chords around. Anything with good rhythm also appeals to me, including artists like Earth, Wind, and Fire and African drums.

So many kinds of music and so many favorites. Please ask if you're interested and we can compare notes.

I'm a huge movie buff going back to when I was a couch potato teenager who put her pile of schoolbooks on the stairs and then watched movies all afternoon (somehow I managed to get the homework done between classes and had great grades.. go figure). I love children's movies including most of the beautiful animated films of the past couple of decades. Avatar and the new Alice in Wonderland, and Legend of of the Guardians all blew me away with their beautiful art design. But I also love comedies, thrillers, sci fi, and drama... anything except horror unless it's a spoof and not terribly gory. In the past year, I've re-watched a lot of old movies, musicals,  plus French historical or romantic movies. I haven't been to a movie theater for 2 years because of Covid, but I do watch new ones online when I can. I enjoyed "Frozen 2" and "Pil" recently, both animated.

I don't watch television, per se, but I do love documentaries (especially about nature).. anything I can learn something from. I also like watching a few TV series on DVD or Netflix streaming. My favorites are  usually British shows.  Besides comedy, I also like murder mysteries and fantasy/science fiction shows.

I'm always reading something. I tend to listen to audiobooks far more than actually reading these days. I'm interested in science topics and anything thought-provoking as far as non-fiction goes, and I like detective and historical fiction, plus fantasy and science fiction from time to time. I'm currently reading "One Nation Under God", which is quite interesting.

Carpe diem

Give peace a chance

Why can't we all just get along?