FinleyC

About me! Well, what can I say here that wouldn't ruin the entire experience of getting to know someone via this site? My name is Finley. I'm 32, I live in Virginia, I was born and raised in California, but spent most of my adult life in Europe. Germany to be precise.

I'm a Virgo. I hear that makes me super organized and gives me an amazing eye for detail. Only one of those is true. I'm a total wreck! I'm not organized at all. I am, however, out-of-this-world when it comes to attention to details...a-hem, when I want to be.

I'm an artist. Professionally. I paint, I draw - charcoal and pencil only. I cannot draw with a pen to save my life! I have never understood the absurdity in that.

I am a fully-raw vegan.

I love to walk barefoot! I hate shoes, but I adore them as well. Raises eyebrow. I have more shoes than you can possibly count, and I've worn maybe only three pair. Ever. I hate wearing shoes. I hate wearing clothes as well, but I hear it's illegal to go without them. Again, though, to be the ever walking contradiction...I'm very fashion savvy! Well, my own version of what's "cool." I do not follow trends. Mostly because what is "trending," is usually distasteful.

Everything but country. Not sure why, but I can't make country music work for me. At all.

Meg & Dia ~ Skrillex ~ Lorde ~ Will.i.am ~ Swedish House Mafia ~ Katy Perry ~ Avicii ~ Fall Out Boy ~ Icona Pop ~ Ed Sheeran ~ Nause ~ Snoop Dogg ~ David Guetta ~ Eminem ~ Billy Idol ~ Sublime ~ Marilyn Manson (only a few songs) ~ Paul Kaulkbrenner ~ Calvin Harris ~ Can't Hold Us ~ Fergie ~ Arctic Monkeys ~ Fort Minor ~ Jessie J ~ Kid Cudi ~ Labrinth ~ Tinie Tempah ~ Loreen ~ Maklemore ~ Ryan Lewis ~ M83 ~ Rage Against the Machine (only some) ~ Lana Del Rey ~ Nora Jones ~ Stevie Nicks ~ Fleetwood Mac ~ Flyleaf ~ Kamelot ~ Alesana ~ Chris Isaak ~ Robin Thicke ~ Toni Braxton ~ Crazy Town ~ Hinder ~ Rihanna ~ Kings of Leon ~ Semisonic ~ K.D. Lang ~ Apocalyptica ~ Anna Kendrick ~ David Nevue ~ The Kills ~ En Vogue ~ Blue Foundation ~ Angelzoon ~ Niki Minaj ~ OneRepublic ~ Bruno Mars ~ The Joy Formidable ~ Train ~ Michael Jackson ~ Lil Wayne (only some) ~ Halestorm ~ MNDR ~ Christina Perri ~ Sarah Bareilles ~ Jonny Lang ~ Far East Movement ~ Framing Hanley ~ The Ready Set ~ Carney ~ Maroon 5 ~ Drake ~ Annie Lennox ~ The Cranberries ~ Evanescence ~ Laura Marling ~ Uh Huh Her ~ Gavin DeGraw ~ The Script ~ Coldplay ~ Aerosmith ~ Mike Posner ~ Foster the People ~ Imagine Dragons ~ Plain White T's ~ Adele ~ Placebo ~ AWOLNATION ~ Kings of Leon ~ Parachute ~ My Chemical Romance ~ Demi Lovato ~ Avril Lavigne ~ Santana ~ Keane ~ Stevie B ~ Gym Class Heroes ~ Yo-Yo Ma ~ Kerli ~ Hot Chelle Rae ~ Case ~ Foxy Brown ~ Linkin Park ~ Scary kids Scaring Kids ~ Sarah Blasko ~ Prince ~ Ryan Adams ~ Selena Gomez ~ Cobra Starship ~ Boston ~ The Naked and Famous ~ Def Leopard ~ AC/DC ~ John Mayer So...much...MORE!

How about favorite authors instead? Believe me, that will drastically cut down on my list here. I'll only name a few big favorites.

Amy Bartol ~ Paula Brackston - What a wonderful author! ~ Charles Buckowski - 'You Get So Alone At Times That It Just Makes Sense' ~ L. Filoon ~ Lizzy Ford - With a little more attention to her work, or maybe an editor, she'd be excellent! The woman is a force to be reckoned with! ~ Deborah Harkness: 'A Discovery of Witches,' and book II: 'Shadow of Night' *If you have not read these books, you really need to! They're amazing! She's a literary genius! They're also making movies out of these books I hear. They should be amazing! ~ Amanda Hocking - Self-Publisher, but she has a wonderful mind. ~ E.L. James - ** A whole lot of WINKS!** ~ Elizabeth Kastova: 'The Historian' SUCH A GOOD READ! ~ Kate Mosse: 'Labyrinth,' 'Sepulchre,' and 'The Winter Ghosts.' She's a writer out of the South of France, and she's wonderful! She takes you on such an amazing, historical ride in 'Sepulchre' and 'Labyrinth,' and she thrills you to the bone with terror in one, but I won't tell you which. ;) ~ Poe - Obviously. ~ Homer ~ S.M. Reine - She's SO good! 'The Descent' series is awesome! ~ Kim Richardson ~ Morgan Rice ~ Anne Rice ~ Alexander Sokoloff ~ Keary Taylor: 'Fall of Angels' Series. Awesomesauce!

