Kerry Mullin is a contributor to The COMO Collective. You can read her posts here.

Who are you?

I am the middle-age mother of two high-energy toddlers. Our family was built both the traditional way and through adoption. We moved here when my husband took a job with MU in May, 2010. Although we both grew up in the mid-west, we spent almost 20 years in the Pacific Northwest.

What do you do for money?

I keep my kids alive and make sure my husband always has a clean undershirt.

What do you do for fun?

If I designed the ideal vacation it would include snowboarding, lots of reading, playing Ultimate Frisbee and game-nights with friends. As for real life, there is reading and Ladies Night Out with my Mommy friends. Things that make me happy – but aren’t neccessarily fun – a great, second-hand bargain, clean kitchen counters and hearing my kids play peacefully together or listening to them talk to their dad.

I would characterize my relationship with technology as:

Love-Hate. I appreciate all it has to offer but I often feel at war with my lack of knowledge and the devices in my life.

Smart or dumb phone? What kind? If smart, what are the three apps you use most?

I have an iPhone. I use it mostly for email/FaceBook, weather and the maps and GPS technology. I love to read with my iPhone in hand. It makes is super easy to look up words and other references I am unfamiliar with. And I particularly like to use the maps feature to better understand exactly where the characters in my book are located.

Mac or PC or Other?

In our house there is a Linux desktop, a PC desktop, a Mac laptop, a pc laptop and two iPhones. I stick with the pcs and iPhones.

I use Twitter for:

Guilt. I feel guilty because I don’t use Twitter and yet I am afraid to open that Pandora’s Box. I already ignore my kids more than I should.

I use Facebook for:

Facebook is strictly social for me. Having recently moved to Columbia, most of our friends are still on the west coast. Our family is all over the country. Facebook keeps me from feeling isolated.

Do you write a blog? What’s it about?

I do have a blog that is primarily about trans-racial adoption, adoption ethics and our family’s life. I write it under a pseudonym because I include pictures of my children and I also want to reserve the ability to be perfectly honest about the people in my life. I am still very unsure how to manage the fine line between privacy and weird secrecy. In my real-life I am an open book.

Do you read any blogs? What are three of your favorites?

I read lots of blogs, but they are almost all of the mommy variety. In fact, pathetically, they are almost all about adoptive, trans-racial parenting. The internet is such a big world and I have successfully narrowed it down to one very small category. On the other hand, it is surprising what can be learned about the real state of racism, our insane judicial system and both love and loss through these blogs. My current favorites are:

• My Fascinating Life
• What Now?
• La Bicicleta

Go-to menu item and restaurant in CoMo?

With two young toddlers I rarely go out. But I recently tried Room 38 and loved every single thing I tried especially the Spicy Ahi Tuna Ceviche.

What is your favorite beverage?

Diet Coke – from a fountain, not a bottle and never, never a can – until 2 pm. Water from 2 until 7. Beer from 7 until bed. I like traditional Pale Ales, not too bitter, not too watery. I am also partial to a nice glass of zinfandel or a small taste of anejo tequila. I take my beverages very seriously.

Friends are visiting from out-of-town. You’re for-sure taking them to:

Campus. I love living in college towns. The energy, multi-culturalism, and beautiful architecture of a large university is something special and should not be taken for granted.

My favorite city/town/hamlet/state/country/province in the world (after CoMo, of course) is:

Since we still own a house in Corvallis, Oregon I should go with that. But the minute we have a little savings, I am going back to Ethiopia. Still, I really love Sayulita, Mexico and I love to be in the mountains.

@mollywrites

Who are you?

Molly Wright, mother of four grown children, avid out-doorsey sort of gal who lives without cable and still manages to survive.

What do you do for money?

Freelance writer. [Molly is also a contributor to The COMO Collective. Her articles can be found here.]

What do you do for fun?

Hiking, walking the trails around town, reading (pretty much ALL the time), writing fiction, hanging out with friends and family, trying new things whenever I can!

I would characterize my relationship with technology as:

It’s a love/hate relationship since I have to use technology on a daily basis. In fact, when my husband and I want to get away, we look for places to stay that don’t even have TV reception.

Smart or dumb phone? What kind? If smart, what are the three apps you use most?

iPhone. I’m still trying to figure out which of us is smarter though…

• Facebook (of course)
• Planet Finder
• Learn Spanish

Mac or PC or Other?

PC

I use Twitter for:

Business and personal stuff

I use Facebook for:

Keeping up with friends and family

Do you write a blog? What’s it about?

I have a “green” blog called greenupforlife; I also write a blog for my business site. (Both sites I have neglected during the holiday chaos – do I hear resolution?)

Do you read any blogs? What are three of your favorites?

I normally read my son, Colin Wright’s: Exile Lifestyle. I don’t have any others that I read religiously, but I read any and all that interest me at the time.

Go-to menu item and restaurant in CoMo?

I’m a big fan of Upper Crust‘s quiche of the day and salad – yum!! Also, pretty fond of the burgers at Billiards on Broadway (talk about two ends of the healthy food spectrum, right!)

