I live in Hattiesburg, MS.

I was born in Brookhaven, MS.

The place where I lived as a child is now the Mississippi High School for the Arts.

I have three brothers.

I have two sisters.

I am the youngest in my family.

I don't have any children, but I have lots and lots of nieces and nephews.

I love animals, almost all animals (except rats!), but I have cats.

My cats' names are Mowgli and Callie.

At one time, my parents were both English teachers.

I lived within walking distance of the public library when I was a child.

I read everything.

Once I tried to check out a book, and the librarian told me I wasn't old enough to understand it yet.

I'm a vegetarian.

I only became a vegetarian as an experiment, but it stuck.  I don't even like the smell of meat now. 

I've been a vegetarian since about 1993.

I don't care if other people are not vegetarians.

My favorite book when I was a child was The Fire Cat.

My favorite toys were jacks and pogo sticks.

I'm a member of University Baptist Church.

I like to cook, but I don't do it very often.

I hate to wash dishes.

My favorite ice cream is Ben and Jerry's Half Baked.

The year I got my Ph.D. my brother got his second Ph.D.

I learned it all at Easthaven Baptist Kindergarten.

I believe that a messy desk is the sign of an active mind.  That's my excuse anyway.

The only things I miss about Stillwater, Oklahoma are the cheese fries, the long walk up to my fourth floor office, and a handful of people.

This list is helping me put off grading papers.

When I graduated from high school, I wanted to go to cosmetology school.

If I could start over, I would be an English major all over again.

I hated high school, but I loved graduate school.

If I could go back for a second Ph.D., I would choose either history or philosophy.

I wish I had the mindset to major in something that would make a lot of money, but I enjoy cool ideas and facts much more than practicalities.

I played the flute in the high school band.

I kept playing flute in band up until my junior year at USM.

I’m not a football fan, but because I was in the band, I was at the first game Brett Favre played for USM. I remembered his name only because people in the stadium got so excited when he came out to play.

I love Doctor Who. I watched BBC reruns on PBS when I was a child. Now I watch BBC reruns on the Sci-Fi channel.

Aside from Doctor Who, Stargate SG-1 is probably my favorite show.

I haven’t watched soap operas in years, but when I was in high school I loved Days of Our Lives so much that I would try to stay home from school when really important episodes were on, like Roman and Marlena’s wedding…the first one, that is.

The first time I had cable TV was when I went to college at USM. During my first semester at the university, I skipped classes once to watch a marathon of Elvis movies.

I drive a 2005 Toyota.

The car I had before my Toyota was a 1995 Ford.

The car I had before my Ford was a 1985 Honda.

When I’m writing, I like to sit on the couch with a notebook computer in my lap.

I also leave the TV on with the sound turned off while I’m writing.

My favorite movies—if that is counted by the number of times I’ve watched them—are probably the Lord of the Rings movies. I was disappointed by some of the things changed from the books, but I still love the movies.

The only books I’ve ever purchased on the first day of release are Harry Potter books.

I own hundreds, maybe even thousands, of books.

My books are not in alphabetical order. They are not arranged by subject. I have never counted to see how many I have.

My brother read an entire junior encyclopedia when he was a child. I read the Reader’s Digest condensed classics. I also read Trixie Beldon books. My tastes were diverse.

I don’t consider any trip complete until I’ve gotten lost and turned around a few times.

I believe the best things in life are the ones you find when you’ve gotten lost looking for something else.

I saw the Rosetta Stone because I got lost looking for a restroom in the British Museum.

I bought a Nintendo 64 when I was studying for my comprehensive exams for my Ph.D.

The only game I ever really learned how to play on the Nintendo was Mario, but there was also a Star Wars racing game I liked.

Even at four, my nephews beat me at Donkey Kong.

I own one piece of Gail Pittman pottery that I bought for a friend who was getting married and decided to keep for myself. It’s the grapevine pattern if you’d like to buy me anything to match.

I write for stress relief. I think I am probably good at writing mainly because I enjoy it so much.

I do not enjoy running. I’m not good at all at that.

I don’t enjoy math either, and I’m terrible at that—except for the parts I have to do, of course, like calculating grades and tips in restaurants.