We'll skip my childhood and begin with college. I studied pharmacy at the University
of Arizona in Tucson. School was stimulating, but the work of a pharmacist turned out to be dull.
I joined Mensa, the semi-famous "high IQ society," in 1991,
hoping primarily to find romance with a brilliant, socially ept
nerd. It only took six months to find him -- and he turned out to be handsome, too!
More about him in a moment.
The other thing I wanted from Mensa was intellectual stimulation. I got it.
Now, Mensa is foremost a social organization, and few of its activities are
specifically designed around stimulating topics; instead, you just put a bunch
of Mensans together in a room and enjoy what happens. Mostly, it's ordinary
conversation carried on with a bit more wit and depth than you'll find most
other places. It's much like being with science fiction fans (and LOTS of Mensans are fans),
except without the focus on science fiction.
In my original local group, Greater
Phoenix Mensa, I founded or co-founded several special interest
groups: one to explore my interest in
longevity, and most recently a Libertarian
SIG). I have contributed articles to the local newsletter, and co-wrote and/or performed in plays put on
at our 1993 and 1994 Phoenix Phiesta regional gatherings. I even edited our newsletter, Much
Ado About Mensa, for a short while.
I wrote an article for our national magazine, The Mensa Bulletin, on "smart drugs."
On Thanksgiving weekend in '95 I married Kent Van Cleave, who I met
through Mensa. When I met him, he was the editor of The Mensa Bulletin.
Our interests and
attitudes are incredibly well matched. If you know about the Myers-Briggs
Type Inventory (MBTI), both of us are INTPs. Two days separate our birthdays in May,
and we joke about being Gemini "twins".
Both of us are big science fiction buffs, and (owing our relationship to
Mensa) it just seemed natural to have a Star Trek theme wedding
in conjunction with our local Mensa convention. Here's Kent removing my garter at the
reception.
Kent and I are both heavily involved in Libertarian activism -- you know, the "freedom and individual responsibility" party. I served as Second Vice Chairman of the Maricopa County LP, and as Chairman of the Arizona Libertarian Party until April 1999. Kent's been a member at large and Secretary on the Arizona LP board, and runs an award-winning family of web sites for Internet surfers to learn about Libertarian issues. He actually ran for the state legislature in '96 and '98 (not to win, but for the exposure -- gotta keep getting the message out).
Anyone interested in philosophical topics should visit Kent's website, designed for a wide audience ranging from laymen to professional philosophers and scientists: "Evolution and Philosophy".
We're not in Phoenix any longer, and we miss it. For most of 1999, Kent and I lived in rent-free housing on the campus of Sage Hospital in Ganado, Arizona. It's right in the middle of the Navajo Reservation. We moved to Indiana in late 1999 so Kent could pursue a doctorate in History and Philosophy of Science at IU's Bloomington campus. We spent that winter renting a huge farmhouse on 300 acres outside Spencer, IN. Since March of 2000 we've had our own home in a rural setting almost exactly halfway between Bloomington and Bedford. We do like our rural surrounds, and the commute into Bloomington is an easy one.
We share our home with our Rhodesian Ridgeback dog, Artoo Deetoo (R2 for her breed and D2 variously for "Dynamic Dog," "Dastardly Demon," "Domesticated Disaster," or whatever else fits at the moment), and twin female Maine Coon Cats -- Pandora (who daily lives up to her name) and Schrödinger ("Dinger" for short ... and yes, we're certain about that).
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