Een

I grew up in Iowa, the daughter of a homecoming queen and rage-filled former boxer. It wasn't until I left home that I realized not everyone's father carried a .357 around with him or slept with a .22 under his pillow. It didn't help matters that I tended towards nerdiness, announcing to my third grade class that my Webster's Unabridged was my favorite Christmas gift.

My early adult years were spent running amok. I was not one to say no to a punk show and whiskey. Now I take great delight in running into people from my past who seem shocked I am such an upstanding and well-preserved grown up.

I have been told I have very Southern manners. If that means I believe in saying 'please' and 'thank you' and writing thank-you notes and bringing hostess gifts, well then, yes I do have Southern manners.


I have many interests and a somewhat short attention span. I have been lots of things for pay and as a volunteer: chocolatier, direct care worker and case manager for the developmentally disabled, cab driver, adoption counselor at an animal shelter, worked in HR, taught writing in prison, a research analyst in the tech industry.

I'm a grad student in Library and Information Science.  I'm interning at a government hospital in the medical library.  I also have degrees in English, Social Justice and from culinary school (pastry).

I love reading about epidemiology and the Plague of 1348. I like pandas and have been known to flirt with dogs.  I prefer style over fashion. I definitely enjoy shopping and clothing more than most in academia would consider appropriate.  If I really like you I will make you Sicilian sea salt caramels. 

Today I live in Chicago with my husband and two dogs. We've been together long enough that people have finally stopped asking if we're ever going to have kids.