Behind The Scenes

Every person is more than just the sum of her job — even those of us who are passionate about our careers.

If I’m not researching and writing, you’ll likely find me on the road to wherever it leads. I enjoy cross-country trips by car, seeing how far I can wander in a three-day weekend, and international airports with equal passion.

I laugh out loud at Jay Leno’s Headlines skit and never miss an episode of NYPD Blue, even if they are reruns now. If you call during lunch hours, expect to hear All My Children quickly muted in the background.

Braveheart is the greatest movie ever filmed (con me into writing you a business check if only to read the “every man dies” slogan above my signature), and I’ve trekked William Wallace’s trail throughout Scotland in my obsession. Of course, Mel Gibson makes the movie extremely watchable as well.

I fervently support Indiana University basketball (I’ve missed seeing fewer than five games in 28 years), and always mark off the first four days of the NCAA tournament as vacation time. My latest “gotta have it” quest involves convincing a woodworker to replicate the 64-team bracket in a tasteful black. I plan to hang on my wall year-round as modern art — it will blend in so well with the Pepsi machine and popcorn cart in my sunroom!

Expect to receive my articles postmarked in the middle of the night, knowing that I’ve likely belted out every Olivia Newton-John song recorded while I typed. I never figured out whether that urge to write at 3 a.m. stems from a natural night owl rhythm or my need to defy my mother’s bedtime rules. Since I’m a first-born, it’s probably a mixture of both.