Melon Bio

I was born in Santa Ana, CA, raised in Phoenix, AZ.  I like to annoy people on a regular basis by using my brain.  It’s quite fun.  Until very recently, I performed music for a living, and I’m thinking about going back to doing that full-time again.  I left the music business in Los Angeles a few years ago in order to care for an terminally-ill family member who has since gone to another life.  Just the thought of returning to the shark-infested waters of the Los Angeles recording studio scene makes me tired, so if I sing for my supper again, it has to be a different ball game. 

Meanwhile, I have my Clark Kent job in the public sector.  This experience has been quite the departure from my usual line of work, but there have also been some similarities between the two professions… mostly related to egos, politics, and power.  Brain use?  I’ve discovered that it is an unnecessary organ to utilize when you’re working in either one of those fields.  I’m hard at work on Number 5 in the Noble Eightfold Path.  I don’t do anything quite as bad as the link describes, but I do write policy based on interpretations of the law that come from whatever political puppet show is playing at my agency at any given time.  So, I’m sort of aiding and abetting, but at least I’m trying to utilize the  portions of that path while I do so.  I guess I’ve taken it up as a karmic quest to make sure that the Division interprets the law with that Path in mind.  It’s kind of a different concept in writing public policy and I’m just trying to make a positive difference to the People while dealing with the challenges of working for the State.  HALP! 

Am I over-educated?  Oh my, yes.  I attended Indiana University - Bloomington, where I graduated with a Bachelor’s of Music (Performance) and I have a graduate degree in Music Performance from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA.  For those who want to know, I play the French horn and sing (I’m a lyric and sometimes dramatic mezzo-soprano).  Would you like fries with that?

Politics?  Geez, don’t even get me started.  I’m a registered Libertarian who embraces individualist anarchism… but not everyone can be counted on to do what is right.  Hell, it seems that there are as many different versions of what is right as there are people.  Crap!  We’re all products of our environment, right?  Well… I was raised by a Goldwater Republican (get your government out of my pants, please) and a Socialist/ FDR New Dealer.   This made for a volatile home environment, especially around election time.  No wonder I am confused. 

In addition to making music, I also love to read, garden, make jewelry, ride my bike, practice yoga, bake, cook, and volunteer with animal rescue organizations.  I have an extremely soft spot for our fuzzy friends.  I am the guardian of two beautiful kitties, Opie and Chloe, who have their own MySpace accounts. I am the sometime guardian of our community cat, Oreo, who is in the process of being transitioned into foster care.  My kitties seem to like him, so he’ll stay with us for awhile while he polishes his domestic-kitty manners.  He’s come a long, long way from his feral days!  He’s so friendly and affectionate that you’d never know he was once a wild one!  If he fits in well with the kitty vibe here, this will be his forever home.  If not, I’ll make sure that he gets a good one.

I was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome in 2005 at the age of 37 and it’s been a weird ride. It was a big “aha” moment; so much about me finally made sense! I do a lot of work on me in order to function in the real world… mostly, I spend a lot of time in yoga class. It helps.

Oh, and by the way…  the “nice melons” thang in the address is about my head, not my breasts.  Just thought I’d clear that up.  I’ve had a few questions on the name and it was a nickname growing up because I was a bit of a braniac/nerd.  It denigrated to that, then stuck, and you know how those nicknames follow you around… so in the spirit of acceptance, I’ve embraced my nickname. 

Thanks for stopping by!