Meet the peta2 Staff: Isha

Hometown: The thriving metropolis that is Elkton, Maryland. I escaped to Virginia Beach, Virginia, about 10 years ago.

Fave bands: AFI, Foo Fighters, The Clash, NIN, Rise Against, The Jam, The Style Council, Strike Anywhere, Le Tigre, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Yaz, Duran Duran, Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, New Order, Erasure—lots of ’80s music, Queen, Panic! At the Disco, The Go Team!, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Joan Jett, Elliott Smith, Black Crowes, Rollins Band, Counting Crows, Phantom Planet, First Blood, Hot Hot Heat, The Damned, Goldfinger, Bryan Ferry/Roxy Music, INXS (with Michael Hutchence), The Killers, Rancid, Cornerkick, The Cult, Motorhead, Cheap Trick, Madonna, Boogie Down Productions, A Tribe Called Quest, Kiss, The Pretenders, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, Better Than Ezra, Mos Def, The Wu Tang Clan, LL Cool J, TLC, Salt-N-Pepa, Doug E. Fresh, really old-school rap, Edith Piaff, and Patsy Cline

About me: I’m an only child, but I don’t really have “only child syndrome.” My friends describe me as sweet and hilarious but with a bit of an edge. In fact, a certain peta2 column was named after me. (I’ll give you a hint: It’s got something to do with nuggets and anger.) I like to think of myself as a little ball of hate but funny—don’t forget funny. I’ve always proudly proclaimed my love for fashion, TV, movies, music, and anything celebrity or pop-culture related, which has actually paid off because, as luck would have it, that’s all now part of my job with peta2. I’m the gossip gal, and I work on most of the mainstream celeb features. I also work on “The Stuff” pages, too—again right up my alley. I have the most amazingly perfect dog to ever walk the Earth and two companion cats. One was rescued from a storm drain when she was 5 weeks old by a PETA cruelty caseworker, and the other was found wandering around the streets when she was just a couple of weeks old. And this year, my friends threw me the best funeral-themed birthday party anyone ever had.

I like: Shoes, Davey Havok, ancient Egyptian history, Shakespeare, vampires, going to shows, Halloween (the holiday and the movie), dancing, otters, Dave Grohl, playing video games, old movies, old Hollywood glam, Trent Reznor, romantic comedies, gardens/flowers, dragonflies, Isak Dinesen/Karen Blixen, mermaids, bats, scary movies, Ioan Gruffudd, The Nightmare Before Christmas, staying up late, Friends, Garbo, celebrities (because let’s face it—they’re freaks), bubble tea, hockey, gowns, angryalien.com, Angela in all her glittery gloriousness, fashion, almond-scented things, pumpkins, hot chocolate, Veronica Lake, the Heat Miser, sarcasm, Ami James, TV, snowmen, The Onion, hammerhead sharks, The Simpsons, Anthony Kiedis, cherry soda, King of the Hill, Howard Pyle’s “The Mermaid,” people who make me laugh (like Eddie Izzard, Andy Dick, Zach Galifinakis, Dane Cook, and David Cross), being called “pumpkin,” the beach, my family, hanging out with my bear/dog and kitties

I hate: People who wear fur, tomatoes, KFC, M. Night Shalmawhatever and his movies (except that part in Signs where Joaquin’s wearing the tinfoil cap), Nascar, reality TV contesty-type crap, celery, cigarette smoke (it gives me a migraine and just plain reeks), bad drivers, bathroom humor, the music from Halloween and Michael Myers’ masks (not sure if it’s because it’s really William Shatner’s face or not), splinters, sharing food (ISHA DOESN’T SHARE FOOD—except with Angela), feet, anything related to mathematics, polyester, public speaking, and black licorice

Why you went veg: I was always very sheltered from the reality of what happened to animals in factory farms and slaughterhouses. When I watched the movie Babe, I immediately stopped eating pigs, then cows. A few years later I saw a segment of a video about chickens, and I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing. There was one hen in particular who just broke my heart; she was crammed into a tiny, filthy cage with the dead body of another hen and she had laid an egg in the other hen’s body, and that was it for me. I went vegan immediately.

If you were a character on Friends, who would you be, and why? Rachel. The clothes-fashion fetish, the neurosis, her sense of humor, and her loyalty to her friends.

What would your last meal be? Pad Ka Na with tofu from Bangkok Garden, a potato burrito and salsa and chips from Mi Hogar, Habra pine nut hummus, potato chips, French fries, my friends Angela and Marci’s Almond Joy pie, and a cherry soda.

Who are your top five celebrity husbands? Davey Havok, Dave Grohl, Ioan Gruffudd, Trent Reznor, Anthony Kiedis