The key to success on steemit is to engage with the community, or so I've heard. One way to truly engage people is to let them in on your real life, the person behind the blogger. I tend to be pretty terrible at that sort of thing, both in blog posts and in real life, so when @delishtreats nominated me to write a #tenrandomthings about me post, I initially dismissed the possibility. The thought stuck around in my mind however, so I've decided to give it a go. With no further ado, here are 10 (or maybe only 5) random things about me.
#1

I love to play dress up. It's easily one of my favorite things to do. All I need is an excuse to wear a costume and I'm all in. Here I am dressed up to go see Postmodern Jukebox. I'm fortunate that Matt humors me and plays dress up as well. We had a blast at the show, and I plan to write a blog post about it, but haven't made it that far just yet. I typically don't have to go far to put a costume together either. My closet typically contains plenty of pieces to base a costume around - then all that's left are the accessories.
#2

Book making is a hobby of mine. Here I am working on creating a wedding guest book for a friend's upcoming marriage. My cat thought he'd help out too. He really likes paper. I was introduced to book making in college when I stumbled into a letterpress class. I immediately fell in love with metal type, handmade paper, and learning to tell the difference between a right-side up 's' and an upside down 's.' Since I don't have my own letterpress at the moment, I content myself with creating handmade books.
#3

I take photographing dead things. Yes, I know that's strange, but I find that there is beauty in all aspects of life, and death is one of those aspects. This bird was found on the shore of the Great Salt Lake. It was rather eerie actually. While the entire approach leading up to the lake itself was sandy and littered with dead, skeletonized birds, there was not a single bird flying in the sky or waddling along the shore. Where did they all go? Did they see the bodies and know they should stay away?
#4

As you likely noticed from the earlier photo, I have a cat. His name is Annunaki because he is our Kitty Overlord. He was named after the ancient Sumerian Gods. I travel so much that we have appointed kitty godparents for him who watch him while we are away. It's basically a shared custody arrangement, and we pay all the kitty support. Annunaki loves having his belly rubbed and will often flop down in front of us on his back and wait for pettings.
#5

I like big machinery. Matthew is a freight broker, so we travel to several auctions around the country where big machinery is sold. I love to climb up into the machines. They are so big up close that it's kind of awe-inspiring. I've recently begun learning to operate some of the machines, including a front-wheel loader, an excavator, and a crane. I helped replace the bed on a pickup truck with the crane, and almost took out the barn in the process! I'd never operated one before, so after receiving instruction from Matt's dad Mike on how the controls worked, I was told to move the boom to the left.
Well..... I cranked the lever all the way over to the left and that truck bed went racing toward the barn wall. All three guys on the ground grabbed onto it to stop it from crashing. Mike motioned with his hands, just a little! Oh.... it clicked in my brain: I could move the lever a little bit to make the boom move slowly. Whooops! I sure am glad those guys were there so I didn't take out the whole barn.
Bonus Random Thing

I love to travel. If you've even glanced at my blog, you probably already know that. I've been to all the states in the US except for North Dakota, Rhode Island, and Alaska. I recently decided to visit all of the National Parks in the US too. I spent close to a decade living on the road, house-less, and selling jewelry to make a living. Now that I'm no longer living that lifestyle, I still travel as frequently as possible. On my way into Canada one time I was stopped by customs and questioned as to why I went to the Dominican Republic so often. I guess they thought I was dealing drugs or something. This last year, I traveled somewhere almost every single month. Next year is shaping up to be the same way.
Well.... I can't quite make it to 10, but I did get a bonus fact in there for you. To continue the challenge I nominate @wales, @fionasfavourites, and @quillfire, three very talented writers who I'd love to learn more about.
Thanks for dropping by!

