April 8th, 1988, a star is born.

Me and my little brother. We still pretty much look like that.  Also notice the wine.  When I was seven, I thought my mom was an alcoholic because she drank wine out of a box.

Or just a girl, slightly awkward, mostly confident, occasionally a loner, just as often a social butterfly, kind of a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none type deal.

Fast-forward through school years, which she spent awkwardly trying to find the perfect balance between intelligent and nerdy, bossy and quality leadership, opinionated and open-minded, over achiever and laid back, ambitious and affable, creative and rule-oriented. Throw in a few sports, a few extracurricular activities, some family dramas, and some student loands (and by some I always mean “a lot”) and you have it.

Summer . . . 2008?

TADA, Me.  I recently graduated from Emerson Magna Cum Laud with a BFA in Writing, literature, and publishing, and minors in ethics/philosophy and photography, as well as a member of the Honors program.  I spent a semester abroad, and, in my final three days of school, managed to turn in almost 200 pages of writing, broken down into an Honors thesis, a BFA thesis, and three lit papers.

Me and Frank in LA, July 2010.

I travel a lot. I spent a semester overseas, and for a while was managing a trip abroad every summer.  Now it’ll be whenever I can scrounge up enough money.  When at home, hanging out with the friends doing nothing is just as fun, or annual roadtrips, the occasional dinner party, and lots of live theatre or concerts.

This is the shoe that I lived in  for a semester in the Netherlands. 2007.

I’ve waited tables, worked at Starbucks, and nannied for several families.  I then lucked out and managed to snag a Public Relations and Community Management Internship at Harmonix (think Rock Band and Dance Central).  That lasted for a sweet five months, at which point I was invited by another department to take a recently vacated position.  SO now I am part of the two-person Playtesting team.  This is in fact not what Frank does (as a Quality Assurance tester).  It’s part of the design department, and the basic breakdown of my job is internal and external playtesting feedback analysist and design-problem solution brainstormer.

With my mom (Janet Morrow)  at the opening of her art reception at the Smithsonian in June 2010.

I’m also beginning my foray into the writing world and currently have several small and large things I’m trying to get published.  The publishing world is overwhelming, though, and full of waiting for replies, so who knows what timeline I’m on with that.  I’ll definitely post anything I learn or experience or get on my blog!

That’s me watching the sun set over the moat of the castle in the Netherlands that I actually did live in for four months. Life is hard.  We called this area Narnia. 2007.

I like dancing. In Boston, I used to go salsa dancing and took some jazz classes. I took some ballroom and latin club classes, too. I’ve recently gotten back into Irish Step Dancing, which I also did in high school. I just find dancing overall enjoyable. I don’t make any claims to be good, but I frequently dance in random places. On low brick walls, coffee tables, and walking along sidewalks. In the car. The kitchen. The living room.

Me and Nellie apple picking, Fall 2010.

I like sports, though again, I can’t really claim to be very good. I used to be GREAT at basketball and volleyball. Really, Olympic material. But it’s been a while and now I’m all short and curvy and all that, which gets in the way of athleticism. I go running in the middle of the night sometimes. I enjoy working out. Hip Hop workout videos are fun, but nothing beats Richard Simmons Sweating to the Oldies. Elipticals are fun.  I got a bike for my birthday but biking in the city can be somewhat terrifying.

Me and family at Thanksgiving.

I have some family; they’re cool. In Texas, I still call my mom and stepdad’s house, home, though my brother has moved to Austin with his fiance for college. I’ve got a dad, too. I’ve got an older stepbrother who recently got married.  A diabetic cat.  A weiner dog. Frank’s got a bunch of fish that I secretly like me more, including a pastel betta who I call “Frenchie,” as well as my very own betta named Aslan.

That’s my stepbrother Ryan and his wife Natalie in the back; also Thanksgiving 2010.

Did I mention I have a corgi puppy?  She was born June 20, 2010 (so you figure out her age, depending when you read this.)  She’s pretty cute and spunky and always into stuff.  Her name is Nellie.  You’ll see lots of pictures of her in my blog, since she’s pretty much the cutest thing in my life.

Camping with friends at Caddo Lake State Park.

Mom and me at the Houston Feis when I was in high school.

I was a national competitor in speech and debate twice, but I quit that.  I basically burned myself out in high school and spent college only doing what I really want to, which is mostly traveling, taking pictures, and being a really reclusive writer, though having a boyfriend has sort of helped/sort of enabled that.  Especially in the winter, I don’t really like to be out and about much.  But as long as I’m writing or reading, I’m happy, and video games play a pretty prominent role in our lives as well.

Me and the boyfriend, Frank, at the Natural History and Science Museum in August ’09.

I’m really bad at poetry. Sometimes I’m funny. I miss being involved in theatre, though I never thought I was really any good. I got laughs, though. I’d probably be incredible at directing, but I’ve decided NOT to pursue a theatre career except for playwriting. I’ve had two 10-minute plays produced in a 10-minute play marathon and recently won an award from my college for one, alongside the first $100 I’ve ever made from my writing.  Maybe I’ll end back up there. I like to keep my eyes open to all the opportunities life has to offer.

Fishing in New Jersey.

I’m a Texan and insanely proud of it.  I’m irate that Boston gets just as hot, sometimes hotter, than Texas in the summer but doesn’t offer central heating.  I love to cook and, since my boyfriend and I will shortly be moving in together, expect that this blog will become much more domestic since I’ll have more opportunity to cook and pursue my old-lady hobbies like cross-stitching and knitting.

My friend Carly at her Halloween party ’09.  She’s moving back to Arizona after graduation.

I get the career question a lot. What do you want to do? I want to travel and write and take pictures. I want to do travel writing and non-fiction writing. I want to do photojournalism and freelance photography. I want to visit everywhere in the world, meet the people, see how they interact with each other, find out what makes them tick, then make that real for people in other countries. I want to make people REAL to each other, despite national, cultural, or geoographical barriers.  And I’d be more than happy if my current internship gives me the opportunity to continue in this line of work, either at Harmonix or elsewhere.

My dad with me at graduation.

With my mom and stepdad.

With my brother and his fiance.

I’m very strong in my convictions but actually quite open-minded. I like to hear what other people think and feel. I’ve said that already in various ways, but it’s true. Overall, people tend to annoy me, but individually I think people are beautiful and good and interesting. Every time stupidity or ignorance destroy my faith in humanity, random acts of kindness and compassion restore it. God hasn’t left us.

Biking in Germany.

Christmas ’09, when Frank came home with me to East Texas.  I’ve taken lots of polaroids in the past year and will get them all scanned in and posted online in the near future.

Eventually I’d like to head to grad school, for some mesh of anthropology-sociology-psychology, but seeing as I’m broke, it’ll probably be a while until I can afford it.  But really, who knows what the future holds?  I sure don’t, but I’m open to the world’s suggestions.

Frank and I at his company holiday party, December ’09.

Also, I just noticed that I basically make faces in every picture of my.  Apologies.

That’s me and Thomas all grown up. I’m 19 in this picture, hence the short hair, but it’s still one of my favorite photos of us together.