"Life is short, break the rules. Forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncomfortably, NEVER regret anything that made you smile and smile often." - Anon.

Vitals

Name: Amy Janeen Salinger

Nickname: Ames

Age: 30

Birthday: April 12, 1978

Job: English Instructor @ PPCC & Writer

Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

Status: Single

Religion: Agnostic (jokingly refers to herself as a "Secular Humanist")

Chronic disease: None

Allergies: None

Smokes: No

Drinks: Socially (loves wine)

College: Bachelors & Masters from Harvard, working towards a doctorate

Favourite Feature: Laugh/Smile

Least Favourite Feature: Hair (thinks its kind of plain)

Greatest Strength: An unwavering amount of compassion and optimism

Biggest Weakness: Seems to always be looking ahead, struggling to be at peace in the moment

Biggest Fear: That she is such a romantic idealist when it comes to living and loving and no one will ever manage to be perfect enough.

Most Common Misconception: That nothing bad has ever happened to her...

Name Meaning

Amy-English form of the old French name Amee meaning "Beloved"

Janeen-Variant of Janine, the English form of Jeannine...connected to John.

Salinger-English place, Saint Leger

Appearance:

Amy's Outfit

Personality

Amy leads an active lifestyle in the sense that she is always doing something, delving quite passionately into her many interests or whatever has captured her attention for the moment. A bohemian would also be an accurate means to describe her, as Amy has attempted to shut out the parts of the world around her that she deems unsavory, including (but not limited to) consumerism, materialism, greed and gossip. She wants to purge her life of all the peripheral things that may threaten it. This little idiosyncracy has a tendency to close her off from many people and so she is often labeled a quirky homebody, or even a hermit. Since returning to Pleasant Port though, she has managed to reconnect with some old friends and make some new ones, which keeps her from being too closed off from the world. It is for this reason that Amy considers her friends to be her family and very essential to the balance in her life. They inspire her and it's not unusual for her to pick up additional interests from her interactions with them.

Amy can be friendly and tolerant of pretty much anyone, but that is not to say that she likes everyone and would purposely go out of her way to spend time with those who don't share her views of the world or her interests. Chances are, if a person falls into this category of acquaintance, she will simply avoid them since she strongly dislikes unnecessary conflict and confrontation. She will 'disturb the universe', however, when she is moved by the causes and beliefs that she holds dear (such as education and human rights), often with a passion and feisty-ness that can be quite endearing. She's also not afraid of good, healthy debate if the parties involved can keep from being overzealous and hostile. Amy considers herself to be worldly and very much the intellectual, with an interest in what's moving and shaking around her and an insatiable thurst for knowledge. But she tends to place more stock in her life experiences and how they have shaped her outlook on life and the way she lives it, thus making her very humble.

This also makes Amy a woman who tends to give so much to others while genuinely not expecting much in return. She is deeply compassionate, with an unfettered willingness to hold the weight of the world on her shoulders. She is a humanist--a lover of and believer in her fellow man, pretty much to a fault. The Peace Corps appealed to this nature in her to want to wrap her arms around the world and try to fix it. This kind of idealism rarely comes without without a heavy dose of realism. She knows it's not possible to do everything or be all things to everyone but she has the patience and longing to simply do what she knows is in her. Because of this, Amy hardly has a malicious bone in her body. Even when she gets angry, upset and says things she doesn't mean, she will always be remourseful about it afterwards.

Amy has often been called a wanderer, always in search of a project or worthwhile cause, and yearning to make a difference in the world around her. If she doesn't have something meaningful to focus her time and energies on, she has a habit of getting restless. That's how she ended up in the Peace Corps. Surprisingly, since she's returned home to Pleasant Port, she hasn't felt the desire to "run" just yet, which may mean she's looking to slow down. Or maybe she's unknowingly managed to surround herself with people who support her wandering and even occasionally join her in her adventures.

