Hi, my name is Tracey Gaughran-Perez, formerly Tracey Gaughran, of the Jersey Gaughrans (screw those Pennsylvania Gaughrans! I spit on them!). I am married to the infamous Jamie Gaughran-Perez, formerly Jamie Perez, of the Basque Saint Perezes (not the Hispanic Rosie Perezes, for those keeping score at home). We have a 5-year-old daughter whose middle name is James, just to confuse you further.
Prior to marriage and domesticity, I was a graduate student in English Literature... for most of my adult life. Remaining in school forever allowed me to delay my entry into Responsible Adulthood while simultaneously gaining really useful, practical knowledge of things like Continental Philosophy, Deconstructivist Theory, and the ravages of Postmodernism. Despite all this, I am indeed still fun at parties.
Somewhere in there I also taught college English Literature, Composition, and Humanities, worked as a writer for AARP (yes, the old people), experimented with hair dyes, and lived a somewhat Holly Golightly-ish existence in both the wilds of Michigan and Washington, DC. Then I got married and had a baby. [dun dun duhhh]
I now live in Charm City, USA (Baltimore, MD, to all you non-Hons out there), home of John Waters, HL Mencken, The American Visionary Art Museum, and Natty Boh. At the moment I divide my time pretty evenly between writing on this here internet and being a stay at home mom, an arrangement that allows me to remain in my pure silk dressing gown all day long, sipping cocktails, eating bon-bons, and throwing back handfuls of valium.
This site chronicles my life and interests from around the time my daughter M was a toddler -- which was before George W. Bush was president, mind you -- up through the present. During that time, Sweetney has been featured on NPR, CBC Radio (Canada), in print media such as The Washington Post and The Baltimore Sun, and on web sites like BoingBoing and ParentDish. Over the life of this blog I've also been a speaker at BlogHer and SXSW interactive conferences.
When I'm not writing here, I'm over at the very awesometastic pop culture blog MamaPop, which I founded in 2006 with my friend Amy. In my spare time I run a children's music series called Rock-n-Romp at The Creative Alliance in Baltimore.
I adore Jon Stewart, all things pirate-y, Elliott Smith, science geekery, and underdogs in all their various incarnations. Surprising though it may be, I do not have any tattoos.
If you're new to Sweetney, here are a few favorite posts from the past year to get you started:
Other random bits:
