I'm a left-handed woman with a unique craft for handwriting upside down & backwards in legible print. You do the math. I come from a close family of musicians, scientists and humanitarians who never fail at kindness.

I take comfort in knowing it's possible to get more mileage from a cheap pair of sneakers. I know the glory that comes from reaching a goal/s on my own. I'm a former National Artistic Rollerskating medalist (a unique international sport I'll fill you in on when we meet). As a Boston Marathon and San Diego Marathon finisher, I've tasted the sublime victory that comes from living out loud, from within. I also know how to dodge balls and spar verbal bullets in a few languages, to boot.

Grew up on the occasional Hungry Man T.V. Dinner, shepards pie, canned veggies & red-capped whole milk when it wasn't Wednesday Prince Spaghetti night. Rebelled by age 12 by becoming a power vegetarian for the next 11 years because a newly acquired freshman high school sidekick from India dared me not to devour my .75 cent dehydrogenated cheeseburger lunch. Listening to her views on Hindu religion and culture and smitten by ethnic diversity, I took a proverbial leap of faith. Admittedly overdue for a firm, swift, kick in the proverbial pants for taking that leap and sticking with it, I ultimately faced the inevitable resurrection when traveling to Madrid, Spain in '98, while visiting the family of a college friend.

I quickly learned the dynamics of being a hard-to-the-core vegetarian in a more carnivorous than omnivorous-friendly country where the churrasco IS staple and vats of sangria WILL staple you to floors. My friends' 76 years young grandparents who live to feed others were unwilling to accept any plausible reason that could validate a 'vegetariana' lifestyle. A comically redeeming story. And so it goes; I gave into my pre-teen rebellion at that dinner table. Although I endured the high school dare attempting to find my own path towards self-enlightenment, I gained bucket loads more esteem through humility at that dinner table than I had in all the times I recalled feeding myself.

My last vegetarian supper, so to speak. Thesis of my story; Adaptability IS essential to human survival. I also learned Hunger IS the best sauce.

My core is this; I've failed miserably and walked away unscathed. I walked too far from misery and lost my way. I lost myself in others who walked the crooked way until I realized on my own that I could not go on like this; And, I learned to trust in the divine graces of humility, real human friendships and keeping the truth awake. I come equipped with quick cat-like movements and incurable cravings for post-modern industrialism, Balderdash, the economic infrastructure of the Middle East, embryology and rising-with-the-sun.

f-o-o-d, long-distance running, bangrah, juxtaposition, liberty, edification, typing my fingertips into puttied kilimanjaros, marbella in july, italia in october, tunisia by hydrofoil, piano by ear, linguistics, listening for the sake of learning.

Cake, Franz Ferdinand, Nik Freitas, Mia Doi Todd, Zero 7, Nouvelle Vague, Kings of Leon, Guitar Shorty, Unkle, Idaho, Mazzy Star, Beastie Boys, Elvis, Jeff Buckley, The Beta Band, Iggy Pop, The Clash, Jack Johnson, The Constantines, Cole Porter, D. Ellington, Egozim, Sam Cooke, BECK, The Piano Man, All things Ella, Senor E. Costello, Kravitz, Bill Withers, Al Green &, Jarreau, L.V. Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Outkast, NIN.

Mostly Martha, The Big Lebowski, La Dolce Vita, Goonies, Curse of The Maltese Falcon, The Secret of Nimh, The Sting, E.T., Office Space, Caddyshack, Apocalypse Now, Fallen.

TLC, Courtship of Eddie's Father, The Banana Splits, Zippity Zoo, The Great American Space Coaster, The Bionic Woman &, The Six-Million Dollar Man, Buck Rogers, Discovery, Battlestar Galactica -- networks unaffliated with innane polimediatrics.

The Count of Monte Cristo, Stranger In A Strange Land, Enders Game, Enders Shadow, Negotiating With The Dead: A Writer on Writing, The Fountainhead, What Einstein Told His Barber, Riki-Tiki-Tembo, The Other Boleyn Girl, Things Snowball, The Pianist, The Pleasure of Finding Things Out, Anecdotal, The Da Vinci Code's cadence, The Map That Changed The World, Year of The Genome, The Tipping Point, The Elegant Universe, Blink, Night.