I was born in Brooklyn, New York and never thought I'd enjoy living anywhere else. I went to P.S.115 in Canarsie, then Mark Twain Junior High School in Coney Island, then Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, then Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, and finally George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. I have a BA in Literary and Cultural Studies/Creative Writing and an MA in Professional Writing, and I'm a technical writer by trade. I've worked at CMU Computing Services, Information Dynamics (on a NASA contract), Lockheed Martin (on a Patent and Trademark Office contract), Wang Government Services (Navy), Interactive Television Company (Navy), General Dynamics (Navy), and Amtrak Technologies. I then went to work for a company called NeuStar, and I loved my job, but they made a lot of financial errors and laid me off. Suck. I took a short-term contract with Avaya, which was cool, and then temped for a while. Then I took what I thought would be a great job with Arrowhead Space & Telecommunications, but well, let's just say they were a bit too small for my tastes. Finally, I work for User Technology Associates, and I happen to love it, even if I work long hours. But really. Whew. Lot of jobs. After all of that, I now live outside of Washington, DC, and I can't imagine enjoying life anywhere else.

Other Things That I Do

I have a number of hobbies. I like dancing, and I used to be an amateur competative ballroom dancer. I work out at Gold's Gym several times per week. I like to play games, and I've recently started playing games with the folks over at Wunderland.Earth (you can see who they are at Wunderland.com). I used to do medieval recreation with the SCA. I love to cook. When I get the chance, I love to go hiking in the Shenandoahs. I love writing and hope to be published eventually. I'm a TV and movie junkie. Well, not really, but I do love Buffy, Angel, West Wing, and a couple of other shows that I watch when I get the chance. I love movies, though, and one of my favorite party games is a modified 6-Degrees of Kevin Bacon game (modified because keeping it to Kevin Bacon is boring). I read constantly. I collect dolls, Disney villains, Sailor Moon stuff, and postcards.

Places I've Been

I love to travel, and I've been to more than half of the states, and finally made it to Europe this year. Here's a complete list of places I've been. (I didn't bother to break down cities outside of the US; I had to draw the line somewhere!): Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Florida, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Louisiana, Alabama, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Oregon, Alaska, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, West Virginia, Washington DC, Puerto Rico, Canada (Montreal, Niagara Falls), England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Mexico, and the Cayman Islands. Just a note that to count as a "place I've been," I insist that I spend more than just a layover in the place. So while I've been to St. Louis, for instance, I don't count Missouri because all I saw was the airport. Drive-throughs do count, though, so my stints through South Carolina, though punctuated only by a short trip to South of the Border and Stuckey's, do count.

Anything else?

Well, yeah. I have a number of amazing women friends, most notably Jeannette and Caitie. And I'm getting married to the most wonderful guy on earth, Adam Terio.