everything you wanted to know about me... and then some!
Names I am called: Robyn, Stoney, Raggmopp, Raven, Rhov
Birthplace: Orange County, California
Astrological sign: Leo
Chinese sign: Sheep
Height: 5-foot 7-inches, or about 170 cm
Weight: 140 lbs, or 63.5 kg (women should push toward adopting the metric system in weight!)
Eyes: Cameleon Blue/Gray/Green (same color of eyes as in The Bourne Identity for those few people out there who actually read the book; they change color depending on weather, clothing, emotions, etc)
Hair: Dark Brown, current length is about 17 inches (43 cm) below the beltline, 43 inches total; it was an even 48 (4 feet, or 121.5 cm for my Euro friends) but I just cut it at the end of September
Heritage: Cherokee, Choctaw, Dutch, English, Irish, Italian, Scottish, Spanish
Languages I can speak (not necessarily fluent): English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Yiddish
Pre-school: Arbolita Day Care Center, La Habra, CA
Elementary School (K-2): El Cerritos Elementary, La Habra, CA
Elementary School (3rd grade): Walnut Elementary, La Habra, CA
Elementary School (4-5): Sierra Vista Elementary, La Habra, CA
Junior High School (6-8): Washington Middle School, La Habra, CA
High School (9-12): Sonora High School, La Habra, CA
College: Fullerton Community College (1997-1999), Fullerton, CA
College: Orange Coast College (2000-2003), Costa Mesa, CA
Degrees:
High School Diploma, Academic Studies With Honors, Sonora High School, June 1997
Associate in Arts Degree, English, Phi Theta Kappa, Orange Coast College, May 2004
Musical History:
1988-1990 Piano lessons through Sierra Vista School
1990-1991 Washington Middle School Beginning Band, flute
1991-1993 Washington Middle School Concert Band, flute/piccolo
1992-1993 Washington Middle School Jazz Band, trombone
1992-1993 Washington Middle School Small Ensembles, flute
1993-1995 Sonora High School Jazz Band, trombone
1993-1997 Sonora High School Concert Band, trombone/french horn
1993-1997 Sonora High School Marching Band, trombone/euphonium
1993-1997 Sonora High School Pep Band, trombone/euphonium/french horn/tuba
1994-1994 Fullerton Union High School District Honor Band, trombone
1995-1997 Sonora High School Orchestra, trombone/french horn
1996-1997 Sonora High School Brass Choir, french horn
1997-1999 Fullerton College Intermediate Piano
1997-2003 The Santa Ana Winds, mellophone/trombone
1998-2000 The Legacy Band, trombone/trumpet
1998-2004 Orange Coast College Winds Ensemble, french horn/trombone/percussion
1999-1999 Fullerton College Symphonic Band, trombone
1999-1999 Fullerton College Beginning Voice, alto
2000-2004 BandX, trombone
Great Music Gigs:
California Distinguished School Awards, opening ceremony, Sacramento, CA, 1994
Disneyland, Anaheim, CA, 1994-1997, 1999
Knotts Berry Farm, Buena Park, CA, 1995-1997
Oklahoma, Sonora High School, La Habra, CA, 1995
Music Man, Sonora High School, La Habra, CA, 1996
CIF Finals, Angels Stadium, Anaheim, CA, 1996
The Sound of Music, Sonora High School, La Habra, CA, 1997
Hollywood Christmas Parade, Hollywood, CA, 1997-2002
Grand Opening of the Discovery Science Center, Santa Ana, CA, 1998
Sprung Monkey music video "Get 'Em Outta Here," 1998
Balboa Bay Club season opening ceremonies, Newport Beach, 1998-2001, 2003
Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA, 1998-2002
John Wayne Airport Christmas Concerts, Orange County, CA, 1998-2002
FOX Family Channel inauguration, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA, 1999
UNLV, Las Vegas, NV, 1999
Lawry's Beef Bowl, Los Angeles, CA, 2000
Seattle Torchlight Parade, Seattle, WA, 2001
Battle of the Bands, Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, CA, 2001
Boston Public, "Chapter Forty-Five", 2002
First Daughter, 2003
Favorite colors: Blue and black
Favorite homemade foods: pizza bagels, baked corn chips and salsa, cinnamon rolls
Favorite fast food stands: In-and-Out, Carls Jr., Jack in the Box
Favorite not-so-fast-food stands: Sonics, Johnny Rockets, Ruby's
Favorite hamburger joint: Imperial Burgers in La Habra
Favorite Chinese restaurant: Hong Kong Garden in Costa Mesa
Favorite Mexican restaurant: Cafe El Cholo in La Habra
Favorite Italian restaurant: Angelo's and Vinci's in Fullerton
Favorite out-of-the-way restaurant: Top of the World in Las Vegas
Favorite pub: Karl Strauss Brewery and Restaurant in Costa Mesa
Favorite coffee house: Seattle's Best in Brea (not there anymore, but still was my fav)
Favorite soft drinks: Sprite, A&W Cream Soda
Favorite coffee: White Chocolate Mocha
Favorite tea: loose leaf sencha
Favorite alcoholic drinks: Strawberry Margarita, White Russian, Sex on the Beach, Gin and Tonic
Favorite beers: Guinness, Heineken, Sam Adams, Russian Imperial Stout
Favorite wine: Ferrari Carano Chardonnay
Countries I've traveled to:
United States, Canada, Mexico
States I've traveled to:
Arizona, Arkansas, California, District of Columbia, Georgia,
Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New
Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah,
Washington
Favorite Natural Settings:
Grand Canyon, AZ
Crystal Cove, CA
Sequoia National Park, CA
Carlsbad Caverns, NM
Bryce Canyon, UT
Puget Sound, WA
Favorite Man-made Settings:
I5 to the 55 carpool overpass, Orange County, CA ;-P
Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, CA
Capitol Building, Washington, D.C.
