Stephanie profile picture

Stephanie

I am here for Friends and Networking

About Me


In 1998, I graduated from Kutztown University with a BFA in Studio Art (concentration in photography). I have been a commercial artist, a communication arts instructor (drawing, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, HTML/CSS, etc.), a bartender, a waitress, a prep cook, a board level tester of automotive telematics, and a full-fledged cook in the time since I graduated. I enjoyed certain aspects of these jobs, but not one ascended to the level of a true profession in my heart of hearts. I feel that I've been an underachiever in a vocational sense, and have come to realize that this tendency is both selfish and indulgent on my part. Out of insecurity and a lack of certainty, I avoided a return to formal education for several years. Over a year ago, I came to the conclusion that I had to leap out of the comfort zone of the frying pan and gleefully into the fire. Over the next few months, I will be taking the classes that are needed to prepare for my application to a college of nursing, which would later be pursued at graduate levels (NP, CRNA, and DNSc).
To a great extent, my visual arts portfolio is here and available for your perusal. It is located, along with some other photos, in the Pics section.
Trivia:
    I scored a 92% on the PA EMT-Basic exam. I have been a vegetarian since October 1995. I was a lacto-ovo vegetarian initially, but my dairy & egg intake steadily dwindled to nil over a period of a few years. I've never felt better! I officially declared myself a vegan in October 2005. I celebrated this event at the truly superb Moosewood Restaurant. For a period of a few years, I considered the pursuit of training in the culinary and pastry arts, but nursing is more about what I enjoy focusing upon: health, a fulfilling diet, and quality of life. I considered medical school, but have very serious concerns about the issues of time, sleep deprivation, and monumental debt. I enjoy the continual processes of learning to cook and bake. I am trained as a visual artist, and will always be one. As a child, I was not given coloring books. I carried books, sketchbooks, and pencils nearly everywhere that I went. I was always the quiet child who sat reading, painting, or drawing. I'm possessed by sarcasm. I've tried holy water. It did nothing. I love bread. I love it a bit too much. I'm working on this. Ancestry: Irish, Scottish (Clan Bell), Welsh, English, French, German, Swiss, Dutch, and Native American (Lenne Lenape). Due to an ocular condition that developed in my childhood, I have one near-sighted eye and one far-sighted eye. Both are blue. I've broken three bones in this lifetime. I didn't have the smallest toe on my right foot x-rayed, I just know it was broken. My grandmother played with Thomas Edison's children, and babysat Paul Lynde as a teenager. She spoke several languages, thought in Latin, and translated her thoughts to English to speak. My Dutch ancestors once owned the deed to Wall St., New York, NY, but lost the deed when it burned in an accidental fire. I am addicted to: shoes, books, plain green tea, IKEA furniture & crazy Swedish widgets, guitars, and jazz on CD. I listen almost exclusively to instrumental jazz when I write. I have two tattoos. Yes, it hurt. Yes, I'd do it all over again if it came to that. Yes, there are photos here, how nice of you to ask. I enjoy Kustom Kulture iconography, and wish to one day have my Integra "flamed" with blue metallic paint (base coat is black). I was an extra in an educational film about head lice as a child. I was an extra in the Johnny Knoxville movie "The Ringer," in TX. I have a pet-peeve regarding people who say "addicting" when they should say "addictive."

My Interests

I'd like to meet:

Notes:

    Do not send unintelligible, mad love letters to me, or you will be blocked because I will assume that you are freaking crazy. If you want kids, you should know that I do not want children. If you write with spam-grammar and style, I won't respond. I do not wish to become part of your on-line bimbo harem. If you are looking for a "soulmate," please look elsewhere. Do not propose marriage to me if you don't know me.

I'm tired of receiving truly bizarre and poorly written love letters from foreign men (and even one American 15 year-old girl). If love-spam is your purpose for being on MySpace, that's fine -- just know that I do not care for that kind of thing.

Don't get me wrong, I'd like to talk with new and interesting people. It is just that I've received some crazy, nasty, and totally inappropriate e-mail from some of the freaks on this site.

Preferences:
    Those with common interests & goals Creative thinkers, and artists Macintosh & graphics geeks Medical & nursing geeks Vegans and vegetarians Cooks and bakers Bookworms
Wish list:
    Comedians: Kathy Griffin, Dave Chappelle, & the Kids In The Hall* Bakers: Peter Reinhart, Dan Leader, and Rose Levy Beranbaum Cooks: Lidia Bastianich, Marcella Hazan, and Julia Child (R.I.P.) Performance artists: Laurie Anderson, and Karen Finley* Actors: Gerard Butler, Daniel Craig, and Pierce Brosnan Authors: Dominic O'Brien, David Sedaris, Dan Millman Athletes: Bart Conner, Kurt Thomas, and Xeno Müller Photographers: Cindy Sherman, and Jerry Uelsmann Chocolatiers: Pierre Herme, and Jacques Torres

* I've actually met them, but I'd meet them again in a heartbeat.

My Blog

Oh, good. Another web widget.

I am now twitter.com/pastryvegan. Why? I have no idea. But, it's there.
Posted by on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:14:00 GMT

Frog!

My mother taught me the method with which to catch frogs when I was very young. I no longer have a Huck Finn - like urge, but I was prepared to photograph the frogs that are living in the small Koi po...
Posted by on Fri, 06 Jun 2008 20:13:00 GMT

Color study, No. 2 (revised).

I put a little more time in this one than the first. Still, I am addicted to the Chinese White paint. But, I never use a manufactured black watercolor -- I mix black from other colors OR very rarely I...
Posted by on Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:09:00 GMT

The Seventies.

Oh, shit. It hurts so good.
Posted by on Sat, 31 May 2008 22:59:00 GMT

There’s something in the water.

I recently purchased a big fat tablet of Canson watercolor paper, and I've finally tapped into it.Traditionally, I've not really ever been a watercolorist. I've often painted in acrylics, alkyds, and ...
Posted by on Sat, 31 May 2008 20:19:00 GMT

ENG 106: Essay 2 Revision.

A Trivial PassingIt is human nature to perceive the lives of complete strangers as raging torrents of information, which are occasionally polluted by conspicuous and vulgar bits of debris. For this re...
Posted by on Mon, 26 May 2008 23:02:00 GMT

ENG 106: Final Exam

Angelic Victory It is common for the vows exchanged during marriage ceremonies to include the phrase "until death do us part." To some, these words are spoken with questionable sincerity, or possibly ...
Posted by on Mon, 26 May 2008 22:55:00 GMT

Alice Sebold’s Lovely Bones.

Malicious IntentTo have an unexamined, homogenous trust in the neighborhood in which one lives might be the simplest, most common error one can make. The tendency to assume benign motives in the minds...
Posted by on Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:11:00 GMT

William Blake’s "To see a world in a grain of sand."

Blake's InfinityPoetry, as opposed to prose, is composed almost equally of the white space of the page as the print upon it. Where prose amounts to dense, towering mounds of what is often weighty mate...
Posted by on Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:58:00 GMT

How caffeinated am I?

I've been to each Eugene, OR location once. Each provided me with equally tasty cups of joy.
Posted by on Tue, 11 Mar 2008 02:49:00 GMT