INTRO POST

[psychic_serpent]

THE OLD CROWD – INTRO

***Name:
Barbara Lamond Purdom

***Nicknames/IDs:
Barb, blpurdom (on YM), psychic_serpent

***Age:
39

***Family:
Youngest of five, 10 nieces/nephews, 4 great-nieces/nephews, father 
died two years ago April, mother 78 and perfecting her passive-
aggressive tendencies more every day (my sister's words--she lives 
with her now); husband Chris is computer programmer for e-commerce 
company where he's considered 'old' at 39, and despite having been 
hired for his years of experience and wisdom feels incompetant 
almost every day because he was laid off last year after 16 years 
with a company and basically had to start over again after that.  
Father-in-law is science-fiction writer Tom Purdom, MIL Sara had 
brain surgery 18 mos ago and is no longer really herself, but we all 
love her and do our best to make sure she doesn't feel out of the 
loop.  She's a dear.

Son Ben, 10 1/2, will be in sixth grade this Sept. and daughter 
Rachel, 8 1/2 (the halves are important <g>) will be in fourth.  We 
tried homeschooling Ben this year; middling results.  Are trying him 
at a new school in Sept.  Crossing our fingers and hoping for the 
best.  (Mostly that he doesn't get beat up for being a know-it-all.) 
Two cats, Bainbridge and Delancey, are 19 and 11 1/2 and we are 
constantly panicked that one or the other of them is going to die 
(Bainbridge has seizures and Delancey sleeps so deeply it's hard to 
tell she's breathing sometimes.)

***Home
Philadelphia, PA

***Birthday, Place of Birth:
April 5, 1964; Philadelphia, PA (I really get around <snerk>)

***Education/Job/Role in Life etc:
Four years at Temple Univ (also in Philly) studying 
Classics/Anthropology and how to change a major every two 
semesters.  Job experience as waitress, manager in housewares store, 
admin assistant, computer programmer, dance/drama counselor at day 
camp, medical editor and freelance chamber singer.  Nothing for 
which I am technically qualified, in other words.  After being stay-
at-home mom from ages 29-34, started back to school to study 
architecture, starting first with math and then actually progressing 
to studio courses.  Have straight-A average so far but moving slowly 
since I can only go part-time, due to raising my kids.  Will 
probably get degree 1 year before qualifying for Social Security.

***Other things we might want to know about you:
Thanks to having received some lovely feedback on my HP fanfiction, 
I'm testing the waters of original fiction again (one completed 
novel, actual rejection from Morrow, another novel 2/3 done but 
abandoned for 10 years).  I have a werewolf trilogy mapped out and 
have started writing the first novel in the series, "Animal 
Control," which will hopefully be completed in about a year. Then 
I'll try shopping it around to agents, with my father-in-law's 
help.  (He knows the ropes.)
 
***First contact with Harry Potter:
Bought Ben the books for Christmas 2000.  Started reading them aloud 
to him around New Year and became hooked myself; read all four books 
within a week.  Took a lot longer to read them to him aloud.  By the 
time Rachel heard me reading the Gilderoy Lockhart parts of CoS to 
him, she became convinced she wanted to read them too, and now she's 
read all of the books TEN times.  I credit the HP books with the 
fact that her reading level is tenth-grade, although she's going 
into fourth. 

***Favourite Potter things (books, characters, ships, fics, objets 
d'Art, general enthusing):

ART -- Am proud owner of a huge banner from the Scottish premier of 
the first film, courtesy of Chris Dickson, who conspired with my 
husband to send it to me for Christmas 2001.  We have three 
different versions of the posters from the first film; my son has 
the best one hanging in his room (where Dan is staring down at you a 
little and a bunch of the other characters are around him). 

BOOK-- GoF. Until I read OotP, probably.  In some ways, though, I'm 
appreciating PS more and more (have UK copies of first four and have 
ordered UK copy of OotP) as I see loads more foreshadowing on every 
reading.

