Robin U.

I'm a music critic; I can't stand pretty much everything. But when I find something I like, it can be from any genre as long as it's genuine (I love Beethoven piano sonatas and also the Ramones and Frank Sinatra and jazz from the '50s. OK, so I guess we can also include Dresden Dolls, Alejandro Escovedo, and, well, let's just say I have eclectic tastes.). I tend to dislike pop music (too vapid) but I love rock 'n' roll (big difference). What I loathe: modern country music from the Nashville machine 'cause it's so contrived and blatantly panders to a certain certain socio-political mindset. I do, however, like alt-country. Also, I'm a big supporter of local Boston rock 'n' roll.

Mark Twain (I'm doing my thesis on some of his stuff), Salman Rushdie (what a hoot!...And if I had discovered him earlier, I'd be doing my thesis on him, but it's a little late in the process.), Oscar Wilde, P.G. Wodehouse, John Milton (no, he wasn't a Puritan; he was a radical.), Lynne Truss. My all-time favorite magazine I can't live without: The New Yorker.

All time favorite movie: the inappropriately named His Girl Friday. (Yes, the one with Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant. It's witty, sexy, and still the best feminist flick ever. You don't think so? Pay close attention. That's why it's misnamed. Or it's ironic.). And why is there no feature to properly italicize movie titles on this form? Other favorites: Slap Shot, Airplane, Blow Dry, Best in Show, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Life of Brian, This is Spinal Tap, Animal House, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Sixteen Candles.

West Beach in Beverly Farms (...nothin' like living down the street from a great New England beach. No, it's not an oxymoron), cockpits of airplanes, ice rinks, rock 'n' roll clubs, the airspace over Boston and Manhattan, old theatres, Harvard Square, Harvard's Widener Library (...amazing place...huge old building that echoes...one of the biggest libraries in the world...everything anyone would ever want to know is right there).

figure skating, well-intentioned but barely followed-through attempts to learn foreign languages, rescuing and caring for feral cats, making sure I have at least six inches of bed on which to sleep because the cats have taken over prime real estate, writing, and finding room for the piles of books cluttering my apartment, airplanes, flying, cleaning up hairballs.

Registered independent...but I'm from the bluest of the blue states. I'm a non-religious cynical intellectual. I support same-sex marriage. Just venture a wild guess as to where I fall on the political spectrum.

none, but I do consider figure skating and flying to be the ultimate in spiritual experiences. They meld the mind, body, and physics which make me one with the universe. Seriously. Sure, you laugh. But it's true.

I barely earn a living after 18 years at a major airline...and it ain't gettin' any better anytime soon. Thank you, oil speculators.

Pine Manor College, Harvard University

Beverly High School, Beverly, MA.