� LBenz, 4/01
A Video-Photo of Myself With Nikki,
My Loving & Fun Service Dog!
� LBenz, 4/01
A Video-Photo of Myself With Nikki,
My Loving & Fun Service Dog!
Baptized= Mary Loretta Benz; Confirmed= Mary Loretta Frances Benz; Legal via SS# & most often known as/called since early childhood= Laurie Benz;
Email aliases= Ltl_Amazon, Chgo_LtlDyke, SongArtist_etc. Ltl_Critter-Lover, Respected_1st_LP, Q-LP #1, Ltl_ADDult, et. al.
MANY!! Two of them I'm using �now are [email protected] or [email protected] (ie. after Oct. 1st, 2003)
Mothers' Day, late Sunday afternoon, May 12th, 1957;
A strong Taurean!
Slightly-Butch Female
Chicago, IL, USA at Mercy Hospital.
A far southwest-side & mostly irish-catholic neighborhood of Chicago... Beverly!
Multi-cultural, Far Northeast-side Rogers Park Neighborhood, Chicago, IL, USA
I am a "Recovering Catholic", currently without much trust for organized religions, but open-minded to individuals with any sincere faith or belief, (ie. any welcoming denomination/congregations respectful of women & children, 
along with Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay and/or Transgendered orientations, etc.)
Hair= Light Brown, currently short & straight. Eyes= Blue - (i.e. 2-3x magn. glasses used for small print only); Height= 3'8"; Weight= "OVER" ... adult size clothing with appropriate alterations on pants/shirt-sleeve length;
Other= left-handed.
Female only (ie. borne female)! Males, straight or bisexual, need not inquire!
To answer this best or in detail, I will direct you to:
September 15th, 1989
Single Lesbian - not actively seeking a relationship, but would be open to it if I met a nice womon (ie. non-smoker & sober)
with whom I might share similar interests, etc. 
[I don't use chat rooms, seek long-distance and/or online dates.]
High School: Mother McAuley - graduated 1975
College: St. Xavier College - Bachelor of Science in Biology, Completed in 1980; Lincoln Laureate Recipient of 1979; Distinguished Student Award.
Master's Level Graduate Studies in Companion Animal Science : University of IL; Champaign/Urbana - 1 year, 81-82';
Vocational Study: 12 week professional course at The Midwest School of Dog Grooming, NW Chicago - Certificate received upon completion, 12/83
Currently on SSDI for several medical conditions (ie. that agrivate disability or physical inaccessibilty due to congenital disportionate short stature, that is Achondroplasia dwarfism), including serious spinal pain and weakness in legs/back, Attention Deficit Disorder, depression and anxiety. Eventually hoping to get part-time/paid or volunteer work with therapy animals.
Medical laboratory asst., ASPCA Customer Service Assoc. & Photographer; Pet Supply Shop Sales Associate, Trainer for new associates on pet care and product use, etc. Phone Customer Service for medical laboratory services, Sales Trainee for reknown statistical software company.
If at first try you don't succeed, ...yell, scream and cuss a lot, take a nap and/or get a good hug, then try, try again! 
Initially took classes in WordPerfect 5.1 & Lotus 123. Did data entry for medical laboratory, (ie. was able to send inter-office email there.); then advanced with experience from company software sales opportunities.
Started when working for this software company, 11/97. Sometimes it was very difficult for me to concentrate on my actual work, after I started learning how to "surf the web"! When that job ended (ie. not due to my growing web interest), I continued surfing shortly thereafter with my purchase of a Classic Sony WebTV unit in May, 98.
See above date.
-Switched to Phillips Magnavox WebTV Plus�
unit around 12/2000. Received Mac� Powerbook 3 (i.e. laptop) in mid-Sept.03 and am hoping to learn more about different software, especially in relation to graphics!
Create web pages about my various interests and for sharing my opinions, artistic expressions and other passions in life!
Being able to communicate with anyone around the world and find groups of people able to discuss any topic at any level or ability!
...get exercise for myself or my dog, remember details from my dreams and/or make nutritious/delicious, low-fat meals and wash all of my dishes, etc.
Copied questions and created more of my own for this profile inquiry. June 29, 2001. I have not yet completed all of the questions with answers and/or posted them to the internet.
Monday, May 31st, 2004; ~3:00 pm CST
Pets & Wildlife, Art, Music, Food & Drink, Nature & Outdoor Activities, Collectibles... etc.
Education & Research, Current Events & News, History, Family and TV, etc.
Each interest or area of concentration has had its own start or timeline. 
My interest in animals, particularly dogs & cats, I feel has been with me since I was a baby. My interests in the arts started gradually throughout grade school and evolved into my other interests as I progressed through high school & college, then graduate school, my employment experiences, to the present.
One of my inspirations includes my college english teacher, Dr. E. Brown PhD, because she believed in my ability to write when I was told constantly that I couldn't; she encouraged me despite my mistakes. Also, since she also struggled & achieved a lot despite the significant physical challenge of blindness, she could better understand my own physical & emotional challenges as a little person, and she encouraged me to write about my experiences & feelings. There have been other less tangible inspirations in my life, especially related to my interests in animals, etc., but I will describe them elsewhere among my pages.
Many areas of science, particularly animal husbandry, but especially about animal behavior, that is of canine, feline, avian, equine and that of many fish species. I study the care & feeding of these animals, especially those which are domesticated species. 
