Are you a Teachers College student, and, if so, what are you studying?
No, I got my MSIS at the University of Texas at Austin, with emphases in research, outreach services, and archival work.
Where’s your hometown?
Baltimore, Maryland. John Waters is my hometown hero (and soulmate).
What did you want to be when you grew up?
A writer and illustrator, and an astronomer. After I went to astronomy camp, I became totally obsessed with Carl Sagan and decided that I would carry on his legacy and discover the little green men. It could still happen.
What was your first job?
Raking blueberries when I was eleven. That is back-breaking work! I only lasted two days. And I think I made about 40 cents.
What has been your worst job?
Oh, there have been a few bad ones. Probably the worst was being a dishwasher at a phony bistro. The owner wore a clip-on rat-tail, and made fun of my (admittedly dreadful—it was the late ‘90s) highlights.
What has been your best job?
That’s hard to narrow down too, but I think it was at the Sequoyah National Research Center in Little Rock. I got to archive a collection that included thousands of pages of appeal records from the U.S. vs. Loud Hawk case. The case itself is so interesting, I recommend looking it up. It surrounds the FBI and some of the founding members of the AIM movement: Dennis Banks, Leonard Peltier, and Anna Mae Aquash. Kenneth Stern, the appeals attorney who originally provided the records, wrote a book about it.
What do you remember about your first day of school?
One of my teachers looked like Shari Lewis.
Your favorite meal:
Pretty much any fresh seafood excepting squid and shrimp...with mashed potatoes.
Are you a morning or night person?:
Morning person. Like V-Woolf.
Morning person. Like V-Woolf.
A delicious dessert:
Rice pudding. I think maybe I wrote that because I’m eating it right now.
Song you love no matter how many times you hear it:
St. Elmo’s Fire by Brian Eno.
- On a train.
- In bed.
- Really anywhere if my cat is asleep in my lap.
