Category Archives: Autobiography

…so in short, like everyone else, I’m complicated. I don’t define myself by one thing. I’m a feminist and a librarian and a fatty and rarely more or less of any one thing on any given day. I enjoy the diversity of my world view. I don’t want to have all of my eggs inContinueContinue reading “Chapter Nine: Reflections (page 512)”

I weigh precisely double what is recommended for my height. I weigh in at nearly 300 pounds. It’s taken me a long time to be able to say that. Being overweight is not a character flaw. I repeat. There is nothing wrong with me because I’m fat. My life will not begin when I becomeContinueContinue reading “Chapter Seven: Fat (page 358)”

…met at a book club for two that we formed while working together in the Braille and Talking Book Library. The first book we read together was Rabbit, Run by John Updike. We’re still reading books together including everything that comes out by John Sandford, John Grisham and Robert Crais. That’s our fluff reading. WeContinueContinue reading “Chapter Six: Marriage (page 311)”

…because I’ve long considered myself radically feminist it was natural for me to gravitate toward librarianship. I made a conscious decision to choose a woman-dominated profession for some important reasons. To the point, if I was going to spend 40 or 50 hours a week of my working life in intense interactions with other people,ContinueContinue reading “Chapter Five: Why I Chose to Become a Librarian (page 274)”

… so it might be ironic that I went from Commie High to Michigan State University. But MSU was big enough to accommodate all of my weirdness, and all my varied interests. Having attended an open campus school where I regularly spoke with my teachers and engaged in respectful debate, I was very well preparedContinueContinue reading “Chapter Four: Spartan Country (page 159)”

…and it was time to choose a high school. I was terrified of the idea of attending a “factory”school with thousands of students. My time at a well-appointed, well-funded middle school in Ann Arbor had taught me to run from the status quo. At my only one-on-one meeting with Clague Middle School’s guidance counselor heContinueContinue reading “Chapter Three: Zebras (page 103)”

…because I have a complicated relationship with rocks. See, my father taught geology. Technically he’s a paleontologist but what I knew was that he led a lot of field trips into the Blue Ridge and Masanutten mountains of the Shenandoah Valley around us and the house was full of geods.It was an exquisitely beautiful placeContinueContinue reading “Chapter Two: Gems (page 76)”