Well, I almost forgot about this! This little award was bestowed upon me by a really sweet blogger, New End Studio. Truth be told, I don't often participate in these types of blogging memes, but G. at New End Studio is such a lovely and generous supporter of the crafting community that I couldn't let this go by unrecognized. So thank you New End Studio!

So part of the deal is that I share seven things about myself. The trouble with writing this kind of thing on the fly is that I'm sure I won't think of the seven most *interesting* things about myself while I'm writing. Those things will come to me later and I'll slap my palm to my forehead suddenly and you'll wonder what's going on. But I'll give it a shot, here goes:

1. Before I was a letterpress printer and book artist, I was an offset press operator. The first print shop I worked in was an in-house shop for a community college. All of the press operators were men, and all of the bindery people were women. I started out doing bindery, stripping, platemaking and pre-press, but I wanted to be a press operator. There was one gruff, died-in-the-wool old-timer running the *big press* who was openly skeptical of my ability to do the job. He would make off-color remarks simply to see if he could get a rise out of me, but I always had a come-back for him. I slowly earned his respect, and he slowly started showing me ropes of the four-color press.

2. Before I got into printing, I worked with exotic birds, mostly macaws.

3. I've lived in two Portlands. Portland, Maine and Portland, Oregon.

4. I grew up in a ski town, but I don't ski.

5. I am eco-conscious and feel a twinge of guilt every time I get in my car to drive somewhere, but I have a deep and abiding love for old, gas-guzzling cars and trucks. I told the monkey recently to not be surprised if he comes home to find a muscle car in the driveway. My first car was a 1976 Jeep Cherokee. When you put your foot down you could see the gas gauge drop. A V-8 engine is a scary thing in the hands of a teenager.

6. I have also lived car-free. I used to ride my bike miles and miles every day, to places I now marvel at. I feel a little beholden to my car now, though, since Portland is so spread out and I like to be able to escape to the mountains on the fly. I still daydream about living with just a bike and making my treks out of town on two wheels.

7. My current dream destinations are Patagonia, Spain, and South Africa.

Officially, I should tag 15 bloggers to pass this award onto, but I am going to bestow it upon any one of you who would like to take this meme and run with it. Drop me a comment and I'll come check out your post!