History

Amy Timeline

The paternal side of Amy's family has been living in Pleasant Port and its surrounding areas for many generations. Typically, they have had simple lives in the community as teachers, small business owners and blue collar workers. Amy's father, Francis (who often goes by his middle name, Richard), is the oldest of three children and was raised with the typical American ideals of working hard to get what you wanted. He worked many odd jobs in his teen years and even worked with his own father through high school and even for his first two years of college, which he spent at the local community college. Eventually he would leave town in favor of attending the University of Connecticut, where he eventually met Eleanor Manchester.

The Manchester side of Amy's family hails from Vermont, and has mostly consisted of farmers (produce and even maple syrup) or loggers in the past but her grandparents have expanded their investments and businesses to include ventures such as excavating and greenhousing. Eleanor is the second child of the family and while her siblings opted to remain close to home and eventually contributed heavily to the business ventures, Eleanor chose to go away for college, with dreams of perhaps becoming a teacher.

The story of their parent's romance is sometimes idealized by Amy and her older sister Carrie as being a story of two people being meant for each other but needing to overcome plenty of obsticles.. This is fueled when Francis explains that he knew he wanted to marry Eleanor when they traveled to Woodstock together in 1969, despite having known each other for two years. It would take several more years for Eleanor to finally agree to settle down and marry him, with the two staking roots in Pleasant Port. Francis became an English professor at the community college he attended when he was younger and also was a freelance writer. Eleanor worked as a librarian in town and was also quite the homemaker.

Francis and Eleanor had the dreams for their children like many parents – a better life than they had. Carrie and Amy would eventually leave Pleasant Port to attend a prestigious boarding school for girls in Boston, Massachusetts. The two certainly thrived in the academically challenging and competitive environment, but  they also clung to their small town upbringing and often came home on the weekends. Carrie graduated and moved to the west coast for college at Stanford University and Amy graduated a year later but remained in Boston to attend Harvard University.

Even in high school, Amy had always been independent and worldly, something she shares with her mother. From her father, she has a love of the English Language. She also was able to combine these things together with an undergraduate degree in History and Literature. Her early years as an undergrad were spent studying and engaging in some typical collegiate extracurriculars. She took up crew, joined the debate team and was considered politically active on campus.

She also met fellow Harvard student, Steven Villard. The physical attraction between the two was immediate, perhaps fueled by some of their differing philosophies. Despite those differences, Amy found that she and Steven also shared some commonalities, including the fact that Steven's family hailed from Vermont and he grew up not far from where her mother's family lived. This made him an instant hit with them and after seriously dating for two years, talk of them becoming engaged and getting married started to become more prevalent. Amy readily admits that this greatly unnerved her given how young she was. In many ways, she felt she still had so much more to experience in the world before she settled down. She was relieved at the chance to study English Language and Literature abroad at Oxford in her junior year. She still maintained the relationship with Steven from a distance, but after returning, it was clear that her fears and also the differences between them weren't enough to make her want to stay involved with him.

In her senior year she pursued some community service projects that interested her. As she worked towards graduation, Amy also became involved with the Radcliffe Institute Research Fellowships as an assistant. Amy graduated and would continue on towards her masters. In addition to her studies, she became a composition instructor at Bunker Hill Community College and she would occasionally write articles for professional journals. Eventually she dove into freelance writing for newspapers and magazines in the Boston area. At first she wrote to very little acclaim, but as her writing started to take on a more socially conscious tone, her work began to get noticed. After graduating with her masters, Amy kept busy with instructing, fellowships and writing a collection of short stories. This collection was released to minimal fanfare (which was fine by her), except primarily other academics and those interested in speculative fiction. She's been told by her publisher that it is often used as supplemental reading in Modern American Literature courses.

In her attempts to find another meaningful path in life, Amy applied for and was accepted into the Peace Corps. She was posted to a rural area of South Africa working with education. After her two years of service she returned home to Pleasant Port in an effort to readjust to life in the states. She started to write for the local newspaper and eventually began teaching at the community college like her father. Amy was content to keep to herself as she adjusted, but with the reconnection with old friends and the making of some new ones, she didn't stay secluded for long. In the summer of 2006, her parents retired to Florida, leaving Amy the family home.
In 2007, Amy began work on her doctorate at Yale and is looking forward to taking on more responsibility at the community college. 

