TO CONTACT ME:
rachellucasblog at gmail.com
I’m also on .
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ABOUT ME:
(As of March 2014, the following “about me” is wildly outdated. I’m 41 now and back in America, and we have two dogs, and when I stop being lazy I’ll update this page better.)
Long story short, in short sentences…
I’m a 40-year-old American woman who lives in Turin, Italy.
I was born in Texas but grew up in Missouri and Minnesota, then I spent a few years in Maryland. Moved back to Texas when I was 20.
I have 3 older siblings and 2 parents. The parents have been married for 47 years (to each other; I’m very proud).
I moved out on my own when I was 18 and put myself through college, which took me 12 years. Paid my bills as a self-employed medical transcriptionist for 15 years, which ended in 2012 because my hands started falling apart.
In 2010, I earned my Master’s Degree (with “Distinction”) in European Union Law and Business at a British university.
I’ve been married to “Rupert” for 4 years. His name isn’t really Rupert; I call him that on the blog because he likes his privacy. My friend named him Rupert.
We have no kids because we don’t want to have kids. See here for my Steyn-ian acknowledgement of what that means.
Rupert is a former Army Captain who is now an engineer. His company moved us to England in February 2009 and I have deeply mixed feelings about my time there, which I’ll never blog about in detail.
In 2011, they promoted Rupert and moved us to Turin, Italy. We love it even though Italian bureaucracy and traffic-terror is everything you’ve ever had nightmares about, because the food is wonderful, the people are warm, I’ve finally learned enough of the language to get things done, and we have a view of the Alps from our living room window, which is impossible to complain about.
…
I started this blog in October 2001, not because of 9/11 but because my dad had a heart attack and was in the hospital and I wanted a way to keep the extended family posted on his condition. He got better, and by then I’d realized I liked writing stuff on the internet. 9/11 had made me interested in politics for the first time, so I eventually started writing about that, and my dogs, and my loathing of Michael Moore, and sometimes about enchiladas.
Instapundit linked me a few times, and that’s round-about how I got enough readers to make this fun. There were minor brushes with “internet fame: that I don’t want to talk about because I’m determined to avoid similar brushes in the future. I don’t blog for popularity anymore; I blog because I want to interact with smart, funny people who are interested in the same things I am, or in other things that I haven’t discovered yet.
Sometimes I stop blogging for months or even years, and when I come back and my old commenter friends come back to me, it is like being welcomed back into a real family. By now, some of those commenter friends have become real-life friends and I’m immensely grateful for that.
I remember your blog when you found out you were leaving Old Blighty for Italy. You sounded devastated. I think I told you then to go and to enjoy the food and the weather. It appears you’ve done much more than that. Good on you.
(for what little it’s worth, my ancestry is Swiss. I’m second generation American in my family.
OMG. Sarah K and I were in the same chorus in Dallas several years back. She and Frank are coming here in about two weeks for the release of his new book. That I have been reading PJ Media for several months now, since the release of “Barack Obama, the greatest president of all time, etc”. Small world in a sense.
Given her posts about Paul and your glee, it should not surprise me that you guys are birds of a feather.
Very, very cool.
You are now bookmarked. Please don’t stop writing. Your stuff is great.
Rachel,
I’m just finishing up my third book, and remembering those who helped me when I was clueless. You may have been the first. Thanks. That’s all. Hope you are well.
Live the Freedom,
Scott Ott
@Scott Ott: Wow. It is truly great to hear from you; I’m surprised you even remember my name. I’ve watched your PJTV shows, and can’t believe I “knew” you so long ago. Didn’t I send you a guitar once? Can’t wait to see your latest book. Take care, and live the freedom indeed.
I found Wachel one day many moons ago when she blogged that going to Target is like going to the primate house at the zoo…
I still avoid Target.
Over the years, through the loss of Sunny (I choked up) schooling and the moves – “Now I live in…”, I’ve followed Wachel (I call her that because I still have an affinity for the helmet pic that once was atop the home page) and am proud of her – even if she doesn’t know me.
I’m a Navy brat, and have landed in my little patch of red state in NJ.
Can’t complain – about much.
I wish I could write as well as Wachel.
Very entertaining…
Best to all…
You kind of went away after moving to England, and I missed you. But life goes on. Then, today, I found a reference on the Smallest Majority, and it looks like you are back, blogging, and in Turin.
This is good news for me. You are now back on the old favorites list.
But for now, I have to get back to being all intense about Tuesday night, and anticipating some extravagant boo-hooing here in bluest Portland, Oregon when Romney wins. Maybe there is an Italian word for the joy you feel when people you despise are mortified.
Regards.
Glad to see you back wachel.
From your old buddy in Detroit. :D
Yes, I am still blogging, and yes, they still hate me! ;)
So happy to see you blogging again, Rachel. I used to go to your site everyday for a chuckle or downright gut buster. Your views and my views mirror each other except you express them so much more exuberantly. Bless you, Rachel from an old man in Wisconsin.
Hi Rachel.
We actually met right before you left the Dallas area; I was the one who gave you the carpet cleaner.
We still have all your coffee mugs, including “Saddest Bee” and “Imagine No Liberals”.
Glad to see you’re still in the blogosphere.
Unfortunately, we lost Fuzzy (see Gravatar) about 3 years ago. Still haven’t replaced her.
I remember reading your website when you were living in Dallas up until the time you moved to England and stopped updating your website. I think you were in England when you stopped updating. You had dogs back then, as I recall. I used to read you every day. I am glad you are back on the net – I look forward to reading you again. (England was a bummer, huh? Bummer…)
Rachel, don’t you have several articles archived over at keep and Bear Arms?
Or, is that another Rachel Lucas?
@Steve S.: I only have articles there if they’ve “borrowed” them from here without attributing them properly. I’ve never written anything for any publication except rachellucas.com. So either they’re reprinting my stuff as though I wrote it there, or it’s another Rachel Lucas. Which is entirely possible, I’m not the only one out there. I even got an email recently asking me about my latest book – which I didn’t write. Also there’s a Rachel Lucas mentioned as a rape victim in some famous case somewhere. Also not me (thankfully).
When things start to burn me out on the political side, I decompress by weading Wachel.
Weally.
@Chris Muir:
Seconded.
Rachel –
You probably don’t remember me, but we had some back channel discussions around ’09 ’10, prior to your heading overseas. I either had or was going through some med issues…. rad and chemo.
Well, I’m still around, kicking and now we’re blessed with 5 grandkids, Gail’s retired and back in school for a new career, I’m semi-retired (was 4+ past max retirement anyways) but back part-time at my old office.
All things decent, all considered. Nice to see your somewhat still around!
Hi Rachel,
I spent some time this week reading through your archives. I remember that I first read your blog from an Instapundit link. Then I checked in from time to time. I do remember a couple of posts during you time in England that aren’t there anymore, I guess it really was an unhappy time. I did start reading you regularly again in Italy. Only two things I wondered about. You didn’t go to Stockholm to see the Abba Museum. I think you were planning to go but your return to Texas got accelerated. And, what happened to Maggie? Just curious. Anyway, I have enjoyed your blog and hope you continue it.
A recent news story involved a little boy in Bakersfield, California, who was attacked in his front yard by a neighbors dog. His cat chased the dog away. The cat, Tara, looked like she was shot out of cannon. I thought about your Ninja Cat poster when I saw this online: