About Me
Created | Updated Feb 7, 2003
This is going to be bizarre and weird and stuff, but I feel like rambling about myself for a change... enjoy.
An Autobiographical Ramble
I am a student. That will explain loads, I’m sure. The dark circles under my eyes. The apathy. The odd sleeping patterns. The obscene amount of time spent here. I’m studying for a Bachelor of Arts in Music and a Bachelor of Arts in English at Radford University1, which is located in the Appalachian Highlands of western Virginia, right next to New River, and frighteningly close to an army ammunition plant. That means I spend my academic time mostly writing, reading, practicing, and performing. I also spend most of my free time doing that, too, when I'm not on h2g2. The irony is that’s what I’d be doing even if I wasn’t studying for those degrees. I specialise in creative writing (and in that I specialise in poetry), and flute performance, with added fiction and critical analysis writing on the side as well as a little composing. I’m slated to graduate somewhere around May 2006, thanks to a dual major involving a performing art.
This is of course subject to change. I’m planning on transferring out of Radford after this school year, though I’m not sure where to. Details are available if you want them, but my problem in a nutshell is my moral conflict with the academic standards at this university.
Outside of school business, I’m 20 years old, and I grew up and generally reside in that little bit of south-eastern Pennsylvania known as “Amish Country,” or Lancaster County.
No, I am not Amish, so do not ask.
Lancaster is quite a nice place to live, overall, if you don’t mind the urban sprawl taking over the farmland that took over the virgin woods. I grew up in the city, just a block and a half from Franklin and Marshall College2, moving into an uppity part of the ‘burbs when I was about 8. So yes, I’m a suburbanite American, but I have my host of traumatic childhood moments from my 8 years in Lancaster City. Looking back on it now, I enjoyed the city more - you could walk anywhere, and I lived in a generally nice part of town (outside of being between a university and a bar). Of course, I don't remember much of my 5 years in the city, so I could be making all that up.
By profession and obsession I am a writer first, and a musician second, and then blatantly insane for the rest of it. Among my other interests are: history, philosophy, visual art, psychology, anthropology, zoology, botony, astonomy, calculus, religion, ancient Greece and Rome, and gardening. Of course they’ve all got their qualifiers – history is mostly more ancient history, anthropology is more of the culture type than the more typical study of man’s evolution. That sort of thing.
As far as my personal life goes… I’ve got a younger sister (who’s on h2g2), a mom (who’s on h2g2), a rabbit (who’s been blobbed on h2g2), and a dad who just looks at us all like we’re crazy. I met my boyfriend – the wonderful and and incredibly goofy and schmaltzy Richard (aka Clive the Flying Ostrich) – here at hootoo, and have become close friends in real life with other people I’ve met here. I live with a superbly insane roommate by the name of Melissa here at Radford, in a lovely dorm room. I speak French semi-fluently, having taken 7 intensive years of it in middle school, high school, and at university.
Stuffage I'm Proud of Doing/Being
This is the boasting section. Run for your life.
- Principal and Secondary flute in both Wind Ensemble and Concert Band at Radford University - in my freshman year.
- Principal flute in Wind Ensemble, Spring of sophomore year.
- Making Honors Recital Auditions without trying. Didn't make the Recital itself, but that's okay, I had enough on my plate.
- Highlander Scholar in the Honors Academy. I'm not really sure what all this entails as I just got awarded this status this year, but it's apparently a special thing and you get to wear an extra thingie at graduation or some such thing. O yes. And you have to have decent grades.
- Double Dean's List Spring 2002 and Fall 2002 - double because I've got two majors. How spiffily does that work?
- Literary Editor of Soliloquy3 in High School. That's a goofy status thing.4
- Nutcracker Orchestra, 2002.
Publishing Credits Outside h2g2 (kid you not)
- Soliloquy, Vol. 35, No. 2: body language, After Schmendrick, 1812 overture eat your heart out.
- Soliloquy, Vol. 36: #263, #224, #262.
- ACLAlines: Windows In and Windows Out, Volume IX, 2001: #304
- RU Honors Newsletter, Winter 2001: prosepoem.
Flute Repitoire
- Sonatina - Eldin Burton (in progress)
- Trois Pièces - Pierre Octave Ferroud
- Andante for Flute and Orchestra in C Major, K315 - Mozart
- Trois Grandes Solos - Friedrich Khulau
- Romance and Scherzo - Charles Widor
- Solosuite - Gary Schocker
- Air de ballet - Saint-Saens
- Ros Bothan (Rose Cottage) - Catherine McMichael
- Duo for Flute and Piano - Aaron Copland
Where my H2G2 Nickname Comes From
This isn't a very interesting story, but I suppose there's people who have always wondered why on earth I go around with a normalish name when it's not my real name.