Family

Keeping up with the Salingers: About Amy's Family

Francis Salinger (Father) - Incoming

Eleanor Salinger (Mother) - Incoming

Carrie Salinger (Sister) - Incoming

Eliza Salinger (Neice) - Incoming

Franklin Salinger (Uncle) - Incoming

Helen Salinger (Aunt) - Incoming

Jody Salinger (Cousin) - Incoming

Home Life

Address: 6 Salem Road

Lives in town since: Amy grew up in Pleasant Port but went away for High School and College. Returned two years ago after serving in the Peace Corps

Transportation

Normally Amy does not drive. She prefers to walk or bike to get where she needs to go, and actually enjoys taking public transportation for longer treks. But in January, Amy borrowed her uncle's Lexus RX 400 so that she could make the daily trips back and forth to Yale (New Haven).

Friends

• Cole Cleyburne - Their friendship began when Cole's family moved into the neighborhood and the Cleyburne boys and the Salinger girls used to terrorize Salem Road with their sports and made up games. Given that he and Carrie were close in age, they understandably had more in common, with Cole ending up being her sister Carrie's first kiss. Amy's friendship with him began more on a brotherly, protector level. When both Salingers went off to Boston, they stayed in touch with Cole. When Carrie went to California, her connection with Cole waned some. Amy was much better at staying in touch with him, attributing to their friendship growing. She continued contact with him even during her Peace Corps service. Upon both returning to the town in 2006, they've continued getting closer, reminiscing about their shared childhood experiences and making new ones. As it turns out, with all the friendships that have come and gone over the years, the one with Cole has managed to be the most constant in Amy's life.
• Brendan Wright - Another one of Amy's closest friends from growing up in Pleasant Port. Brendan was Amy's first kiss and the two have always kept in touch no matter where they have been, particularly by letters. This was how Amy found out about Brendan's "gayness" and it was also how Amy told him about her break up with Steven. In recent years, even though some of their personal beliefs may be different, Amy tends to see him much the same as she did while they grew up and loving him unconditionally, even in times when he might not deserve it. Case and point: in May Amy passed on to Bren the number of Corey Lindaugh, hoping to make a love match between her two gay friends. Even though the two are "together" now, the initial connection between them wasn't quite so smooth and Bren blamed her for it. Amy and Bren patched things up before she left for Asia but she still worried about him when she was away.
• Musette Gowan - Amy met Musette sometime after the Peace Corps, the two sharing interests in the outdoors (hiking, gardening) and also their connection to England. Also, when Eliza got sick during the Christmas break, Amy was grateful that Musette's hubby, Harry Gowan, was the doctor who took care of her neice instead of a doctor she didn't know well.
• Alexander Stone - Amy met Alex when she came back to Pleasant Port from the Peace Corps and was browsing in Square Books. The two briefly dated and even though the romantic relationship was short lived, they remained good friends. Until the fall of 2007, that mostly meant regularly getting together for lunch or coffee when their schedules matched up. During one session, they discussed teaching a college course together. That November, they spent more time together planning for it and it eventually got approved. Amy began to have stronger feelings for Alex when he broke off his relationship with Jackie Sanders. She ended up kissing him after Midnight Mass and on Christmas Day and they began having a "no feelings" relationship. In March 2008, Amy pressed him for something more and he couldn't give that to her, making it clear (yet again) that they were not meant to be. Despite not placing too much blame on him for it (given he was always honest with her), initially it was hard being around him outside of working together. Amy still cares very deeply about Alex and his struggles (particularly the ones pertaining to his son) and while she wants to see him happy and in love, she is now fine that it will not be with her.
  
• Ethan Hauer - Amy works closely with him as the Academic Advisor to the basketball team, but since their initial meeting, she has also become friends with him since he is also Cole's roommate and close friend. The three have regularly done things like bar hopping or kayaking together.

