User Profile

My Username: A padparadscha is a beautiful pinkish-orange variety of corundum (or sapphire), although some say only those from Sri Lanka can be called such. The word is derived from the Sanskrit term padma raga, which means 'color of a lotus blossom.' It has also been described as 'sunset' colored.


I have strong opinions about weird things. (Now! With illustration by ursulav! It's not actually about me, but it uses a similar line--so it seems I'm not the only one ...)


I'm a dedicated nerd/geek. I work at it. I am so nerdy that the state department has to send a big hairy guy around to my place once a month to push me down and take my lunch money. I'm so geeky that, whenever I write fantasy or science fiction, which I do a lot, I want to make the entire thing cohesive and understandable. I have a lot of imaginary friends, but I call them characters and put them in stories and try but fail to draw them.

I am also very interested in linguistics and languages. I actually INVENT languages in my spare time, and I'm currently studying Japanese, ASL, Swahili, Hawaiian, and Chinese. I ran away to Africa once, but I came back because I am obsessive-compulsive and embrace my excessive, consumerist culture--and also, I like reliably flushing toilets.

I like libraries. This is good because I work at one, and may continue doing that even after I've established myself as a writer.

Things to ask me about: The car crash when I was six, the birthday with the mutant sheep heads, fainting while watching a brain surgery, The Chapstick Incident, the Quantum Week, my laundry-sorting rabbit, my mermaid collection

Things I recommend you not ask me about, lest I chew your ear off: conlanging, stories, religion, evolution, cats, and my ridiculously large family on my mother's side.

Things I have done: Graduated from high school, graduated from college, eaten alligator sausage, been reported missing, volunteered at a children's center, hiked to Delicate Arch, seen professional drag shows, made Lewis Black laugh, played stand-up bass, earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, briefly sneaked a mysterious girl into my school orchestra during a trip, carved a ring, ridden a horse through Canyon De Shelley, gotten two tattoos (one down my spine), been to Zanzibar to meet the Zanzibarbarians, translated "Yellow Submarine" into ASL, been stopped by a herd of buffalo while learning to drive, henna'd "Tea. Earl Grey. Hot." onto my arm in one of my conalphs, swum through stars in the Indian Ocean, made up at least 9 languages.

My siblings and I have considered making T-Shirts that say "Yes, I'm from Utah" on the front and "No, I'm not Mormon" on the back.

Also, I see letters, numbers, and sounds in color. It's called synesthesia.


Wanna know more? Check out my life's cast of characters!

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