Greetings! I’m Nessa and I live with Jenny-cat in a mobile home in Northern California that can only be considered a cottage if you have a very, very good imagination!
I am a bookworm, a knitter, a singer and a dabbler with computers. I can sew, cook and take flower photos. I sing with a women’s barbershop chorus – we’re currently regional champions for Region 12 of Sweet Adelines. I spend my Christmases in Victorian London, working at the Great Dickens Christmas Fair each year.
I’m terrified of power tools. This last trait, while understandable (I’m left-handed and power tools most definitely aren’t) may prove to be a complicating factor in the home makeover I’m envisioning. Drills, Nailguns, Screwdrivers – I expect I’ll come to terms with. Implements that can take my fingers off – the Plan is to talk my (right-handed) sister who likes power tools into helping. And since she likes projects and lives in a rented townhouse… it’ll mostly be a matter of scheduling. I hope.
Concerning Names
My given name is Kristen, which is a very good name and goes well with my Swedish last name of Skold.
However, it’s also a very popular name, along with all the variations of Kris/ Chris/ Christie/ Kirstie/ Christine and lots of et cetera. (There are seven of us in my 80-person women’s chorus!)
So I’m blogging under a name I chose for myself almost half a lifetime ago. I’ve been involved with the Renaissance Pleasure Faire and Dickens Christmas Fair since college. When I joined the Irish guild I chose Nessa as my Faire-name. It’s out-of-the-common, with an interesting backstory and easy to pronounce when spelled. And since the guild already had both a Kris and a Kristen my new friends decided to call me Nessa all the time. There are a number of people who only know me by this name.
It reflects my fascination and delight in the past and matches the romantical, magical mood I want to create in my home.
Jenny-cat’s name comes from Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot as she is the first Tabby I’ve ever known with both stripes and spots. (She was Wendy when I rescued her.)
I have a Gumbie Cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots;
Her coat is of the tabby kind, with tiger stripes and leopard spots.
Concerning Fandoms
I’m calling them Fandoms here rather than Nerdoms or Geekeries because I want to include Fandoms that aren’t generally considered “geeky” such as Sports Teams, Performers and Hobbies. (Although a sports fan who can recite stats from her team’s 1953 season (especially a fan born since then!) definitely qualifies as a sports geek as well.) For example, my dad is a model railroader aka ferroequinologist aka railfan. He doesn’t see it as a geeky hobby – but it’s certainly had an influence on Mom & Dad’s decor (I’ll show it off one of these days.)
My original fandom is Middle Earth. I first read Lord of the Rings in junior high and I can’t count how many times I’ve read it since then. And The Hobbit. And The Silmarillion. And all the background material Christopher Tolkien has published. I have two copies of LOTR in paper (my original volumes are held together with rubberbands,) plus a version on my Kindle (great for searches) plus the audiobook version. And the extended versions on dvds. I have the Atlas.
Next would be Living History – the Dickens Fair is a highlight of my year and the Renaissance Pleasure Faire is a dearly beloved memory. Then Doctor Who, Discworld and cozy mysteries (especially ones set in England.) Next would probably be the “alphabet shows”: CSI, NCIS, Criminal Minds. And Star Trek, Star Wars and Sherlock Holmes. Harry Potter and anything fairytale.
I don’t get zombies or teen-age-hero(ine) distopias. And I’m fairly neutral on vampires and werewolves (although I like shapeshifters – different mythos I think.) But I appreciate that these Fandoms speak to other people the way mine do to me.
And I believe that we all should live surrounded by the things we love. So as I move through the process of turning my aging mobile home into my Make-Believe Cottage, I’m going to be sharing ideas for decorating with our Fandoms in mind.