Julie Novak is a graphic artist at Luminary Publishing, but in her spare time she is a talented musician, trend-setter, puppeteer, and a super-amazing aunt. She will make you laugh as she ponders life's mysteries. Presently, Julie is on tour across the Midwest as a member of the "Sparkle Kids Action Network," singing sweet acoustic music. For a sample, check out: www.purevolume.com/julienovak. You can catch Julie at the Rosendale Street Fest on July 22 at 1pm with her band Gigantic. She is grateful to her employers for letting her take the time to pursue her dreams! Julie's photographs of the New Paltz Pride March appear on page 21.

A regular contributor to Chronogram since 1997, Pauline Uchmanowicz is a widely published freelance writer and poet whose work has appeared in Ploughshares, Massachusetts Review, Z Magazine, and elsewhere. Food columnist for the Woodstock Times and author of the poetry chapbook Sand & Traffic (Codhill Press, 2004), she is an associate professor of English at SUNY New Paltz, where she directs the Composition Program. Pauline's article on life coaching appears on page 93.

Emil Alzamora was born in Lima, Peru, in 1975, and raised in Boca Grande, Florida. He later attended Florida State University where he graduated in 1998 earning a BA in Fine Arts. Alzamora started his sculpting career in the Hudson Valley working with Polich Art Works as primary enlarger in the fall of 1998. Since his departure from PAW in early 2001, he has produced and shown his work regularly throughout New York, Boston, Maine, and Florida. Alzamora's interest in the human form and its ability to communicate with the viewer are what fuel his works. For more information: www.emilalzamora.com. He currently has a solo show at Karin Sanders Fine Art in Sag Harbor. Emil's illustration for Planet Waves appears on page 134.

Shannon Gallagher is a Hudson Valley native, having recently returned from academic pursuits below the Mason-Dixon and more recently in Portland, Maine. She lives in Rhinebeck, happy to once again be close to the mountains that distinguish home. In Portland she studied at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, staying on after graduation to intern at Salt Magazine. Shannon's profile of the new mini-golf course, Gnome on the Grange, opening this month at Kelder's farm, appears on page 41.