(I wrote this post in May 2005. Clearly I've decided to keep blogging! Sadly, Casey died just a couple of weeks after I wrote this "profile." A couple of months later I stopped blogging anonymously and started blogging as myself, Kate Ingold.)

I've been debating with myself the past few days, trying to decide whether or not I want to keep blogging. I've become so bitter and angry lately. That's not good! I decided, though, to introduce myself, finally. Radio doesn't have a "profile" page like blogger. I think it should. In the meantime, here's my own little "profile."

My family:


This is my favorite picture of me and my husband. We met in shidokan karate class back in the 90s. I was a black belt and he was a blue belt. He was the toughest guy there, and the smartest too! He knocked out two guys in one night to win a prestigious MMA tournament. My honey, my baby! Now he is in Afghanistan with the national guard and I'm more interested in zen and yoga than martial arts. Well, eight years of training and fighting was enough. What can I say?


This is our dog Casey. He's on the way out. I don't think he's going to be with us more than a week or so, poor baby. We adopted him at the Anti-Cruelty Society five years ago. He was at least seven then, so he's had a long life. He is the cutest, most cuddly dog in the world. A sheltie mix, he's about 35 pounds with long, sable-color fur. What a cutie!

We want to have kids, probably one and then adopt another. Those plans are on hold, though, since S is in Afghanistan for at least seven more months. Boo hoo!!!

My politics:

I'm a liberal, a progressive, whatever you want to call me. I don't always agree with everyone on the left, but I certainly do more so than those on the right. My philosophy is driven by compassion for other people and a belief in the need to fight for social justice. I believe in true freedom and like all good progressives, I think government is here to make our lives better, not to decide what we do in our bedrooms. I'm for honest civil rights, which means that I think homosexuals should be able to marry if they damn well please. What's the big deal?!

My favorites (some, not all...):

Music: I grew up on U2, so even though their last few records have been, in my opinion, crap, I still like them. Erykah Badu is amazing. Bruce Springsteen is a genius (I saw him just last month -- wow!!!), and so is Lucinda Williams. My ipod has everything from The Roots and Wu Tang to Joy Harjo and Poetic Justice, Nick Drake, The Replacements, The Pixies, Alice in Chains, a slew of non-rock stuff like classical guitar and flamenco (Lole y Manuel -- wow!), reggae, norteno (Los Tigres!), African music (from Mali, Angola, Zimbabwe, Uganda...) and one of my favorites, Lila Downs. Anyway, there are way too many bands and styles to mention.

Movies: I'm more generous than S when it comes to movies, but I agree with him that most these days are not so good. My favorite filmmakers are John Sayles and Jim Jarmusch. I don't love all of their films, but I go to see every one. I'd say my movie taste is about as diverse as my musical taste. We own copies of The Five Deadly Venoms, Ghost Dog, Apocalypse Now, Malcolm X, Smoke Signals, Monty Python's The Holy Grail, and probably fifty other movies if that gives you any idea! I've subscribed to Film Movement since its inception.

Books: This list changes all the time, grows and grows. I tend to read more than one book at a time, or at least start a few all at once. Joy Harjo's poetry has helped me through a number of tough times, including my step-father's death. I read a lot of poetry. Right now I'm reading Edward McCrorie's new translation of "The Odyssey", a book I haven't read since high school; "Farewell to the Sea" by Reinaldo Arenas, a novel recommended to me by a fantastic poet friend in New Orleans; the collected works of Paul Celan; and "An End to Suffering: The Buddha in the World," by Pankaj Mishra.

Activities: Travel, travel, travel. We'll be living in Oaxaca for a year once S is out of the military, hopefully! We went rockclimbing in Yosemite for our honeymoon. I've studied guitar and painting. Life's too short, but hey, you've got to enjoy it while you're here.

My career(s):

When I first graduated college I moved to LA and got into the film business, working as a PA on TV commercials, music videos (they were big in the early 90s) and one feature film. I also co-wrote/co-produced several PSAs about ways to cut down pollution, and worked on a docudrama for the LA district attorney's office to assist women through the domestic violence courts. Overall the business was soul-crushing, so I left. I moved back to Chicago, started studying kickboxing, temped, bartended, produced a failed indy film, took photos and researched Native American burial and earth mounds, taught self-defense all over the city, and worked as a personal trainer. In between jobs I traveled through Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore where I copy edited a couple of books, took photos for the Bangkok Post, and got to see several muay thai fights. I was already interested in Buddhism because of martial arts and in Thailand I got to see it in practice. It wasn't very encouraging, but that's for another day. I went to graduate school and studied creative writing. I still call myself a poet though I haven't written much since S left several months ago. That's one of the reasons I've been questioning whether to keep blogging. I'll keep you posted!

During graduate school I did a work-study at a local community writing and publishing program. I was hired to work there part-time while I finished school, then full-time after I graduated. Eventually I became Executive Director. It was unbelievably tough but also incredibly rewarding. (I hope to work for a similar organization again. We'll see.) I am fully committed to working toward social change for the rest of my life.

S decided to change careers and entered graduate school in anthropology in New Orleans, where we've lived the past three years. He moved there without me at first, but I missed him too much so I left the job I loved and moved down south. I decided to start blogging to document my experience down there and to lift my spirits, which were pretty low after leaving Chicago. I taught freshman comp at a community college then at a university in New Orleans, wrote with an incredible group of women poets who were generous enough to invite a slug like me into their group, and met some of the most wonderful, talented people in the world. I miss New Orleans, but I knew it would be too hard to live down there without S so I moved back home to Chicago.

And here I am.