Date:         Tue, 22 Jul 1997 23:15:49 -0400
From: Karen or Michael Morrione <morrione@MINDSPRING.COM>
Subject:      fill: yet another intro

I've been lurking for about a week, and I'm beginning to feel like a
voyeur.  It's time to say hello.

I'm a longtime techwriter at a company that just went through its first
downsizing.  I survived, but since it only happened today, I'm not sure if
I'm happy or sad about still having this job.

I do more reading than writing these days in my free time.  I'm an eclectic
southerner, and my tastes range from Faulkner and Fitzgerald, Hellman and
Hammett to McCaffrey and McKillip, Hunter Thompson and Jack Kerouac.  And a
lot of stuff in between, and outside the margins.

I have recently survived a fairly serious illness, which kept me
hospitalized for the better part of six weeks (and three surgeries) and at
home recuperating for another couple of months.  Not unnaturally, I thought
a lot about what I've done with my life so far, and what I want to do with
the rest of it.  I realized that writing technical manuals and web pages
that don't bear my name was not what I wanted to leave behind me, so I've
started writing fiction again, and essays, though I'm finding it slow going.

You look to be a pretty encouraging and understanding bunch of people (what
exactly do you call a group of people?  I mean, there's a murder of crows,
or a herd of cattle...bunch seems so inelegant, but will have to do for now
as I'm taking a break in packing for a trip to chicago tomorrow) and I can
use all the understanding and encouragement I can get right about now.  So
here I am, although I'm usually a pretty quiet sort on listservs.  But now
that you know a little about me, I don't feel so much like I'm
eavesdropping on private conversations.

Karen