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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi all --</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Whoo, hoo...........8 more days to
go!!!!!!!!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Courier New">THE OLD CROWD – INTRO<BR><BR>***Name:<BR>Penny
Linsenmayer<BR><BR>***Nicknames/IDs:<BR>plinsenmayer
(booooooooring)</FONT></DIV><FONT face="Courier New">
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT><BR>***Age:<BR>37<BR><BR>***Family:<BR><FONT face=Arial
size=2>Husband Bryce of 10 years as of this October; two-year old daughter
Elizabeth(who may be news to some of you old-timers that we haven't seen
in quite some time) and two very, very spoiled and unruly dachshunds, Hansel
& Gretel. In-laws who live close enough to babysit when it suits them;
parents who are hoping to move closer so they can babysit which is more than
agreeable. </FONT></DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><BR>***Home<BR>Houston,
Texas<BR><BR>***Birthday, Place of Birth:<BR>4 November, Andrews, Texas (small
oil town in outer reaches of West Texas)<BR><BR>***Education/Job/Role in Life
etc:<BR>Useless B.A. in History and English (Texas Tech University); Law degree
from The University of Texas, a degree far more practical than the
aforementioned useless B.A. but far more boring and unsatisfying.
Practiced corporate & securities law for about 9 years (IPOs, mergers,
etc.). Talked husband into "retiring" to have kids and pursue writing
career. Now chase toddler around and cart said toddler to 18
millionactivities per week and do very little writing really. Very,
very little writing when one considers the time squandered on the Harry Potter
fandom.<BR><BR>***Other things we might want to know about you:<BR><FONT
face=Arial size=2>Heterosexual; won't eat any non-starchy vegetables unless
mushed into spicy Indian food; love Mexican, Indian and Thai foods best of all
(spicy is my thing obviously); Lutheran; liberal Democrat (and currently
APPALLED that husband's firm expects cash contribution toDubya's next
campaign!).</FONT> <BR><BR>***First contact with Harry Potter:<BR><FONT
face=Arial size=2>January 2000 ----- picked up SS as an after-holiday
"pick-me-up" light reading. Devoured all 3 books within a
week. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT><BR>***Favourite Potter things (books, characters, ships, fics,
objets <BR>d'Art, general enthusing):<BR><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Books: PoA and GoF are almost neck & neck, with
a slight nudge to PoA. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Characters: Harry, Hermione, Harry & Hermione
together; Sirius, Percy, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Lupin. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ships: do you have to ask? <g>
H/H 4eva and all that..........</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Fics: Er......anything H/H and written by a
competent adult writer. Also enjoy Carole's series of course.
:--)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Merchandise/Films: Okay, I love the movies. I
don't love what Columbus has done in every respect, but I just love Daniel
Radcliffe. I think he's been super in the role, and I'm unbelievably
anxious to see whether Cuaron can bring out even more in him and the
others. I think Kloves and/or Columbus has seriously mishandled Ron, and I
don't even *like* Ron. But, overall, I really, really love the
movies. I own a fair collection of merchandise as well, though it's mainly
t-shirts and movie-related things as I cannot stand the WB art in general.
I do have a fair few WB bookends though. Oh, and our Christmas tree may
soon collapse under the weight of the HP-related ornaments on it.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>***Extent of Potter obsession:<BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>I don't know
about you all, but I'd say Neil qualifies as more than "Mild to Moderate."
<g> I'd label myselfObsessed, but not Obsessed to the
Exclusion of All Other Normal Life. I have time constraints, so while I've
dibbled & dabbled in various areas of thefandom, the only consistent
areas of involvement have been HPfGU (moderator until 2 mths ago) and Nimbus -
2003. My fanfic days pretty much ended with the birth of my daughter since
I really don't evenhave time to read the fanfic authors I love, let alone
thinkabout writing any. Though with Nimbus wrapping up in another
couple of months and no longer modding HPfGU, I do hope to delve back into the
FF world more and more as we ......er......enter another period of waiting for
Rowling to write another book.</FONT> <BR><BR>***Other
interests/activities:<BR></DIV>
<DIV>Researching/writing about Laura Ingalls Wilder. I am an
amateur/semi-professional genealogist. I recently took up scrapbooking and
have put considerable capital outlay into getting going on this, much to my
husband's dismay. I try to read quite frequently too. I don't watch
much TV, as my other hobbies are more relaxing to me, and let's face it: with a
2-year old, I have very little spare time. Ido enjoy watching movies
with the hubby on Fri & Sat evenings though.
<BR><BR>***Current/recent reading:<BR>"The Secret Life of Bees" - Sue Monk Kidd
(just finished...absolutely terrific); "The Faith" -- Brian Moynihan
(promising); PoA (re-reading). </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Other books on my nightstand that will get read
*after* OoP has 3 reads: "John Adams" (been on my nightstand for many months
now......not as engrossing as McCullough's other works); "Secret History of the
IRA" (dry........dry, dry, dry); Charles Dickens biography by Jane Smiley
(great; no idea why I haven't finished it yet).</FONT><BR><BR>***Current/recent
listening:<BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Jim Dale ....."GoF" </FONT></DIV><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><BR>***Current/recent
viewing:<BR>Bought Bryce the latest James Bond DVD, so I expect we'll watch it
this weekend. [long silence and scratching head] "I need to get out
more."</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></DIV>
<DIV></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>Penny</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>