User:Freakazette

A Brief Introduction
My name is Marisa. I am a Wikipedian of indeterminate age, with a birthday occurring on May 16. For the sake of space, some things that can be covered with userboxes will instead be covered in text form.

Gerunds? Gerbils? What?
I love and praise the English language -- really. I believe it to be remarkably efficient, rich, diverse, and sadly unappreciated by many of its native speakers. With that in mind, I am a bit of a stickler when it comes to grammar: I dislike singular they, I generally choose not to split infinitives, and I dislike ending sentences with prepositions, even when speaking. I prefer the serial comma, understand that one should not use first person pronouns, second person pronouns, or the passive voice when writing an essay, and despite what my Mother believes, I know that "it's" is not a genitive.

Please don't get the wrong idea, though; I am far from perfect, and I appreciate the occasional nudge on the shoulder in terms of corrections. Oh, and I'm not one who discredits other languages, either: I can understand (to varying degrees) Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese. I have studied Spanish and French in a scholastic setting, but I have only studied the last two on my own. Any resources would be helpful; if you know of any -- or would like to do a kind of inter-lingual tutoring system -- please contact me.

But What About You?
So, all of this English jargon aside, I suppose it's time I said something about me, right? Well, I was born on May 16 to a Puerto Rican Father and a Mother of mixed German, Irish, Norwegian, Dutch, English, French, and Pawnee roots. I learned English as my one and only native language, simply because it was easier for everyone involved - Dad spoke both languages, and Mom only spoke English.

I apparently was a terrible child, always breaking things (to find out how they worked), and not sleeping an entire night until the age of two. I was also a "bright" child (see note) -- I was to have skipped two grades (Mom didn't like the idea of her child being with older kids). Add some psychological trauma, some stomach disorders, and fast forward a bit, and you've essentially got who I am now.

I like baking, cooking, knitting, painting, and plenty of other things. I sing (I made it to All-State choir when I was in 11th grade), play piano, and love music in general.

I hope to become a teacher of a language one day. I do not care which one, though if I taught English, it would most likely be as a second language, since I focus more on language than on literature (it's not that I dislike English literature, I'm just an analytical person).

Trivial...

 * I have perfect pitch.
 * I sometimes perceive sound as color.
 * My parents thought I had autism as a child.
 * I was to have skipped two grades.
 * I think Freddie Mercury is the greatest singer ever to have lived.
 * I love Crayola crayons for one reason: their smell.
 * I have never done any drugs, I do not smoke, and I do not drink.
 * I didn't swear until I was 14, and now I'm trying to stop.
 * I have an undying love of the show Freakazoid, and it is from where I derived this username.
 * I also enjoyed the show Histeria while it was on.
 * I have userboxes. Feel free to use them!