Margaret, who goes by the nickname of “Meps,” is a writer, artist, designer, photographer, shipwright, and sailor. She is the author of Strangers Have the Best Candy, an illustrated collection of crazy true stories about her encounters with strangers (on Amazon in April 2014). She has been blogging about her adventures for 11 years.

Meps is the creator of the Happy Spot and Choose Art at Burning Man, has volunteered with the Department of Mutant Vehicles (DMV) for four years, and is responsible for the mural on the side of the DMV. She has a million crazy, creative ideas every day, and as evidenced by her personal website, she can’t decide which ones to pursue. “You can do anything,” one of her friends recently accused her. That might just be a curse, not a blessing.

She is extremely capable with fiberglass and 2-part polyurethane paint, can do 12V electrical wiring if supervised, built Flutterby’s dinghy herself, has her ham radio license, and is a genius in the galley.

Meps likes ecstatic dancing, belly dancing, dancing with Barry, bicycling, and sailing. She is the youngest of six children and is no more ashamed of her years in West Virginia than the ones spent outside New York City. She considers Seattle to be her home port, but falls in love with every place where she stays at least two weeks.

In a former life, Meps used to collect interesting job titles, like Business Analyst, Information Architect, Knowledge Manager, and Systems Integrator. She thinks people are fascinating, loves all kinds of music, and plays the accordion and piano.