I was born in Vancouver. (This was before my parents decided to go hippie and move to Creston and plant vegetable gardens, and then go really hippie and move to Crawford Bay and sew my clothes from green velour. Not that I’m scarred. I’ve made peace with vegetable gardening. But let’s not talk about the velour.)

That getting born thing? It happened in 1973.

I have a sister. She’s a cop. When I see her, I wave wildly and jump up and down and she pretends not to know me. But you can’t escape your genes. (See vegetable gardening, above.)

I’m a Virgo.

From 1996 to 2004, I was a graphic designer. I was a competent, but not an earthshattering, graphic designer. Very good at ligatures and apostrophes, not so good at art.

My parents owned a restaurant for more than twenty years. I can balance a lot of cokes on a tray, and translate “2 e s/s, wh” into: “two eggs, sunny-side up, white toast.” I can also roller skate, because the restaurant opened when I was 10 and my sister was 7 and there was a large expanse of cement in the basement.

I went to the University of Victoria. Which I loved. There were rabbits, and gorgeous creative writing classrooms lined with glass, and wise teachers, and fun and wonderful roommates who mostly still speak to me, and pubs, and theatres, and non-fiction writing workshops that I still remember.

I worked at the Forest Practices Board for eight months. The people were nice (except for the arrogant law student). The entire office was beige. The work was stifling.

I worked as a staff writer for the 1994 Commonwealth Games. It was exciting, and great writing practice, and so stressful by the end that I had to sit on my couch in the mornings and take multiple deep breaths before I could convince myself to stand up and walk out the door.

Now, I have a eight-year-old daughter daughter who reads like a prodigy and a five-year-old son who climbs like an acrobat. I’m married to the world’s only Burmese occupational therapist.

My favorite food is cheese. My favorite color is blue. I’m a dog person, but I don’t have one. I have killed quite a few goldfish. I feel bad about this. I have lovely friends who sometimes read my blog because I don’t actually phone them. I love to read. And cook. And yes, vegetable garden.