My Personal Page of Non-BSB Stuff

About Me and other stuff As Well

Hey yo all ya peoples! This is just a page with a bit of info about me. So here goes...

I am a 22-year-old graduate student at Ohio State, having completed my undergraduate degree at Valpo last May (BSEE, with a major in Physics and a minor in Math). I graduated Summa Cum Laude, was a member of both Tau Beta Pi (engr) and Sigma Pi Sigma (phys) honor societies, and inducted into the Order of the Engineer. I am studying controls systems and should be getting into some pretty interesting research areas.

Outside of academics...my 14-year run of being on a track team came to a less-than spectacular end with my graduation from Valpo. As of junior year, I had been training to be a heptathlete, because that's such an awesome event and I figured with training I'd do better than I did at conference sophomore year...Indoor season of junior I was setting PR's in every event almost every week (except LJ, but I had a big breakthrough near the end of the season that made me happy). But then came the fateful conference when I decided to do pole vault because the coach thought I'd have a good chance of scoring points. And I ended up first on concussion watch (fell on my back slipping on the plant box) and then tore my ACL in warmups. So much for hep that year; and so much for my conditioning. I lost a lot of strength, speed, and coordination. I began senior season as a thrower, running some, but not jumping at all :-( -- and that was my favorite event. I did do heptath, but not very well (except for the huge PR in shot) and now miss track so so much. I still run/workout, but it's just not the same...

Well...obviously my *favorite* band is Backstreet Boys (seen 'em 4X in concert...), but my musical tastes have been opening up the past few years. I've gotten into the more pop-rock kind of music. I love Blessid Union of Souls and 98 Degrees (+ Nick Lachey) as well, but also listen to The Fray, Hinder, Kelly Clarkson, Nickleback, Maroon 5, The All-American Rejects, Chicago, and other songs like that. I also enjoy listening to movie soundtracks, like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean. Diana is trying to get me into country, but all she's done is make me more *tolerable* of it...the only kinds of music I don't really care for are rap and techno-type music (and N*Sync, but thats just a given...I only listen to Sexy Back cuz it's Carson Palmer's theme song and Carson is amazing!!)

Speaking of which -- I love love love sports. Which is why I'm excited to be at Ohio State -- with football an d basketball games to look forward to throughout the year...it should be fun! I live at GABP during the summer, watching my Reds play (whether they are good or not, most recently: not). Favorite players: Dunn, Freel, Hamilton, Harang, Bailey, and Arroyo. And I love my Bengals too -- especially Carson Palmer, cuz he's just awesome!! 9 >> 18 (Though I like Peyton as well...I just like Carson better cuz he wears stripes!) I also follow Xavier and UC basketball (and football, to a point) in the appropriate season. Friendships with people from various parts of the country have made it so that I have to learn a lot about other teams and players to have any hope in conversation...but the one thing we can all agree on is that the Steelers are stupid...[and Michigan, but by them losing to Appalachian State, thats self-explanatory]. There really are few teams I hate, the Steelers happen to be one of them because of what they did to Carson...but I digress.

I wanna shout out HEY to all my friends from High School (u guys r awesome and I miss you all): Jackie, Elizabeth, Michael, Bobear, Alyson, [and every 1 not here...this line's for u: -- (i think Howie said that one...)]; and a shout out to my internet penpal Sandra.

<3 Alicia O:-)

Q-U-O-T-E-S:
"What is Schnider and who is "After-Prom"?" ~Christopher (on the XC Camp bus, butting into our conversation)
"Purrrrrr" ~Bobear (for a week straight at XC Camp, plus the 7 1/2 hour bus ride home, then any time someone talked to him for almost a year)
"Who wants to go to the field and look at the stars?" (staring @ liz...could he *be* more obvious?!) ~Liz's 'friend' from camp, Richie
"Live life to the fullest for the future is scarse" ~NIck Carter (Millennium)
"What's an itinerary?...What's on Friday?...What bus are we on?" ~Bobear
"We don't do luck" ~Cameron "Buck" Williams (Assassins)
"*N Sync is gonna be the one sayin' BYE BYE BYE when our new album comes out" ~Johnny No-Name (aka AJ McLean)
"They wanted us to *N Sync...lip-synch it." ~Brian Littrell
"Be cool, be real, and behave, baby" ~Johnny No-Name (AKA AJ McLean)
"Ah yeah, Columbus has definately got it goin' on tonight!" ~Howie D. (at the 10-04-99 INTO THE MILLENNIUM concert!)
"Dude...this was s'posed to be an EMOTIONAL moment and you RUINED it!" ~Nicky (to Aar) [Disney special]
"Some idiot put my backpack in the band office!" ~Bobear (i wonder who that 'idiot' was...BOBEAR!?)
(in resp to 'should driving while talking on the cell phone be illegal?'):
"Only if its the person driving who's talking on the phone" ~Bobear

Here's a joke:
Two muffins are in an oven. One says to the other: "Man, its hot in here!" The other turns to the first and says:
"AHHHH A TALKING MUFFIN!"

from Jackie...the SEQUAL to the "muffin joke"
two pieces of toast are in the microwave. One says to the other: "Man, its hot in here!" the other turns to the first and says:
"WHO PUTS TOAST IN THE MICROWAVE?"

Random Quiz Results

See what Care Bear you are.

You are Merry. In the books, you were clever and even a bit of a mysterious character (as hobbits go), in the movies you don't a whole lot besides standing next to Pippin. Still, you know how to put Ents and Uruk-Hai in their place.
Which Hobbit are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Sam is the faithful servant of Frodo Baggins. He cares an awful lot about his master and would probably give his life for him. Though Sam meets many marvelous people as he journeys with Frodo, he still wishes he was back home in the Shire.

Take the "Which Hobbit are you?" quiz created by Cora Black!

Me and My Friends having fun on New Years Eve (2002)