CHARACTERS-- Love Harry and Ron, want to know the whole Snape 
backstory, hating all Malfoys intensely and wishing poor Arthur 
could get a break at the Ministry.  Unashamed Percy-apologist.  
Waiting for Hermione to get less annoying, for Ginny to be more 
fleshed-out and for Neville's greatness to emerge.  Also wanting to 
know more about the MWPP days, and dying for Wormtail to be captured 
so Sirius can be cleared.   

SHIPS-- Very nearly anything that doesn't seem to be absolutely 
impossible in canon.  But even those (DM/HG, SS/HG, DM/HP) I'll read 
in fanfiction if the fic is well-written enough.  Sadly, that means 
I don't actually read these ships much in fanfiction; other people 
must think they're done a lot better than I generally do.  
Anna's "Roman Holiday" is both DM/HG and SS/HG and I don't have to 
have a gun to my head to read it, it's so fabulous.  

FICS-- Started off reading Lori's Paradigm of Uncertainty on a lark 
and was quickly sucked into the fanfic world.  Sadly, haven't had 
time to read updates of hers recently, nor Cassie's, Ebony's, 
Rhyssen's, Carole's or Anna's.  I also like Irina's Trilogy, but am 
woefully behind on that as well.  Most recent thing I read by 
someone else was Cas's "All Debts Must be Paid," which is an 
interesting Sirius-on-the-run fic that I'm 2/3 done.  Last thing I 
read before that was probably Al's last Snitch! chapter.  I also 
beta-read "The Orpheus Imperative" for Al, but it's not clear to me 
whether he's abandoned it.

In addition to RL (including original fiction writing), I'm usually 
busy writing my own fics, the Psychic Serpent Trilogy 
(http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Barb ), plus MWPP-era 
prequel.  I had hoped to finish the third part of the trilogy (The 
Triangle Prophecy) by next Saturday, but came to my senses and 
decided that it wasn't necessary to rush things.  I've already got a 
post-OotP fic planned for when I'm done the Psychic Serpent fics, 
and I'll find out how much of the plot outline needs to be changed 
next week! (I'll also be writing an original fiction version of it.) 
A friend and beta-reader, Nick, wants to do a post-Hogwarts Psychic 
Serpent fic ("Vanished!") on which I'm the advisor and sort-of 
collaborator/beta reader.  The post-OotP fic I'm planning is 
actually the first time I've considered writing Adult!Harry, so I'm 
kind of excited about that.

MERCHANDISE-- Much of it makes me either smirk or grimace.  My 
daughter actually has cherry-scented Harry Potter liquid soap.  Erk.

GENERAL ENTHUSING-- Taking kids to bookstore for midnight party!  
Woohoo!

***Extent of Potter obsession:
You need to ask?  (See FICS, above.) 
 
***Other interests/activities:
1) Architecture.  Husband is getting mighty tired of every building 
we enter or pass being critiqued, but we both agree that we HATE the 
new Wharton building on the Penn Campus.  (Could double for Azkaban. 
Very cheery.) 

2)Faith-based gay rights activism.  Recently spoke at press 
conference concerning the Boy Scouts' discriminatory policies 
against gay scouts.  Had a load of fun in local pride parade last 
Sunday with other members of our church.  Hoping that the huge slash 
fanbase online will mean a next generation that is far more gay-
friendly than in the past.

***Current/recent reading:
Rereading the HP books in preparation for Saturday (halfway through 
PoA); "The Most Beautiful House in the World" by Witold Rybczynski.  
Read anything he has written, even if you think you're not 
interested in architectural criticism.  Lovely.

***Current/recent listening: 
Brandenburg Concertos; Bach music for unaccompanied cello played by 
Yo Yo Ma; Jacqueline Du Pre's Dvorak cello concerto; whatever leaks 
out of my son's earphones when he's listening to his favorite CD 
(Avril Levigne).

***Current/recent viewing:
Recently rented first season of Six Feet Under and fell in love with 
it.  Need to buy fourth season of Buffy on DVD.  Adored "Finding 
Nemo" and just took the kids to AMAZING documentary about birds 
called "Winged Migration."  See it if you can.  Don't know how they 
filmed this gorgeous piece short of strapping a camera to the back 
of a goose. <g>

That's all I got now.

--Barb