I feel like I've been writing this all night...

[leighblack]

I’ve decided that maybe I should write some sort of ginormous post about myself. Not so much because of or in response to She Who Has No Grip on Reality and her highly amusing assumptions about me, but more because there’s a lot of new people around here. *waves hello* Even though it’s my journal, I don’t really write all that much about myself in here and maybe some of you want to learn more about me.


This is kind of written as if you guys were interviewing me. No cracks about a disassociative personality needed, thanks. ;)

So, what’s with the name?
It is true that Leigh is not my real name. What? You’ve lied to us! No, not really. I don’t hide that fact. I just don’t mention it that much. Leigh is short for Leslie, which is the name on my birth certificate. I don’t hate it so much as it just doesn’t really seem to fit me. It never has. No one really calls me that anymore, except my family and folks around work. Leigh came as a response to the frequent shortening of my name to Les, which, I’ll be perfectly honest, I do detest. One way to get me upset is to call me that, unless you are a close family member. Then it is slightly tolerated. Leigh is just pretty and I like it and it’s more me. So, it’s stuck around. I’ve thought about legally changing it, but that would require effort and I’m kind of lazy.

Leigh Black came to be as a sort of joke. One of those “what would your wrestling name be?” type things. I liked it and it’s been around ever since then. I use it at most every place I post at, more of a measure of consistency. And it makes it easier for me to remember usernames if they’re all the same. No, Black is not my real last name. No, I’m not going to be stupid enough to post my real last name in here. It’s not like it’s a big secret though. Plenty of people here know it. And if you really want to figure it out, it should take you about 15 seconds, if you know where to look online.

Other names you might get me to answer to: The Jager Bitch (more specifically Chad’s Jager Bitch), Miss Leigh, Lezzle (ugh! worse than Les), The Legend and Hey You.

The Legend? Seriously?
Well, yes. But no. It’s a joke, obviously. It happened last December, when I dragged duckduck with me to see Bret Michaels. Somehow, we ended up with this crowd of guys surrounding our table – Sludgers and roadies, to be specific. duckduck was a little amazed by this phenomenon, as was I, to be perfectly honest. Nate said something about how it was because I was a Sludge Legend, which was & is ridiculous, because I’m never on there anymore. I guess I just know the right people. duckduck crowned me The Legendary Leigh Black after that night and it continues to live on to this day.

But really, as a joke. I don’t think of myself as a Legend. Far from it. I’m just a simple girl from Minnesota. I just have this weird thing where I know a lot of people from online and can walk into bars pretty much anywhere and find someone I know. Even that is nothing special in this day & age.

Minnesota? Isn’t it like freezing there?
As much as I bitch about the weather (and especially the winters), I do actually like it here. When I was in high school, all I wanted was to get the hell out of here and move to LA, but I no longer feel that desire. Quite nearly all my family is here and I have really great friends and I would hate to leave any of them. Does that mean I won’t ever just say fuck it and pack up and leave? Well, no. It certainly could happen. But I would miss the Twin Cities. And going Up North to The Cabin, which is such a Minnesota thing.

And no, it's not always cold here. Far from it. You wouldn't think that if you were here when it's sweltering in the middle of August.

You supposedly have a family. What are they like?
My parents are still married, and their 30th Anniversary is this summer. They were both born & raised here, although my dad spent some of his youth on family farms up in North Dakota. My mom is full-blooded Lebanese and my dad is mostly German, with some other random European countries thrown in. This makes me very stubborn & I’m able to hold a long grudge. And I have very weirdly pale skin that will get very, very tan as long as I get a good sunburn first.

My dad, Cliff, has worked for the same company for over thirty years. Before that, he was a high school math teacher. He taught at the school Prince went to, for your random trivia fact of the day. He has a yearbook with Prince’s sophomore photo in it and I used to bring that to Show & Tell all the time. My dad was a computer programmer, then moved in to recruiting, and then worked on the Y2K project for his company. Don’t ask me what it is he does now. He doesn’t like to talk about work at home, and I don’t blame him. He isn’t a real emotional or talkative guy, and that’s a reflection of his upbringing. It’s somewhat changing as he’s getting older, and sometimes I’ll stare at him strangely because he’ll start babbling about something randomly. I’m not used to hearing him say much. He’s very good a fixing things (yes, he’s one of those dads) and is always happy to change the oil on my car for me. His love is the family cabin, up near Brainerd, MN. He’d be happy to spend the entire summer up there if he could, fishing, tinkering with things, and napping.

