10. Passion.

First things first, I've written for ten days in a row. This is monumental.

Moving on. I really, really like today's prompt. Except there are too many options. My secret or not-so-secret passions? There are plenty. Brief paragraphs on five of them:

Knitting
My sister and I taught ourselves how to knit one Christmas Eve, and I've never looked back. I make knitted Christmas gifts, birthday gifts, random I-love-you gifts. I've made hats, blankets, scarves, sweaters, coasters...even a cell phone cover. My friends Joel and Anna decided that, should they get married and have children, I will be the godmother of all babies. Why, you ask? In the words of Joel: "HAND KNITTED SWEATERS. SCORE!" So there you have it. Make me godmother of your children so they can have handknitted sweaters, people.

Food
Food is delicious and I love it. More importantly, I love making food. Cooking or baking, it's all wonderful. I am learning more about what spices go with which herbs and flavors and how to do more than just sauté some vegetables. Learning more like that, that makes me excited. Then when I get to share it with others, that makes me even happier.

Music
I know. Lots of people like music and it's really cool and oh my gosh fun. But I don't just listen to music. I mean, I don't write it. Which is kind of a shame because I love it. Anyway, I've always sung. And I've played the flute since I was...9? 8? However old you are when you start 4th grade, that's how long I've played. Then I did musicals and show choir in high school. In college, I was a leader for the praise band. Music has always been how I release emotion. I may be a writer but I'm not so good at saying what I feel, so I use songs. Maybe #nablopomo will help!?

Social Media
I don't care what you say, social media is a legitimate source of news. Things spread like wildfire on there. Unfortunately, that can mean that a whole lot of ugly spreads very quickly. But it can also mean that exciting news--like Beyonce's pregnancy announcement, which broke all kinds of Twitter records--spreads quickly, too. Since moving to Pittsburgh, I've been very lucky to be in some great communities. I count Twitter as one of them, highlighted by the experience of PodCamp 6 and meeting all of these wonderful people who like the same stuff I do. And uh, social media is kinda my bread & butter. So there's that, too.

Pittsburgh
C'mon, you had to know this was coming. I've written love notes to Pittsburgh here, here, here and here. If you're a frequent reader (if you are, kudos to you for making it 15 months with me), you know that my heart beats for this city, and that I want to dedicate my professional life to it. I certainly don't want to count any chickens before they've hatched or put the horse before the cart or whatever, but I really don't see myself leaving this city. I want to be here forever. And some day, my husband will act like this:



I love it.