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So, what would you like to know about me? I'm a big kid at heart. And I'm a gal. Why is it that if you're male, they don't care, but if you're a girl online, they always want a picture of you? And if you won't give them a picture, they insist you're a boy? *Sigh* The world is weird...

Anyway. Let's see. Shall I tell you about my day? No, probably better not to. I'll just write a bit about it in here instead. You can read it later if you want.

I work at a corner shop in the middle of town in Truro, Cornwall, Britain. All right, it's a department store, but it is on the corner, so that's what I call it. It doesn't matter how small or big the business, sooner or later you will always find someone larking around with (or in) a shopping trolley after hours, in the premises or outside it. Outside the premises, the chances are that the larkers will be male, teenage and half-drunk on an 8-pack of cheap lager. The trolley will wind up in a ditch, river or somewhere close to where the larkers live as a result of joyriding.

I'm very fond of cats. Our latest cat is a mischief maker called Barney. He's a sportsman and stealth trainee. When he grows up I think he wants to pursue two careers - playing for England and being a secret agent. Among his favourite games are Ping-Pong Pounce, mouseball and tunnel-lunging. If he can't pursue his careers, he'll pursue you. As with all our cats and friend's kitties, he's learnt to sit up for cat biscuits. He's like a squirrel with claws!

Until recently, we had a dark tortoise-shell called Rosie who never came in for her food when we called her, but once indoors loved tickles behind her ears and would stick her chin out for scrubs under there, too. She was very good at letting me know when it was bedtime as she associated that time of night with cat biscuits.

Next door's cat is Llama, and he's a grey ladies' man with wanderlust. It's softies with food he's after. And gets - his weight fluctuates even more than mine does! He always tried to get in and finish Rosie's breakfast for her. He still likes to come in and, after doing his duty of clearing up any food tidbits we might have going spare, will sneak upstairs and sleep on the spare bed if he can! He and Barney tolerate each other pretty well. Barney is boisterous though. Llama will put up with it or give him a bop depending on the mood he's in.

I love soft toy animals. I've acquired quite a menagerie on the top of my wardrobe. From time to time they get donated to charity or raffles as I move onto the next cutie, but most of them are permanent fixtures. I also have a few rag-dolls that I love. They have the added advantage that they don't smash if they fall. You never can tell, especially if there's a cat about!

I'm also into science fiction, although nothing serious. Unless you count Transformers. I'm a G1 (Classic Transformers) fan, so I suppose I'm the equivalent of a Captain Kirk or Luke Skywalker devotee. Do I collect them? Yes I do, if you must pry ("Oh, but I must! I must!"); known collectables from Takara's Reissues and Alternators/Binaltech range, plus the so-called Classics/Universe range, although I have to confess a little family of cute characters from Beast Wars, Cybertron, Animated and the like have crept in on occassion.

Everyone's basic collection or following should lead to sideline interests. It's only healthy to do so! Transformers, for example, has lead to a multitude of robot based sci-fi interests, real-life robot interests, 3 online role playing environments, a hobby in multimedia and minor computer graphics, a fascination with Japanese culture, language and manga (Japanese comics), plus a fancy for tin toys and Pokemon. Not to mention my acquiring a rather diverse bunch of online friends!

For online roleplaying environments, I have created a couple of robot-girls, whom I'm rather fond of. Dee-Kal is a Junkion, based on the Transformers line of toys and cartoons. Another creation is Jay-Bird. She was inspired by the Beast Wars line of toys. Both have a pet obsession with present-day Earth culture. However, Dee-Kal's perspective is heavily advertisement-based. Jay-Bird's native timeline is 300 years hense, and the ship's database isn't that accurate... Very often neither of them get it quite right! Deeky is open and cheerful, if a little naïve, Jay-B bold and more the tomboy.

And of course, I love Webtruck (even if I don't get to play online as often as I'd like)! Below is my entry for a logo competition. It didn't win, but I don't mind - it was fun to take part!

I mentioned being healthy... I suppose I should confess my sins while I'm at it - I'm plump for my height, and I'm not talking by beauty magazine standards. Don't get me wrong. I do know what's good and what's bad for me - given a choice between a roast dinner and a risotto, I'll go for the latter. Bless her, Mum makes most of our meals along those lines, with lots of healthy veggies in, and low-fat meaty things. But when there's a tempting nibble in view, my will power tends to go out of the window...