I am equally eager to learn how exotic species in the present pet trade, such as hedgehogs & sugar gliders, etc. really adjust or adapt in domestic captivity, versus a captive exhibit within a progressive zoological environment. In other words, is it really humane to allow average people to care for these species as pets, especially with their more specialized needs?
I started reading animal stories and about their care as a child, began my stronger interest in dog behavior and training when my family got a Beagle puppy (ie. her name was Sullivan) when I was 13? During that time I was also drawing, painting and learning how to play guitar and sing; the first song I wrote was about Sullivan. She taught me a lot about trust, truth, patience and self-confidence, as well as how deeply a human can love an animal or anything else. My love for her and all animals motivated almost everything else I've ever wanted to do in my life!
Also, since I am a person of short stature with assorted physical and emotional challenges associated with my type of dwarfism, besideds wanting to learn about other similar conditions, I have spent a great deal of time and effort researching many specific and general questions about dwarfism of various kinds. I have learned a lot about the genetics and physical characteristics of many types of dwarfism, since my interest began in 1978, the year I went to my 1st large event with the Little People of America organization, a medical symposium at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD.
Learning anything that can have practical and empathic value toward the rest of my life!
Currently, there's Nikki, an almost 4 year old Bi-Blue Shetland Sheepdog or sheltie. Next there's Buddy, a 4�-5 year old domestic shorthair (ie. DSH) brownish tabby cat. Both of them are very social and outgoing with my friends and strangers alike, and I would say they each enjoy the other's company as well. They play together often and sometimes sleep next to each other on the floor. If you'd like to see recent pictures of them, please click HERE , then follow the links! I'm still in process of writing their stories, so I'll tell you just a little more here, later...!
Buddy sucks on the corner of pillows, while kneading them with his feet, as if suckling from his mama! Both of them don't like their reflections in the mirror; Buddy paws/scratches at his reflection, while every so often Nikki gets "spooked" when she sees herself in dim light and starts barking/growling aggressively as she stands about a foot or 2 away!
Nikki is mostly as intelligent as she is cute! --I have taught her many things, such as the names of many things to retrieve for me, to watch and herd/chase Buddy back inside the apartment when he wanders out when we play in the hallway, to "put her toys away" (ie. into a basket on the floor) and ring a bell that I have hanging on the front door, when she wants to go out & play, among other positive & practical tasks!
When Buddy is hungry and impatient for me to feed him (ie.� cup 3x daily) he does something I somewhat worry about... chews & eats pieces of plastic grocery/garbage bags. So far, he hasn't made himself sick with this dangerous habit, but it's one of the reasons I feed him a hairball control diet, so that I can see that he voids whatever plastic he might still ingest into his litterbox every day. -- Also, every time I change the bags in my garbage cans, I spray them with a bitter deterent, while everytime I catch him in the act of chewing, I point a squirt bottle (ie. filled w/ water & vinegar) in his direction, get his attention to warn him first, then zap him on his hind end if he persists in chewing. Although I try hard to avoid letting him WIN with this little "game" of his, he eventually does annoy/scare me enough to feed him soon after he starts this behavior again. Unfortunately, he's not very active and is already quite a big boy (ie. ~14�-15 lbs.), so I cannot allow him to eat ad lib!
One other thing, ...Nikki aggressively chases & barks at me when I actually or "pretend" sneeze! She doesn't act this way with anyone else. *[Recently, I have also noticed how she reacts when I get upset or cry about something, (ie. usually after hearing more horrific news of terrorist bombings, where so many innocent people and animals are killed or injured); she starts barking at me and jumps up to put her front paws around my neck in embrace, not immediately felt as a sign of empathy or compassion.] Of course, I'm not sure why she continues to do this, after many assurances that no one else is "hurting me" & reprimands for her to stop. However, I am hoping that one day a videotape of this behavior will win us $100.00 from Animal Planet� TV's The Planet's Funniest Animals!
I'm still thinking about this one.....?
No, I like my pets to be breathing and able to physically respond to my loving care; I didn't even think it was a cute idea back then. However, I do like to see, touch and hold different crystals or smooth stones, because they are beautiful and natural objects. Sometimes, they can even have healing properties, but they could never replace any of my animal companions, even my aquarium fish.
I'm still thinking about this one.....?
Eventually, I'd like to get a really nice, tall carpeted treehouse for the cat, Buddy, because his favorite activities are sleeping, eating, teasing Nikki and watching the squirrels & birds I feed outside our livingroom windows.
So far for Nikki, the metal crate & plastic carriers are the most expensive/extravagant items, as she's grown from puppy to adulthood. Otherwise, she has more toys than most toddlers do, because I usually buy her at least one every time I have to buy food for her or the cat. Buddy doesn't play much with the toys I buy him, because Nikki usually destroys them first or at least takes them away from him enough that he loses interest! [See the link above to illustrate what I mean, ie. the page of photos of Nikki trying to kill Buddy's electronic mouse!] ---
Some kind of soaring bird of prey, like a bald or golden eagle, or perhaps a very intelligent, long-lived parrot, especially one that talks.
More Sites Here On Geo.
More About My Artistic Endeavors!
All About My Kids, Nikki & Buddy!
� 2000
[email protected]
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