DazzleGuts

Since life is getting busy, and I have been late sending out a couple of swaps, it is time for me to stop swapping. All current obligations will be met, so no worries - if you are waiting for a swap from me it is on it's way. I will leave my account open for the future but the present is demanding I turn my attention else where. Thank you to those who sent me great swaps (you know who you are).-DazzleGuts

I was born very self-contained and shy, but have become more laid back and confident, though still quiet.

Don't do anything halfway, and hope for the same in return.

Really like skulls, and skeletons in general. The human scapula is particularly beautiful.

As you probably guessed from the skull comment I don't usually care for cute but appreciate oddities and dark stuff.

Have admiration & respect for the natural world-animals, plants, weather, etc.

Look a lot younger than I am (partly because I am petite) which was very, very annoying when I was in my teens and twenties (how much patronising can you take!), but started paying off in mid-thirties.

Jazz fan - Sun Ra, John Zorn, Albert Ayler......along with some of the originals, such as Duke Ellington.

Also a fan of Veda Hille, Kim Barlow, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Split Enz, Bauhaus, Skinny Puppy, Michael Franti, Bjork, They Might Be Giants, Shonen Knife...

Love to read and have been reading a lot of non-fiction lately. Recently finished reading "The End of the Line: How Overfishing is Changing the World and What We Eat" a must even if all you do is take note of the list near the end of the book on what fish you can eat with a clear conscience. Now I am reading "Wild Grass: Three Stories of Change in Modern China" by Ian Johnson, "Song For My Fathers" an autobiographical account of New Orleans jazz by Tom Sancton, and, "Brightness Falls From the Air" by James Tiptree (aka Alice B. Sheldon).

Science and Science fiction fan since my early teens when I read Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy. Read a lot about the natural world - odd places, plants, and wildlife - and how we perceive/treat it. Also read social criticism.

I don't currently have, or want, TV, but see a lot of DVDs and VHS. Like documentaries, old movies, British TV series, the rare good Science fiction.

Grew up watching the original Star Trek, and have watched most of the subsequent spin-offs. Am a big fan of Doctor Who in it's earlier forms, esp. the black and white beginnings and the Tom Baker episodes. If anyone knows how I can get my hands on early Dr. Who, DVD or VHS, please tell me.

Also think The Prisoner, Columbo, and Max Headroom, were/are great TV shows. The best serial made for TV in many years is "Firefly", which was of course cancelled in its first season. A wonderful cross between a western and a sci fi space adventure.

José Guadalupe Posada (Mexican illustrator circa 1920s?), Andy Goldsworthy (ephemeral environmental), Louise Nevelson (assemblage), Edward Burtynsky (industrial photography, see Manufactured Landscapes), Dave McKean (comics & graphic novels, a Skinny Puppy album cover) Frank Stella (his abstract sculpture), Kurt Schwitters (collage combined with painting, dead artist), Joseph Cornell (boxes, dead artist), Rick Araluce (also boxes but contemporary), Mohsen Khalili (esp. the sculptures - see the web site) Francoise Duvivier (aka Damaged Corpse, dark and creepy, esp. some of the dolls-see the site) more to come...