Annalee is the kind of woman who’s seen it all—and lived to joke about it. After losing her husband and daughter to Hurricane Katrina while deployed in Iraq, Annalee found herself with nothing left in New Orleans and a whole lot of questions about life. So what did she do? She became a freelance war correspondent, of course, hopping from one disaster to another, documenting everything from natural catastrophes to man-made messes. Because why not?

After years of living out of a suitcase and chasing chaos around the globe, Annalee returned to the U.S. and tried her hand at stand-up comedy. Turns out, she’s not just good at making people laugh—she’s a fantastic writer too. One day, while she was riffing on the absurdities of life in her blog, Noel Schlitz stumbled upon her work and knew she was destined for more than just open-mic nights. He flew to New Orleans and recruited her to Political Colonoscopy, where she now wields her pen like a scalpel, cutting through the bureaucratic BS that turns disasters into even bigger tragedies.

Annalee has found her niche here, and it’s all about calling out the crap that makes bad situations worse—because if there’s one thing she’s learned from her own experiences, it’s that sometimes the biggest battles are fought not on the frontlines, but in the aftermath. And when she’s not taking bureaucrats to task, she’s probably still cracking jokes—because if you can’t laugh about it, what’s the point?

Annalee's contributions to Political Colonoscopy can be found here.