The Nexus

Um... me? Yeah. Uhh... What do you want to know?

My name is Sarah. I'm a history major with an English minor at Siena College in Loudonville, NY. Planning to go on for my masters and PhD at SUNY Albany and then be a history professor somewhere with lots of friendly squirrels. A nice quiet little job that I can enjoy that leaves me plenty of time for other things. I come from Poughkeepsie.

I write. That's not so much something I do as a part of me. Whatever comes out, it's a big investment of self, which is why I sometimes can't bring myself to do school projects on deadlines. It feels like it's suffocating the heart and soul of what I love to do. Poetry? I started as soon as I could spell. I've written enough drek to fill a few fat binders. I estimate that for ever 20 poems I write, one of them still gives me happy tingles when I reread it 6 months later. I've come to consider that a healthy part of the process. Lots of failures fertilize a few seedlings of artistic potential. Prosetry is something of a specialty, but one I didn't indulge for a long time because I wasn't brave enough to justify writing in a genre my teachers didn't approve of. I write research papers with relish... or tabasco sauce, depending on my mood. Words, patterns, theories, logic, rhetoric, eloquence, and a neat coverpage... I love my work.

I sing when I'm alone. I also sing in church, when I go, because it's the one part of the experience that makes me feel really spiritual. I figure my Creator created my voice, so It has no grounds for objecting to my using it with enthusiasm! Sometimes I sound good to myself, sometimes it's just awful. But it feels so good! I don't know anything that expresses emotions more powerfully than singing. I'm also getting into toning. This is the practice of uttering vowel notes as they come to you for therapeutic and meditative purposes. It operates on the principle that vibrations do things to your body, to your external environment, to your emotions, to your spirit. It's got some scientific backing. I've read, for example, that certain frequencies, both audible and inaudible, can influence moods to the extent that riots can be started and calmed, etc.

I recently found out I'm a good cook. Well, at least I think it tastes good! Check out my recipes and cooking philosophy here.

I'm dabbling in photography... I need to develop that film when I get some cash. I'd like to get into developing my own, but that's tough in a dorm room on a tight budget. Maybe if these rolls come out well my dad will give me his gorgeous old mechanical camera (please Daddy... I'll take good care of it!) Maybe when I get it developed I'll scan some pictures in (that is, if I can get ahold of a scanner.)

I dance. I guess not well, but I enjoy it. I like swing, hustle, waltz, cha cha... That doesn't mean I know more than the basic step and a few turns in each, but I'm always looking for opportunities (and patient partners) to help me learn. I also love medieval dance. Mairi's Wedding is evil... but I do pretty well in easy ones like the Califian (heh heh), Black Nag, and Corabushka. I cracked up watching Men In Tights because of the dance numbers. The other night I had my first experience of bump and grind, but it was a lot more than bumping and grinding. I guess I'd call it a courtship dance, in the Discovery Channel sense. I've been known to trance dance when alone. That's yet another of my private shamanic practices. It lets you really FEEL the rhythms and tones and textures of the music and gets you into a very highly tuned state of mind for whatever kind of spiritual work you want to do. It's also good exercise. I'm interested in going to raves to find out what that's all about...

Over the summer I'm planning on learning Russian and Hebrew, reading some classical fantasy fiction (Tolkein, etc.), getting my third Reiki attunement, studying Kabala, working with Tarot, attuning myself to the Elements, hiking a lot, and learning to draw. I'll probably do that last part by studying and copying anime and manga because that style appeals to me and focuses on line rather than color or shadow, which are not my strong suits. I remember when I was little that my art teachers thought I was something special but for some reason I stopped. I guess I never learned much in the way of technique, and I was getting obsessive over school work.

I am seriously interested in world travel, especially the poor student way. I have fantasies about going on archeological digs or living in the midst of truly foreign cultures, learning the language, eating the food, living the culture, absorbing the worldview. I want to go to Alaska, Hawaii, the American Southwest, Ireland, Australia, Peru, Japan, Russia, and the Holy Land.

Lemme see... could you possibly still be interested in reading? Is this narcissistic of me? Probably, but I've always been a bit of a mirror gazer. Not to admire myself per se, but because I am curious... what am I? How does this idiosyncracy fit? What does this flaw mean? How does that talent show up?

Writings
Lightworkings
Quotes
Lutheran Humor!
Society for Creative Anachronism
More later... (research links? interest links?)

background thanks to Dave's Design

Strand
Chaote's Chaotic Art Gallery
InterShaman
The Jedi Training Academy
South Park Central
Squire's Sanctuary

Links

BBC News