Profile
Welcome to my lovely online autobio. It's kind of long, so I applaud you if you read through it all. =)
I am 25 years old and possess the XX chromosome. If you ask me where my hometown is, I'll show you by pointing to a spot on the palm side of my right hand (or the back of the left hand), as that is what Michigan's lower peninsula looks like. ;)
I have been called things like Sare, Sarahbear, Bo-Barah, Saw, Sawrah, Posse, and Buzhwa. If you're curious about "buzhwa", a friend decided that I needed a nickname, so she somehow decided to use Madonna's song "Music" for inspiration. =P The line goes, "Music makes the bourgeoisie and the rebel," but my friend could only make out the "buzhwa"-sounding part, so there you go.
Music is a huge part of my life. I played trumpet regularly for about 12 years, and I can play a few things on the piano as well, although I've never taken lessons. I also like to drum on any hard surface if the song allows. I listen to many different music genres, but my favorites tend to fall into metal (especially from Scandinavia), pop/rock, alternative, classical, cover songs, and stuff with interesting time signature changes. I would rather lose all my senses than be deaf. =)
Staying physically fit is also very important to me. I ran middle distance in high school track: the 800 m run (best time 2:40) and the 400 m dash (best time 1:07). Combining my loves of music and exercise, I was part of the Michigan Marching Band trumpet section for four years.
Theme parks, especially roller coasters, are another love of mine. I've been to Cedar Point just about every year since I was born, and I can rattle off most of the specs for any of the rides there or at Kings Island. My favorite CP coasters are Gemini and Millennium Force, and at KI they're Vortex and The Beast.
If you are age 17 or older, weigh 110 lbs., and are in good health, I urge you to become a blood donor. You fill out some paperwork; a Red Cross worker checks your temperature, blood pressure, and iron level; you donate a pint of blood, which takes about ten minutes; and finally you get juice and cookies. See GiveLife.org for more information.
Genealogy fascinates me. I can explain to you the difference between "second cousin" and "first cousin once removed". I love finding out about my family tree and how my ancestors lived. I attend family reunions regularly and feel that it's very important to listen to what older generations have to say.
From May 9-14, 2005, I participated in LeaderShape. I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone, especially college-age people. It showed that anyone can be a leader as long as you stick to what you believe in and deliver your ideas with passion. We created a main vision that we wanted to focus on, along with immediate goals and future goals. If you're a person who doesn't feel comfortable speaking in groups, you learn to trust your "family cluster" members and really voice your ideas. It was really quite a utopian society - I wish the whole world could get along as well as we all did. I'm so glad I took a week out of my life to attend.
In 2005, I received my B.A. (Artium Baccalaureus) in Linguistics with a minor in Spanish Language, Literature, and Culture from the University of Michigan. Since sixth grade, I had wanted to study to be an orthodontist, but it took me four semesters of college to realize that I wasn't cut out for the science classes. =P Therefore, since I had already taken a lot of Spanish, and my roommate wanted to take a linguistics class, I ended up taking that introductory course with her and getting hooked on the subject. Read more about what linguistics is. Instead of majoring in both Spanish and linguistics, I minored in Spanish and majored in linguistics because I didn't want to take the required Spanish literature classes, and the minor allowed me to focus on language-oriented courses.
I'm not sure yet what I want to do as a career, but currently I work as a research assistant at a place that develops EFL/ESL (English as a foreign/second language) test materials. I enjoy interpreting and translating (interpretation is done out loud; translation is on paper). Additionally, I find the social effects of language fascinating, such as regional accents in American English or thinking about the implications of standardized English testing.
The human voice fascinates me. =) I do research and development on English speaking tests and encounter many different speakers in my day-to-day work. I love recognizing voice actors in animated shows, and I also enjoy the variety of singing voices out there (operatic, pop, gruff alternative, death-metal vocals, etc.). It's just amazing what we can do with all those articulators in our head and neck.
Contact me if you want to further discuss any of my interests. =)
favorite....
