This page contains a gratuitous and immodest biography.  Consider yourself warned.

It was a cold and windy North Dakota night on March 4th, 1974.  Thunder crashed!  A door slammed!  Someone screamed!  The person screaming was probably my mom.  I was born at 11:59 pm, and she's been screaming at me ever since.

Being born a minute to midnight surely has some kind of significant horiscopal meaning, but I'm not aware of what it is... so never mind.

I am one fourth Chippewa Indian from the Turtle Mountain Band.  I'm registered by the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs), which means the government recognizes me as a double minority and occasionally sends me treaty money.  Go me.  I am also a fourth Swedish.  Sweden has no claim on me, and in fact does not know I exist.  I also have Irish (hence my hair), German (temper) and assorted unknown races mixed in (psychosis).

My middle name is Little Brave.  Can you imagine the childhood trauma?

We moved to Keystone, South Dakota before I was a year old.  Keystone is the little town beneath Mount Rushmore (population 250 in the winter).  Our house was a mile behind the faces.  My little brother was born in 1975, thus completing our family.  Our grade school had an average of 8 to 12 kids in it, and I was usually the oldest student.  I grew up with a major Goddess complex.  The school is now closed, but they put a museum in the building.  If you ever venture to Mount Rushmore and visit the Keystone museum make sure to look through some of the old school scrapbooks.  There are pictures of me in all my prepubescent glory there.

In the middle of my sixth grade year my parents moved our family to New Braunfels, Texas.  New Braunfels is infamous for Schlitterbahn, one of the biggest waterparks in the world.  Life was extremely different in Texas, and I hated it.  I swore I would move back to South Dakota as soon as I could.  Later I realized that my parents had done me an incredible favour by getting me the hell out of there before I hit my teenage years.  If I had grown up in SD I probably would have been pregnant and married (in that order) by the time I graduated from high school.  Right now I would be working in a convenience store or something.  Go mom and dad.

High school was monotonous.  I was a band geek (trumpet).  My friends and I would drive to San Antonio in the middle of the night and hang out along the riverwalk for kicks.  Sneaking in to the expensive hotels and swimming before getting kicked out ranked high on our list of fun things to do.  We would also swim in the fountains beneath the Tower of the Americas.  Did you know that with a pair of binoculars or those pay telescopes you can see in to hotel rooms from the observation deck?  People get rooms on the 30th floor and feel totally safe walking around naked with their drapes open.  MuhAhHahahAha!

I did this and that for many years, just living life day by day (professional hedonist).  Truck driving paid the bills.  I have my commercial drivers license (CDL) with hazmat, tanker, and double/triple trailer endorsements.  Truck driving can be fun.  I'm probably the only person you'll ever meet who has driven a 40 foot front end loading garbage truck from Minnesota to New Orleans.  I've also driven them to Roswell, NM, and San Diego, CA.  Wheeee!

I moved to San Antonio.  I moved to Austin.  I moved back to San Antonio.  Some punks tried to carjack me and shot me in the back of the head.  I moved to Dallas.  And I'm still here today.

After the whole carjacking thing I acquired my concealed handgun license.  I carry a gun with me everywhere.  If you're a criminal, be smart and avoid me.  I'm not willing to be a victim again, and I'm an excellent shot.

Somewhere along the way I found Paganism.  It really helps to keep me grounded.  Like most Pagans, I do not believe in Heaven or Hell or Satan.  I do believe in Diety, but not the Christian interpretations (Jesus and Mary).  If you're a kindred soul looking to converse, feel free to contact me.   )O(

Music has always been an important part of my life.  When I was little my mom had me listening to the Beatles and Elvis and the Monkees.  As I got older I listened to The Go-Go's and Michael Jackson.  I did a little Madonna stint.  During my teenage years I was introduced to Mother Love Bone and not long after that Soundgarden.  Soundgarden has been my absolute favourite band since I first heard them.  My collection of their stuff is extensive.  LPs and EPs and bootlegs, oh my!  I also collect promotional items.  Some of my favourites are Screaming Life on orange vinyl, Louder Than Love on green vinyl, Hunted Down on blue vinyl, the Hands All Over mechanical hand, the Jesus Christ Pose votive candle, and the Rusty Cage subway poster.

