Well, for those of you who don't know me, the name's Adrianne Vandal, AKA Adrianne the Black Fire, AKA Black Fire, AKA Blackfire42, AKA Dragonlady, AKA the black dragon. Adrianne Vandal isn't my real name, of course… at least not yet. Do I have a real name? Of course I do… but unless you're someone I've met in RL or someone I give money to, you're never going to know now are you? Call it a personality quirk. Call it whatever you want. Adrianne Vandal is who I am and who you are going to know me as.

All that said, welcome to Adrianneblackfire.net! Home of… well, home of me, for one thing. This started out as an idea my roommate and I had. To make our own website, own a little piece of cyberspace and then use it as a way to expose the world to our own brand of thinking. Didn't quite work out that way. Due to server problems the original incarnation of this site, Versemix went "bye, bye" and then went "bye, bye" again when someone tried to hack into the company that owns my server. ::sigh:: Then the company that owned that server either went under or was bought by another company who is now holding Versemix.net hostage, so I decided it was time for a change....

So this whole idea of an online journal is all a bit new for me. I mean let's face it! I'm exposing the everyday miasma of my life to millions and billions of people I don't even know! I don't even like to talk about myself all that much, yet I'm stroking what little ego (little?) I have by telling billions of total strangers of my everyday comings and goings.

Well, whatever! Let's start off with the pleasantries - such as they are - of who you are actually dealing with here:

Name: Adrianne Vandal

Hair/Eyes: Bottled red/Hazel or green

Age: 30 (at the time of updating this)

Sign: Taurus

General Location: The San Fernando Valley, California

Job: Customer service for a company in Calabasas, aspiring writer, part-time theatre technician, culinary student and witch (you can change the spelling on this one if you like. Either one will work).

Areas of interest: Reading, movies, gaming (of all kinds), writing, anime, comic books, dragons, music, technology, cooking and ridiculing the everyday stupidity of the human race.

Historical timeline of my life:
1977 (the year of the snake): Born in Canoga Park, Ca.
1977 - 1995: Grew up in Burbank, Ca (home of Warner Brothers, Evil Empire #2 (Disney), and now DreamWorks).
1995 - 1996: Suffered through a year as a UC system Biology student in San Diego, Ca.
1996: Dropped out of the UC system and went back home.
1996 - 1999: Community college years (started out as a History major with the intent to transfer to the CSU system… ended up with an AA in Liberal Arts, an interest in theatre tech and very little desire to move on to higher learning), years of one, two and three jobs plus full-time academics, very little free time, very little desire to be at home, very little patience for parents who suddenly don't know when to butt out of my business.
1999 - 2001: Moved from a nice big house in Burbank to a tiny room in the garage of a friends house to a 2nd story, two-bedroom apartment with said friend and another friend.
2001: Roommates move out. Two-bedroom apartment becomes MINE! ALL MINE!!! BWAHAHAHAHAAAAA…. Oh…sorry.
2002: Turned 25. Decided to try my hand at the world of culinary arts. Enrolled in the California School of Culinary Arts where 15 months of my life will be spent learning to kick ass in the kitchen.
2003: Graduated from Culinary school... with honors... However, pursuing an actual job in the kitchen does not pay the rent, so I remain in my hell-hole of a job, for another... 3 1/2 years.
2004: Started taking Tai Chi... out of a need to get up off my arse once in a while.
2007: Added Aikido to my workout schedule... Subsequently, got fired from my job, of 7 1/2 years - enabling me to take Aikido 5 days a week, instead of only 2, found another job (still not cooking).

Favorite authors: Anne Rice, Douglas Adams, Scott Cunningham, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Mercedes Lackey, to name a few.

Favorite books: The Mummy (or Ramses the Damned), Twilight of the Idols, The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide, Queen of the Damned, Chariots of the Gods, Chrome Circle and any Dragonlance book written by Margaret Weis and/or Tracy Hickman.

Favorite literary characters:
Ramses the Damned (The Mummy)
Lestat de Lioncourt (The Vampire Chronicles)
Zaphoid Beeblebrox (Hitchhiker's Trilogy)
Marvin the Robot (Hitchhiker's Trilogy)
Nietzsche's madman (The Gay Science)
Tasslehoff Burrfoot (Dragonlance)
Foxtrot X-Ray (Serrated Edge)
Grand Admiral Thrawn (Star Wars: Heir to the Empire Trilogy)

Favorite Movies: Star Wars, Star Trek III, Tron, The Matrix, Dangerous Beauty, Dark City, Terminator 2, Dragonheart, The Shadow, Stargate, Pump Up the Volume, The 13th Warrior, Bram Stoker's Dracula, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Pirates of the Caribbean movies and anything directed by Tim Burton.

Favorite Music: Anything but rap and disco (with the only exceptions being Will Smith and Abba, respectively).

Favorite Musicals: Phantom of the Opera, Jekyll and Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel and Chess.

Favorite Bands: Boingo, Tempest, Blackmoore's Night, Metallica, Inkubus Sukkubus and The Doors, to name a few.

Favorite TV shows: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Quantum Leap, Roswell, Forever Knight, Highlander, Babylon 5, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Heroes, Smallville, Witchblade, The Dresden Files, Dr. Who, Iron Chef, Iron Chef America, Good Eats.

Favorite Comics/Manga: Green Lantern, Supergirl, Star Wars, Sailor Moon, JLA, Titans, Young Justice, Impulse, Teen Titans, Gen 13, Spider-Girl, X-Force and all of the Batman books (off-shoots included).

Favorite Comic Characters:
Kyle Rainer (The current GL)
Nightwing
Nightcrawler
Batman
Domino
Impulse
Supergirl
Beast
Gambit

Favorite Anime: Ranma ½, Sailor Moon, Magic Knight Rayearth, 3x3 Eyes, Fushigi Yuugi, Record of the Lodoss War, The Hakkenden, Yu Yu Hakushou, Ronin Warriors (Yoroiden Samurai Troopers), Phanom Quest Corp, Inu Yasha, Ceres: Celstial Legend, DNA2 and anything created by Studio Ghibli.

Favorite Anime Characters:
Ryoga and Moose (Ranma)
Deedlet and Carla (RLW)
Sailors Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto (SM)
Yakumo, Pai and Lee Ling Ling (3x3 Eyes)
Nuriko and Chichiri (FY)
Hiei (YYH)
Zagato, Celeste and Makona (MKR)
Nanami (PQC)
Anubis and Sage (RW)
Karin (DNA2)
Shippo (Inu Yasha)
Naussicaa (Naussicaa of the Valley of the Wind)
Ceres (Ceres)

Favorite Games: Lunar 1, Lunar 2, Legend of Dragoon, Valkyrie Profile, D&D, Trivial Pursuit, TIE Fighter, Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XII, LEGO Star Wars, Lego Star Wars 2, Dofus and Mench Ager Dich Nicht (Don't Get Mad - the German equivalent of Sorry).


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