About Me edit
Basic Info
|
What is "fraise"? edit
Fraise is French for strawberry. I like strawberries, and French. Voilà !
Where I'm from, where I've been edit
- Originally from Springfield, Oregon, USA.
- Spent a year as an exchange student in Lyon, France, 1997-1998.
- Then lived in Meilahti, Helsinki, Finland for two years, and worked in Ekenäs (Tammisaari).
- Moved to Nice, France in 2000 and lived on the French Riviera until early 2014.
- Went to Paris for work and have lived here since.
- Places I've visited:
- France: Corsica, Brittany (from Lannion to Rennes), the Loire valley, Alsace (from Strasbourg to Mulhouse), the Jura, Rhône-Alpes (from Lyon to Chamonix), Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur, and of course Paris
- Scandinavia: Norway from Oslo to the Lofoten, and Stockholm, Sweden
- Elsewhere in Europe: most of southern Finland; London, England; Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Ventimiglia, Turin, Genoa, Pisa, Vinci, Florence, Milan, and Venice, Italy; Geneva, Switzerland
- North America: Manitoba and British Columbia, Canada; all US states west of the Mississippi River, and also Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida
- China: Beijing and Tianjin
What I enjoy edit
I've always loved reading and foreign languages, and so enjoyed my studies — I have a B.A. magna cum laude in French language and literature, with a minor in music performance, from the University of Oregon (quack). More recently, I obtained my Masters in comparative literature from the Université de Nice in France, with mention bien (magna cum laude as well).
Favorite pasttimes are mountain biking, knitting, running, scuba diving, reading (I've studied English/American, Native American, Russian, French, Italian, Ancient Greek, and others), gardening, handsewing, cooking, and DIY (home improvement).
Professional and Non-profit edit
In 2021 founded the French registered non-profit AAERS, Association for Adenomyosis and Endometriosis Research and Science. In French: Association autour de l'adénomyose et l'endométriose pour la recherche scientifique. As our name suggests, we support and promote evidence-based research and science for the two conditions.
Currently a quality assurance manager with a French consultancy, my job is to improve quality control processes. I've had the great luck to work in a wide variety of contexts and genuinely enjoy what I do.
Before moving into consulting, I managed globalisation/localisation/translation projects, and also worked as a freelance writer, editor, and translator (French-English) for ten years.
Cats edit
In 2000, I adopted a white kitten with orange tabby patches who would go on to be an Internet sensation as the first cat on the web: le Chat Malo. His blog is offline now, but his memory lives on. In addition to posting captioned selfies on the web, he was a kindhearted cuddler.
A few years later, a wee fluffer whose whiskers had been cut off was rescued from abandonment in an apartment building entrance. He came to live with me, dark brown mackerel spots on light caramel fur, and thus I named him Kanoko, Japanese for "fawn." He grew up to be a very large, very fluffy, exceedingly sweethearted Maine Coon who is now nicknamed tanuki.
Kanoko was joined by another rescue, Gray, who had been abandoned by his previous human to live on the streets. One of the gentlest cats I've ever met, his years alone had taken their toll and he passed away after only a year with us.
Not long after, a sprightly wee wildling who refused to let any human near her was having a hard time finding a home. I offered to take her in, and her guardian human finally managed to catch her a couple of weeks later. She became Susuwatari, Kanoko's best friend for the six years she was with us, and my dear chirpy companion who loved to help me knit. She never did let another human near her.
When miss Susu left, Kanoko was once again lonely, so we adopted a sweet little tortie who, in her four months of kittenhood, had already lived through abandonment, the streets, a hoarding situation, and finally a foster home. Her foster gave her the name Tara, and indeed, being a feline goddess of many colors, I kept it. She enjoys hunting earthworms, saying "hello" to neighbors, and teasing dogs.
In 2021 a malnourished, visibly mistreated, and severely ill cat found her way to a friend. Friend couldn't take in another cat, so after naming her Pandora since she'd seen it all, and nursing her back to health, friend drove her to me. Pandora very quickly learned to enjoy a loving home, but it took months for her panic attacks to slowly subside. She loves Tara and is admirative of Kanoko. She has beautiful tuxedo coloring (black and white).
On Wikipedia edit
I am also on the French, Corsican, and Norwegian Wikipedias, as well as on Wikiquote.
- Contributions on the English wiki
- Contributions on the French wiki
- Contributions on the Corsican wiki
- Contributions on the Norwegian wiki
- Contributions to Wikiquote