There is a reason for this.
It all goes back to Tech Ed in eighth grade. Now, for you non-Americans who haven't the slightest idea what Tech Ed - or Technology Education - is, this is a quick overview: you build things of wood and metal. You learn computer and manual drafting skills and a few spiffy computer programs like CADD and all that. You invariably get an A because it's next to impossible to fail the class. Anyway, my two friends Alison and Ellen and I were working together on a project that involved making business cards.5 We decided to make a card that we could give people that would identify our little threesome. West Side Story had the Jets and the Sharks - and our high school was going to have the...
the...
The somethings.
Ok, said one of the other two - we have an Ali and an Ellie... What are we gonna do for Amanda? I had a brilliant idea - call me Amy. It's close enough to my real name. Means the same thing, too. So I was dubbed Amy, and the three of us became "The Eyes" - supposedly because all of our names could theoretically end with an "i."
And it just sorta stuck... so when they ask you what you want your screenname to be - something that you might actually answer to... well, why not this nickname that popped up in Tech Ed 3 years ago?
And that's the end of that story.
Other interesting things about me...
This is the really random section. If you thought the above was random... well... too bad. Though it's essentially a picked-over survey thingie. Just for conversation starters, mind you.
1.LIVING ARRANGEMENT? with my roommate and two suitemates on the second floor of a dorm towards the inside of Governor's Quad. And at home with my mom, dad, sister, and evil rabbit.
2. WHAT BOOK(S) ARE YOU READING NOW? GEB (still), wandering through Discworld when GEB gets to be too much for my brain to handle. Just finished reading Juniper and Wise Child by Monica Furlong for the first time since I was in middle school. I forgot how much I loved those books.
3. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? "RU: Radford University ~*~ Honors Academy", a mouse, and lint, skin cells, and food.
4. FAVORITE BOARD GAME? don't have one.
4b. FAVORITE CARD GAME? My mind is going blank on the name, but it's something I played way back in elementary school Gifted class....
5. FAVORITE MAGAZINE? none really. I have a subscription to Flute Talk (
), so that's the only one I read with any regularity. 6. FAVORITE SMELLS? freshly mown hay, right after it rains, right before a thunderstorm (ooh, ozone), general spring-smell, lilacs, coffee, chocolate, wood, soil, clean horse (note the adjective).
6b. LEAST FAVORITE SMELLS? the backside of the dining hall here , heavy perfume/cologne.
7. FAVORITE SOUNDS? animals munching (okay, I worked in a barn for a year - I loved it.), an orchestra tuning (A - C - E - G or whatever the notes are), the sound of spring in the mountains, silence when first waking, the sound of heavy wet snow falling, the sound of someone breathing next to you when you wake up.
8. WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD? dread - and hopelessness.
9. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK WHEN YOU WAKE UP? Who the heck is talking in my dream this time? (Clock-radio), What day is it?, and Is there any concievable way I can get out of going to class today? (in that order -it's one cause they're rapid fire)
9b. WHAT IS THE SECOND THING YOU THINK WHEN YOU WAKE UP? Get up - use toilet - avoid mirror till dressed - check email - dress - brush teeth - find books - leave. (again, all one, rapidfire-like)
10. FAVORITE COLOR? blue-green. and dark purple, dark green, dark blue, and silver. generally all at once. (and I'm taking a liking to earthtones, dunno why)
11. HOW MANY RINGS BEFORE YOU ANSWER THE PHONE? 2, unless I'm expecting something or can't get to the phone.
12. FUTURE CHILD'S NAME? Michael Seth or Timothy Nathan if it's a boy. Tasha Renee or Rebekah something or other if it's a girl. But those are the kids I'm not having.
13. WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN LIFE? friends, family, and the creation of an art which makes you happy.
14. FAVORITE FOODS? chocolate, breads of random kinds, certain fruits (starfruits).
15. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? chocolate
16. DO YOU LIKE TO DRIVE FAST? I pleed the fifth.
17. DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL? not with as such...my husky beanie buddy is on my bed at all times, so he's there, just not really "with"... er.. . yeah.
18. STORMS - COOL OR SCARY? gorgeous until they produce hail or tornados.
19. WHAT TYPE WAS YOUR FIRST CAR? 1993 Dodge Spirit, red. touchy pedals, nice steering, transmission's going. Also a 1987 Plymouth Voyager with a short wheel base - which I totaled two summers ago.
20. IF YOU COULD MEET ONE PERSON DEAD OR ALIVE? EE Cummings might be interesting, as would be Einstein. Hildegard von Bingen 6 would be monsterously cool to talk to, though.
