I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. Really. When my sister and I were little, we each had to write a summary of how we spent our daily 1-hour TV limit. In reality, the exercise was short-lived, dying out once my parents realized they’d be expected to read our daily scribbles.

Photography came later for me, in grad school, but my interest in observing the world around me started early. I remember being a small, towheaded girl staring out the window in the back seat of our family car, noticing that sometimes there was a solid line painted on the road and sometimes there was a broken line. I then watched my parents and the other drivers and figured out what each kind of line meant.

Later, that tendency to notice things became a habit. My eighth-grade social studies teacher gave us regular but unscheduled observation quizzes, testing how well we paid attention to the objects in his classroom. I didn't always do well on those quizzes, but even at 14, I thought it was a brilliant idea. I credit Mr. Rosaschi with making me understand that often the tiniest details have the richest stories.

From my mom I inherited a quirky, slightly off-kilter view of the world that has served me well in both my writing and my photography. My mom taught me to swim upstream, and to try to have fun doing so. Her knack for the whimsical is part of my DNA, and it often shows up in my photos, in my writing, and in the details I notice and try to amplify in my editing.

In my high school yearbook I was voted Class Clown and Least Seen on Campus. And while the specifics are a little different today, the principles remain the same: I usually try to stay out of the way and in the background. But when I do decide to make myself seen and heard, I try to make it count.

I’ve included a few examples of my writing, editing, and photography work on this website. If you look closely, you’ll be able to see how each piece reflects who I am.