Wildheart's
real name is Diane. She was born in Chicago
(The Windy City) and moved to West Texas (a windy place) when she was twelve
during the Great Oil Boom of the 1970's. She has lived in Lamesa,
Del Rio
and Lubbock
(The Hub City), and has lived inMidland
(The Tall City) since 1987.
Diane's
education began one bright September morning at Eugene
Field Elementary School in Park
Ridge, Illinois. Despite being left
handed, nearsighted and a girl, Diane made good grades and was well
liked by her fellow students and her teachers. Her second grade teacher
once wrote that Diane was "a bit of a chatter box", but we all mature with
time, and by fifth-grade a teacher commented on a report card that Diane
"used her time wisely".
The
path that lead to her present career began at Lamesa
Middle School, where Diane took her first journalism course and worked
in the school's library. A few years later she joined her high school's
annual staff, yet another stepping stone on her way to a career in the
mass communications industry. She graduated with honors from Frenship
High School in Wolfforth.
After
graduation, Diane's journalism career got a bit side tracked by the glitter
of Hollywood. She went to work at a movie
theater and gradually became a life time student at Texas
Tech University. These were exciting years. Diane learned how to make
nacho's by pouring melted cheese
on corn chips, how to charge customers $5 for Milk
Duds without feeling guilty and that only a few people can tell the
difference between popcorn
made 6 minutes ago and popcorn made 6 months ago. Diane's career in the
entertainemnt industry soared and she was promoted to the box office where
she was called alot of R-rated names by parents for not allowing their
children into R-rated movies.
As
Diane accumulated more and more college hours, changing her major several
times, she grew
tired of popping popcorn and longed for a life beyond the mall and above
minimum wage, so she came to Midland, enrolled in the University
of Texas of The Permian Basin in Odessa
and graduated in December 1988 with a bachelors degree in literature and
a minor in Spanish. The literature degree would explain
the length
of this bio; her Spanish can be best described as rusty and can only be
spoken in the present tense.
At
home home Diane enjoys spending time with her four cats:
Nosey and Whisper, who are brown & black tabby brothers; Puff, a friendly
Siamese female who was abandoned by some heartless person at Diane's apartment
complex; and Smokey, a black, part Burmese female, who answers to the name
"Little Kitty" and
was also abandoned and mistreated, but is now happy and healthy. All of
Diane's cats are neutered and their vaccinations are up to date.
In
addition to
her family life, Diane is an active volunteer. She tutors ESL (English
as a Second Language) students for Midland Need to Read, a non-profit organization
which offers free literacy and English programs. If you know anyone who
is illiterate, needs help improving their literacy, wants to get a GED
or can't speak English refer them to this agency by calling 915-685-4572.
If you are illiterate, need help improving your literacy, want a GED or
can't speak English, you probably don't understand any of this and should
work on your education instead of playing with a computer.
Her
activism doesn't end at the Midland County Line. Because she loves all
animals, not just cats, Diane is a member of the Humane Society of the
United States and a member of Amnesty
International, because she likes people too. She is also a registered
Democrat.
For
the past 7 years Diane has been a judge for Midland
Community Theatre's McLaren Comedy Playwriting Competition, which involves
reading many really bad plays from all over the country in order to find
one good play to be presented by a reader's theatre.
Diane
was reared as a Unitarian-Universalist, but
without the threat of eternal damnation, she feels little incentive to
go to church and hasn't in years, except for when she has attended
mass while visiting relatives in Chicago, which makes her a Drive-thru
Catholic as opposed to a Cafeteria-Catholic.
Currently,
Diane is the Editorial Department Librarian at the Reporter-Telegram
, which is owned by the Hearst Corporation.
She was originally hired by the newspaper's Production Department in February
1990 where she worked the night shift doing news and advertising paste-up.
During her two years in the Production Department, Diane distinguished
herself with her neatness, speed and wit. She is a two-time recipient of
the MR-T's much covetted Employee of the Month Award, in recognition of
her efforts.
As
for the internet, she is an intermediate surfer and a practicing chat-aholic.
If you're ever at her favorite chat site,The
Park, you'll probably find her in the Romance
room M & F.
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