Me

My writing is extremely personal, and by that I mean extremely formed by my experiences.  A lot of my work is set in either the United States or Indonesia, the two countries I’ve lived in (and the sources of my heritage), and a lot of my work involves death or some form of grimness or sorrow.  A lot of times it gets classed as “horror” or “dark,” and horror is indeed my favorite genre.  Don’t worry though – I carry the fire (and Cormac McCarthy is my favorite author – yes, I find The Road inspirational).

I’ve also lived in Japan (as a baby) and Australia (on study abroad).  I’ve been in the airport in Korea and spent a day in Singapore.  I went to middle and high school in public school in Lincoln, Nebraska, and then went to Barnard College in New York City.  Turns out I am not a New Yorker, and I moved back to my less-developed, more-rugged Nebraska after I graduated in May 2009.  But Barnard’s got a strong Political Science department, and I love Political Science.  I study authoritarianism, nationalism, colonialism, revolution, and democratization – and of course, international relations.  I just finished my senior thesis, which was called “Postcolonial Stress Disorder: Indonesia and the United States in the Postcolonial World.”

I also have a double-minor, in economics and environmental science.  Really, I just love studying the world.  I am an intense, devout pacifist.

I have a few other interests in life that I never got to study in school: plane crashes, cannibalism… and sometimes, college football.  I’m pretty into the whole aviation thing right now, and am considering becoming a stewardess.  You know, I would, but I have to take Dramamine to survive long flights.

Other quick notes, because lists are easy to make:

• books: Catch-22, Heart of Darkness, Season of Migration to the North, Passage to India, Never Cry Wolf, The Sound and the Fury… “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is my favorite short story, and my “fun” reading is Stephen King.  I’m currently reading Blood Meridian by McCarthy.
• music: Radiohead, Depeche Mode, Sigur Ros, Morcheeba, Hole, Fiona Apple, Rammstein… and I’ve recently (re)discovered The Smashing Pumpkins – I’m pretty open musically
• movies: Apocalypse Now, No Country for Old Men, The Sweet Hereafter, 28 Days Later, Synecdoche New York, Encounters at the End of the World
• tv shows: Battlestar Galactica, Air Crash Investigation, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Hell’s Kitchen… various professional competitions
• magazines: I freaking love Harper’s
• animals?: cats, whales, raptor birds, dinosaurs!

A couple sites I consider mine:

• my livejournal, which is my main internet devotion: a sense of joy and  then a panic
• my tumblr, devoted to all matters aviation: aeronautics
• twitter: why not
• facebook? (LOL!)

Feel free to say hello!