1)  I am approximately 50.

          2)  I live in Mayberry, USA with my son (a well known area guitarist), husband (a drummer) and sometimes my daughter (currently on Pluto at the Disney School of Creative Writing).  I also live with my cat, Chopin (after Kate Chopin, the writer).

          3)  My early life was spent traveling from surfing beach to surfing beach in search of the perfect wave (just like in the movie The Endless Summer), but suddenly in Hawaii one day it all seemed so futile.   I decided to come to Philadelphia and attend Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts to study painting.  Which also seems kind of futile now that I think of it.

          4)  The last (more than) several years has been spent painting, making books, teaching art and, most important to me, being part of a really cool  family and ever-expanding group of friends, journaling all the while.  Birds interest me greatly and they sometimes join me in my studio.   I often wish that I could sing and fly.

                                                
Answers:
 1)  True!  I turned 50 in April 2006.
 2)  I live in Glenside, PA (just outside the Philly city limits).  Anyone who lives here will tell you it
      is pretty much like Mayberry: .  The rest is more or less true.
 3)  I've never been to Hawaii and the closest I've ever been to surfing is on the 'net.  I grew up
      right around here.   Studied at the  Academy  and University of the Arts, majored in Painting. 
 4)  Absolutely TRUE!

Chopin is the Cat in the Hat