Location: Brooklyn, New York

Hometown: Assonet, Massachusetts (a tiny village of the town of Freetown, which is kind of like a suburb to the city of Fall River, which is a mill town similiar to New Bedford or Fairhaven, which are both about an hour south of Boston and 45 minutes from Cape Cod)

Occupation: Reporter/Freelance journalist

Focus: Women's issues and pop culture

My work has appeared in: ELLE, New York Magazine, Salon.com, Time Out New York, Nerve.com, Runner's World, Women's eNews, Figure, Bene, The Brooklyn Rail, Z!NK

Inspiration: Harriet the Spy

Dirty little secret: Before attending journalism school in 2003, I was an advertising brand planner. I helped develop campaigns for Lucky Strike and Kool cigarettes, Kid Cuisine frozen dinners, and Kraft "dairy snacks" (a dubious combination of cheese and chocolate, molded into "kid-friendly" shapes. Yum!)

Skills: ordering a round of drinks in Japanese, coaxing cats out from under parked cars, identifying accents, reading books upside-down, whistling, flossing.

Other jobs I've had or have considered applying for: waitress, psychoanalyst, greeting card writer, Knicks City Dancer, English teacher, PR flack, supermarket cashier, diplomat, media planner, chambermaid, brand strategy consultant, social worker, typist, translator, aerobics instructor, anthropologist, documentary filmmaker, track coach, sex therapist, nun.

High school yearbook quote: "Be yourself, give your free will a chance, you've got to work to succeed."