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My name is Miranda Suzann. I'm twenty-one years old, and I live in southern Oregon, near Ashland. I live in a small home with my immediate family and my partner, Soren. We've been together a year, and I'm currently pregnant with our first child, due November 8. I'm currently unemployed, and looking for a full-time job.

Those are facts, yes. But they don't tell you one whole hell of a lot about me.

"These are the definitions she has set for herself: she always goes barefoot, she's no good at school, she loves drugs, she smokes, she doesn't like rich people, she's against war, she wears only thrift-store clothes, she doesn't comb her hair." --Martha Tod Dudman, Augusta, Gone

My favorite novel is Augusta, Gone. I've read it more times than I have fingers to count with. Other favorites are The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Waking the Moon, Go Ask Alice, Haight-Ashbury: A History, White Oleander, Youth in Revolt, Strange Days, and Gothic Rock.

When I was a little girl, I wanted to move to Los Angeles. Venice Beach, to be precise. I wanted it more than anything in the world. I saw myself as a tall, willowy blonde with a clove in one hand and a glass of red wine in the other, a swanlike, tattooed neck, a black dress--surrounded by admiration and love, an artist, independent and wild. These days I'm tall but not so willowy, dyed black and red hair, tattooed and pierced, pregnant and artistic, but still right here in the Rogue Valley. I lived in Portland for a while, and loved it. San Francisco is a second home to me. I relish the city life. But at the same time, I long for wide open spaces and the sea. A good friend teaching me to surf was the only thing that saved me from two long years of drudgery in the bay area suburbs. I have not surfed in years. I miss the weightlessness, the drift.

I believe in Zen grocery shopping. I know every aisle at the co-op. I turn flawlessly from ripe organic watermelon to batiked draperies to extra-large bottles of Probe, which makes me think of Scott. I like doing routine things in non-routine ways, which explains a lot about my life.

"I heard you're driving someone else's car now. She said you came and took your stuff away. It doesn't matter whose address you're listed under. I only know they'll never make you stay." --Concrete Blonde, Caroline. For reasons which are not fully known to me, I long for the open road. I cry when I listen to Free Bird or Ramblin' Man. Restlessly, I dream some nights of long stretches of rural highway unrolling in front of me like a black ribbon. I do not regret the paths my life has taken, but some days I long for destinations unknown.

I used to write letters and swap decos, be part of that whole tribe. I used to be the gothiest of Goths, the most tortured of tortured artists. All that has drifted away these days . . . I spend my time instead on things that matter to me--being stable for myself, my partner, and my unborn child. Becoming who I am again, not just a pretty package for the world to see. Living. Just living.

I listen to a wide selection of music, and don't care much for labels. Some favorite bands include Concrete Blonde, Mother Love Bone, Alien Sex Fiend, Skeletal Family (with Anne-Marie), Phish, Nirvana, Hole, Bob Dylan, The Grateful Dead, the Doors, the Beach Boys, Metallica, Alice in Chains, Afghan Whigs, Simon & Garfunkle, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Death by Chocolate, Deep Forest, Perfume Tree, Sky Cries Mary, the Fifth Dimension, Butterfly Messiah, Behind the Scenes, Lords of Acid, Incubus, Marilyn Manson, Red Hot Chili Peppers, L.A. Guns, Throwing Muses, Indigo Girls, Ani DiFranco, Led Zeppelin, Heart . . . and recently I've gained an appreciation for Weezer, thanks in part to Soren.

I am against the war in Iraq. I do not believe in war in any case, and I especially do not believe in Bush's intention to create a whole new political system for the Iraqi people. Who died and made the US God? It's neither our duty or right to police other countries. For this reason, I do not support my government, this war, or our troops (who could have objected, yet didn't.)

My beliefs are simple. I believe in God. I believe in nature, and beauty, passion and wisdom. I believe in good friends, good music, and good times. I believe in questioning authority and demanding answers. I believe in raising healthy, happy children outside the "norm" and spreading a little love whenever possible.