AMBITIONS
I'd love to have a farm in Maine where I could write a great novel. 

TURN-ONS
Full-moon winter nights, snow, music, fairy tales. 

TURNOFFS
The War, Richard Nixon, blindness in people. 

IF I HAD MORE TIME
I'd spend it outside at the beach or with a picnic in the woods, and watching sunrises. 

FUN JOBS
Currently I sell ice cream on a bicycle! I plan to attend college but haven't decided what I'd like to study. 

FAVORITE FLICKS
"It Happened One Night," "2001: A Space Odyssey." 

GREAT FOOD
Roast beef, banana pudding, asparagus, Coke, milk. 

FAVORITE BANDS
The Allman Brothers, the Beatles, Chuck Berry, Pink Floyd. 

A GREAT DATE
A bottle of wine and a discussion about literature and finding out what's inside each other's heads. 

I'M SO GLAD
I had a mother who taught me how to appreciate life. 

Ubiquitous Miss

chicagoan monica tidwell shows how peddling and pedaling can lead to a literary career

We were walking down Chicago's Oak Street not too long ago, minding our own business, when we were accosted by a young lady with freckles who looked like she had just wandered off the set of The Sound of Music: She was standing on the corner looking innocent and selling balloons. We don't have much use for balloons, but we bought one anyway. A couple of days later, we were strolling through another neighborhood and ran into the same young lady, only this time she was selling ice cream from a tricycle. We weren't hungry, but we settled for a Popsicle. A week later, we caught her driving a pedicab in yet another part of town; we were charmed into taking a six-block excursion that set us back two bucks. Who is this ubiquitous teenager, we asked ourself, and why is she charming us out of our nickels and dimes? "I get these weird jobs," says 19-year-old Monica Tidwell, "because I have a great passion for people. You meet all kinds driving a pedicab or selling balloons -- people who like to stop and chat. You'd be surprised at all the people I've met."