victorykris

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Hi! I'm Kris and I live in Las Cruces, NM. Previously I lived all over Oregon and for the last 14 years in Washington state, around Seattle.

I was very active in Swap-bot from about 2012 to 2017. I love it so much and regret giving it up. Now, I'm really trying to renew my soul and do things that feed me. Also, I had been really active and miss the community.

Also, a note about my philosophy for this hobby

• This should be a safe, fun place.
• I don't watch for when a swap has been marked as sent or if it's even sent by the date of the swap.
• We're humans with real, full lives and this should not be stressful.
• Really I just want to receive the swap item in a reasonable time frame and enjoy your work.
• Please communicate with me if there will be a significant delay and we'll work something out.
• Other communication is valued but not needed.
• Please don't stress about a swap with me.
• I also honor that others need more structure and compliance with deadlines and with all swap details. So, I do my best to communicate well, and to pay attention to detail. If you are unhappy for any reason please give me the courtesy of a message and the chance to make it right for you.
• Finally, I do want to be part of keeping Swap-bot a safe place, so I won't hesitate to mark a swap with a 1 or a 3 if no effort is made to fulfill the commitment.

And a plea to those who feel they need strict compliance with swap details. Please consider why your here and if you are interfering with others' fun by causing unnecessary stress.

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Other Bits

• I'm 51 years old.
• I have no children and am trying to parent my inner child.
• I do have two young adults that I call my kids (with their consent), and I think they're amazing!
• I adore my niblings (gender neutral for my brother's children.)

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Why Las Cruces?

I moved down here because my aunt is helping me get back on my feet after divorce and offered me a place to live. It's been a huge change, but I'm beginning to love it. It's truly the Land of Enchantment.

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Work

I'm getting my Masters in Art Therapy and Counseling, and will be graduating in a couple years. I'm getting back into Swap-bot partly because it gets me to do art just for fun, not just as an assignment.

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I love making ATCs and zines. They are probably what I'll swap most.

My go-to media is collage and usually mixed media collage where I add paint or stamps or objects, whatever grabs my attention. This is really what I tend to make for ATCs.

Zines are a favorite thing to swap and I make both electronic and hand-drawn versions. I've never really done one with collage elements, so I'm curious why I haven't.

I love all things journaling and am getting into junk journaling lately.

And of course, anything therapeutic art or art therapy.

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Other Dabbling Interests

• any variety of markers and colored pencils
• wood burning
• embroidery
• assemblage (especially dioramas)
• crochet
• Fimo
• Articulated dolls/creatures

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New Fun Exploration

• Pottery
• Dollmaking
• Gourds

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Drama

• Sherlock (BBC)
• Grey's Anatomy
• Glee
• Fleabag
• Ted Lasso
• Discovery of Witches

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SciFi/Fantasy

• Firefly
• Owl House
• The Orville
• Eureka
• Resident Alien
• Picard
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

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Humor

• Miranda
• Vicar of Dibley
• What We Do in the Shadows
• Schitt's Creek
• Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt
• Ghosts and Ghosts UK
• Letterkenny
• Our Flag Means Death

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My Go-to Favorites

• Lars and the Real Girl
• The Greatest Showman
• The Martian
• Love, Actually
• Notting HIll
• Waitress
• The Age of Adeline
• How to Steal A Million
• The Christian Bale Batman series
• R.E.D. and R.E.D. 2
• The Terminator Movies (especially Genisys & Dark Fate
• The Big Lebowski
• Captain Marvel
• Ghostbusters (the female version)
• Oceans 8
• And more....

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Genres I lean towards

• Humor - especially irreverant
• Dystopian
• Action
• Rom-Com
• Quirky

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Traditions

• Halloween - Hocus Pocus
• Winter Solstice - The Seeker: The Dark is Rising (3007)
• Christmas - Elf, Die Hard, While You Were Sleeping, White Christmas, Muppet Christmas Carol
• Groundhog Day - Groundhog Day of course

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As a graduate student, I've had so little time to read, but here are some past favorite books and authors:

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Books

• The All Souls Series (Discovery of Witches)
• The Host by Stephanie Meyer
• The Stand by Stephen King
• Ender's Game (series)
• The Time Traveler's Wife
• The Second Star by Alma Alexander
• The Hunger Games Series
• The Prince of Tides
• Lonesome Dove

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Poets

• Andrea Gibson
• Mary Oliver
• Nikita Gill
• Walt Whitman

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Authors

• Anne Tyler
• Larry McMurtry, but especially the Last Picture Show Trilogy and Lonesome Dove
• Tom Clancy, especially Without Remorse
• Kent Haruf

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Recent Favorites

• The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
• The Invisible Life of Addie Larue

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Non-Fiction

I also love non-fiction, especially memoir and self-improvement and self-care. I also love books that combine historical people, science, and culture. Some favorites:

• Glennon Doyle
• Brene Brown
• The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
• The Girls of Atomic City
• The Secret History of Wonder Woman
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

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Fantasy/Scifi

I love dystopian fiction. I generally like fantasy that takes place in the modern world. I like scifi that's more character driven.

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Favorite People & Actors

• Julia Child
• Betty Whilte
• Alan Rickman
• Audrey Hepburn
• Helen Mirren
• Melissa McCarthy

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Other Hobbies

• Research (like writing papers)
• Swimming
• Knife/axe throwing
• Cooking
• Travel, especially road trips

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Favorite colors:

• rose gold
• that dark brown at the very end of a sunset
• darker reds
• darker teals/turquoise
• really any rich color
• all purples

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Favorite animals:

• opossums
• platypus
• sloth
• moths
• dragonflies
• rats
• raccoons
• spiders (cute, friendly please), also webs without the spider actually on them
• fantasy animals

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Favorite Plant Life:

• daffodils
• dandelions
• hydrangeas
• peonies
• Gerbera daisies
• roses in uncommon colors, like oranges, not really red or white
• succulents
• wildflowers
• fantasy flowers
• not carnations please

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Favorite foods:

• coffee
• anything cheese
• all things peanut butter
• gummy candy
• Brussels sprouts
• Reeses, Take 5, Skor, Heath Bar
• Trying different cultural dishes

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Landscapes - I love landscapes, but not a huge fan of ocean, I especially love sunrises/sunsets, and rivers/lakes are a huge win, plus wildflower meadows

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Interesting Themes

• roadside attractions
• kitsch
• mid-century
• architecture
• quirky
• silly
• whimsy
• feminism
• empowerment
• cryptozoological beasts
• unusual lycanthropes
• mindfulness
• gothy things
• the moon cycles and nature cycles in general
• death rituals
• fey & fantasy creatures
• rituals/ceremonies in general
• goddesses
• witchy things
• mystic and metaphysical
• queerness & pride
• water - especially creeks, rivers, and mountain lakes
• Medieval history
• All things geek
• food

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My Idea of Fun

• roadside attractions
• 101 in 1001
• local festivals
• dressing silly
• tiaras while doing mundane things
• daily celebrations

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I love all PCs, and really enjoy ones that include the themes listed above. Some favorites though are:

• vintage
• obscure travel (like motel PCs)
• irreverent or NSFW
• "weird"
• contemporary artists - local, niche, like the people who sell at art fairs and festivals and conventions, or local galleries
• the more unique the better

If you don't know what to write I love:

• Lists: top 5 foods, favorite colors, pet peeves, favorite words, goals for next week
• Favorite quote or song bit or poem bit
• What do you love most about yourself?
• What are you most grateful for?
• Do a quick journal prompt you Googled
• Tell me a secret
• Tell me your treasured dream that you are afraid to share
• Tell me your biggest fear
• What is the strangest thing you own?
• What is the best thing someone can do to make you feel loved?
• What is your most important bucket list item?