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My name is Katherine Zwick, though a fair number of people call me Kat. I'm not sure how or why this nickname became my standard moniker, but there seems to be nothing I can do about it.

I have lived in Chicago for ten years. I'm 28 years old, and I love this city. It is without a doubt the city that feels like home. I hail from Providence, Rhode Island, where I spent the bulk of my youth with my father, stepmother and half-brother in our lovely blue house on Brewster Street. I did, however, technically live all over the state, because my mom couldn't sit still. I attended an all-girls' boarding high school, which is probably one of the best things that has ever happened to me.

I've lived many lives since I entered Northwestern University as a timid freshman in 1997. I was awarded my B.S. in Gender Studies and Performance Studies in 2001, which means I now know how to be offended by everything and I can perform a short one-woman play about it. In college, I spent my extra time performing in bands - as a back-up singer in the otherwise all-male rock band Tippler Contingent - and as one part of the female duo that was my folk band. We were called - yes, I'm serious - Blue Harvest. What can I say? I was young and in love with Joni Mitchell and Neil Young.

Immediately after college, I toured around the Midwest and various points east and west as a slam poet. I represented Chicago on the Green Mill Slam Team at the National Poetry Slams in 2001 and 2002. I was the captain and coach for the Green Mill Midwest Poetry Slam League Team in 2002 and 2003. In the summer of 2003, I was the day/special events planner and volunteer coordinator for the National Poetry Slam in Chicago.

Then I made the obvious next step. I took a job at a law firm. I worked as a Trademark Legal Assistant and then as an International Trademark Paralegal for three years. The idea was to get some experience and get myself to law school. I took the LSAT. Twice. I was good at my job but incredibly bored, and I hate to say it, but none of the lawyers I worked for seemed even remotely satisfied with their lives. I re-thought my law school ambitions and opted out. I do, however, have extensive knowledge of U.S. and International Trademark Law, so if you need some information about Section 9 Renewals, let me know.

In the midst of all that, I was also working as a freelance event planner and training for the 2005 Chicago Marathon. I ran the marathon in October 2005 and even though I almost passed out at mile 21 and was no longer capable of coherent thought, I finished.

My mother passed away in December of 2005, which changed my life. It continues to change my life. My mother was - for better AND worse - the most important person in my life. Once the life of all parties and an unstoppable force of positivity, I sunk deep into depression for all of 2006. No longer the typically gregarious Aries, I spent most of my time alone in my studio, sulking and often begging a certain romantic interest for reassurance that I existed and that everything was ok. Yes, I was an existential laugh riot that year.

I acquired two kittens for company, and after entering graduate school at the beginning of 2007, my life began to take shape and have some meaning again. I'm working toward my Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the Illinois School of Professional Psychology and I'm working as a research assistant at Northwestern University. On the side, I write and perform songs as my alter-ego Sweet Thighs.

I am in love with yoga. I sometimes draw pictures for my friends with cray-pas. I write excessively long email updates. I love long conversations with smart people, but I also like sitting around and saying nothing at all. And on that note. The end.