I grew up on a farm in Indiana and moved to Chicago to study Creative Writing. Like most people who go to art school, I soon found out I needed to find something else to be good at, and I started teaching Creative Writing workshops to children on Chicago's south and west side for some social justice and education non-profits. Now, I am a 2nd grade teacher on the south side who tries to keep sane by dancing and drinking on the weekends.
Note: this is in no way a complete or accurate self-summary. Oh, and my name is Lauren. Hello.

Trying to teach 2nd graders how to read, writing about experiences in the community I work in, getting my Master's from Northwestern at the same time, and figuring things out as I go along. Not ever looking to be content.

dancing, cooking, drinking, writing, teaching, thinking too much, driving in Chicago traffic, taking things seriously and not seriously at all simultaneously, telling inappropriate jokes, making fun of myself, and keeping it really real.

Curly hair, lots of sass. The fact that I don't act like any elementary school teacher you ever had.

Music: Everything, but a lot of old school hip hop, punk, indie, soul and a serious weakness for 80s new wave. Maybe I should say everything except modern country. Wanna know specifics? Ask.

Books: The Last Picture Show, Madame Bovary, American Psycho, The Rum Diary, On the Road, Tropic of Cancer, Speak, Memory, and a lot more. Seriously, I have a lot of books that I'm sick of moving.

Shows: Peep Show, The Wire, Party Down, and Louie currently.

Movies: Do the Right Thing, Rosemary's Baby, The Graduate, City of God, Annie Hall, Boogie Nights, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Coming to America, and Fargo.

Food: I know all the good places in Chicago. Also, I love tacos.

Family, friends, books, music, travel, and self-deprecating humor.

what I am going to do next in life, and not what I am going to write in response to this section of my profile.

drinking whiskey with friends, maybe. But I'm definitely somewhere, and I'm happy.

I listen to a disturbing amount of R&B. You know, sexy music.
Sometimes I cancel plans with friends to have dance parties in my apartment alone.
I want someone who thinks these things are charming, and who might want to join me.

You dance alone in your apartment, you can sustain jokes about imagined situations or conversations between people for uncomfortably long periods of time, and you like to drink whiskey straight. Also, if you think we have something in common, you like to use your brain, and you want to get to know me more. :)