My name is Sherron, I'm 54 years old, I'm 5'2" tall and a little overweight, but I'm committed to a healthy, all-things-in-moderation lifestyle and I try to work out for an hour or more at least four times a week. Although I enjoy physical intimacy, I make no apologies for failing to be a warm, fuzzy, touchy/feely, huggy/cuddly, physically focused person; it's simply the way I was made, not a lifestyle choice. If you know Myers-Briggs and want to see my profile, click here.

I was born a military brat, the oldest of 3 children, in Louisville, KY on March 28, 1944, but mostly grew up in Texas. I graduated from Mesquite High School in 1962 and have acquired a couple of years worth of unfocused, informal college credits here and there. I did a lot of things and engaged in a lot of job-hopping in my intellectually restless, wanderlust-afflicted, gypsy youth, looking for something that was challenging to my quicksilver mind and at the same time, so much fun that it didn't feel like work. My name and the words Artistic Temperament are not necessarily out of place in the same sentences with each other. It also couldn't require an excess of mental discipline as that's not a quality I have in great supply. Luckily, becoming wealthy was never high on my list of priorities. It's worth mentioning, because I did it long enough, that I have a medical background as a Pharmacy Technician in the Navy in a younger incarnation, but I'm chiefly happy about the globe-trotting I got to do during that time. I'm now happily employed as the City Attorney's secretary in my small East Texas Town (pop. approx. 50,000) and no longer in possession of the casual and youthfully optimistic conviction that I'm destined to be a great anything. Without meaning to belittle the effort or time that anyone with the intellectual gifts and discipline that I lack has put into acquiring an education, I'm looking for someone who, although bright and witty, is smart enough to care more about the simple pleasures of life than impressing others with intellectual credentials or accomplishments. Although not in possession of impressive educational credentials, I am in possession of a pretty good brain. This is what that and exceedingly modest ambitions has gotten me in my life. Not to mention a preference for fun over sustained grunt work and the mental discipline of a mayfly. And let me just clarify that I do NOT have anything against work, per se; I will work tirelessly, meticulously, and forever as long as it is toward the accomplishment of something I consider meaningful, delightful, or worthwhile. In the case of my present job, that paycheck in exchange for pleasant and undemanding work which never follows me home is as fraught with meaning as I require at this point in my life.

My two daughters, Shannon (32) and Joelle (30) both live here with their husbands and each of them has 2 children all under 8 years of age. I've traveled all over the U.S. and the world and I was lucky enough to get to live in Spain for 4 years. Although I've lived in Texas, California, Florida, Virginia, Illinois, and Arkansas, among others, I most enjoyed living in Maine and Washington state. However, I eventually returned home to Texas to be near my parents as they age. Well, okay, that and the fact that my wanderlust finally went into remission.

Although I see myself as average in appearance, I harbor no illusions that I'm beautiful, and there are things I would change cosmetically about my appearance if I had the money, but I'm not unhappy with my appearance or my body or my life. Okay, that's a lie. Well, the part about my body, anyway. I wish I still weighed 100 pounds and could fit into size 5's, but that's no longer the case and who am I trying to impress, anyway? My happiness isn't appearance-dependent and although I must find a prospective mate's body clean and sweet-smelling and his appearance acceptable, brains and humor are adequate compensation to my mind for a multitude of physical shortcomings. He doesn't have to have several degrees and read esoteric authors, but if I can't respect the mind running the show, it doesn't matter how pretty the face or the body is. As far as my own appearance goes, I'm not saying I wouldn't still like to look 18, but I guess I've reached a point in life where I've basically made peace with my present-day reality.

Despite the lack of great formal education, I'm intellectually adventurous, I enjoy new ideas, travel and quiet evenings at home. I'm quiet and used to a lot of space, but I love a good discussion and I'm always open to new ideas that aren't patently ridiculous. I have a strong personality and need someone who is also strong, but not overbearing--an intellectual and emotional equal. I guess Im sort of an intellectual gadfly and I'm excited by men who are thoughtful, witty, and smart, but also lighthearted and down-to-earth

Physically and personality-wise, I'm not going to be to everyone's taste, but it's probably due more often to the fact that Im too outspoken and opinionated in combination with only average looks rather than because I carry a lot of baggage from past relationships. I think I'm more easygoing and tolerant than I was when I was younger (at least I can stay in one place longer), but I'm no longer willing to settle for a fixer-upper (you know, telling your friends "It's a pretty good relationship, but I wish he was... or would... or could... or didn't..."). I can easily survive alone and take care of myself in the absence of a truly good relationship that has more rewards than headaches and I'd rather continue life alone than be in a miserable, boring, troublesome, or (yikes!) frightening relationship like the one I once had with an irresistablely beautiful alcoholic who loved guns. Whew!