My mom, Meme, was also a teacher, but chose to be a stay-at-home mom after I was born. I consider myself very lucky that she was always around for us. She did daycare when we all got a little older and I was often required to help out. Now that we’re all older, she’s gotten out of the house. She worked as a cook for the school district for many years. Now she works as the apartment manager at the place I live in (which is owned by my uncle). She’s also worked part time for an ungodly long time at a local Hallmark store, although she keeps saying that she’s going to quit. My mom is the loud, outspoken, talkative side of the couple. And yes, I take after her in that respect. She also loves the cabin, but she goes up more for the social aspect. She’s good friends with several of the neighbors and they all get together to do things pretty much every weekend.

My sister, Jennifer, is 4 ½ years younger than me. She graduated from the U of M last year and is planning to go back for Grad School soon. She just quit her job working in a women’s shelter to take a job as a full time nanny for a little girl. She’s been living with her boyfriend, Hans, for a while, but there are no plans for marriage. We were quite close when we were growing up, but it’s not the really same now. We don’t have a lot in common, but we get along just fine.

My brother, DJ, is 6 ½ years younger. He’s going to Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD. He’s changed his major several times, but I think he’s back to Phys Ed & Education. Don’t quote me on that though. He was, at one time, one of the best baseball players around. In his Sophomore year of high school, he had the highest batting average in the state. Yes, even higher than Joe Mauer. But he tore his ACL and completely wrecked his shoulder while playing football, and now he’s just not the player he used to be. It’s really hard on him. I’m closer to DJ than any of my other siblings. We’re both rather outgoing and we listen to a lot of the same music.

My other brother, Ben, is 8 ½ year younger. He’s kind of the problem child. He didn’t graduate from high school and isn’t motivated to get his GED. We’re not close & don’t really have anything in common.

All three of my siblings are adopted, although I am not. DJ & I look a lot alike, which leads people to believe that we’re blood related.

You say you have this “day job” but we don’t believe you since you spend all day online.
I do actually have a real job. My company is a third-party administrator for health benefits. I do a lot of random things in my position, but mostly I set up users and do the administration for one of our online systems. I also set up a lot of things in our database, do some work in the financial department and whatever projects people ask me to do. However, there’s not always that much stuff to do, and I have a lot of downtime. It’s the kind of job, though, where that’s okay. My boss never checks up on me or ever worries about me. As long as I the things done that I need to, everything else is fine. So yes, you’ll frequently find me online. Or playing Mah Jongg.

Your header says something about being a fandom whore. Elaborate.
Yes, I admit it. I am a total fandom whore. I’m rarely involved in just one fandom at a time. Fandoms I’ve been involved with in my lifetime (or just things/people I’ve been a big fan of): Star Wars, Grease, The Monkees, Poison, Skid Row, Faster Pussycat, Anne Rice & the Vampire Lestat, Star Trek: TNG, Kids in the Hall, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Laurell K. Hamilton & Anita Blake, Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino, The Simpsons, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Homicide: Life on the Street, Bill Hicks, Rent, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Wrestling (specifically WCW), Hugh Jackman, Wicked, Crossing Jordan and Steve Valentine. I’ve probably forgotten a few too.

Am I too old to obsess like this? Probably. But it’s not like it’s hurting anyone. It’s my time and my money and I can spend it any way I like. If I was married or had a kid or something, it would be different. But I’m not and I don’t, and for now, I’m perfectly happy the way I am. It’s not my problem if someone has a problem with it.

