Personal

Some Random Facts of no particular import:

  • Once upon a time, I was Krista Bennett. Now the name just sounds weird to me.
  • I’ve lived all over the US and in a couple of countries: Utah, Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Wisconsin, California, Indiana, the Netherlands, and (currently) Germany.
  • If I had to pick any of those places to go back to and stay, it’d be Amsterdam or Milwaukee. Lovely, lovely places.
  • My marginal “home” is Wisconsin, though I haven’t been back in a long while.
  • I was named after a Playboy Playmate. Seriously. Not kidding. Clearly wishful thinking on my parents’ part.
  • Then again, my mother was a beauty queen. Really.
  • My Erdős number is 3. This should make up for the wishful thinking, but it doesn’t really.
  • I’ve written five novels. Someday, I’ll get the nerve up to try to publish them. No, really.
  • I was a music major when I started college. I still miss it desperately.
  • I’ve been many things – data entry monkey, preschool teacher, au pair, programmer, engineer, screwed-up college dropout, doctoral fellow, instructor, food service worker, research assistant, tourist shop clerk, etc.
  • None of these things were as hard or as wonderful as being Mama.
  • Everyone asks linguists how many languages they speak. This is because people confuse “linguist” with “polyglot”, which is silly.
  • For the record, I speak two languages actively – English and German (which gives me headaches) – and can use many others with varying degrees of competence.
  • I used to speak fluent Spanish, pretty good Dutch, and passable French. I would probably have gotten arrested using my Japanese or Italian, and probably could have told Thor I was not a giant in Old Norse/Icelandic. I remember more with beer and the right mindset.
  • I live in Munich with my lovely husband, Christian, and our amazing son. Germany drives me crazy about half of the time, but this is mostly due to nosy older people. I’m hoping I’ll get over it.
  • I am an advocate of the Oxford comma, but I always feel naughty when I use it.
  • Yes, I left the US on purpose. No, I don’t plan to return. Maybe someday I’ll explain why in detail, but for now:
    • I’m not naïve
    • I’m not idealistic about the whole thing – Germany isn’t utopia
    • I’m not some sort of traitor (why do Americans always jump to that conclusion?)
    • I’m very happy with my socialist health care, six weeks of vacation, and social services, thank you
    • I’m really worried about you guys. Things have really gone off the rails back home. You all need to get your shit together, stop listening to Fox News, and fix things. And seriously, get off the whole light bulb thing. No one’s stealing your precious bodily fluids.
  • I’ve become terribly boring in my old age. Unless, of course, you make me laugh while I’m eating cheese soup. Then I’m boring, but there’s likely to be cheese soup shooting out of my nose, which has to score me a couple of points.
  • No, I still haven’t seen Big Bang Theory. Please, stop asking. I’d like to, really, if only to see Evil Wil Wheaton, but it just hasn’t happened. Seriously. STOP ASKING.