User:MonteGargano

I studied early Christianity and music as an undergraduate, then attended divinity school, and then entered a Ph.D. program in early Christianity. I realized too late that I wasn′t terribly interested in ancient Christianity, and that I should have focused on the late middle ages. But really, my temperament was ill-suited to a life of academia. After abandoning that career, I started working in the financial industry, where I have been an executive since the mid 1990s.

My interests include:
 * Linguistics and languages, especially (in descending order of proficiency) English, Spanish, medieval Latin, French, ancient Greek, German, and Hebrew.
 * Music in all its forms, but particularly “Gregorian” chant, polyphony from the 1100s to the early Renaissance, chamber music of all types, choral music in the English tradition, and opera.
 * Architecture and design, particularly late-medieval ecclesiastical structures and furnishings.
 * Food in all its cultural and historical aspects, from provisioning, preparing, and cooking, to the rituals of serving and eating.
 * Gardening, particularly the history of plant domestication, agriculture, and ornamental gardening, and the effects of the Columbian Exchange.
 * Evolution, domestication, and taxonomy of animals used for food.
 * Fibers and textiles, from cultivation and husbandry to production, in particular the history of dyestuffs and dyeing techniques.