Aquaintances

• Jeffrey Lewis - Once upon a time, Amy's father dated his sister. The two men remained friendly even when Francis Salinger went away to college and eventually returned. Through the years, the two families continued to be be connected by the activities of their children who were close in age.
• Micah Lewis - When she was growing up, Amy and her sister Carrie spent more time with Micah's sister given that they were closer in age. But Amy remembers never objecting to having him tagging along with them. It made playing house or school and other childhood games more fun. Amy left for boarding school and never really got to see his wild lifestyle, but she heard stories from her parents. Since returning two years ago, whenever she sees him, she has to resist the urge to wrap her arms around him and hug him to death.
• Fletcher Montgomery - Amy initially met him during her early trips to the Community College campus. He was scoping out the college girls and tried his hand at flirting with her. Amy politely rebuffed his efforts. She eventually discovered that he lived on her street and she's also heard about him and his life with Maddy from Jason Styles. Even if she doesn't say so openly, she finds herself highly amused by him and follows his activities with interests.
• Miko Ronin - Amy knows her from taking yoga classes together. On Christmas moring, Amy took her neice, Eliza, to the park to make snow angels and Miko joined them. Miko showed Eliza how to "fly".
  
• Filo Felvish - They both went to Harvard.

• Wes Covington - It was not long after Amy got back into the dating game that she met the handsome and charming Wes. She was instantly attracted to him and went on several dates, which went rather well, although she admitted to being apprehensive with her feelings.Eventually though, they slept together in late May.
• Maddy Baker - Amy knows her from her trips to Cafe Atlantique. She was one of Amy's favorite counter girls because she knew her order so well. And even though Maddy wont be working at the Cafe anymore, Amy's still glad to see her back.
• Scott Archer - Scott took both her Short Story and Creative Writing classes before he graduated. She appreciated his love for learning and how well he seemed to do without even trying. Since his graduation, she's seen him around town and has discovered that they share some common interests.
• Saleisha Factor - Currently takes her Short Story course this semester and Amy is her academic advisor, as well as the academic advisor for the entire Basketball team.

Relationships with NPC's or Inactives

• Anastasia Grebova - Amy helped Nastia in her mastery of the English language with extra sessions. She also was the one that suggested Nastia might be a good recruit for the basketball team.
• Adrienne Howe - Adi reminds Amy of herself when she was younger and even has the same jersey number that Amy had when she played in high school. While she does concede that Adi is rather "green" when it comes to the real world, she admires the girl for her ability to rehab the ACL injury.
• Jason Styles - Cafe Atlantique is often part of Amy's daily routine. Initially she kept to herself when she first started to visit, but over time Amy opened up to Jason and the rest of the staff. Now, she regularly stops there to read her morning paper or share a cup of coffee with friends and colleagues. She enjoys the friendly atmosphere and conversation so much that Cafe Atlantique is one of the only public places where she can be seen working on her writing or correcting papers.
• Sarah Williams - When Amy returned to Pleasant Port after the Peace Corps, it wasn't long before she met and befrended Sarah with many similar interests, including singing. This love for singing had the two collaborating for performances at past Pleasant Port Music Festival's. When Sarah mentioned that she would be attending PPCC, Amy suggested a few instructors that she should definitely take classes from.
• Isabella Hogan - Amy knows her through Cole. When the two were dating, Amy was quite fond with Izzy, as anyone who Cole is crazy about is obviously at the top of her likeable list. Even after the break up, Amy is still friendly with her, although Amy obviously maintains her loyalties to Cole first. Had the breakup been entirely Cole's fault, Amy might have pressed him to get back together with Izzy, but since that was not the case, Amy thinks perhaps Izzy is not the right woman for her good friend (even if she doesn't necessarily ever say so quite in those words) and that both should leave the past in the past.

Job

She is currently a full time English instructor (no longer just an adjunct) at the Community College. Every semester she tries to teach at least two sections of College Composition and a section of Advanced Composition. Then she will also teach one or two other courses based on her interests and expertise. She's a thought provoking instructor, but also a demanding one, which can be a turn off for those students in search of an easy A.

For the fall 2008 semester, Amy will once again be taking graduate school courses at Yale that will go towards her doctorate (to be determined) and will also be teaching 4-5 courses.

