A place to show my work
“Today’s accomplishments were yesterday’s impossibilities.” – Robert H. Schuller
In 1989, due to a computer glitch, 1082 baby boys in New York were officially named. Christop’ instead of Christopher. The database mistakenly limited the number of letters a baby’s name. Could be to eight, resulting in a few other baby name oddities, including Elizabet, Katherin and Alexandr.
“Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just one step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
Ravens are very smart birds who can recognize human faces and vocalize. They can even point with their beaks, as people use their fingers to gesture towards objects.
“Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.” – Helen Keller
All About Eve (1950) is the only film in Academy Awards history to have four women nominated for Best Actress Oscar: Anne Baxter and Bette Davis for Lead Actress, and Celeste Holm and Thelma Ritter for Supporting. Surprisingly, none of them won.
“Develop an ‘attitude of gratitude.’ Say thank you to everyone you meet for everything you do.” – Brian Tracy
Ancient Greeks usually competed naked at the Olympics. According to Greek writers, this granted athletes complete freedom of motion. Fallen loin cloths were apparently a tripping hazard.
“We become what we think about” – Earl Nightingale
BÉALÁISTE is an Irish word for drink or toast to seal a bargain
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
I identify with Eleanor Roosevelt—someone who started out unsure of her place, but grew into a voice of strength, compassion, and conviction. She learned to stop living in the shadows and began shaping the world around her. I relate to that evolution: finding my voice, trusting it, and using it with intention.
“When one door closes, sometimes we need to turn the knob to open another…” – J.A. Tran
In 2020, Parasite (2019) became the first South Korean film to win any Oscar, not to mention best picture. It was also the first Asian motion picture in highest honor.
What is your most marked characteristic?
My most marked characteristic is my quiet perception — the instinctive way I read a room and feel its emotional shifts before anyone speaks.
“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.”— Vince Lombardi
Gray foxes are North America’s only canine species that regularly climb trees.
What is your favorite occupation?
My favorite occupation is creating — writing, reflecting, and shaping my inner world into something clear, honest, and expressive. I also love working with children, and the two go hand in hand for me. Being around kids keeps me curious, imaginative, and open, and my creativity helps me connect with them in meaningful, authentic ways. Together, they make me feel most like myself.
“Let us make our future now and let us make our dreams tomorrow’s reality.” – Malala Yousafzai
Because the pressure buildup can be so intense, holding in a sneeze can damage blood vessels, rupture an eardrum, or even cause a person to have an aneurysm.
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
The lowest depth of misery is feeling invisible while still being expected to show up — when you’re giving everything you have, but your needs, your voice, and your humanity go unnoticed. It’s the quiet kind of suffering where you disappear in plain sight.
“The best way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” ― Walt Disney
Laurence Oliver, the star of the 1948 film adaptation of Hamlet, was almost forty-one when the film premiered. Actress Eileen Hurley, who played his mother Gertrude, was 30.
What is your most treasured possession?
My most treasured possession is my inner clarity — the part of me that can tell the truth about what I feel, what I need, and what matters. It’s the compass I’ve built slowly, through reflection, honesty, and unlearning old patterns. Everything else in my life shifts, but that inner knowing is the one thing I carry that can’t be taken from me.
Note: (Trying something new with the size of the images. Let me know which looks better. The ones here are the bigger images.)
“Leaders set high standards. Refuse to tolerate mediocrity or poor performance.” – Brian Tracy
When it comes to saying British surnames, just sounding it out doesn’t always work. Cholondeley, for example, is pronounced “ CHUM-lee.” Wriothesley is sometimes “RIZZ-lee” and Marjoribanks is simply “MARCH-banks.” Certain Featherstonhaughs say their names “FAN-shaw.”
Where would you most like to live?
I’d most like to live somewhere that feels calm, warm, and creatively inspiring—close enough to nature to breathe, but close enough to community to feel connected. A place with sunlight, trees, and quiet mornings, where I can write, think, and build a life that feels intentional.
“You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.” Zig Ziglar
Staples’ iconic red easy button was conceived in a fitting way: During a brainstorming session in 2004, advertiser Leslie Sims said she wished she could simply push a button to create the perfect ad so the team could break for lunch.
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
“My greatest love is my own becoming — the slow, steady work of healing, unlearning, and choosing myself without apology.”
A shopping spree would take me straight to an art supply store — the kind with aisles of sketchbooks, inks, paints, and tools I don’t even know how to use yet but desperately want to try. I’d fill a cart with colors, textures, and possibilities. After that, I’d wander into a cozy bookstore and lose myself in journals, poetry collections, and anything that sparks ideas. My spree would be less about buying things and more about stocking up on inspiration
“It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get back up.” –Vince Lombardi
The Library of Congress houses more than 164 million items across more than 800 miles of shelf space. Its treasures include the world’s largest flute collection, one of only three perfect vellum copies of the Gutenberg Bible, and a 1507 map with the first known written mention of the name America.
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
I’d come back as a wiser version of myself—still me, but with softer edges and a clearer sense of what truly matters.
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” —E.E. Cummings
Free condoms were originally given to Olympic athletes at the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, to prevent the spread of HIV. It’s now part of the Olympic tradition, with the condom count sometimes reaching upwards of 300,000.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I’d change the instinct to shrink or adjust myself to make others comfortable. It’s an old habit, and I’m slowly unlearning it, but it still shows up more than I’d like.
“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.”― Marilyn Monroe
The residents of Oymyakon in Russia have the distinction of living in the coldest permanently inhabited place on earth, where the average winter temperature plummets to negative fifty-eight degrees Fahrenheit. That’s shy of its official winter temperature record of negative ninety degrees, observed on February 6, 1933, at the towns weather station.
On what occasion do you lie
If I lie, it’s usually a soft lie — the kind meant to shield someone from discomfort. I’m learning to trust that honesty, spoken with care, is kinder in the long run.
Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.”- Brian Tracy
The phrase shrimp on the barbie comes from an Australian tourism ad starring Paul Hogan, the future Crocodile Dundee- and what he actually said was “I’ll slip an extra shrimp on the barbie for ya,” not “I’ll throw another shrimp on the barbie.”
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
The trait I most deplore in myself is the quiet belief that I must bend to be accepted. It’s the old echo that whispers I’m only worthy if I perform. I’m learning to silence it, to stand in who I am without apology.
