It says under my name that I'm in Washington DC, and that's true, but my true love is Michigan. You can take the Michigander out of Michigan, but you can't take the Michigan out of the Michigander. I'm originally from Grand Rapids, MI. Being from Michigan forms much of my aesthetic: I like temperate, woodsy places, baseball, cars, natural history, water, and family.

I went to school in Chicago at Columbia College and majored in Fiction writing there. Chicago is my second home. It's the only place I miss as much as Grand Rapids when I'm away. The Fiction Department at Columbia, with its semi-circles, uncomfortable chairs, old carpet, and uncommon inventiveness is what I miss most about Chicago. Public transportation, my friends, and the capacity for exploration are some of the other things I miss. I feel like DC isn't as accessible as Chicago was: there was nowhere in Chicago I couldn't get to, nothing I couldn't do.

Places are important to me, and Chicago is Activity. Grand Rapids is Comfort, Michigan's upper peninsula is Creativity, Florence, Italy (Where I studied abroad for a month in the summer of 08) is People, and DC isn't anything to me yet.

I like to be active. I am happiest taking walks, playing catch, rollerblading, and going to Kung Fu. I started Kung Fu about a year ago at Chan's Kung Fu in Grand Rapids under the tutelage of Sifu Chan. Jow Ga is not only good fun, it's challenging and fascinating, and I relish the fun, challenging and fascinating.

Books take up most of my time and shelf space at home. Constant reading is something I inherited from my mom: we buy books like groceries. When we run out, we have to go get more. I am constantly looking for new books with new ideas. I like lush, full stories, fantasy and realistic fiction. Some of my favorites include: Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Kushiel's Legacy by Jacqueline Carey, Ernest Hemmingway, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, Idlewild by Nick Sagan, The Time Quartet by Madeline L'engle, The Chronicles of Narnia, Ray Bradbury, and Louise Erdrich, to name many, and not even close to all.