21. FAVORITE DRINK? lime iced tea from Galliker's.
21b. WHAT IS YOUR ZODIAC SIGN? cancer.
22. DO YOU EAT THE STEMS OF BROCCOLI? yeah.
23. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY JOB YOU WANTED WHAT WOULD IT BE? medieval bard - type. Well respected AND you can play and write music for a living.
24. IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY COLOR? thought about red (red-hair red, not RED red), or maybe white streaks could be cool or something.
25. EVER BEEN IN LOVE? yup.
25b. EVER HAD YOUR HEART BROKEN? yup. (not same people)
26. IS THE GLASS HALF EMPTY OR HALF FULL? yes.
27. DO YOU TYPE WITH YOUR FINGERS ON THE RIGHT KEYS? yup.
28. WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED? travel thingie, trashcan, underbed box thingie, towels, sheet-music, bucket, power strip, cable cord, ethernet cord, lots of dust and dirt. (my mattress is 3 feet off the floor)
29. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NUMBER? unsure.
30. FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH? reining choreographed to music.
30b. WHAT CD OR TAPE IS IN YOUR CAR STEREO RIGHT NOW? no car here, but Celtic Tides by Putumayo is in my pooter CD player.
30c. FAVORITE TV SHOWS? Simpsons, Malcolm, random stuff on all the discovery clones.
30d. EARLIEST MEMORY? When I was about 2 or 3 and living in Harrisburg, Pa - I remember thinking "I will remember things from this moment on" and I do.
30e. COKE OR PEPSI? neither. coke if pushed.
30f. RIGHT OR LEFT HANDED? right
30g. IF YOU COULD BUILD A HOUSE ANYWHERE, WHERE WOULD IT BE? Into the side of a mountain that catches the sun all day long.
30h. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ARTICLE OF CLOTHING? this embroidered white skirt I have... I just wish I had more opportunity to wear it.
30i. FAVORITE PHYSICAL FEATURE OF AN IDEAL ROMANTIC PARTNER? intelligent eyes and a gorgeous smile.
30j. WHAT IS THE LAST CD YOU BOUGHT? Wolfstone: Seven.
30k. WHERE IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO BE? anywhere, so long as I'm among friends.
30l. WHERE IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE PLACE TO BE? At a formal occasion with strangers. I hate feeling like I'm a wallflower and I don't match the decor.
30m. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO BE MASSAGED? everywhere. And I mean *every*where.
30n. WHAT TIME DO YOU WAKE IN THE MORNING? Left to my own devices, around 9 or 10. Depends on how late I was up the night before.
30o. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE KITCHEN APPLIANCE? the blender.
30p. WHAT MAKES YOU REALLY ANGRY? people who rebuke themselves for being intelligent and thinking.
30q. IF YOU COULD PLAY ANY INSTRUMENT(S): I play flute, piano, guitar, pennywhistle, and sing alto.
30r. WHICH DO YOU PREFER? SPORTS CAR OR SUV? could care less.
30s. DO YOU BELIEVE IN AN AFTERLIFE? Yeah. I just have this underlying instinct that it exists.
30t. FAVORITE CHILDREN'S BOOK? The Bunny Book.
30u. FAVORITE SEASON? Spring - green, warming, rain, growing things. And then winter cause of fireplaces. *grin*
30v. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE HOUSEHOLD CHORE? vacuuming.
30x. IF YOU COULD HAVE ONE SUPER POWER, WHAT WOULD IT BE? teleportation.
30y. IF YOU HAVE A TATTOO, WHAT IS IT AND WHERE? Either Kokopeli on my shoulder 7, or a Celtic thing on the inside of my ankle.
30z. THE ONE PERSON IN YOUR PAST YOU WISH YOU COULD GO BACK AND TALK TO? this Matt guy I knew when I was little - haven't seen him since I was five. That and my first "no, he's NOT my boyfriend" from kindergarten, Philip... I just wonder what happened to the guy.
30aa. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DAY? Just about any day...
30bb. WHAT IS IN THE TRUNK OF YOUR CAR? junk.
30cc. SUSHI OR HAMBURGER? burger.
30dd. FAVORITE MOVIE? Princess Bride. Cause I'm a romantic fool (book's better, though). And Star Wars, Fight Club, DPS, among others.
1Yes, you read right – a double degree.2... and half a block from a bar3The high school's literary art magazine4I was also part of the driving force behind the Echo, which was an underground paper run by myself and my friend.5See what I mean about impossible to fail?6Hildegard von Bigen was a 12th century mystic nun who wrote beautiful music, had crazy visions, and was just all around cool.7Kokopeli is a navajo god of music - a flute player
