“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a common place thing, but burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.” -Jack Kerouac
I am an odd person. Or so I am often told. I refuse to eat purple cabbage because it’s an “unnatural” color, like to curl up into tiny spaces like a cat when I take naps, and have a best friend who was a bunny in her past life. Occasionally I have the urge to jump off buildings so that I can sprout wings and fly. Sometimes I think my overactive imagination pushes me one step away from actual insanity, but perhaps I simply have an unusual world view.
As an English major in my senior year at UCLA, I am currently working on my senior honors thesis and applying for PhD programs in English literature, specializing in Renaissance studies. My general literary interests thus far include oral tradition, theories of drama and performance, notions of authorship in early modern theatre, and the rise of drama as “literature”. I am particularly fascinated by language as a performative (thus the focus on drama) and its ability to epistemologically transform reality. Other fields of interest include philosophy, linguistics, sociology, history, politics, and religion.
However, my interest in language and its relationship to culture is not simply restricted to English. I enjoy foreign films of any variety and have a huge affinity for Spanish rock. I have an enormous respect for ancient Chinese poetry and have a dream to learn Arabic someday. Currently, I am studying my fourth language, Latin. Eventually, I plan to also pick up French, Italian, and Greek and hope to learn many more in the future.
My tastes are perhaps a little antiquated. I have a not-so-secret love affair with musty old libraries and an addiction for buying books wherever I go. I prefer medieval German poetry to modern summer blockbusters and a night at the theatre to the typical college party. My idea of a perfect weekend is visiting an art museum, watching a play, or going to an orchestral concert. I love a good philosophical talk more than anything.
Such things do not appeal to most people. But if this is your cup of tea, then, sweet kindred spirit, welcome to my blog.
