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A Little About Me | |
    
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Summary: I'm a nerd, granted. But I know some interesting non-nerds... non-nerds who shame me into pretending that I too have non-nerdly interests. Here's my pitch. My brother and I were born outside the US, but we grew up in a small town in New Hampshire. Though our parents had been living as ex-pats for nearly a decade before they brought us back to New England, they picked up the rural pace of life quickly. For most of my early years, we sold veggies at the farmers' market, out of the back of dad's pickup, and from our roadside stand. (I learned the lessons of supply and demand at an early age, as we were encouraged to try our own pricing schemes, weighing higher margins against larger volume.) After high school, I spent four happy and productive years at Wellesley College. Meanwhile, Steve grew into a talented and creative musician-- if you want to read an interesting bio and download audible research (either his independent work or with his new band, the Conniption Fits), see his website. Better yet, buy an album. Out of college, I lived and worked in Boston/Cambridge for a small consulting outfit, the Economics Resource Group, now part of Compass-LexEcon. At that time I also met a very nice fellow, Eric, with whom I’ve been fortunate enough to spend a great deal of time since. Small world-- he's from the next town over in NH (Lyme) and shares my deep respect for dirt roads, brook trails, and other paths less traveled. In August, 1999 Eric and I began working on a pair of his-and-hers Ph.D.s in Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. (Now that's bonding.) We had a good – if perhaps sometimes stressful – run of it. In June 2004 we both defended and deposited our dissertations. We found jobs and a house, adopted a couple of shelter kittens, and took up appropriately Appalachian instruments given our new locale (Ol' Virgini'). Eric's not bad on the mandolin and guitar, but my banjo could use some practice. On those rare occasions when I’m not working on my research, I enjoy gardening, cooking, yoga, running, swimming, biking, reading (everything and anything), and mulling over difficult political and social situations in hopes that someday I may contribute further in this arena. I believe in my research, so that makes me pretty darned happy. I also believe in balance. We'll see how that works out.
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