User:Ara Pelodi

Any wikipedians who are interested in sign languages, Deaf culture and deafness, please have a look at WikiProject Deaf. The project needs some committed editors to breathe life into it! :)''

Note on my Wikipedia Participation
I only currently sporadically pop up and contribute. I have my projects recorded but not loaded or posted. Someone else may have alreay redone the articles. If someone wants the sound files to work with and clean up and post, they are welcome to them.

About Me
My name is Ara Pelodi. Until recently I have been a frequent user of Wikipedia, benefiting from the vast depths of knowledge provided by an army of volunteers. Though I have had passing thoughts of contributing, to this point I have had nothing that I could truly do on a professional level.

Obviously that has changed and I want to join the Wiki community and assist in its evolution. It is a tremendous and fascinating community resource--one that has been available primarily to those that read English (or other available languages).

In my recent use I discovered an audio link on one of the pages I was viewing. (I have to admit I am a recent convert to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer phenomenon). Intrigued, I followed it to the spoken word project. Finally I have found something that I can not only contribute to on a professional level, but I can learn and improve myself while doing something that I truly enjoy.

My goal is to start small and learn the ropes here in the Wikiworld. Its a big, wide, complicated but welcoming community. I plan on starting with voicing over one small article on spoken word. When that is done and if it feels that I have sufficiently learned the basics of recording and uploading I will move up in complexity until I have done 10-20 solid articles. Once that is completed I feel I will be ready for a long term goal.

As I was browsing to get a feel for the community, I noticed that many of the guide pages were not voiced. I thought that these would be tremendously useful to have in an audio format. I don't know if these are open to voice overs or if they will ever be, but it is something I would like to explore in the future.

Once I've got some more basics down, I hope to post more about me, my voicing experience, skills and projects so people can get a feel for why I am here and what I hope to offer. I do need to be clear that I currently do not(nor in the forseeable future) plan on writing articles or editing articles or others wise contributing to any actual written content, edits or forums.

I feel I can best support this global endeavor by making the written words accesible in an audio format.

Please feel free to contact me. I'd be happy to discuss and learn about the wikipedia world. Ara Pelodi 01:26, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

My projects
I'm still learning the mark-up language of Wikipedia, so I can't make my page as pretty as other contributor pages yet.

I have completed recording and am editing:

Bookplate

WGA screenwriting credit system

Radio drama

Radio comedy

Pixie

I am recording or have on my list to record:

Cool (song)

Since I only have very limited periods in which I can record but can edit anytime, it is better to have projects to record even when I have stuff that needs edited. However I am maxed out on recording projects until I finish at least two of these.

Requests
If you have an article request please place it on my talk page. Let me know if it is for special needs and I will bump an unrequested project. I have to snatch recording time during my children's nap time so if it is a lengthy and complicated article it may not be recorded as quickly as a shorter article.

Non Wikipedia Voice Projects
I know this isn't a billboard for myself, but I thought listing some of my external voice projects might give a more complete picture of who I am, and also what my biases are in regards to recording and certain articles.

Completed
 * www.jrdonline.com - tattione tv: slave girl, padme/padme's mother,
 * www.starwarsfanworks.com - Omega Squad: reporter, old lady, computer voice, female announcer

In progress
 * Documentary on Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath: voices of Anne Sexton/Sylvia Plath
 * Drama for www.jrdonline.com: New Wave Army, Lead female character

Never released
 * Base One Camp: escaped mental patient, male

Other About Me
Obviously I do other things, but they aren't related to Wikipedia at all yet, so mums the word.

I do wonder if American Sign Language could be added as an other language version of wikipedia or video files of the articles in American Sign Language could be added to articles like the spoken language files. I have people I can pull into the project or beg who are fluent in ASL and could help transcribe articles for a project like this on Wikipedia.

Hit my talk pages if you have opinions on this.

Adopt me!
I'm putting myself up for adoption. I can fumble around quite nicely on my own, but I would feel so much better having a mentor. What I'm really looking for is someone who help me in the area of the spoken word project and BASIC page editing. I'm hoping my adopter will walk me through step by step certain things. I can read the guide but I lack trust in my ability to figure it out or do it right. So I hope that my adopter will be patient and be willing to hold my hand through certain learning experiences and first, semi first times. Some specific expamples are how to make those nifty boxes about myself, how to put the box on a talk page that I'm recording a project, and how to not make my page look all messaed up when I add the boxes.

I'm not interested in editing content, but I do need to be able to learn the basics of what to do to a page so I can make my user page the way I need to and not screw up pages that I must edit as part of a project (ie the spoken word project page or other project pages).

When I need help I'm high maintenance (I need handholding)--but once I feel confident then I usually do not need help on that issue ever again--all thanks to you kind helpers. When I do not need help I'm low low low maintanence.

Do I sound like a match for you? Adopt me! /mysandbox

Some people want to delete the category Murdered people with disabilities
Hi Ara, The category I created, Murdered people with disabilities, has been nominated for deletion. If this concerns you as it does me, please comment at the CfD discussion. Thanks! Rosemary Amey 16:20, 9 February 2007 (UTC)