So much more... three year old to tend to!

I. Am. In. Love. With. Writing!! Pen-to-paper writing! There is something truly beautiful, special, real and unforgettable about connecting with another human being through letter-writing. Online, everything is so fast! But when you sit down to write a letter, you're forced to slow down, think a bit longer, harder; when you are writing a letter, you find yourself lost in a world of words you sometimes did not even realize you knew! You find yourself not only connecting with your recipient, but yourself on a deeper level than you thought yourself capable. Letter writing is romantic, classic, intelligent... it's sexy. A bright mind is incredibly attractive!

Ribbons, frilly things. Knick-knacks. I have this absurd addiction to tiny things. I'm in love with that which can be stuffed on shelves! Not that which is tacky - I do not enjoy the statue of the child holding the lamb, however endearing that is. I cannot stand the little bobble-head, or the little man holding a favorite quote of mine, no matter how much I love poetry. No, ew! That's too much, and going too far. I have a feeling that only the women out there are going to know what I'm talking about.

My favorite colors are green, grey, white and teal. I absolutely abhor the color orange, but find myself using it often when I paint. How strange.

I adore Calla Lilies! They're beautifully simple, elegant; green and white.

Poetry is something that kills me in the most beautiful way. I love Poe, Bukowski, Neruda, the list is endless, and I hate typing! I'd rather you get to know me and my list of favorite poets, personally!

Heirloom seeds! If ever you want to swap or share, I'm your girl! I'm very big on health, working out, eating 100% green, clean and organic. I'm not a hippie, I'm not-not a hippie, either.

Charcoal ~ Acrylic paint ~ Quills ~ Vellum ~ Wax ~ Wax Seals ~ Decorative paper ~ Floral paper/Post-cards ~ Calla Lilies ~ Pens ~ Heirloom seeds ~ Herbs ~ Juicing Recipes ~ Drawing ~ Painting ~ Poetry ~ French Stamps ~ Ink Cartridges for Modern Calligraphy Pens ~ Journaling ~ Ribbons ~ Envelopes ~ Rubber Stamps ~ Fairies ~ Pewter Sculpting ~ Clay Sculpting ~ Music ~ Best Apps ~ Books! ~ Kindle Books ~ Homeopathic healing ~ Teas! ~ Gardens ~ Ocean - I so LOVE the ocean. ~ Mermaids :) ~ Fantasy

I joined this site because I am unable to do as much as I was once able to do. I cannot connect with people as much as I was once able to connect with them. That's really hard for me. Social people need to be social, this is a fact.

I'm dying. I have stage four Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Usually, the survival rate for this kind of cancer is pretty good. However, my doctor was...well, no comment. Suffice to say, he tried to convince me (I'm actually laughing here!) that I had a really bad flu and migraine for about two years. He crammed me on antibiotics for that amount of time, and when I said the pain was too much, he gave me narcotics. The boob!

The extent that the cancer has spread throughout my body is...it's almost just impressive, that's how horrible it is. I'm not saying that because I want your pity, I'm just saying, from a unbiased perspective, it's literally almost impressive.

Seven months ago, I stopped responding to chemotherapy. Seven months ago, I was started on a really aggressive trial medication that, sparing you the gory details, pretty much almost killed me without the help of my cancer. Five months ago, I quit all chemotherapy medication, injections and trials. I refuse to die that way. If I have to die, I want to die smiling, happy, able and capable to love those around me, and with some semblance of dignity and pride.

Four months ago, I started The Gersen Therapy. It's been hard, but I'm hoping that I see some change when I go back in two months for blood work, and in another month when I have another MRI. Prayers and well-wishes are always welcome! :)

I joined this site because I literally have a whole lot of nothing to do these days, and I have a whole lot of love, kindness and creativity to share with the world, and I'm not ready to put that away and shove it on a shelf yet! I devote the time I need to, to my children, to my family, to those that matter, and with what is left over...there's too much time to think!

I am not good at having too much time to think about myself or my situation, and so I would like to share my life, my love, and my talent with all of you! I want to share my experiences, my life, pieces of my imagination with you! And I want to learn about the great minds that lie within each of you! There's so much to all of us that none of us take the time to appreciate, and I have so much time (yet so little, ironically), I want to be someone that appreciates you. :) I want to help make you smile, and I'd love to be someone who gets to wear a smile because of you, too.