Class Schedule (Fall Semester):

Random Facts About Her

• She was the starting point guard for her high school basketball team during her senior year and made her 3pt shots with surprising accuracy. She hasn't really played much since, mainly because by the time she got to college, her knees were pretty beat up and she gravitated towards activities that were less stressful on them. Plus, Harvard wasn't exactly known as a basketball school.
  
• Softball is another sport Amy played in high school that she was quite good at as a switch hitting catcher (she naturally bats lefty, but Cole helped her learn righty). She only played two years, both because she went abroad as a junior and also because of her knees. Aside from the game at the annual family picnic, Amy has really only gotten back into playing since returning from the Peace Corps, taking on the thinking (wo)man's position for the town's Co-Ed Softball team.
• She's not a vegan but she's not a big meat eater either. She can be picky about the foods she eats, preferring organic and non processed foods whenever possible and avoiding fast food. She does, however, enjoy occasionally dining out with friends.
• Since she grew up primarily in the 80's, she's a big fan of 80's culture. She especially loves 80's music, movies and cartoons.
• She can recite (or sing) nearly all of the poetry in Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends
• She regularly subscribes to (and reads) several magazines, including Real Simple, Time and Newsweek. This is in addition to all the magazines that still come to the house because of her parents.
• Amy loves karaoke. Her favorite songs to sing are: "What About Love" by Heart, "Life is a Highway" by Tom Cochrane, "Strong Enough" by Sheryl Crow and anything from Maroon 5. But she'll sing pretty much anything (especially when drunk).
• Amy has a random appreciation for photography. In January 2007, she took a trip to NYC to visited the Brooklyn Museum's Annie Leibovitz exhibit. Amy was quite taken by a photograph of an orphanage in Rwanda, showing the carnage caused by the civil war. Her favorite photograph (not of Leibovitz' genius) is by a Vermont photographer and was brought back by Amy's mother for her last birthday and is titled Choices.
• Amy loves studying languages and knows several in varying degrees of proficiency. Throughout high school, she studied Latin but during her junior year, she studied abroad, so she picked up enough of the romance languages to carry on conversations. She also spent a year abroad in College at Oxford, where she studied Old and Middle English and some Gaelic. Finally, in the Peace Corps, she was required to learn Afrikaans, which is essentially like Dutch.
• Amy is left handed. Because of this, she avoids using inky pens (because she often smears what she writes) and when she's teaching, she doesn't write a whole lot of notes on the board.  

Life

Activities: Book Club, Creative Writing Club, teaching, sports or anything out of doors, hanging out with friends

Likes: Singing, playing the piano, living in a big house with plenty of places to lose herself in for reading or writing, anything to do with the study of language, interesting conversations, being politically active and supporting a good cause (or as she puts it, "disturbing the universe in some noble way"), spending time with friends and family or meeting new interesting people, maintaining gardens, collecting books, birdwatching, hiking, camping, fresh strawberries, sunflowers (or even flowers that are 'fake sunflowers' or look like them in some way),  traveling

Dislikes: Most of the areas in life which she tries hard to avoid like materialism, consumerism, prejudice, racism, discrimination, etc., people who have no care for the world around them, most republicans or fanatical religious sects, environmentally unfriendly cars (and pretty much cars and driving in general), students who just want an easy A

Favorite Films: The Shawshank Redemption, Away From Her & The Hours

Favorite Songs: I'm Yours by Jason Mraz & Sunday Morning by Maroon 5

Favorite Christmas Songs: It's In Every One of Us & The Peace of Christmas Day by John Denver & The Muppets

Favorite Quote: "If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day." ~ E.B. White

Favorite Food: Butternut Squash Soup

Favorite Dessert: Strawberry Shortcake (or just strawberries)

Favorite Drink: Iced Coffee or Iced Tea

Favorite Alcoholic Drink: The Graduate (Amaretto & Pineapple Juice)

Favorite Colors: Green (overall), Blue (to wear)

Favorite Book: Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabbat Zinn

Favorite actor/actress: Katherine Hepburn, Julie Christie & Sarah Polley 

Amy's Book Shelf

As a lifelong learner and a lover of language, it can be hard to walk into her house and not take note that her shelves are stocked with hoards of books--both for her personal enjoyment and her use as part of her profession and craft in writing. Also, plenty of books have been collected over the years from her parents, so they seem to be everywhere. So here's a glimpse into that world.