One day all you could talk about was Hugh Jackman and the next you wouldn’t shut up about this Crossing Jordan guy. What the hell happened?
Yeah, I don’t know exactly. I figured things might change once I actually saw Hugh in person in The Boy From Oz (and if you want to read about that particular squeedom, it’s here), but it still took longer than I thought it would. Suddenly, like one day, all the adoration I had for him just up and transferred to Steve Valentine. I can’t really explain it. Not to say that I don’t still adore Hugh Jackman, because I do. It’s just not the same thing as it was even a few months ago. Since he doesn’t have a movie coming out for a while, I think my interest just went stagnant, since there’s not much new on him right now. We’ll see what happens once The Fountain comes out later this year.

How all this land on Steve? No idea. I’d been watching CJ for a while and while I liked Nigel, it wasn’t any more than that. One day, I just decided that I adored him. Learned a bunch of things about Steve, tracked down websites, started a fansite for him, bought all his movies, started recording CJ episodes so I could screencap them. The whole works. He kind of reminds me of Hugh – sexy accent, tall & lanky, quirky sense of humor. I guess it’s not all that strange that my obsession transferred to him.

Broadway musicals? Aren’t you known for being a rock chick?
Heh. Well, yeah. I’m more of a rock chick. Growing up, I adored Grease, like many girls. But my sister was really the one who was into musicals, like West Side Story and South Pacific. I was happy to listen to my beloved hair bands, thank you very much. But somehow, for some unexplained reason, I took an interest in Rent. Really, I think it happened after the cast sang “Seasons of Love” of the Rosie O’Donnell show one long ago day. I picked up the Cast Recording and I’ve been hooked ever since. St. Paul was the second city for the first touring cast and my parents bought tickets for my sister & I. I was singing along so enthusiastically the woman next to me wouldn’t believe that it was my first time seeing it. I’ve only seen it twice since then, but it’s still my favorite musical ever. When Jessica & I decided to go to NYC to see Hugh Jackman last year, I left no question about the fact that we were going to see Rent too. I had a complete breakdown inside The Nederlander, I was just so happy to finally be there. (you can read about that squeefest here) No matter how many times I see it, or how many boots I listen to, I always, ALWAYS, lose it during “I’ll Cover You – Reprise.” Nothing can affect me quite like that can. The whole show just has a really good message, and really great music, and means quite a lot to me. It’s hard for me to put it into words.

I am quite excited for the upcoming Rent movie, which is nearly finished filming. It comes out Nov 19th!! Most of the original cast is in it, but I’m most excited to see Idina Menzel, Jesse L. Martin & Taye Diggs. I’ve seen a lot of photos from the set, and some video clips have been leaking out and it looks like it’s going to be really good.

Speaking of Idina, that brings me to Wicked, of course. My other Broadway addiction. Because, I don’t like just any musical. I’m still rather picky about what shows I like. Wicked is another show with a wonderful message and music that just speaks to me. I fought off the adoration for a long time, because I knew we weren’t going to be able to see while we were in NYC. And I didn’t want to feel really bad about that. But after we got back, I gave in, got the Cast Recording and was instantly in love. I feel a certain amount of kinship to Elphaba. I finally got to see the show in Chicago a week or so ago, and completely lost it. Shaking, crying, cheering – the whole works.

Did you seriously mention wrestling up there?
Yep. I watched it for a couple years when I was younger, but lost interest when I hit Jr. High and there more interesting things going on. Then, I started dating The Loser a few years ago, and he & his friends were serious watchers. I got sucked in and sucked in hard. I became seriously obsessed with WCW, and specifically Big Sexy Kevin Nash. I even had a shrine to him in my bedroom, and I am not kidding about that. I watched it on TV constantly, bought magazines, bought merchandise & toys galore, went to events. The whole nine yards.

Wrestling is also how I really got interested in the internet, since that was the place to find out all the behind the scenes info. (even though I don’t follow it much anymore, I still have a couple wrestling sites I visit every day) WCW had this really great show on every night called WCW Live!, which I could listen to from the archive while I was at work during the day. It was a (mostly) live internet radio show, and unlike WWE’s show, it was a shoot show. Wrestler’s would go on and give really honest interviews. It was really cool! And funny, as the hosts were pretty entertaining. One host in particular, Jeremy Borash, really caught my interest, as he was a local boy & kind of adorable. To make a long story very short, we ended up dating for a while, even after he moved to Atlanta. We’ve since lost touch, and he’s down in Florida working for TNA, but I still have a special place in my heart for him. Especially since he got me in to meet Kevin Nash one night. =)

You really can’t be this boring. What do you do with your time?
Well, I kinda am this boring. My days kind of go like this: Get up. Go to work. Go home. Watch TV. Giggle at something on lj. Screencap something. Watch Crossing Jordan. Go to bed. Repeat.