My taste in music, as in most other things, is eclectic. I grew up on rock&roll and, although I still love what's now called classic rock and I have a surprisingly good appreciation of some newer artists in the rock genre, my musical tastes have expanded as I've aged and I listen to and enjoy everything from Lyle Lovett to Kathleen Battle. Along with newer artists such as Counting Crows, Soul Asylum, Joan Osborne and Jewel, I enjoy the New Age music of Enya and the whatever-kind-of-music-it-is of The Chieftains. I love oldies, Broadway musicals, Baroque classical music, and the music of the Russian composers, and Im developing a real love of the music of the 30s, 40s and 50s (not big band, but smoky torch songs such as In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning, etc.). The only musical styles I don't care for are country&western, rap and jazz. However, I'm a strong believer in headphones and although it would, of course, be nice, a potential mate doesn't necessarily have to share my musical tastes.

My tastes in entertainment are also very eclectic. Some of my favorite actors are John Travolta, Gary Oldman (in his Sid and Nancy and True Romance days), Kevin Spacey (absolute low-key perfection) and Gabriel Byrne, among others. And, of course, Jack Nicholson is never less than pitch perfect to my ear. Some of the movies I've enjoyed in recent times are Pulp Fiction (so fresh and unexpected it left me breathless and delighted), L.A. Confidential, Clueless, The English Patient, Men in Black, As Good As It Gets, and Evita. Some of my favorite older movies are Tom Jones, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Chinatown.

My favorite comfort-reading is Charles Dickens and I also like Dickens' modern day disciple, John Irving. However, for enjoyment, I read primarily mysteries now and the writer I most enjoy is James Ellroy (Black Dahlia, L.A. Confidential, The Big Nowhere, White Jazz). I love his hard-boiled, noir-ish, dark underbelly stories and his rock&roll writing style. I also enjoy the more conventional mystery novels of P.D. James and Patricia Cornwell and for a nice change of pace and visit to a pleasant environment, the undemanding Cat Who mystery series.

Continuing in the fine old matchmaking questionnaire tradition of listing favorites, although I rarely watch TV before 5 PM, except maybe to have a muted football game on while I listen to music and work out on a Sunday afternoon, my favorite TV show is Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher. I also enjoy the Rosie O'Donnell show because she is so entertaining and distracting that it takes the boredom out of working out for me. I tape her show and Jeopardy each day and watch that tape while I work out in the evenings. Although there are a few network TV shows that I enjoy, there are none I go out of my way to see regularly. I just don't watch a lot of network TV anymore. I prefer the more challenging (or more trashy, depending on your pov) fare of cable and, regardless how little TV I actually sit and watch, I am currently scheduled for surgical removal of the remote control deeply imbedded in my right hand. I believe remote controls were probably invented by and for people with general attention spans very much like my own. I enjoy home and yard improvement projects and I'm pretty much addicted to HGTV (the Home & Garden channel). I also enjoy being educated in short bursts and go through periods when I can't get enough of PBS. During recent times I've put away the remote control and avidly watched a series on Stephen Hawking's Universe, enjoyed a special called Chihuly over Venice, the Ken Burns documentary on Frank Lloyd Wright and gutsy, nail-biting things on Mystery. I also find a lot to enjoy on A&E, and perhaps because I have enough of a medical background to understand the language, I enjoy things about forensic science.

My all-time favorite comedian is Jonathan Winters. More recent favorites are Chris Rock (I like his sensibility, not necessarily his profanity or his sexual vulgarity), Robin Williams, and Garry Shandling.

