I live in Seattle, Washington, where I am the senior staff writer for The Stranger. After growing up in Seattle, I attended college at Columbia University, majoring in Middle Eastern and Asian Languages and Cultures (and, one night, finding myself seated next to the lovely and talented Andy Rooney).

Since then I've shaved the fro and taken up writing full-time. My work has appeared in major daily newspapers, alternative newsweeklies, online publications, and, last year, one of my Stranger stories was included in The Best Sex Writing 2006 (Cleis Press).

I started in journalism at The Seattle Times, first as an intern, then as a temporary reporter, and then as a "three-year resident." In the summer of 2002 I took a break and began my brief career as a bicycle messenger. At the same time, I began my less-brief career as a freelance writer, working as the Seattle stringer for The Boston Globe and Time Magazine, and publishing regular freelance pieces in The Stranger.

In 2004 I began working as a part-time news assistant for the Seattle bureau of The New York Times. In that role, in addition to assisting the bureau chief, I wrote stories for the Times' National, Science, and Style sections on topics ranging from oil spills in Alaska and Washington to the price of "ski lockers" in Sun Valley, Idaho.

In 2005 I took a full-time job at The Stranger, where I now write long features on topics ranging from national politics to the tenacity of local meth addicts and the history of Seattle Jews. I also continue to freelance.

In addition to The New York Times, The Seattle Times, The Boston Globe, Time Magazine, and The Stranger, my work has appeared in BizTech Magazine, The Boston Phoenix, Nextbook.org, and Salon.com.