(Another newcomer). My real name is Alethea. I'm not originally from anywhere; I was born in New Jersey and lived in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Colorado before landing in Spring, Texas (a suburb of Houston--Lyle Lovett country). I am a senior at a small college in Iowa and recently switched from a biology to a history major, which was probably one of the craziest things I've ever done. I'm 22, no SO, have a younger brother, an elderly calico cat, and an American Eskimo dog mix (recently acquired from an animal shelter, but that's another story altogether).

I took piano lessons when I was a [younger] kid, have messed around on pennywhistle and hammered dulcimer (which was a bit of a failure since I used to wear bifocals). I played with a square dance band here at school for a couple of years, which forced me to become a better, if still mediocre, back-up guitar player. My main instrument is the mountain dulcimer, although I admit my playing style has become somewhat distorted since I've spent the last 4 years trying to make myself acceptable to fiddles and mandolins ("Why, yes--that is a capo. Let's play a jig in E minor.").

I like old-time and bluegrass music, some C&W, Celtic, ragtime (hmm, I should probably start working on that piano again), acoustic blues . . . My parents didn't grow up with folk music themselves but always had it on hand when I was little.

Other than that, I'm into history (especially the American West & Civil War) and horses, and have a number of "lesser" interests involving old cars, architecture, Volkswagens, and folk art (graphic, that is).