On to other music.  After I moved to Dallas I got in to the local scene with a vengeance.  Bands like Funland (RIP), Caulk (RIP), Slow Roosevelt, Doosu, Lewis, Rubber Bullet (RIP), Baboon and Course of Empire (RIP) really got me going.  Famous bands can be great, but there's nothing like local music.  Support your local music scene!  And check out some of the bands I've listed.

All hail the mighty Napster WinMX.

Last music paragraph, I promise.  Here's some other stuff I listen to a lot: Jeff Buckley, Babes In Toyland, Duke Ellington, Love and Rockets, Daniel Ash, Harry Belafonte, Aleka's Attic, Luscious Jackson, Tool, Hole, The Orb, Benny Goodman, Jets To Brazil, Queen, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Frank Sinatra, Jane's Addiction, B-52's, Violent Femmes, Alice In Chains, Blur, Our Lady Peace, the Dandy Warhols, Better Than Ezra, Kula Shaker, Cornershop, Esthero, Beck, Ash, Chemical Brothers, Jimmy Eat World, Reel Big Fish, Nelly Furtado, Wiseguys, Beastie Boys, Tricky, Dido, Gary Jules, The Vines, Goo Goo Dolls, OK Go, GusGus, etc.  There are so many more.  It would take forever to list them all.

Let's talk television.  I watch too much of it.  We have a 56" television and Direct TV.  'Nuff said.  My favourite shows are Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Hellooooo Spike!), Smallville, Saturday Night Live, Gilmore Girls, Will & Grace, Fear Factor, Forensic Files, Everwood, Scrubs, and Good Morning, Miami.

I tend to watch movies over and over again.  Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Evil Dead 2, Return of the Living Dead, Jacob's Ladder, Seven, Sleepy Hollow, Stir of Echoes, Donnie Darko, Fight Club, Goonies, The Fifth Element, Girl Interrupted, Four Rooms, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, House of Yes, Monty Python's Holy Grail, Velvet Goldmine, Cannibal the Musical, Orgazmo, Baseketball (are you sensing a Trey Parker / Matt Stone theme here?), Singles, Twin Peaks (tv and movie), .

If I'm not on my computer or watching the devil TV, I'm probably reading.  Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Patricia Cornwell, Margaret Halsey, Hunter Thompson, Douglas Coupland... as well as almost anything I can get my hands on.  Yay for Half Price Books.

I collect vintage clothing.  I adore wearing clothes with history.  Who knows where the 1940's dresses have been?  What kind of things did women do while wearing them?  Shop?  Cook?  Plot world domination?  Oh, the thrills of wearing other people's clothing.  Oops... I've said too much.

Have I mentioned that I love Europe?  England and Italy are my two favourite countries to visit.  I just wanted everyone to know that.  Thank you for caring.

One last favourite thing.  I love to write in my paper journal.  I write every day.  If you're an acquaintance of mine, I've probably written about you.  So you better be nice to me, or else your meanie-headedness will be recorded FOREVER.  Nyah!

On December 31st, 1998, I met my husband, Zack.  Our mutual friend Stephanie brought him with her from Austin (where they both lived) to hang out for New Years Eve.  All I knew about him was that he was a total computer geek.  She brought him over to my apartment that afternoon to say hi.  I remember the first moment I saw him.  I peeked out the blinds at my back door to make sure it wasn't some axe murderer politely knocking.  Zack had on a black leather jacket and black sunglasses.  I remember wondering how this new person was going to affect my life.  We were married on January 16th, 2000.  He is the best friend I've ever had.

We have two dogs, Zoë and Squeak - both Toy Rat Terriers.  We are going to wait for a few years to have non-furry children.

Zack and I are still living in Dallas, but that could change at any time.  I'm sick of the Texas heat and I want to move up north.  Zack loves the heat.  He says it's the Mexican in him.  Major compromises are in the forecast.

I am still driving trucks, although it's been slow as of late.  Zack is still doing network security, which isn't slow at all.

If you're still curious you can check out my journal/diary/blog.  I'm pretty good about keeping it updated.  Cheers!