I've been a runner most of my life, and over the last two years, as a giant f*** you to my chronic pain, I've returned to distance running, which I'm realizing is a whole new thing when you're a perimenopausal women in her mid-forties. (Sweat much?) But the women in the W40 age class are absolute BEASTS, and I tip my hat to every 40+ dame who straps on a running vest, shoves a wet sponge down their sports bra, and goes the distance just because she can.

I also enjoy music in various keys and genres, though I have an aesthetic preference for flats over sharps, samba over salsa, bebop over swing, Beethoven over Brahms, Kristofferson over Haggard, and Gershwin in all modes and modulations. I am largely allergic to Franz Liszt, Bro-Country, and praise music, though even here I will make some exceptions. And I have an inordinate love for Christmas music! I play the piano (and a bit of organ) in my spare time, though these days you will mostly find me at the keyboard tuning (and retuning) the tiny crap ukelele I bought for 4 EUR at a flea market for my daughter, who loves to "play" it with gusto in the wee hours of the morning.

Finally, when time, money, and health permit, I also enjoy exploring various nooks and crannies of the globe with my partner, Dr. Daniel Schumacher, and our boisterous rainbow child, Charlie Rae.