Introduction to an Animal-Loving, Astrology-Following, Music-Blasting English Major

    Hi everyone, 

    My name is Riley Flaherty. I'm a senior English major who moved from Miami, Oklahoma to attend the University of Oklahoma in the fall of 2019. Being an English major can be tough sometimes, especially when you have to write fifty-three essays in a five month long semester, but I really enjoy my major and the people in my major because I feel that they are so diverse and unique. I also appreciate the fact that I get to be so much more creative with my work because there really is no black and white answer. 

    Outside of school, I have four pets who I love dearly. Two of them live with me here in Norman while I left the other two at home in Miami with my parents because it wasn't plausible for them to come with me. The two who still live in Miami with my parents are potbellied pigs named Squeaky and Huey. I've had them for three years and my mom takes excellent care of them now that I've moved. Contrary to popular belief, they are not only extremely intelligent but also very emotionally intelligent and they make amazing, compassionate, if headstrong, pets. They also provide a nice challenge because they can and will outwit you at every turn. There's a picture of them included below. My other two pets who live here with me in Norman are my cat, Pookie, and my axolotl, Fluffy. Pookie is a tubby butt who loves taking naps and eating treats (she could honestly be the spokescat for Temptations with how much she loves them) and Fluffykins really doesn't do much besides swim and eat worms. I will include pictures of them below as well. 

    Other than hanging out with my friends or my animals, I enjoy reading, watching movies, listening to music, exercising and cooking.  I am also extremely drawn to anything mystical so I really love researching things about astrology and reading tarot cards. I'm a Cancer Sun, Taurus Moon, Scorpio Rising and I'd be interested to know what your signs are too, if you know them! If you've never heard of tarot card readings on Youtube, you should check it out! They're super interesting and just fun for a laugh every now and again. I'm in some serious need of new songs to listen to as well so if you have any suggestions, please let me know! Some of my favorite songs are "Laugh, I Nearly Died" by the Rolling Stones, "Runaway" by Kanye West, "A Thousand Bad Times" by Post Malone, "Give Me One Reason" by Tracy Chapman, "Vienna" by Billy Joel, and "Beautiful Loser" by Bob Seger. I know most of these are older songs but I have a very broad range of music I listen to so I'd be grateful for any suggestions. I love easy listening songs with smooth vocals and bumping background music. 

    When I'm not attending school or chilling at home, I'm usually working at Sherwin Williams where I mix paint and help people decide on the best product to use for the paint job they're wanting to do. As to my educational career, I hope to graduate in May with my bachelors degree and, from there, potentially move onto law school. 

    I have really been wanting to plan a trip to the desert for sometime in the future. I would love to be able to drive out to the desert somewhere and stay in a cabin with a hot tub. Just imagining how the stars will look when I get there makes me very excited so if anyone knows of any good deserts to visit, let me know! I would also be interested to hear about other people's pets or future vacation plans. 

    Thanks for reading! 

                                (personal photo of my pigs; photo from July 31st, 2020)

                                    (personal photo of my cat; photo from July 21st, 2020)

                                (personal photo of my axolotl; photo from July 2nd, 2020)