It hasn’t always been like that though. For nearly seven years, I worked two jobs and was quite busy. My other job was at Barnes & Noble, and I quite liked it, but it there were problems. One day, although not not quite as suddenly as it might have seemed, I just couldn’t take it anymore and quit. That was about two months ago. Now, I’m not poor or anything, but I don’t make as much money as I did. I stay at home a lot now, so I don’t spend money. Not as much eating out, not as much entertainment, not as much DVD buying, etc. I need to save money so I can do fun things like spending weekends in Chicago & LA.

That’s not to say that I’m a total hermit. I really do have great friends and I try to do something with them one or two nights a week. And I try to spend a night hanging out with my family. Otherwise, I spend a lot of time online. It’s cheap entertainment.

You seem to like to make fun of yourself a lot. Is this some kind of defense mechanism?
Hell if I know! I’m sure a shrink would have a field day with me. But really, I’m very secure with who I am. It’s taken a while to get here, but I like and know who I am. And if you can’t laugh at yourself, what good is it all anyways?

I’ve listened to Bill Hicks for a long time, and believe in his “teachings.” People take life too damn seriously. We’re only here for a short time, might as well enjoy it. I’ll let Bill explain it, since he says it best:

It's Just A Ride
by Bill Hicks
“The world is like a ride at an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it, you think it's real, because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round and it has thrills and chills and it's very brightly colored and it's very loud. And it's fun, for a while.

Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they begin to question: 'Is this real? Or is this just a ride?' And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and they say 'Hey! Don't worry, don't be afraid -- ever -- because... this is just a ride.' And we kill those people.

'Shut him up! We have a lot invested in this ride! Shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry; look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real.' It's just a ride. But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that -- ever notice that? -- and we let the demons run amok. But it doesn't matter, because... it's just a ride, and we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort. No worry. No job. No savings and money. Just a choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your door, buy bigger guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love, instead, see all of us as one.

Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, into a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defense each year and, instead, spend it feeding, clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would do many times over -- not one human being excluded -- and we can explore space together, both inner and outer, forever. In peace.”

If you don’t talk about yourself a lot, why do you have this journal anyways?
Beats me. I’m still amazed that anyone would want to read what I have to say. But, since a lot of my friends live places other than here, and many of them have lj’s, it’s a really easy way to keep in touch with everyone. Plus, I’ve met a lot of really great people through communities, friends of friends, etc. I enjoy it all, and so I’m here a lot. Since my life isn’t all that interesting, I post a lot of nonsense. But sometimes I have something meaningful to say. And sometimes it’s just a way to organize weekends to stalk rock stars. =)

What’s the appeal of stalking rock stars anyways?
That will probably take too long to answer! Let’s just say that while I didn’t exactly have a protected childhood, I wasn’t allowed to go to a lot of concerts. This was bad, as I have always loved, loved, loved music. So, now that a lot of the bands I used to love in high school go on tours in little clubs, I enjoy traveling around to see them. Because I can.

Or maybe you don’t want to know more. I don’t blame you if you didn’t read all that babble. But thanks if you did!

And if there’s anything else you want to know, or have any questions for me, let me know! I’m open to pretty much anything.

Comments

[leighblack.livejournal.com]

I've never even heard of that. Sounds interesting.

[devisun7.livejournal.com]

Well, it was a PBS thing...and not only did it introduce me to Gene Wilder but it also introduced me to Theatre.....Even though both Scarecrow and The Norman Conquests (A Tom Conti thinggy) were on PBS..they were actually just filmed plays....the first I had ever seen....

Now I'm hooked.