Getting To Know You, Getting To Know All About You

[- Joy -]

Oooh, I love these things.  Here's mine!

>Real name:
Joy Levin Welan


>Also known as:
Joyful
~Joy~
The Other Joy
Joysie Elf
Help Desk Diva

>Age/Sex:
19/F (yes, I'm the young'n)

>Birthplace/Livingplace:
Born at Georgetown University Hospital in DC. During the school year, live
in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of DC, while I go to George Washington
University, which everyone always gets confused with Georgetown.  Right now,
living in North Potomac, a suburb of DC.

>Family Life:
Single, but wishing I had a boyfriend.  Only child, very close to both
parents.  A black "cocker spaniel" (mutt) that we adopted from the pound,
who is the love of my life.

>Personality:
Quiet until you get to know me, then I never shut up.

>Words friends have used to describe you:
 perfectionist, genius, naive, idealistic, bleeding heart liberal, insane

>Words you have used to describe you:
compassionate, persistent, anal, obsessive, dedicated, generous,
intelligent, busy

>Things you do when not staring at the computer:
When is that?  I'm obsessed with reality TV, love to read things unrelated
to my classes, adore sleeping as much as I can, and am currently interning
at the Feminist Majority Foundation.

>Comfort foods:
Chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate.  Especially Snickers.  Also gummy
bears, goldfish crackers, and softserve vanilla ice cream.  Is it any wonder
that I'm constantly trying to lose weight?

>Education/Work:
I'm a junior at GW.  Majoring in Women's Studies, with minors in Spanish and
PoliSci.  Want to go to law school and eventually become either a public
defender, litigator specializing in discrimination, or policy analyst.

>Language skills
English, almost fluent Spanish, functional Hebrew.

>Technical know-how:
Certified tech geek.  Adore my laptop, my high speed connection, and my over
10 hours of MP3s.  Love tweaking my computer to make it work exactly the way
I want it to.  Can fix almost anything, or will figure out how to.  Know
HTML.


>Favourite HP book:
Absolutely positively PoA.  Then GoF and PS/SS.  CoS is my absolute least
favorite.

>Favourite HP character(s):
Hermione.  The Weasley twins.  Harry, Lupin, Snape, and Sirius are distant
runners-up.

>Favourite HP line:
"Have you gone mad?  Are you a witch or not?"
"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our
abilities."
"Harry!", said Fred, elbowing Percy out of the way and bowing deeply.
Simply splendid to see you, old boy!"  "Marvelous", said George, pushing
Fred aside and seizing Harry's hand in turn.  "Absolutely spiffing!"  Percy
scowled.

>Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?:
Watching.  Looking forward to Cuaron and PoA.  Have both DVDs, but haven't
watched them more than once.  Disappointed with things that were left out,
but enjoyed seeing the world of the books come to life.

>Into HP fanfiction?
Yep.  Not reading anymore until after OoP, but love Ebony, Lori, Carole, and
Cassie's stuff.

>Books you'd recommend to just about anyone:
"The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood.
"Manifesta" by Baumgardner and Richards.
"Beach Music" by Pat Conroy.
"The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant.
"The Measure of Our Success" by Marian Wright Edelman.
"Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston.
"Prodigal Summer" by Barbara Kingsolver.
"She's Come Undone" by Wally Lamb.
"Stupid White Men" by Michael Moore"
His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman.
"A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn.
(yes, they're in alphabetical order... I cheated and looked at my
bookshelf.)


>Favorite TV shows?
"The Amazing Race".  Also "American Idol", "Survivor", "Friends, "Will and
Grace", "The Practice", "Boston Public", "Trading Spaces", and "The
Simpsons".  I watch far too much TV for my own good, and love my TiVo.

>Favorite movies:
"Moulin Rouge", "Chicago", "Reality Bites"

>One thing about your life you'd change if you could - you may not
>say "lose weight."
I wouldn't have the surgery that left me flat on my back in the hospital for
six weeks, and with chronic hip and back pain that's worse than the pain it
was supposed to fix.  Most people find this surprising, but I wouldn't
change being born with cerebral palsy.  It's made me the person that I am,
and I like that person.  People's attitudes about it, on the other hand, I
would change.  Oops, I guess that's more than one thing.

>One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance
>copy of Book 7:
Going to GW.  I absolutely love it.

>Philosophy for an easy life:
It all works out.

>How you found HPfGU:
I honestly can't remember.

>Active at other HP sites:
Check TLC daily.

>Your most rock solid OoP prediction:
Hagrid will die.

>Members of the fandom you have personally met:
Cindy
Joywitch
Amanda
Debbie
Neil
Looking forward to meeting more at Nimbus, but terrified to meet so many at
once.

What a small world!  Phyllis and Debbie both went to GW?!  And both live in
Arlington?  I'm currently working in Rosslyn.  Jo, where are you in MoCo?
That's where I've lived my entire life when not at school.   You need to
join the DC posse!

That's probably more than you ever wanted to know about me...

~Joy~