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Wow #mattifer
You are looking so pretty..
Your boyfriend is very lucky to have you..
Best of luck both of you
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Aww shucks, thanks! I'm very lucky to have him as well. :-) Thanks for dropping by. I hope to see you here again.
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Since you travel, I'd like to introduce you to @xcountytravelers (Cross-County Travelers), a delightful couple who have a goal of traveling to every single county in the US. They have quite a few under their belts already, and like to visit parks and landmarks at each stop along the way. They recently joined the #steemitbloggers community, too, so be on the lookout for their posts!
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Yay for more talented bloggers in the @steemitbloggers community. I came across @xcountrytravelers blog some time ago as well. I think we were both featured on the same curation contest "Pay it Forward" one time. It's been a minute, so my recollection is a bit foggy.
I'll have to scroll through your blog and find your 10 things post. :-D Thanks for dropping by!
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These are some interesting facts, Jen :D You made me laugh. Dressing up sounds like a great thing to do. It's not that popular here and I don't even remember when I was in a costume for the last time.
It's so special when you get a handmade book. I'm sure that your friends appreciate it a lot.
Well, about photographing dead things.. I generally stay away of them so can't say anything at all :)
I didn't know that you have a cat! Must be sad when you're gone but godparents are surely compensating it :)
Big machinery is mainly a boy thing so it's very interesting to know that you like it too :)
It was good to get to know you a little better. Some facts were surprising but I like that you shared them with us! :)
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I can't say that dressing up like that is very popular here either. Matt and I were the only people dressed up at the show. I don't mind sticking out though. We both got lots of compliments on our costumes, and I hope that we inspired folk to maybe dress up a little next time they go to a themed show or event.
Thanks for encouraging me to write a random things post. :-)
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It's great you travel so much? Do you schedule shows to sell your jewelry in? The dead photo .. no thanks lol
I like the 1920"s look beautiful.
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I love travelling all the time. I've never been one to be tied to a physical location. I like to wander. I don't do the jewelry anymore though. That was a looooong time ago. I was 18 years old and just wanted to explore the country, so I hitch hiked for several years and sold jewelry to make a living. :-) I sold magnetic jewelry for a time in there as well, and for that I would schedule shows, but for the beaded jewelry I just sold it on the streets wherever I happened to be.
And thanks for the compliment!
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Welcome to Steem mattifer! Partiko is officially the fastest and most popular mobile app for Steem. Unlike other Steem apps, we take 0% cut of your earnings! You can also be rewarded with Partiko Points while using Partiko and exchange Partiko Points for upvotes!
Partiko for Android can be downloaded here on Google Play and the iOS version is available here on the App Store.
If you have more questions, feel free to join our Discord channel and ask @crypto.talk, we're always here to help!
Thank you so much for your interest!
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Awesome photos, especially the big machinery which Tim Allen, The Tool Man Taylor of Home Improvement, would love. Oh, I love cats. Oh, a cat overlord? Wow.
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Thanks! Oh yeah, I bet Tim the Tool Man and his trusty sidekick Al would have tons of fun with that machine. Al might end up hospitalized though. Poor guy.
And yes, kitty runs the house. He likes to let us think we are in charge though. That's nice of him.
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Yeah, Planet of the Cats (Apes).
Reminds me of kittens with Star Wars Light Sabers or lasers, running around, in YouTube videos from like 2008.
Tim Allen.
Did you see Al reunite with Tim in Last Man Standing which is now not on ABC but on Fox News Network?
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@mattifer,
Ha ... I knew you were into dead things! I just knew it.
Respecting the barn, that's called, "creative destruction" ... and it's the way new things get built. You're a creator. You go girl.
The cat looks spoiled.
BTW, I accept your challenge ... 10 Random Things ... here I come.
Quill
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Yayayayayaya for the challenge acceptance. The gauntlet has been thrown. The game is afoot!
And the cat is pretty spoiled. I'm trying to figure out why his primordial pouch is still growing. He's been on a diet for over a month now and still growing.
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@mattifer,
He's not chasing his meals.
Quill
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Perhaps I should attach his food bowl to a roomba?
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We are SO proud to have you as a member of our
FANTABULOUS @steemitbloggers family!
uvoted and resteemed!
❤ MWAH!!! ❤
interested in joining the Steemit Bloggers Community?
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Many thanks! Best steemit community evah!!!
