ElfPuddle is fun, hilarious and encouraging to jiggly ladies who run. She also doesn’t have a blog yet, so we should nag her about that. If you want to be friends with her (and WHY WOULDN’T YOU??) you might be able to ask her to send you the a link so you be friends on Facebook. Only if you’re not crazy. (That eliminates at least four of you. You know who you are….)
Fun fact about ElfPuddle that you (and she) didn’t know: Elfie once won a contest for the best soup in all the land. ALL of the land, including Erets, City-States In Chaos and Patronage.***
And this is a photo of ElfPuddle and her fiance PapaMonkey. HOW CUTE ARE THEY???
Who was your first celebrity crush?
Richard Dean Anderson. (Yes, MacGyver. Didn’t you love him too?) [Editor’s Note: Yes.]
What is your dream job(s)?
Teaching HS English at a wonderful school where discipline isn’t a problem and standardized testing isn’t worshipped.
What would you do with large lottery winnings?
First I’d pay off my student loans. Then I’d help my fiance start the world’s most righteous custody battle.
What would be your dream trip?
I want to travel all over Europe for a year. I’d love to have New Year’s in Scotland, and spend the Spring traipsing around watching the British Isles get green. Then hop the channel and take a train all over the rest of the EU.
What was your very first internet screen name?
ElfPuddle. It’s a very long D&D story from college. (The long story in a paragraph or less: In high school, my brothers, Dad & I played D&D, heavy on the role-playing, light on the hack&slash. In college, I started playing with some friends and didn’t realize until too late that they played the other way around. My little half-elf thief was frequently unconscious. So much so that they started referring to her as Puddle O’Elf. It seemed just right to take that name when I started hanging around gaming forums. Since I met my fiance on one of those forums, I’ve kept the name even on non-gaming sites. )
What are three favorite smells, and why?
I love roasting garlic, because it’s the first ingredient in almost all my favorite comfort foods. Lavender reminds me of my mom, because that’s her favorite scent. The third is my fiance’s skin..a mix of his soap, deodorant, hair gel, and pheromones.
Where would you like to travel?
Besides the British Isles, I want to see Australia, Germany, Moscow (Russia, not Idaho), and go back to Normandy.
What’s your favorite thing to do on a rainy day?
I love cuddling up on the couch with some hot tea and a good book. Jammies and blankie optional, but preferred.
What thing do you believe in that you know you shouldn’t? (Ghost, horoscopes, Wyoming)
I’m a Roman Catholic who meditates with Tarot cards. Does that count? (Do I believe they tell the future? No, but I do believe they give me insight into things about myself, and situations/problems I’m having.) (Wyoming?! Have you seen the Garfield comic? “Wyoming is Italian for ‘No State Here'”. ) [Editor’s Note: Is THAT where I got that from?!? I just know that from a very young age I refused to believe Wyoming was a place. Possibly because I couldn’t spell it….]
Talk to yourself at 5, 10, 15 and 20. What one sentence would you say?
Elfie at 5: Princess Leia is MUCH better than Holly Hobbie.
Elfie at 10: Your brother’s’ cartoons will give you more to talk about when you grow up.
Elfie at 15: Hold on, Elfie. He’s out there, but you can’t have him yet.
Elfie at 20: Finish that bloody math major, girl!
If you could ask me (Alyssa) anything, what would it be? How do you have the energy to do everything you do? Are you just naturally that way, or are you a crack addict? I swear, if I had your life (what I know of it), I’d be back to my grad school 6-pack-of-Mountain Dew-a day-habit.
Naturally this way. I’m super perky and enthusiastic, but kind of lazy. So I mostly run around, flailing my arms in the air and yelling, “ACK! ACK!!!!” I also try to use the Pomodoro technique when I have big projects. This doesn’t usually work. And I drink a lot of yerba mate. The white-washed from Whole Foods kind, not the real stuff.
***If I got any of that wrong, blame the D&D wiki I used….
Kind of a Mess 
great interview! you two are adorable. and I loooove the smell of roasting garlic… AAHHHH.
Alyssa, LOL. the mental image of you running around flailing your arms yelling “ACK! ACK!!!” is going to get me through this very busy day…!
Thanks, dday. We are very adorable, if I do say so myself.
I feel much better. I flail and scream “Ack!”, but only in my head. My butt is too lazy to actually run around.
It has always been my experience that anytime I join a new gaming group my character spends most of their time unconscious. I think that might say more about how I play D&D than anything else.
Alyssa I totally have memories of you in college that are pretty much flailing and going Ack Ack! Perhaps not those words exactly, but close enough.
Hee! Sounds a lot like how my D&D campaigns go. (The unconsciousness part, that is…)
I’m so relieved that I’m not the only unconscious character!
Hooray for geeks, nerds, and the rest of the weary!
The explanation behind ‘Elf Puddle’ was on of my favourite parts. Well, that and picturing Alyssa’s flailing. 😉 Oh D&D… first gaming system I ever played (rather confusedly), in a heavy RP campaign of different sorts now so less unconsciousness. 😛
Yes, you must must must go see Germany ( I grew up there so I’m a bit biased but still must must must) and I second….third? the yummm roasting garlic comment