I grew up in Flagstaff, Arizona. One of the important people that got me interested in writing was my 7th grade English teacher, Mrs. Linda Besnette. I've written on and off for years, and have to admit that secretly, I enjoyed my college term papers. Writing has remained a hobby as well as being an important aspect of my job. I've submitted opinion pieces to various newspapers, and have published a number of articles for scientific journals. I like the formal writing style required by newspapers and journals, but have also really enjoyed the more casual writing atmosphere on Helium. I am interested in trying my hand at fiction some day, but have not ventured there yet. I am currently a postdoc in astrophysics.

My passion is ...

dancing, reading, writing, eating, violining, gardening, and studying physics.

I know too much about ...

tetris.

My parents always told me ...

I was a robot.

My childhood ambition ...

was to be a paleontologist.

My favorite memory ...

is the time I convinced my sis that our closet was a space ship.

Why I write ...

is not a great way to begin a grammatically correct sentence.

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

changes daily.

My first job ...

was at Peter Piper Pizza.

My best moment ...

is when I'm in bed at night and just about to fall asleep.

My inspiration ...

is my sister.

Entertainment > Music Education How to develop an appreciation for classical music

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New to classical music but interested in exploring it? In that case, there are three basic strategies that will help you ditch the popular misconception that classical music is relaxing, boring, or will put you to sleep. Nothing is further from the truth, but to discover this you must:

1) Turn off the radio and go buy a few CDs (or purchase MP3s from iTunes)
2) Turn up the volume
3) Explore different ensembles, composers, countries, centuries!

1) The reason you have to turn off the radio is because (with a few notable exceptions) the radio stations are the ones that propagate the ...

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