about erin j. shea

I live in Chicago. As a result, after a few cocktails I have a tendency to unleash a flood of "dis, dat, dem, dere, dos" onto the unsuspecting ear drum. I apologize for that in advance. I'm a short, liberal, Irish-Catholic who grew up in Joliet, Illinois and loves a dirty Sapphire martini, sushi, Degrassi Junior High, The Simpsons, Music That Does Not Suck and if there ever comes a day that cheese fries are considered healthy and beneficial to the human body, I will have the cheese on tap in my kitchen. I have a job, working online, and that's all you need to know. I don't talk about work here. But I love what I do. Absolutely adore it. I'm lucky.

(Something to note, however: If you've learned about where I work, and are inclined to contact me, STOP. Do not. Please. I beg of you. I can't put you in contact with anyone, pass along any information to anyone or help you with employment in any way. This site has nothing to do with my job, or my employer, and while I realize you mean no harm, I just can't help. Simply put: Please don't bother me about my job. I hate to sound harsh, but the requests and emails from strangers have gotten a little out of control.)

Mostly I keep myself busy with running, working out, cooking, reading, live music, texting like a mad man, spending times with my friends and family and hanging out with my dog.

I used to keep a niche site called Lose The Buddha. I became a lot more well-known for LTB than this site, but after six years, talking solely about my body and its image issues got old. I still struggle with the whole body image thing, and my weight, but not so much that I feel the need for the separate site. I learned how to eat healthy foods, take better care of myself and incorporate exercise into my life. Currently I am exploring a stricter, less processed, gluten-free diet.

I have a dog, Glin. She is a Golden Retriever. She is awesome. If I look at a picture of her in the middle of my work day I end up missing her terribly and must go immediately home to feed her peanut butter and kiss her face. I'm insane about my dog. You'll learn quickly that this is not an exaggeration.

I'm married to the most wonderful man who ever walked the planet. His name is Scott and he's the best friend I've ever had. It's true what they say about the most joyful marriage being the one that includes being married to your best friend.

My family is incredibly cool and we're so close that it borders on co-dependent. I love each and every one of them tremendously. Though you'll notice that my dog got top billing.

There are a slew of friends I mention here from time to time, all of whom have seen me in the most compromising of positions, no doubt which they'll share with you for a small fee. I am the luckiest girl in the world as my friends are amazing and always have my back without fail.

I've kept this site since 2000, beginning over at Geocities and hand-coding the damn thing, uphill, both ways, and the answer to the question of why I write online has mutated over the years, and the current raison d'etre is that I don't want to scrapbook or learn how to tap dance. Writing online is the perfect hobby for the consummate slacker.

If you'd like to email me, I'm at erin0420 [at] gmail [d 0 t] com

As always, I am the experimental monkey.

Thanks for reading.

Erin