Melody Kramer's photostream  

I'm Mel. I live in Philly -- just 10 minutes away from where I grew up in South Jersey. I work in public radio for a show called Fresh Air. I used to work for a show out in Chicago called Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, and before that, I was a Kroc Fellow at NPR in DC. Before that, I was in the Penn Band, wrote a humor column for Penn's student paper, the Daily Pennsylvanian, and edited the humor magazine, The Punchbowl.

I also like to read, play quizzo (Philly's version of pub trivia), do radio stuff, watch the Flyers, hang out with my family, take pictures and explore new places. I don't like artichokes. I do like traveling, particularly when I can walk around or bike around a new location with a camera and a decent book.

I use a Canon 40D and a 5D Mark II with an assortment of lenses. Typically I'm carrying a 24-70mm/2.8, a 50mm/1.4, and a 70-200/2.8. I've just started experimenting with longer exposures as well as a tripod for night shots.

In May 2008, I was a passenger in a car that flipped multiple times across a busy highway in Massachusetts, landing in the median. Based on the accident itself, I probably shouldn't be walking around on Earth -- particularly without brain or spine or neck or back or internal injuries. The only reason I'm alive today is because a) I'm very lucky and b) I had my seatbelt on. I was told that I would have been a) ejected into oncoming traffic and b) dead had I not been wearing my seatbelt. Please wear yours. :)