About Yours Truly

    It wouldn't be a proper blog without a little about me, would it?

    I'm never good at these things, except to just prattle on about whatever pops up as I get to thinking about things I like to do. But I'll give it a try!

    My name is Lily. I'm 28 years old, married, living in Southwestern PA. I feel it necessary to inform you that I'm 6'3", and that yes, the weather is nice up here. And, no, I didn't play basketball. I have four cats: Molly, Sabal, Thimble, and Miette. As most pet parents do, I've given them all the most ridiculous nicknames imaginable. (Pooby, Little Dude, Nugget, and Beebo, respectively.)

    I don't have a "favorite" anything, really, aside from my favorite band. Colors, animals, foods, drinks of choice, movies, et cetera all are woefully lacking in decisive ranking. I'd say pink, rabbits, stroganoff, whiskey sours, and The Fall are my current choices, but that could change in an hour.

    On the subject of my favorite band, that's an intense topic for me as it's sort of become part of my personal and professional lives as well.

    I've been a passionate fan of The Dear Hunter for ten years now. They've been a massive influence on my passions, my aspirations, and my taste in media overall for a very long time. And within the last half a year or so, I've somehow stumbled my way into working as their video editor for their podcast. I'm so insanely grateful to be able to work with the people who have had such an impact on me for so long. To go from being a fan, to calling them my pals, is an honor I don't take lightly in the slightest.

    Alongside that work, I've also got a few pots in the fire behind the scenes with Casey from the band, a lot of them artistically inclined, and for that I am also so terribly grateful. (And, as you've probably gleaned from my first post, that's precisely the line of work I intend to pursue in my life going forward!)

    In my recent past, I was an actress on the cast of two renaissance festivals. I've played a handful of roles over my time there. A Beekeeper, a satyr, a landsknecht... Before the doors on that path were closed to me, ren fest had been my lifelong dream. It's still very much a part of who I am, in that I've learned a lot from my time on cast about who I am and how I navigate the world around me.

    I've worked so many odd jobs in my life, and several different careers that I felt were going to be "it" for me. Among the myriad, I've held part-time positions at LUSH, Teavana, and the now-defunct Costume World. I've tried my hand in pharmacy, corporate banking, and most recently, IT support at a software company.

    In addition to digital illustration, I also write fanfiction and run a small Etsy shop making things like perfume, dice bags, jewelry, and resin crafts. I dabble in singing, songwriting, and I play several instruments with some modicum of skill. I've been playing piano since I was just 4 years old, in which I've had both classical and contemporary training. I'm also fond of playing the violin, cello, mandolin, and the flute (and have played the french horn & mellophone, though I'm decidedly not a very good brass player.)

    In lieu of some overblown exit statement, I'll just leave all this with you and let you make of it what you will. Suffice to say, like any good Neurodivergent individual, I've got plenty of interests and far too many pots on my fire, and that's just the way I like it.

    So, that's me.

Lovely to meet you.
- Lily Marlene