I am not well off financially, but I'm comfortable and I enjoy what I've got. I live with two happy, yappy (but to me, loveable) little part-Chihuahua dogs and a non-yappy English Bulldog puppy in an old, tiny, and not very picturesque house in an older (and again, not very picturesque) section of town and mostly live from paycheck to paycheck, but I don't have a lot of financial worries. The thing I lack most keenly is someone with whom to share laughter, good conversation, outings, views, and concerns. Carmen and Chi Chi (the muttly yappers) listen to me politely, but they never voice a dissenting opinion or give me pause. Chi Chi is mostly Chihuahua, but Carmen is a Chihuahua/West Highland Terrier mix I rescued from the animal shelter who weighs about 5 pounds, has scraggly white hair and looks like every day is the worst hair day in the history of the world for her. Muffin, our brindle and white female English Bulldog puppy, who was born Dec. 11, 1998 and looks like a cinnamon raisin muffin with frosting, is, like most puppies, too playful and orally-undisciplined to be really interested in conversation of any kind, let us not even mention the kind she hears most and likes least (NO! NO! NO!). Being the over-priced, pedigreed animal she is, and lulled into a somewhat diva-ish temperament by her own sense of importance, Muffin demanded and got her own page, which you can visit, if you're so inclined, by checking out the link to Muffin's Page. I also include my daughter's Chinese Pug puppy, Odo, in the list of our family members since he visits often for the express purpose of driving Carmen and Chi Chi UP THE WALL! He is not nearly as laid back as Muffin, who Carmen and Chi Chi tolerate with a certain, albeit limited, degree of equanimity.

Although I'm too utilitarian to be interested in collecting antiques (or loading myself down with useless collections of anything else, for that matter), I like finding and restoring lovely old unexpected treasures. Nothing gives me greater pleasure than turning something old and neglected into something charming and whimsical with nothing more than paint, elbow grease, and imagination. It's important to me that my home surroundings be pleasant to look at and comfortable to live with and I spend a lot of my spare time planning and executing artsy/homey projects. I like a comfortable, comforting, country feel to a home, but also enjoy whimsy and eclecticism.

Although I enjoy working around the house generally, I loathe dusting, ironing, and maintaining a car. I do, however, find doing laundry and mowing the yard oddly relaxing and fulfilling. Go figure. I love being pleasantly tired at the end of a full day and not having to get up early the next morning.

I'm not a sentimental person and I don't celebrate holidays in a big way except for Halloween, which I love decorating for. Spurning media exhortations, I refuse to concern myself with merchants' expectations at Christmastime. I don't think gifts are what Christmas is about and I'm not interested in how well the shopping season is going and what it says about the economy. Where seasons are concerned, although I enjoy spring (who doesn't?), I most enjoy the sweet nostalgia of fall. I love feeling re-invigorated by the cool weather and looking forward to digging in and getting cozy for the winter ahead. I like curling up in a comforter with a good book on a rainy day, hearty Sunday morning breakfasts, flavored gourmet coffees, and storms and scary stories. I'm morbidly afraid of spiders, but not much else.

Sorry, cooking is not a passion, an artform or a creative act for me, but I would be happy to lend a hand in the kitchen in support of someone who does enjoy cooking and would even be willing to experiment with cooking new or exotic dishes if I had a willing accomplice both for the cooking and the eating.

Although my wanderlust has abated, I would still like to visit Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon and hike the Appalachian Trail. I would also like to take a cruise down the Nile (preferably with the wonderful, scenery-chewing cast of Death on the Nile) and visit the desert southwest with a camera.

My earliest ambition was to be a writer. Luckily, I've since realized that I really don't have a helluva lot to say, certainly nothing original, and have realigned my illusions about myself with reality enough that I can simply think and enjoy writing out my thoughts for pleasure. I no longer think I'm so special that everyone should be interested in my thoughts. And by gum, I miss that youthful conviction of specialness that maturity has whacked to the wayside! It was misguided, but it felt damn good. For my life's ambition, however, if I could be 18 again and know what I know today, I would become a tea-sipping, motheaten-sweater-wearing, booklined-cubbyhole-dwelling Medieval historian and learn to play the cello for my own immense pleasure. With such modest ambitions, is it any wonder that I'm able to be happy with such a mediocre real life job and pay? What do you suppose Medieval historians make, even those who teach and write (although I did see them going through the well-appointed house of one on HGTV recently)?

If you're still here at this point and want to know more, please visit the other pages linked below.

More Photos	About Me
The Man of My Dreams	Politically Incorrect Philosophical Drivel
Kid Pics	Muffin's Page (Pet Pics)
My Favorite English Bulldog and Chinese Pug Links
Links to The Art of Wassily Kandinsky and Edward Hopper	Home Email
Work Email	And if you have ICQ, my ICQ number is 26941836