i am: short, left-handed, nearsighted, lazy, silly, messy (but also anal-retentive and organized), clumsy and always hungry.

i like books, and want to spend the rest of my life hanging out with/reading them. i like people too, but really i just like books about people (mostly joking). i am really making myself sound more like a 60-year-old woman than anything.

i like collecting just about everything.

oh and i like beards (real and fake, but preferably real). and parentheses, apparently.

all my friends call me mom.

i don't play chess.

i graduated from northeastern in december with a degree in english literature and i just started the master's degree program in library and information science at simmons.

and then, something... involving books... and libraries, to be sure.

in the meantime, though, i'm working at the boston public library and traveling more than i have in the last four years combined. when i'm at home, i am decorating my apartment, spending money i don't have, organizing everything, and finally reading some books of my own choosing.

procrastinating, reading (a man on a plane once told me i was the fastest reader he'd ever seen), finding things, hanging out with my cat, organizing, killing houseplants, researching, and making myself sound nerdier than i am.

people sometimes stop me in the street to tell me how much they like my glasses.

books: anything by john irving, richard brautigan, haruki murakami or tove jansson, but specifically a prayer for owen meany, the pill versus the springhill mine disaster, the illustrated elements of style, the amityville horror, the faerie queene, the principles of uncertainty, extremely loud and incredibly close, cat getting out of a bag and other observations, and any short stories (but especially those by william trevor). i was/am an english major/librarian-to-be, so this list should really be just about as tall as i am. right now i am wallowing in freakish misery with dorothy parker.

movies: anything with paul newman. that and better off dead, the amityville horror, psycho, my neighbor totoro, the princess bride, and mr. horatio knibbles. my best friends and i watch sweeney todd like, once a week. i also love ridiculous romantic comedies. the last great movie i watched was district 9.

television: x-files, arrested development, antiques roadshow, clone high, pete & pete, freaks and geeks, gossip girl, it's always sunny in philadelphia, CSI, degrassi: TNG, MASH, unsolved mysteries, pushing daisies, what not to wear, dirty jobs, house, mythbusters, ugly betty, three's company, that 70's show.

music: buddy holly, jenny lewis, alison krauss, fine young cannibals, the animals, stevie wonder, kevin devine, mike doughty, steve burns, and any and all doo-wop groups. a friend gave me all the songs from the malt shop memories collection and i am as happy as a clam.

food: pasta, chocolate chip cookies, milk, caprese sandwiches, cheese, corn chowder, onions, anything with dill, chocolate faux-tarts, raclette, meatloaf, and fresh fruit. oh and vanilla ice cream with maple syrup on it. mmmmm. i live with a vegetarian, so i don't eat a whole lot of meat at home, but i still love a good steak. most of the foods that i dislike have an offensive texture: mushrooms, raisins, tapioca pudding, etc. blech!

my family, new books to read (and old ones to re-read!), clementine, beards, sleep, and sunshine.

oh and i'd be pretty screwed if i lost my glasses.

kate field, and organizational systems and tools. and fake moustaches.

i also think about books i want to read and wonder when it will be spring.

watching bad movies with a bunch of friends, eating cookies at family game night, or reading in bed with the cat on my lap.

orrrrr reading craigslist missed connections.

now that i'm back in school, every day means reading for next week's classes.

Editors

• roadcone

i am terrified of the dark.

i also have an irrational fear of lighthouses. go figure.

...you have a good beard.

if you're really tall - i guess most people are pretty tall compared to me, but the taller the better! (seriously--bao xishun, leonid stadnyk, robert wadlow--bring it on!)

if you would like to listen to "listening to richard brautigan".

or if you just want to, and have something to say other than "what's up?".