OT- Intro

[Judy]

THE OLD CROWD – INTRO
 
I've actually been signed up here for a while, but haven't posted 
much.  

After I wrote this, I checked the archives and found that I posted an 
intro last summer.  But, since I've hardly posted at all since then, 
perhaps people have forgotten it!  After all, I had. Feel free to 
skip this if you read my last intro....


***Name:
Judy Shapiro

***Nicknames/IDs:
Judy Serenity -- name taken from a hobby jewelry business, Serenity 
Gems, that I used to run
 
***Age:
Life, the universe, and everything.  Um -- I mean 42. 

***Family:
Husband, cat, another cat, yet another cat, plus one more cat. 
Occasional bats and raccoons (uninvited.)  No children, 
unfortunately, but some nieces and nephews. 

 ***Home
Ann Arbor, Michigan, home of the University of Michigan, best known 
for its football team.  This town would be great if it weren't for 
football Saturdays.  Go (away) Wolverines!
 
***Place of Birth:
The tiny village of Goshen, New York. Actually, at the time my 
parents lived in the even tinier village of Maybrook, which didn't 
have a hospital.  The teeny-tiny hospital in which I was born has 
been turned into a restaurant, last I heard. 

***Education/Job/Role in Life etc:
PhD in Social Psychology, which is more like sociology than like what 
most people think of as psychology.  In other words, I'm not a 
therapist.  I teach at a local university, but it's not a full-time 
position, which is frustrating.  So, I have started putting more time 
into writing and less into teaching. 
 
***Other things we might want to know about you:
Two years ago, a chance discussion with other HP fans led me to watch 
the notorious "Living with Michael Jackson" special.  I hardly knew 
anything about Michael Jackson, but was instantly intrigued.  "Wow," 
I thought. "This guy has so many problems, I could write a book!"

So, now I am writing a book about Michael Jackson -- specifically, 
what his problems are and what might have caused them.  I'm 
frantically trying to finish by this summer, when his trial is 
predicted to end.  I've written about 85,000 words, but need to cut 
that down because I have tons more to say. (At this rate, my book 
will be as long as OoP!)


***First contact with Harry Potter:
I bought some toys for my nephews, and the toys came with free 
paperback copies of PS and CoS. My nephews already had the books, so 
I decided to keep them.  (The books, I mean, not the nephews.) 


***Favourite Potter things (books, characters, ships, fics, objets 
d'Art, general enthusing):
May I just cut-and-paste Eloise's answers here?  They're perfect!
"Book: PoA
Character: Snape (of course)
Ships: Don't do ships
Fics: Ditto
Objets d'Art: Are there any??"
 

***Extent of Potter obsession:
Was very into HPfGU for a while -- starting in winter 2001-2002, I 
think.  Then, I got involved in HPfGU admin work, and didn't have 
much time to post on the main list anymore. 

Lately, my HP interest has sadly declined. I couldn't get into OoTP 
at all, and am hoping that I like HBP better. I still do some behind-
the-scenes work at HPfGU, but more out of a desire to keep in touch 
with other fans than out of an interest in HP.  Lately, I don't have 
time to do much HP stuff. 


***Other interests/activities:
Love to travel.  Feel free to invite me to visit!  My latest hobby is 
buying cheap timeshare weeks and trading them for stays at luxury 
resorts. (I learned how to do this on the internet, of course!)  So, 
anyone want to go to anywhere?  I'm always looking for traveling 
companions; DH is stuck working almost all the time. (And, I often 
write best when traveling.) 

I live in a large, older house that DH & I are currently (and 
continuously) renovating. 

I also like gardening, but mostly grow herbs and vegetables.  Right 
now, I don't grow many flowers because my house has a paved yard. 
(I'd call it a "garden" for those of you in the UK, but in fact it's 
more of a yard, even by the UK definition.) Luckily, there is a 
community garden (allotment) nearby that I can use in summer for 
veggies. 
 

***Current/recent reading:
I don't read much fiction, because I get too caught up in it! Most of 
the non-fiction that I read lately is background material for my book.


***Current/recent listening:
I've never much liked audiobooks -- they don't let you stop and think 
every few sentences.

I love music, but also get very caught up in it.  So, I rarely 
have "background" music on -- when I'm listening to music, I don't 
usually do anything else. (Except sometimes drive my car.) This 
really limits how much time I can spend listening to music.

I somehow managed to make it through the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s 
without buying any Jackson 5 or Michael Jackson music, so I have 
recently done a lot of catching up for my book.  (Wow, I didn't know 
that was Michael Jackson who sang "Human Nature!"  Or, "Dancing 
Machine." Or, "Got to Be There."  Or a bunch of other songs, many of 
which I thought were sung by girls.) 


***Current/recent viewing:
Don't watch much TV, but DH has gotten me interested in the Farscape 
series, which we've borrowed on DVD. And, the US media is giving so 
much coverage to the Michael Jackson trial that I can't possibly 
watch it all.  (There's 1000 reporters staked out at the courthouse!) 

Saw the Lemony Snicket movie last week and liked it, despite my 
antipathy to Jim Carrey. 

-- Judy, belatedly