Warning: contains autobiographical material.

Well, hello there. Welcome. Hi.

My name is Kristi (since my grandfather vowed to disown my mother if she followed through on her original plan to name me Kiki). I'm 25, mother of Dahlia Violet, partnered to my favorite gent in the world, and I harbor some interesting ideas and perspectives. I've lived a really big life in a short time, and I hope to keep up the trend. Despite the fact that I am very set in some ways, I always welcome fresh perspectives and ideologies: I am not a narrow-minded jerk. Welcome to my life - enjoy your stay.

Here are a select few of my controversial opinions and ways of life:

I'm an atheist. This is fine as a stand-alone note, but I also homeschool my aforementioned daughter. Until recently, I thought that all atheists would welcome and embrace homeschoolers, but apparently I was wrong. A resounding "get the kids to public schools, at least" is what I've encountered (online, but still - "the thinking atheist"?!).

I'm a vegetarian. I have raised my daughter to be a vegetarian, also. With this, comes a lot of "oh god, you don't let her eat meat?!" - well, until a few years ago, she didn't have a choice in food matters, and now that she's old enough to be vocal about her dietary limits and perks, she's purports to be happy about being a vegetarian.

I'm an anarchist. No, not an Occupy-ing, handkerchief-wearing, flag-burning rebel youth with a bad attitude and smelly army fatigues. For about twelve years, I identified as a Libertarian, until I realized I didn't agree with much of their manifesto. Mainly that government is a necessary "evil." I'm quite fine self-governing, and I'm pretty sure you are too. Among the things I'd love to see in my lifetime - legalization of sex work, deregulation of business, drugs, and things that society thinks are "icky" (therefore they're illegal)... I'm never a proponent of banning lifestyles or ideas because they make people squirm. Whereas I have a love/hate relationship with the constitution (love the protection, hate the fact that it has to exist to protect us), I believe we're better off without a governing body overseeing any parts of our lives, let alone those which are contained within our bodies or bedrooms. It's 2012, why are gay marriage and abortion issues?

I'm the queen of strange jobs. Some of my gigs have included (in the past decade, including brief stints): commercial spy, repo (wo)man, writer, theatre makeup artist, set builder, interior decorator, jewelry-maker, painter, portrait artist, illustrator, designer, skiptracer, dominatrix, editor of a popular DIY website, float builder (parades), house cleaner, market research survey taker, German teacher, face painter, clown (only once, sadly), play director (also, sadly, only once!), Potbelly sandwich maker, crafter, EMT-training actor, phone girl at the best pizza place in Chicago, and some other weird crap I'm probably forgetting. I'm a chronic volunteer, too: Travelers Aid in the second-busiest airport in the US, Social Media Coordinator for the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, plus I've contributed a number of articles and essays to various causes, organized protests, and generally done a lot of stuff most people sprinkle their bucket lists with, but never actually do.

So back to living that big life in these 25 years. Eleven years ago, I didn't think life was worth living. I'm glad I wasn't successful at dying, though - I wouldn't have done most of this cool stuff! I'm especially happy that I get to raise the coolest kid I've ever met and grow a strange-and-happy life with my quite wonderful partner in (thought)crime. ;)

Nice to meet you!