Currently Reading: Starbucks Nation by Chris Ver Wiel
Up Next: Incoming

Love Life

Status: Single and dating

Crush: None

First Kiss: Brendan Wright

Longest relationship: 3 years with college sweetheart, Steven Villard

Ever had a broken heart: Yes.

If you want to win her heart, you have to be: a hopeless (or hopeful) romantic.

3 things she can't stand: a cheater, someone who has no ambition or passion, and someone who is shallow or elitest in nature.

Does she believe in love at first sight? No. Lust or Attraction? Yes.

Virgin? No

When did she lose her virginity? At age 17 to Steven

For Amy, sex and love are: electric.

Questionnaires

What Makes You...

...Joyfully Smile?: When Eliza tells me to "sing that way" because I'm being either too loud or I'm stealing her spotlight

...Laugh Out Loud?: When I say or do something insanely stupid and actually realize how bad it is.

...Get on the Dance Floor?: A good looking guy or copious amounts of alcohol.

...Cry Your Eyes Out?: Someone I love being seriously hurt or dying.

...Really Sad?: Thinking about all the things wrong in the world that I can't hope to fix.

...Smirk?: Reminiscing about childhood memories

...Hide in a Corner?: Fear of failure.

What is...

...Something About You That No One Knows?: For some reason, I've never been completely comfortable sleeping naked. Even after sex with someone I'm in a relationship with, I usually have to put something on before falling asleep...which is why I have plenty of lingere.

...Your Most Prized and Important Material Possession: Photo albums, journals and other items related to the Salinger and Manchester family histories.

...Favourite Games: Spoons, Uno or Euchre

What Others Say About Amy

Cole Cleyburne: "Amy has the biggest heart of any person I know, both in terms of compassion and strength of character. She and I joke and play around a lot...but she's never known how I really felt about her. She has been one of my closest friends, an inspiration, a conscience, and a light in the storm that has been my life. For that, she'll always have a special place in my heart and my undying gratitude. To say she's like a sister to me is an understatement...in some ways Amy knows me better than I do myself. Just as she strives to make the world a better place, she's helped make me a better person just by who she is. For that reason, she's MY hero. Love you, Amy...and thanks."

Ethan Hauer: "Amy is like....one of us dudes. I mean....let's face it...not many chicks can (or want to for that matter) hang with me and Cole. She gets mad props for that alone."

Whoever - add yours (Erika's request....if you use IE, please send it to me and I'll add...otherwise it messes it up).

Notable Posts/Threads with Amy

• One Pancake or Two? (w/Alex)
• The Coffee Fairy & She-Ra (w/Jason)
• Insert Obligatory Cliched Condolence Here (w/Jeffrey)
• Morning Brunch (w/Alex)
• Kids at Play (w/Cole)
• A Mass of Holiday Confusion (w/Alex)
• Snow Angels (w/Miko)
• A Family Is... (w/Cole)
• Playdate (w/Bren)
• The Winter Blinked (w/Alex)
• Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired (w/Alex)
• Whatever Happened to the Atari 2500? (w/Alex)
• Homemade Remedies (w/Cole)
• Tea and Cake (w/Musette)
• Shopping for Comics (w/Lauren)
• The Generals (w/Bren)
• A Casual Date (w/Wes)
• Friends Don't Let Friends (w/Cole)
• An Appologetic Phone Call (w/Bren)
• Dropping By (w/Alex)
• Memorial Day Family Reunion (w/Cole)
• Early Morning Snacks 1 (w/Wes)
• Early Morning Snacks 2 (w/Wes)
• Tangy Turkey Talk (w/Josh)

Celebrity used: Sarah Jane Morris