About Me

That's me as the human subconscious one Halloween,
sneaking up from the depths of your mind.

       Ok, it's been a while since I first made a webpage describing myself.  A lot can happen between August and March.  So, here I am again, trying to make this over a bit. ^_^

Revised March 9

The Basics:
My name is Anne M. McKinney; I'm 22, 5'3", and my hair is still bright red, though I've had a few dyeing misadventures due to a spontaneuous whim to bleach it way back in July.  Bleah.  But now it's not so bad. ^_~
I just graduated from Truman State University in December 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts in English.  I officially have minors in History and International Studies, and an alleged Russian minor (It's really an iffy situation on this one; basically I had a Russian minor until a week before graduation when my ex-prof decided I couldn't have it because I didn't take a placement test when I came back from studying in Moscow.  But then it appeared on my final transcript anyway.  That's a beaurocracy for you, I guess...).
 
I grew up in Decatur, a medium-sized city in central Illinois.  It's large enough to have lots of industry and not much else, but hey, it's my home town.  I gotta love it. ^_^  Last fall it made its way into National news for the whole Jesse Jackson race issue....it's still a touchy subject for a lot of Decaturites.

I live in a teeny-weeny apartment not too far from campus in Kirksville, MO.  It's just large enough for me, my cat Frank, and all of my junk.

Don't let the cuteness fool you; Frank is a real wild one

Right now I'm in the middle of interviewing for a job as an assistant language teacher in Japan.  I should find out soon.  If I get the job I'll be going to Japan for a year beginning in July.  Wish me luck! ^_^

Meanwhile, though, I'm working as a substitute teacher at the local high school.  It's more fun than I expected, actually.  A few weeks ago I had a student tell me I looked like a biker chick from Paris...I *thought* I was wearing normal clothes...

So, what do I like to do in my spare time?  Well, I watch a lot of movies, especially weird ones.  I'm proud of my video collection, in spite of the growing popularity of DVDs.  I also try to read some classic literature, though I still enjoy delving in the world of fanfiction.   As far as music goes, I like a wide range--from Bessie Smith to the Beatles to the Bloodhound Gang.  Essentially, I like most music except for country and rap, and even those I can tolerate to a certain extent.  I dink around on the internet a bit, and I've made a few web pages, obviously.  I'm a big anime/manga nut. ^_~  My favorite anime series is Ranma 1/2, though more recently I've gotten into Rurouni Kenshin, Banana Fish, Yu Yu Hakusho, Fushigi Yugi, The Vision of Escaflowne, and other stuff.  I also like to crochet and cook with lots of spices, gnaw on cinnamon sticks, work on other random projects, hang out with my friends, that sort of thing.  Once in a blue moon, I get around to writing some of the stories that go through my head for months on end.  I have a couple of them up on my Tales People Tell page, and some fanfics on the RRYaoi Archive.

Aside from generic hanging out, I'm in the Society for Creative Anachronism, an organization devoted to medieval recreation and reveling.  This is a pic of me in some of my bundled-up garb, plus my characteristic sunglasses. ^_^

I've been a part of a small faction of the SCA known as the Incipient College of Bellewode, which is somewhat also connected to Truman State.  I've been with this group for 5 years almost, and I've had the chance to see it rise up out of severe obscurity and isolation and grow into a functional, active part of the larger kingdom of Calontir in the SCA.  This upcoming Memorial Day Weekend we will be hosting Crown Tourney for Calontir, which is a pretty big deal for a small, new group like us.  In regular terms, it's a 3-day camping event for 150+ people.  And I'm the autocrat, which means I'm responsible for organizing most of it.  Whew!  At times it seems like a full-time job, but I'm working hard because I want to see it go well and bring an even better name for our group.  GO, BELLEWODE!!! ^_^

Oh, yeah--I also love to role-play.  Right now I'm in a Star Wars game (which is one of my favorites to play, actually!), playing a diplomat fromt he planet Url.  He's Ty Dopixo Paycan (random name generator, if you can believe it), a member of the ruling family of the planet, a ladies' man, a stunning dresser, a conniosseur of good tastes, and an expert 0-G Polo player.  I really enjoy playing Ty so far.  Hopefully the game will go on long enough to have a few more adventures with him!

Other facts about me:  I'm a big Russian freak, even though I've forgotten a lot of vocabulary.  Last summer I studied in Moscow for two months and had a blast.  My internet nickname, Agent <<H>>, somes from my experience in Russia.  The Russians don't have the nasal short "a" sound in their language, so my name was pronounced "Ehnn", which I abbreviated as N and added the "Agent" prefix.  I use the brackets and the letter H because that's how "N" would look in Cyrillic.

Frank really is a psychotic little kitten.  Sometimes he whines when I don't let him bite me.  He does, however, occasionally play fetch.  He will drop a twist tie, a plastic fork, a straw, or some other lightweight object into my lap; I throw it, and he'll leap high into the air to catch it, then bring it back for me to throw again.  Go fig.

Well, that's about all I can think of to tell you right now; if you have any questions, you can reach me at agent_h@cableone.net.  Or you can follow Frank back to the Odd Curiosity Shop.
Later!

Nope, no more bagels in here.  Better try at the Odd Curiosity Shop!

Agent <<H>> strikes again!