My name is Cristine. I'm 43 and I live outside Chicago with my husband and four Shelties. I'm quite familliar with MSN groups as I am manager in two and an assistant manager in another. This looks like a very organized group - I like that I don't see any SPAM. 
It's great to be a member here, I look forward to hearing more about Gregg Shorthand and learning about all of you. I'm actually a bit surprised to find this group and see it's pretty active as I had no idea anyone had any interest in Shorthand anymore.
You may find it a little amusing how I came to become a member here.
Recently, one of my girlfriends (who, I might add is 14 years older than I) got to talking over breakfast in a restaurant about careers and she said she used to take Shorthand, to which I added that I used to as well. We laughed because as we're getting to know one another it's funny that we keep discovering things we have in common. Shorthand is just one of many things. So we both said we knew Gregg and quickly flipped over our paper placemats and quizzed one another with some shorthand. We were laughing SO hard because neither of us have ever run into anyone who knows shorthand since we learned it way-back-when in school! Now please keep in mind, I graduated high school in 1980 and Karen (my friend) probably graduated in 1967 or so.
Since I've taken shorthand from 1979-1980, it's truly remained with me, albiet occasionally. While in school, I used to practice by writing the dialog from television shows. Once in awhile now, I'll pick up a piece of paper and write out (mistakes galore!) what I hear on TV. I'm sure if I refresh my memory, it'll all come back to me. It's like riding a bicycle, right? 
For some reason, I really took to Shorthand while in school. None of the other subjects I'd taken had that effect on me, but Shorthand did. Not only did I get straight A's, but the teacher actually had me teaching the class for a bit during the 2nd semester. Typing too, was another subject I took to well. Math was my weakest subject in school. Interestingly enough, I started off my working years in banking and worked my way up in banking for 10 years. Keeping with the accounting/banking background, I went to work for lawfirms in the accounting department. I never used my Shorthand skills nor really used my typing abilities.
So anyway, after my Shorthand discussion with Karen the other day, I did a web search about Gregg Shorthand, found a nice website and then this site. And here I am!
Ugh...enough about me! LOL Gosh, I sure can go on, can't I?
Anyway, looking forward to getting to know everyone and learning how Shorthand is still a part of life in today's modern society and your lives.