- music artists: ABBA, Apocalyptica, Children of Bodom, Coheed and Cambria, Dream Theater, Danny Elfman, Genesis, Michigan Marching Band, Mindless Self Indulgence, Nightwish, Our Lady Peace, The Presidents of the United States of America, Rhapsody of Fire, Sonata Arctica, System of a Down, Tally Hall, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, John Williams, Within Temptation - plus see my Last.fm page
- colors: lavender, teal, and any blue
- fonts: Tension, Verdana, Tahoma, Georgia
- pop (NOT soda): Vanilla Coke, any cream soda (...okay, I'll admit you can use "soda" in the description of the pop, haha)
- type of milk: whole
- foods: Red Lobster shrimp scampi, Max & Erma's lemon herb halibut, Jimmy John's #9 sub, Potbelly "A Wreck" sandwich, Totoro gyoza, Totoro tempura salmon roll, Rosie's stromboli, chicken shawarma with hummus and pita, and many more
- dessert: Max & Erma's fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies; Trader Joe's peanut butter cups
- salad dressing: ranch (it's great on just about anything, especially fries) =)
- fragrance: Avon's Forest Lily
- lotions: Bath & Body Works Sheer Freesia, Gold Bond, Curel Continuous Comfort
- vacation spots: Cleveland; Chicago; many out-of-the-way places in Michigan, especially Sleeping Bear Dunes
- books: Sleep Thieves by Stanley Coren, Misery by Stephen King, the Harry Potter series, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Homegrown Democrat by Garrison Keillor
- movies: The Lion King, Shrek, Donnie Darko, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Field of Dreams, Ghost, MIB and MIIB, Happy Gilmore, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, and many others
- TV shows: Spongebob Squarepants, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Saturday Night Live, Family Guy, Futurama, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, South Park, Fairly OddParents, ER, Heroes
- R.I.P. TV shows: Invader ZIM, (the original) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Practice, Daria, Charmed, Garfield and Friends, Rocko's Modern Life
- animal: kitty-cat
unusual/interesting facts about me:
- I learned to read when I was three years old
- I can't tie my shoes the "traditional" way (I have to make two loops and tie them together)
- I love to watch TV in closed-captioning
- I didn't learn how to swim until I was 14 years old
- I have a wastebasket made in 1960
- I never make my bed
- I can recite the U.S. states in alphabetical order
- I always dot my "i"s with circles
- I was stepped on by a horse when I was two (my mom said that it didn't put any weight on me; I don't remember this, haha)
- I always point out old cars on the road when I'm driving (and I'm not even a car aficionado)
- when I buy some food that comes in a variety pack of different flavors, like instant oatmeal or granola bars, I always eat them so that there's one of each flavor left before finishing the box
- I peel the price sticker off almost anything after I buy it (unless it's a tag or on a wrapper, then I just remove that)
things I want to do before I die:
- become fluent or at least conversational in four or more languages (already have English and Spanish, next I have special preference for Finnish, then Thai, then Greek)
- get a doctorate in some field of study (probably linguistics)
- visit Finland, Sweden, Spain, Argentina, the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and a few other countries
- get a tattoo
- go bungee-jumping and/or skydiving
- finish all of Tolkien's books
- learn to work a soundboard, like in a recording studio
my rant about U.S. pop music:
Don't be a slave to mainstream music (if you don't live in the U.S., this probably doesn't apply to you). I'm not saying all popular music is bad, but it bugs me when ALL the music someone listens to is from the radio... then comes and raves about it to me. Here's why you should make an effort to check out underground artists:
~People from other countries think MTV is an accurate representation of the U.S. music scene (if you actually tune in at a time when they're playing music videos... oh wait... do they anymore?), and VH1's just as bad in their portrayal of not-so-various music genres. I found out about nearly all of my current favorite non-mainstream artists via word of mouth. Make others realize that not every American listens to only Linkin Park, Evanescence, 3 Doors Down, Gwen Stefani, 50 Cent, or whoever else gets buttloads of airplay nowadays.
~Be open-minded to music from genres you wouldn't normally listen to. I sent a bunch of metal songs to an e-mail group I'm part of, and after making it a point to ask my closest friends if they'd checked out the tunes, I received SO many responses to the effect of "oh, I'm not a big fan of heavy metal" or "that's just not my style". Sheesh. At least waste one bend of your pointer finger to click on the link and hear the damn thing first.
~Lower concert ticket prices! Holy crap... you don't know how much I appreciate cheap tix. I saw my two favorite bands in Dec. 2004 and Apr. 2005 for about $20 per show. You can't even see mainstream bands' shows on a regular basis unless your family's loaded.
~Going along with that, not-so-popular artists give better live performances. There's much less pre-recorded stuff at the shows. The telling factor of a good artist is if they can deliver what's on their albums (perhaps even kicked up a notch). No studio magic needed.
~Finally, BETTER MUSICIANSHIP. Many artists have studied at prestigious schools like Berklee, Juilliard, or Helsinki's Sibelius Academy (of course, you don't have to have attended one of those, but I can't think of a single mainstream artist who has). Their vocal work and/or instrumentation is just plain superior. Orchestration is superb; guitars are shredding; drums are wailing away. You can see my metal love \m/ shining through here, but I'm trying to keep all genres in mind (even classical), and the guitars/drums don't have to be crazy on every song... heh.
(Sun., June 5, 2005)
pictures:
Junior, my black-and-white shorthair cat, as a baby
Junior now
Junior meatloaf-ing =)
Elmo, my late border terrier (passed away October 11, 2004)
my South-Park-style self-portrait
me at the 2002 OSU game on the 8th lock step of pregame
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