What is your favorite beverage?

Water and milk (sigh-yes, I’m dull). As far as alcoholic – love Ménage ã Trois red wine!

Friends are visiting from out-of-town. You’re for-sure taking them to:

Shakespeare’s – a favorite since my college days.

My favorite city/town/hamlet/state/country/province in the world (after CoMo, of course) is:

Fairbanks, Alaska – did an internship there in college and loved the land and the people.

@glennrice

Who are you?

I’m Glenn Rice. You might have seen me around. I’ve lived here since 1983 and have been involved in all sorts of shenanigans during those years. I’m married to Tracy Greever-Rice, the smartest person I know and my best friend. I currently have a long beard that made an appearance on the Beards From Below blog a few months ago.

What do you do for money?

My full-time job is developing websites, applications and other web-related stuff for the MU Division of IT. I do web and DB development on the side (cash, trade, or in-kind) for Ragtag, Sycamore, True/False, and whoever else will hire me. I sometimes sell salvage on eBay, and have a couple other moneymaking schemes that I’d rather not talk about. Also, Tracy and I own several rental properties, but there’s not much cash flow in that business, let me tell you.

What do you do for fun?

I go out on the town with Tracy, hang out with friends, go to shows. In the warmer months I enjoy riding my motorcycle (Royal Enfield Bullet 500 Deluxe) on back roads, swimming at the Quarry. In the winter I like to cook, make schnapps/liqueurs, and tinker in my man-cave. I used to enjoy getting involved in local government, but that dog don’t hunt anymore. I’m trying to learn to play the ukulele. I’ll float any river, any time of the year. Tracy and I try to travel somewhere interesting every year.

I would characterize my relationship with technology as:

“It’s complicated.” I’m immersed in technology at my job(s). I love to write code because it’s like solving puzzles and exercises my mind, but as any developer will tell you, it gets harder and harder to keep up, all the time. If you look at what I do for fun (above), none of it’s particularly tech-oriented. (I do enjoy messing with electronics and with old technology [like my motorcycle] and can fix almost anything.) To me, technology is tools. I appreciate a well-made, useful, beautiful tool, and may enjoy using it for its purpose and learning how to use it well — but that doesn’t mean I like all tools, or want to spend all my time using them.

Smart or dumb phone? What kind? If smart, what are the three apps you use most?

Smartphone, Samsung Galaxy S2.

• Tweetdeck
• Angry Birds
• Evernote

Mac or PC or Other?

Like many web developers, I use both, but primarily Windows. I have Linux on a laptop in my man-cave, but it seems like I turn it on only to install the update packages.

I use Twitter for:

All kinds of stuff. Professionally, I use Twitter to stay in touch with my colleagues in the higher-ed web development community (who tend to be early adopters of this kind of thing) and also for news from the development world in general. Personally, my tweets are all over the map. Weird stuff, photos, short drunken rants, local politics & culture, design, men’s health, random thoughts. I complain a lot, especially about CoMo City government and politics (which is a big mess). I had a lot of fun on Twitter with the whole Sarah Palin – Glen Rice (basketball player) affair.

I use Facebook for:

Not nearly as much as I use Twitter. Facebook is just for fun. I recently did a little social experiment where I changed my birthday on Facebook. Some people knew right away; others sincerely wished me a happy birthday (which actually made me feel like a schmuck for fooling them), others got angry. Weird that you can change your name with impunity, but change your birthday and you’ve stepped way over the line.

Do you write a blog? What’s it about?

I recently wrote a piece for this blog, but otherwise no. I have lots of ideas, though I doubt I’d have time for it anyway.

Do you read any blogs? What are some of your favorites?

I read lots of blogs. Among my favorites are:

• The Selvedge Yard
• Twelve Mile Circle
• Flowing Data
• Wooster Collective
• Nick Holmes
• Boing Boing

Sorry, that’s way more than three.

Go-to menu item and restaurant in CoMo?

Courtyard sandwich, 9^th St. Deli, or maybe the #16 on the Vietnamese menu at Chinese Wok Express.

What is your favorite beverage?

Water (although I also like beer and whiskey).

Friends are visiting from out-of-town. You’re for-sure taking them to:

Shakespeare’s, but not usually by choice. Most of my out-of-town friends used to live here, and they always have to go to Shakespeare’s for old times’ sake when they visit. That’s fine, I like the place, but it’s annoying because it’s like they think absolutely nothing new of interest has come along since they left town all those years ago.

My favorite city/town/hamlet/state/country/province in the world (after CoMo, of course) is:

Upper Jack’s Fork River, Missouri Ozarks.

@quailty

Who are you?

Andrew Leland.

What do you do for money?

I’m co-editor of the Believer magazine, an arts and culture monthly published by McSweeney’s in San Francisco. I’m also a freelance writer and editor — most recently I signed on to help revamp and run the True/False Film Festival’s blog

What do you do for fun?

I like to read fiction, and read about fiction, and maybe secretly write fiction. I click on people’s faces a lot. I love the radio — listening to and producing it. My wife and my dog are both really fun people. My dog is a person.

