Introduction to a Bookworm

My name on this blog shows up originally showed up (I finally figured out how to change it) as SusieBookworm, which has been my online nickname since middle school. Obviously I really enjoy books and reading, though after almost four years of college, I've been sadly neglecting reading-for-fun for reading-for-school. When I do get to read for fun, my favorites are classic novels, science fiction (like H.G. Wells and Aldous Huxley stuff), and retellings of old stories. I'm fascinated by utopian communities and off-beat religious groups. The last book I finished was The Map of the Sky by Felix J. Palma, the second of his spectacular romps through H.G. Wells's novels that humorously mimics the style of Victorian speculative fiction and adventure novels.

I'm graduating this May with majors in anthropology, history, and English lit, and a minor in religious studies (FYI, I also came to OU from high school with a ton of transfer credit). I'm hoping to be able to start in an M.A. program next fall in folklore and historic preservation. My goal is to work at a museum or historic site; currently I'm an undergrad assistant in the Archaeology Department at Sam Noble. The most interesting thing I did this summer was a month-long field school at the Berry Site in western North Carolina, which had both a 16th-century Native American town and a 1560s Spanish fort. It's still a little bizarre to me to imagine Spanish conquistadors walking around the North Carolina mountains, but there's chain mail and pottery at the site to prove it!

Speaking of North Carolina, that's where I grew up. I'm looking forward to returning to the Southeast, and especially to proximity near the Appalachians (that's App-a-LA-chan, not App-a-LAY-shan) after graduating. Probably the least interesting thing I did this summer was move with my family to New London, with a population of exactly 600. I have to drive a ways to do anything besides sit in my house, but otherwise I like the quietness of the town and the close-knit community.

But the best part of moving was finding this silly goose, otherwise known as Genny, underneath the deck of the new house. (personal photo)

As anyone who's known me for like more than 15 minutes is aware, I love contra dancing (and similar forms of community folk dance). Here's a great video demonstrating what contra is, with a fantastic band.