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The one thing I think everyone agrees on is that all my years in school really taught me a whole bunch of stuff.  Yes, indeed.  Listing them takes quite a while... almost as long as it's going to take me to pay off my education debt... well, if I ever graduate.  I have four degrees in four different subjects, but I'm still missing my Ph.D.

• My first degree was a B.A. in Classical and Medieval Studies, with minors in Mathematics and Physics (this was supposed to be a double major in Classics and Physics, but don't get me started).

• My second degree was an M.A. in Linguistics (um, don't get me started on that either).

• My third degree was an M.S. in Applied Mathematics.

• My fourth degree was an M.S. in Management Information Systems.

• Next, it's back to the original plan... Astronomy!

As an astronomer, I know what I wanted to do: be a comparative planetologist!  That means I'm shooting for Cornell or CalTech in the long run.  As a linguist, I figured I'd be basically a phonologist, with interests in phonetics-phonology interface (functional phonology), and syntax-morphology-phonology interface and mathematical linguistics.    I always thought that I could bring real science to linguistics, and frankly, I think linguistics really does need more math--but I guess someone else will have to do it now.  I also really enjoy the history of science, especially astronomy.   So call me a polymath.  My hero is Eratosthenes, a.k.a. "Beta".

Languages I've studied:

French
German
Japanese
Hungarian
Old Norse
Ancient Greek
Latin
Sanskrit
Old English
Old Irish
Twi
Luo (Dho-Luo)

I can read French, German, Ancient Greek, Latin and Old English with a dictionary.  Maybe Old Norse.  I can understand some conversations in French and Japanese.  I'm best at speaking Japanese, but I'm hardly fluent.  I'd really love to work on that some more.

Linguistics research interests can be found on my research page.

But, besides astronomy and linguistics, there is more going on in my life than just that.  A couple years ago I worked as a press secretary for a political campaign for state representative (in Ohio).  That was pretty interesting and a great learning experience. When I was eight I wanted to be President, and that did nothing to dissuade me, at least not any more than what President Clinton went through.  My big problem is lack of tact, well, and some other things, like my religion and such.  I like writing.  I wrote a book.  It's called The Dragons' Gift.  It's a fantasy novel. And it's been published as an e-book and in paperback by 1st Books. The prequel, The Dragons' Lord, is being published in 2005, and I'm working on another book not in that series.  And I write poetry, such as it is.  I've started my own business, The Pewter Gallery, online at www.pewtergallery.com.  It's more-or-less up and running now.  Oh, and I was deeply involved in the IULC.   For more links to stuff of mine on the Web, check out my page "Betsy on Net".