I would characterize my relationship with technology as:

I love it — the mechanical pencil, the book, and the mountain bike are three favorite pieces of technology. I use computers and the internet heavily–the tech equivalent of two packs a day–and I get as much out of occasionally depriving myself as I do from my customary total immersion.

Smart or dumb phone? What kind? If smart, what are the three apps you use most?

When my wife and I decided to move to Columbia from San Francisco, I bought an iPhone for the drive. I have a degenerative retinal condition (called RP) that these days prevents me from driving (severe tunnel vision!), so I wanted to be a good co-pilot, which to me means being able to find good motels from the road, secret delis in rural Colorado, and so on.
My three favorite/most-used apps are probably all radio-related: I love the Public Radio Player, WFMU, and KCRW‘s apps.

Mac or PC or Other?

I was raised on Macs — around 1987, I inherited my dad’s old 512k, and since then I’ve been a loyal user.

I use Twitter for:

Honing my confessiono-aphoristical chops.

I use Facebook for:

Self-aggrandizement.

Do you write a blog? What’s it about?

Good Jobbbbbbbbb. It’s about… the inside of my skull. I started it when I had an intense office job, and used it to blow off linguistic steam. That’s still what it’s for. I’m profoundly embarrassed by my blog, and I can’t let go of it. (That may be a common contemporary condition.)

Do you read any blogs? What are three of your favorites?

1. Menthol Mountains, the blog of David Berman, poet and singer of the Silver Jews.
2. Disambiguation, the blog of editor/novelist/critic Ed Park.
3. Weird Vegetables, the blog of writer/grad student/kale daikon radish Katrina Dodson.
4. My Life and Thoughts, the blog of writer Elif Batuman.

Go-to menu item and restaurant in CoMo?

I’m a recent transplant, so I haven’t eaten at many restaurants yet. But in these first few months, the closest thing I have to a go-to is probably…the Peggy Plate at the Main Squeeze. After so many coastal elitist snobs warned me about moving to the Midwest, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by Columbia’s abundant 1970s juice-bar vibes.

What is your favorite beverage?

Intensely hoppy beer.

Friends are visiting from out-of-town. You’re for-sure taking them to:

My backyard, then Uprise. Then, if it’s not freezing, back to the yard.

My favorite city/town/hamlet/state/country/province in the world (after CoMo, of course) is:

There’s no interesting answer to this question. New York City? Narnia. New Mexico; Mexico.

@ephemerageek

Who are you?

Amy DeGraff-Swiney. Wife of Joe. Mother of Cameron, our 20-year-old son who is attending Conception Seminary College near Maryville, Missouri. Random fact: I named him after the character Cameron Frye from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Seriously. I have four dogs: Elvis and Trixie who are rat terriers, and Jake and Belle who are Great Pyrenees/Anatolian crosses. I’m a big St. Louis Cardinals fan and Mizzou Men’s Basketball fan. Also a devout orthodox Catholic and moderate Republican, but I don’t publicly discuss religion or politics. And oh yeah, I don’t actually live in Columbia. I live about 45 miles north, but work and play and spend my money in Columbia so I can be an honorary resident, right?

What do you do for money?

I am a legal assistant for Garrett Taylor at Van Matre, Harrison, Hollis, and Taylor, P.C. I’m also the resident web geek and am learning all about tweaking our website and improving SEO.

What do you do for fun?

I collect vintage paper items (hence the Twitter handle), including baseball cards. My husband Joe got me started and we have over 10,000 cards. We live on my family’s century farm where we raise chickens for food and eggs, bale hay, raise Katahdin sheep and generally lead a very peaceful, quiet life. We collect old CASE tractors. I craft and sew and quilt and cross-stitch and crochet. Honestly, I have more hobbies than I have time for.

I would characterize my relationship with technology as:

Ever-evolving. Right now I am teaching myself WordPress and CSS so I can improve the firm’s website. I’ve never been one to “read the instruction manual” so I just kind of jump in and learn as I go along. So far it’s gone pretty well.

Smart or dumb phone? What kind? If smart, what are the three apps you use most?

Pretty dumb but web-enabled phone. It wishes it was more impressive. I use it for checking email, keeping up on Twitter and Facebook and Googling anything I want to know.

Mac or PC or Other?

Hello, I’m a PC.

I use Twitter:

…news, sports, meeting new and interesting people.

I use Facebook for:

…pretending I liked the people I went to high school with.

Do you read any blogs? What are three of your favorites?

I am subscribed to around 50 or so blogs, but my three most favorite when they are updated are:

• Postsecret
• Lowering the Bar
• The Daily Blur

Go-to menu item and restaurant in CoMo?

Meat master pizza from Kostaki’s Pizzeria.

Complete this sentence: Archers of Loaf is:

my son on summer vacation.

Friends are visiting from out-of-town. You’re for-sure taking them to:

Avenue of the Columns at dusk. The Tiger Hotel is spectacular at that time.

My second-favorite city/town/hamlet/state/country/province in the world is:

The Great State of Nevada. I grew up there and still remember it fondly.