“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.
A former English major at UCLA, I recently finished my Master’s in English literature at the University of Virginia, specializing in Renaissance studies. My general literary interests 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.
Sophia Literaria 
Thanks for ones marvelous posting! I quite enjoyed reading it, you can be a great author.I will be sure to bookmark your blog and may come back at some point. I want to encourage yourself to continue your great posts, have a nice day!
You are a decidedly interesting person. I wish I was thirty years younger and living in Charlottesville!
I’m a bit odd myself. I try to teach seventh graders an appreciation for history and writing. I play piano every day, but nothing later than 1759. Music died with Bach and Handel. I coach football even though I’m tiny and never played the game. It’s the mental part that obsesses me.
Thanks! You sound like a kindred spirit, Jon. And Bach is amazing. :]
Hello!
I found your blog searching “soul-making” and was drawn to the Velveteen Rabbit entry and the Keats quotes. Just a few days ago something got into me to pare down my belongings and I gave my leather bound gold-embossed copy of The Velveteen Rabbit along with many beautiful figurines (rabbit related, such as a rabbit, hedgehog and frog having tea on a tree stumb, a rabbit and hedgehog rowing a little boat…) to some darling little girls that I don’t know but see playing outside a couple blocks away. They don’t seem to have much by way of material goods but they always look happy and were so sweet and polite …Anyway, I hope the beauty of that classic tale and the adorable whimsical figurines ignite their youthful imaginations and stir their very sweet and already deep souls.
I share your glorious affliction (being an oddball), I’m a mythic astrologer and I use the whole sky (not just the 12 zodiac constellations) in a Depth or Archetypal Psychology fashion to awaken people to the myths they are living–those that are ready and able and “in to” soul-making.
I enjoyed your entries and will return to your blog in the future.
Hi, First of all, I came across your blog fbecauseI was looking for that text on English being improved so that it almost became German. I was writing a post on Euro English myself, a topic I find hilarious, especially perhaps, because I’m from the continent myself na dused to speak Euro English until I got educated to speak bad English like they to in England. 🙂
But they I read your About page and I just think you sound really cool as a person. If I’d known you in real life, I hope you’d come on a girly trip to Ancient Egypt, Rome and greece with me. Like you, I love antique cultures and languages. I currently speak french, Italian, Arabic, English, English and Norwegian and swedish, but have plans to learn Spanish when I crack the Italian.
Anyways, I’ll defo bookmark your blog as I realy like what you’re writing.
Hi, really great blog – considering a career in academia, and your thoughts are really handy. Cheers!