Triathlete.
Once -- and future -- criminologist.
Actress. Well, "actor." None of this "tress" stuff anymore, apparently. Only comedy, though. Prefer the stage.
Journalist/speechwriter.
Sister, daughter, friend, and one of the world's best aunts.
Lover. Um, I'm thinking this requires no explanation.
Book reader. Mysteries, spy stuff.
Nearly non-TV watcher.
Cat owner.
Cannot abide dull and boring. Those qualities -- and I use the word very lightly -- rank right up there as things I abhor -- but still fall underneath -- bullies.

OK, everyone, all together now: "I neither act nor feel my chronological age." I'm going to guess that those who do won't say this, so let's just accept it as a given. Not necessarily a given steeped in fact, but a given that that's what most people on these websites write.

So why should I be any different? Because my chronological age is meaningless to me. While many friends and colleagues are retiring, I'm not. I'm not even thinking about that. In fact, I'm still working on my career ...

And when I compete in triathlons, I am haughtily proud when they mark my left calf with my age. The smug factor is elevated as I bike (and occasionally run) past women 20 and 30 years younger than me. And some men ...

I am trying to wrest from life all that's available to me, and, oh, while I'm at it, some of what's available to others who aren't bothering to avail themselves of it. Seeing as it's basically left over ... Waste not, want not, right?

So what am I doing with my life? All I can, every day. Were you to ask my advice (and oh joy, an opportunity to use the subjunctive), I'd say -- go forth and do the same.

Wasting inordinate amounts of time.
Updating this profile so it gets excerpted. See: above.
Making people laugh. Hmmm, have I done that already?
Acting. As in performing on a stage vs. pretending to be something or someone I'm not in real life. That I don't do.
Being a friend.
Not cleaning my house. I am really soooo good at this, it's nearly embarrassing.

I have no idea. Sometimes people say ... I thought you'd be taller.

My favorite book, far and away and always, is Catch-22.

When I was a young girl it was Gone With the Wind. Almost doesn't bear mentioning, except it was really long and I read it four times in a row. Never could understand why Scarlett wasted a second on wimpy Ashley Wilkes, but that's just me.

Movies. Casablanca. Children of Paradise. Hmmm. Ought I move ahead a few decades? Ok then. Sherlock Holmes. Robert Downey is an astonishing actor.

Music. Classic rock -- and Broadway musicals. I know, I know, it's one irresistible combination.

Books.
Sundaes. Chocolate chip ice cream and hot fudge sauce. That's it. No whipped cream, no anything else. And more sauce on the side. Of late, I've added a little variability, choosing Java chip instead of chocolate chip. One should always seek out flexibility, don't you think?
Exercise/training/working out. Well, swimming and biking. If it came down to having to do without running, I could man up -- and do that.
My family, which includes my cats. If you're allergic or just can't abide the concept of someone loving pets, then this [for me] would come under the category of what therapists call "good information." This [for you] would have you pass me by. So, good all round on that one.
Salty/crunchy food. Mmmm ... buttered popcorn.
The very close interaction of men and women.

Yes, yes, these collective responses might add up to more than six. Yeah, I'm cheating. Or I don't like rules. Well, both.

... how men (on this site) complain about writing to women and never hearing back, and proclaim that they will ALWAYS respond if someone writes to them ... and yet, they don't. I continue to find that happenstance amusing, yet in a decidedly perplexing way. So, um, you men who write that? Either (a) delete what you've written or (b) respond, even if it's to say you're not interested. As my late husband would say: "It's dead easy."

... where I might place in my age group in triathlons. Don't think I'm not keeping an eye on those damn formerly 59-year-olds who had a birthday and have thus become my competitors.

... in what ways I will continue to benefit from all the things my FABULOUS WONDERFUL tri coach (name happily supplied upon request) has shown me -- for running. I learned to swim differently and thus close to properly from him (the modifiers are mine -- his coaching is perfect), I am now swimming faster and more efficiently. So. Hire a coach, do what he says, train frequently, get good results. What a concept.

... if the ugliness that passes for legislating on Capitol Hill will ever diminish, and if people will ever be able to say either what they think or the truth without there being a massive, 24-hour media backlash. AND whether certain people on the right-hand side of the ledger might consider having facts to back up those things they blithely say -- and assert as truths.

... if anyone who writes about politics for a living doesn't feel some level of "has the world gone mad" in covering the minutiae of who tweeted what when.

... if 60 really IS the new 40, and, somewhat related, whether Cougar will once again become just the name of a large cat.

... recovering from a tough work week. Or meeting a friend for dinner. Or on a date. But oh me oh my, sometimes those dates do not work out at all. Not. At. All. I am, however, in the process of firing my screener over those. ***

*** Um, this is a joke. Thought I'd forestall any comments along the lines of -- she has a screener??!!?

... is ... you've got to be kidding. As if.

... well, if you like what I wrote and/or you like what I look like. I mean, why else would you contact me?

But do let me add ... I am not on this site looking for a penpal. I have limited free time, and I don't enjoy chatting online solely to chat. It's that whole means/ends thing, and for me, communicating online is just the means to meeting -- which, if you're still paying attention, is the aforementioned "ends."