What Would The Danish Do?

The Danish and I first lived together in dilapidated dorms in Ohio and then in an apartment with crazy house mates in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. During her time in NYC, Dana was a dog walker for Robert DiNero and Al Pacino (who both have Burmese Mountain Lions). True story.

I was so sad when Dana left NYC for the Rocky Mountain highs of Colorado and that rift took many years to mend. However, weasel's hearts are resilient, and its a good thing too, because she is one tasty pastry. Her goodness can not be resisted.

When I swing through Austin this summer, Dana has promised to take me to a place called Hippy Hollow to go swimming. Can't wait. Also, Dana is the reason I started a blog, so you can all thank her and check out her brilliance here: nothingicandoaboutitnow.

How do you know Mel?
Mythic Answer: Mel is my Great-Gayma on my father's side. I have known her since birth.

Real Life Answer: I met Mel on the very first day of my first year at Antioch College. As I recall, I was manic with happiness at finally having shaken off the bonds of home life, and my uncontrolled ebullience set off a mistrust reaction in Mel. (She’s from Massachusetts.) Despite an inauspicious beginning, we became good friends.

Where did you grow up, where do you live now and where have you lived in between?
Once upon a time I worked with a bunch of teenagers who were living in juvenile detention in Springfield, Ohio. And we doing this ICEBREAKER game which was really just pointless, ICEBREAKERS barely work in the professional world, where people are being paid to go along with things and have a nice comfy home to look forward to sitting in when the ICEBREAKERS are over. But anyway, the icebreaker question for that week was HOW MANY PLACES HAVE YOU LIVED? And I said 9 and this kid said to me, “Miss, what are you? On the run from the law?” And I and all the other delinquents fell apart, but the lady whose ICEBREAKER it was didn’t appreciate the joke.

Also, the only reason that kid called me Miss was because otherwise he wouldn’t have been allowed to go get water from the drinking fountain, per the Guard, who believed in chivalry to the point of involuntary dehydration.

1. West Chester, PA
2. Malvern, PA- this is where I grew up
3. Yellow Springs Ohio
4. Minneapolis Minnesota
5. Big Mountain Arizona
6. San Francisco California
7. New York City New York
8. Paonia Colorado
9. Crawford Colorado
10. Austin Texas – this is where I live now

Where is the best place you have ever lived?
Well, Yellow Springs for the walkability and the green space. Colorado for the freaking feast of nature laid bare for my eyes each morning. And Austin because I’m living in what feels like my first home. Last night we had all the windows open, and the breeze coming in brought the neighbor’s Tejano music with it, and the dogs were sleeping at my feet while I read.

Where did you go to school and what did you study?
I went to Antioch College and worked primarily within the Self, Society and Culture major, with more of a focus on sociology/anthropology than psychology.

Why did you choose those areas of focus and institution?
It was where my interests took me. I found the readings for sociology classes to be really interesting, and liked those professors and classes the best.

What do you do now?
I work for the American Cancer Society as the Resource Data Specialist for the High Plains Division. All those words mean nothing to anyone except me and my boss.

What are the most challenging/rewarding aspects of your job?
The most challenging aspect is just keeping everything accurate and up to date, as well as consistently listed and therefore findable. There are a million little decisions to make in a day that need to match up with decisions from the days and weeks before, and new resources are constantly being submitted for consideration. I really like being able to help people in a direct and practical way, without having the emotional exhaustion that, at least for me, is an inevitable part of hands-on social service work. And I like that I am the only one in charge of my project. I like that part a lot.

How bad is cancer, really?
Depending on the kind you get, cancer is always worse than a paper cut, and almost always better than ebola.

Why did you become a triathelete?
As a way of supporting my Dad, and also connecting with him. He had multiple myeloma at the time, and had been a long distance cyclist for years. The first triathlon I did was through Team in Training, which is the main fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, who also work with Multiple Myeloma patients.

Do you have graduate academic plans?
That question kind of makes me want to die. I’d like to live somewhere rural enough to have a big garden and chickens and a few goats. If going back to school can help make that happen for me, I’m there.

What do you want to do in the future?
This sounds so mild, but really I’d love to be able to live in some sort of ecohome that Cristian and I build ourselves in the country. I’d love to be able to work from home and have kids around and goats and dogs and chickens. That is the work I really love to do, the work I’m really good at, and it doesn’t have too much to do with my degree. It also doesn’t pay, and therefore may be a lifelong pipedream.

How many pets do you own?
You asked this question to publicly embarrass me! I have………….3 pets. 2 dogs and a cat. All I have to say about that is, once you open the door to a rescue animal, it is really hard to get it shut again.

How do you feel about turning 30?
So far adulthood has been the best part of my life. Turning 30 was not a big deal, maybe because I am just coming off the crisis of my father’s death? All of those issues of responsbility and the end of the era of dependency came up with his passing, along with the coming to grips with one’s own mortality stuff. I am happy, and full of a profound feeling of gratitude. Don’t get me wrong, I can still mope and spazz with the best of them, but I don’t seem to as often.

Do you believe in astrology?
I think astrology is a really useful way to think about the different types of people there are in the world, and the different strengths and weaknesses that go along with different personality types. I don’t think that stars in the sky determine personality.

Can you rate your faith on a scale from 1-10?
A 10? A 10 because the big leap for me is to choose to have faith. I believe that there is a mystery at the heart of creation that is beyond my puny mind to fully comprehend or understand, and that to live my life well requires that I give attention and respect to that mystery. I emphatically do not believe that if you pray to one certain God over another, He will smite your enemies or rain dollar bills on your house.

Why is radical community important to you?

• To get out of the capitalist system and instead participate in a system of reciprocity, where favors are exchanged between people in place of money.
• To spread the role of caregiver and care receiver out beyond the nuclear family unit, making it easier to both give and receive in any given situation
• To have the opportunity to deeply share in my friend’s successes and triumphs
• To have the opportunity to learn different ways of seeing the world and being in the world from people who grew up in different places and circumstances
• What Would Jesus Do?

Do you see yourself in Texas long term?
I would put the odds at a solid 50-50.