25 Things About P.J. Deneen

P.J. stands for Patricia Joy. When I asked mom why she picked Joy, she said "Because I was happy." (Give her a break will ya. It was 1970 during Flower Power and all that.)

My favorite books when I was little were Charlotte's Web and Alice in Wonderland.

You'll have to guess what one of my nicknames was. Hint: I was born with reddish (strawberry blonde) hair. It's the name of a cartoon character whose playmate's name was the same name twice. Extra hint: Click on the orange bar below and slide your mouse over it while left clicking and you'll see what my nickname was.

Pic: I know the picture is blurry, but that's me as a Mouseketeer. Geeky I know, but in the 70s, the reruns of the Mickey Mouse Club were popular for kids.

My nickname was Pebbles from the Flintstones cartoon. Bonus - Bamm-Bamm and Pebbles were playmates.

"But then, shall I never get any older than I am now? That'll be a comfort, one way -- never to be an old woman -- but then -- always to have lessons to learn!" ~ Alice from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland

I grew up in Metro Detroit - that means the burbs of Detroit. Dad was a welder at General Motors, and mom worked as a telephone operator.

My grandmother had property in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and gave my younger brother and I an appreciation for the outdoors. My dad's parents were from Kentucky and my grandmother especially instilled the importance of making the best of what you have.

I live in a more rural area now about 1-1/2 hours from Detroit. I admit that probably because of my grandparents' influence I've always preferred the country (see the lazy cat pic below).

*I created the poster in an art class. It's a graphic rendition of the Detroit skyline over the Detroit River superimposed over an image of a landmark statue that is known as the Spirit of Detroit.

I've always been a book nerd. My first job outside of babysitting was at my hometown public library.

I became a Reiki level 1 practitioner in the early 1990s and then did massage therapy for 10 years first doing seated massage for people with repetitive use problems such as carpal tunnel, then salon and chiropractor office work. Eventually, I opened my own office and started a home cleaning side business. I've now gone on to Reiki level 3 but practice mainly on myself, my husband and pets.

I loved working for myself but really wanted a sit-down job, so I studied for a certificate in medical transcription and do that now as an independent contractor at home. I actually started writing at Squidoo with lenses geared toward helping people avoid falling for medical transcription school scams but now enjoy writing about so many other topics.

The first date my husband and I went on was to see Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. We went with a group that seemed to think we didn't know they were fixing us up.

We were grateful for the fix-up and got married almost three years later. He's my very own IT guy.

Nothing against kids, but we were both happy to know we had a desire to be childfree in common. I'm happy just being Auntie Trish.

Don't most little girls dream of being a writer? I always did. I'm slowly working on my dream.

Like many, I started out with the obligatory teenage journals of bad poetry. I still have them. I like to keep all journals to help me know where I've been and where I'm headed.

I am the former editor for three sites at BellaOnline.com - the Pagan, Great Lakes, and Child Abuse sites. This helped me get over writer's block and gain needed discipline in my writing.

I also write for HubPages and Squidoo. In the past, I've written for Suite 101, Examiner.com and Associated Content.

"A spider's life can't help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone's life can stand a little of that." ~ Charlotte from E.B. White's Charlotte's Web

My favorite vacation is a quiet cottage on one of the Great Lakes, preferably Lake Superior.

We've been to Paradise for vacation and live 3 miles from Hell, and both are in Michigan, USA.

I love Cadbury chocolate.

I wish I had more time for gaming. I miss Evercrack (Everquest for the uninitiated), and World of Warcraft is passing me by.

Get past my fiction and poetry writing block.

As a survivor of abuse, I want to inspire other survivors to overcome their creative blocks and eventually use creativity as part of their healing. I have some politically incorrect thoughts about how survivors are treated. You can read them in my article How the Positive Thinking Movement can Harm Survivors of Rape and Sexual Abuse.

Continue to become healthier physically.

Buy land for vacation, hunting and retirement.

Go back to school and increase my passive income through writing and affiliate programs.

Are you interested in sharing your experience and knowledge with others in hopes of getting paid? I earn cash writing about the things I care about at Squidoo and HubPages. Learn how you can too by visiting these links for the Squidoo and HubPages websites.

Spirit of Detroit photo: By mandj98 (Spirit Of Detroit In Red Wing Jersey on Flickr) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
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