Hello, I’m Jodi Chromey and my hair only looks this cool about twice a year (the days I actually get it done). I’m a writer and supergenius who lives in the Twin Cities metro area of Minnesota in a house I call Supergenius HQ with my two cats and more books than any single woman really needs.

I Will Dare was born July 31, 2000, mostly because I wanted to. There is no better explanation than that. Since then, I’ve updated this site nearly every day, became the mastermind behind the Paul Westerberg blog, the editor of the super rad Minnesota Reads book review blog, and was called “bold and fearless” by Kathleen Turner in her memoir Send Yourself Roses.

Besides writing this blog, I also write short stories that are as yet unpublished and work as a freelance copywriter and blogger. If you’re looking for a writer, I’m totally for hire.

When I first started doing About pages, I would just list a bunch of things about myself and base the number of things on my age. For instance, I think the first one was called 29 things. Since old habits die hard:
37 Things

1. My cats are named Madison and Paco
2. At 6′5″ I’m unusually tall for a woman
3. No, I never played basketball
4. Yes, my parents are both tall (mom = 5′10″, biological father = 6′2″)
5. I really hate the number five and you will see that often there is no five
6. No, my three younger sisters are not tall. I have a different father
7. The weather up here is swell
8. My truck is named Ruby, my iPod is named Eurydice, my iPhone is called Ziggy and I have three computers called Gideon, Ogden, and Big Betty
9. Though I am single and have no children I spend an awful lot of time with my niece Jaycie and my nephews Max, Cade, Nolan, and Liam
10. I kind of have heartburn right now, because I had a lot of jalapenos with dinner
11. Things guaranteed to make me cry: national anthems, marching bands, standing ovations, and beautiful writing
12. I brush my teeth without my shirt on for fear of drooling on it
13. I collect books, wheat pennies, and burnt sienna crayons
14. When I started I Will Dare, I used to only write in lowercase letters
15. If I could I’d go back in time, I’d kick my own ass for being so annoying
16. James Madison is my favorite former president
17. I named my cat after him
18. I was born 6.6.72 at 6:36 p.m.
19. Six is my favorite number
20. I often say inflammatory and absurd things because it makes me laugh
21. Like, for instance, poetry is bullshit
22. One of my favorite things to do on earth is argue
23. When I was younger I wanted to grow up to be a cowgal, a waitress, a ballerina, or a babysitter
24. I have a penchant for redheads, Diet Coke with lime, Peanut M&Ms, and pens with blue ink
25. I am afraid of heights, being forgotten, and driving in the winter
26. When I was younger I would obsessively catalog my Sweet Valley High books
27. I often suffer from insomnia and have since I was a kid
28. I have six tattoos
29. Oftentimes I forget that I am capable of being loved
30. I lied to Facebook so they would change my username
31. I told them that I got divorced and that Willdare was my married name and Chromey is my maiden name
32. I wear glasses most of time
33. I don’t wear a watch
34. Or makeup
35. My favorite color is orange
36. For someone who has been blogging about the inane detail of my everyday life for over nine years, I’m sure having a tough time with this list
37. I just realized that for the oh, year or so this list has been up I didn’t close the list tag (shame on me)