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We need a picture of you in costume, operating the crane , while petting the cat in your lap and then I will be inclined to believe everything you have written, seeing is believing they say, whomever "they" are.
Thanks for sharing this with the #steemitbloggers community.
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Ha! If only I had a pic of all of the above! I kind of had a costume while operating the crane. One of the guys insisted I hold a beer can while he took a couple photos... I'm not a beer drinker so it could be considered a costume. :-) I'll see if I can get a copy of those pics and post one, just for you!
As for the cat, as much as I wish he would sit in my lap and let me pet him, he's not much of a lap sitter. He prefers to sit a foot or so away from me and make me reach to pet him. Oh, and I doubt he'd get anywhere near a machine as loud as that crane was.
Thanks for dropping by. Your comment made me laugh. :-D
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Hey @mattifer, Welcome to Steemit, love your photos!! This is a great platform, I hope you enjoy it and grow into a large user here. If you find anything about this platform difficult to understand please contact me and I will gladly help you. I am here to help. I wrote a piece on how Steemit operates a couple of months back which explains how it all works, it is in my blog. If you like please give me a follow. I write about tech/blockchain regularly, I also plan to do more on photography which is one of my passions. I will keep an eye out for and support your posts going forward!
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howdy there mattifer! oh what a wonderful post and you shared such interesting facts! Some unusual traits for a woman which are fun such as wanting to learn how to operate big machinery, why do you have that desire do you think? I think it's great and can relate, I love big machinery.
anyway, great post!
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I don't know, I've always liked getting my hands dirty, and what better way to do it than to operate earth movers? I am a person who likes to learn things, so it's only natural that I'd learn to operate them if given an opportunity. With Matt's line of work, I have the opportunity from time to time, and it actually can come in handy.
I'm not planning on going to work on a construction site anytime soon, but you never know. :-)
Why do you love big machinery?
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howdy again mattifer! You say that knowing how to operate the big machinery can come in handy? How can it come in handy? I'm just curious, not disagreeing.
When I was on the farm we had the biggest combines and tractors and it was a dream to run them so even bigger ones like earth movers would really be fun. I don't know for sure why, I guess it's the feeling of being part of such a powerful machine. It's just super cool.
Running that crane was fun wasn't it? you had to power to take out a whole barn! lol.
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I mentioned that we go to a lot of big equipment auctions. Well, our job is to ship the big equipment. Part of knowing what it will cost to ship the equipment is knowing the dimensions and whether or not it is operational. So if I know how to operate the machine, I can crunch it up to its smallest dimensions to get an accurate shipping size. I can also take it for a short spin around the yard to determine if it will be able to drive up onto the truck or if we'll need to pull it or get a crane to put it on the truck.
And it's also handy if Matt's dad decides to replace the bed of his truck again. I can jump in the crane and do the easy part while the guys grunt and strain to get the bolts to go in just right. :-) Yeah, running the crane was a blast.
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howdy again mattifer! Oh I see, that is SO cool! I would so love to be able to take these big machines around for a spin! I for one would love to see posts of you doing that!
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I'm going to another big one in February, so I'll see what I can do.
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lol. Hey if you guys ever buy bull dozers you should run over an old car or something with one! That would be a blast.
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That would be great! We don't typically buy the stuff though. We just take care of the shipping.
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I have this bad habit of commenting on your posts at day 6 I see... whoops!
Re: the national park quest - that is awesome, and I wish you the best of luck. My wife wants to do that too. Just out of curiosity, how are you building your official list? Because when I looked into it, I realized there are multiple classifications of National "___".
And re: Rhode Island: you're not missing much :P Just kidding, it's not that bad. There is actually a surprising amount of stuff packed into such a small state. We really enjoyed Block Island. Skip Providence unless you want to hit up the art scene there, but you can get dirt cheap flights into and out of the airport (PVD) from time to time on Frontier. Newport is next on our list of places there to visit.
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I hadn't really thought about how I'd build a list. I figured there was an easy google search available. I'm not interested in the State Parks or the National Forests... just the official National Parks. I guess I'll have to check into it a bit more.
As for Rhode Island... yeah, if I happen to be passing by again I might stop in just to check it off the list...but I really would like to see Alaska. I think I'll take an Alaskan cruise at some point to get there.
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