midwest neurotica

About

You’ve reached the place where I get to shamelessly expound upon how wonderful I am and what Midwest Neurotica is all about. You don’t have to live in the midwest (I don’t), to find your roots and return to your own heartland. Here’s my story:

This is me, StarXLR8. I live in the DC area.

According to my best friend, Midwest Neurotica is about a “quintessential connoisseur of quirky crafts, conscientious cooking, chaotic yet controlled clutter and one cute cat.” (She is an English teacher, can you tell?)

This is my best friend, eating.

I like to eat too and if you couldn’t tell by my Rubenesque-ness, I prefer comfy, cozy, stick-to-yer-ribs fare. My stint as a vegetarian expanded the horizons of my tastebuds, but there is nothing quite as good as grilled cheese and tomato soup.

This is me, in Charleston, eating a caramel-covered rice krispie treat.

When I am not cooking or eating, which I admit is infrequent, I read blogs, knit very slowly, sew crookedly, read chick lit, watch too much Tivo, talk on the phone with my sweetie, lead a troop of 9 rowdy Girl Scouts and generally try to live every day with creativity, hope and not-quite-reckless abandon. I’m a bit reserved and cautious, but am told I am “actually a people person who just hasn’t figured it out yet.”

This is me, pointing to a sign, after I disobeyed it.

Ok, but what’s the real dirt on you? I grew up in southwestern Michigan, moved to Texas when I was 9, just barely forgave my parents for it, created my online persona StarXLR8, moved to California for grad school, then to DC for work. Somewhere between marrying the wrong person and living alone for the first time, I decided it was imperative for my hypothetical future kids to know about life in the Midwest. I spent my childhood running through cornfields, catching fireflies and selling lemonade on the corner of my gravel road and a county road. I couldn’t fathom that my kids might not understand what its like to be neck deep in a pond, trying fruitlessly to grab a slippery toad with your bare hands. So, I set out to change that. In part of that effort, I started this blog to reclaim my roots and find sweet old-fashioned goodness.

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