Off on a Tangent…

Merely because she swears that she doesn’t know what to say about herself, I have agreed to put together the biography page on my contributing author and very dear friend, Jennifer Shell.

However, given that I am a remarkably sneaky sort of person, I managed to get most of this in her own words… albeit in a bit of an unorthodox format.

JMS: I don’t know what I want to say about myself… I am never any good at this sort of thing.

Tananda: Ok, well, I can do your biography, but I still need to know some things.

JMS: Like what?

Tananda: Like things about you. I’m not going to just make stuff up…

JMS: Why not?

Tananda: You want me to just start making up things… really? Think very carefully… you know me…

JMS: Ok, ok, ok… um… So, what do I need to say about me?

Tananda: I’ll start with an easy one. What is going to be your contributor name here? We can go with your name… or do you really want to go with ‘Tangent’?

JMS: Well… I suppose Tangent is as good as anything, unless you can come up with something else.

Tananda: Alrightythen… Tangent it is. You have a personal blog of your own, correct?

Tangent: “Off on a Tangent”…though I haven’t posted anything to it in forever. http://jennifershell.blogspot.com/ and I don’t suppose there is anything in particular that I wouldn’t want you to say about me… or my other blog… Oh, I’m not being very helpful.

Tananda: You are fine.

Tangent: In truth, I’m multitasking… knee-deep in a spreadsheet and having to switch gears in my brain from data to text.

I’m 40, I’m married, I’ve got 2 kids, 2 jobs, (3 if you include motherhood, 4 if you include the husband, 5 if you include the house…) Grew up in West Hartford, CT, lived in Mystic, CT for a good while, spent some time in Grand Rapids, MI, in and around the Washington, DC area… and residing most recently in Oak Ridge, TN.

My maiden name is Goodrich, (yes, like the Tires) and my married name is Shell (yes, like the Oil Co.) but no – I don’t get the financial benefits of (or notariety, thankfully) of either.

My style of writing is more random and disjointed then my learned counterpart.

Tananda: Wow, you called me learned… (blush)

Tangent: But I like to spell things right, use words appropriately and am a stickler for Your, You’re, There, Their, They’re etc. I love cats, books, and cleaning stuff up focuses me.

Tananda: Now, you mentioned that I could talk a bit about your education background… You have a GED, as I recall. I know we have discussed the college options, but that was not the path you elected to take.

Tangent: Yep. Life got in the way.

Tananda: I’ve heard that can happen… And I know there were some very rough patches (including losing your mother when you were 15 years old), but I also know that you have put your hand to a lot of different tasks and skills with a significant success. Plus, you love to read and learn on your own, I know.

Tangent: And – you could also say I love to write for the sake of writing – and mostly for myself – not that I expect anyone to read, listen to or enjoy what I say.

Tananda: You might be surprised. See? Not so painful…

Tangent: Sneaky…

Tananda: One of my more valuable traits… Welcome to Tananda.com and The New Cheese!

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