Space Needle, Seattle, WA
30 Places I would like to visit:
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Animals in our house: 2 rabbits, 3 cats, 1 dog, 2 fish, 1 shark, an oppossum that moved into our attic right above my bedroom and keeps me up all night (not really a pet, more of a pest)
Favorite animals: big cats, dolphins, wolves, ravens, eagles
Hobbies: Writing novels, plays, short stories, poems and children's stories; listening to good music; hiking; sailing; reading; web-mastering; researching genealogy; coin and tie pin collecting; playing trombone
Movies/shows I've appeared/participated in:
Favorite games: Utopia, NetHack, 7s and Kings, Craps, any pinball game
Favorite websites: Slashdot, Coast To Coast AM, Amazon, Dictionary.com (at least this is the one I visit most during my day)
Favorite comic strips: UserFriendly, Sluggy Freelance, Doonesbury, Get Fuzzy, For Better Or For Worse
Favorite classic TV shows: The Addams Family, Welcome Back Kotter, Red Dwarf
Favorite modern TV shows: Babylon 5, Star Trek series, Gilmore Girls
Favorite classic children's shows: Asterix the Gaul, DuckTales, Fraggle Rock, Gummy Bears, The Jetsons, Rocky and Bullwinkle, She-Ra, Smurfs (whatever happened to them?), Voltron
Favorite modern children's shows: Animaniacs, Jakers, Liberty's Kids, Sailor Moon, The Wiggles
Favorite classic movies: Charlie Chaplin's The Kid, Citizen Kane, Gone With the Wind, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Singin' in the Rain, Sunset Boulevard, The Graduate, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Favorite modern movies: Dances With Wolves, Dave, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Forrest Gump, Grease, Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Star Wars, The American President, The Princess Bride
Favorite musicals: Cats, Phantom of the Opera, The Man of La Mancha, The Sound of Music, West Wide Story
Favorite operas: La Traviata, Lohengrin, Porgy and Bess, The Marriage of Figaro, Turandot
Top 25 All-time Favorite songs (chronological order, apt to change depending on mood):
Favorite poets: e.e. cummings, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Gerard Manley Hopkins, John Keats, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Christopher Marlowe, Andrew Marvell, John Masefield, Edgar Allen Poe, Sir Walter Raleigh, William Shakespeare, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Dylan Thomas, Walt Whitman
Top 25 favorite books of all time:
Favorite classical composers: Johann Sebastian Bach, Lugwig van Beethoven, Hector Berlioz, Gustav Holst, Dmitri Kabalevsky, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Giacomo Puccini, Maurice Ravel, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, Gioacchino Antonio Rossini, Franz Peter Shubert, Igor Stravinsky, Antonio Vivaldi, Richard Wagner
Favorite modern composers: Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, George Cohan, Aaron Copland, Danny Elfman, George Gershwin, Jerry Goldsmith, Oscar Hammerstein II, Lorenz Hart, James Horner, Scott Joplin, Karl L. King, Richard Rodgers, Alan Silvestri, John Philip Sousa, Andrew Lloyd Webber, John Williams, Hans Zimmer
Favorite oldies bands/artists: Louie Armstrong, Beach Boys, The Beatles, Dave Brubeck, Buddy Holly, Glenn Miller Orchestra, The Monkeys, The Platters, Elvis Presley, Frank Sintara, The Turtles
Favorite classic rock bands/artists: Average White Band, Blood Sweat and Tears, Cream, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Doors, Bob Dylan, Eagles, Earth Wind and Fire, Fleetwood Mac, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Journey, Pink Floyd, Queen, Santana, Shooting Star, Starship, Steely Dan, Steppenwolf, Steve Miller Band, Three Dog Night, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Favorite modern bands/artists: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Brian Setzer Orchestra, Bryan Adams, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Elton John, Enya, Genesis, Guns N' Roses, Loreena McKennitt, Bette Midler, Nirvana, No Doubt, Oingo Boingo, R.E.M., Save Ferris, Soul Asylum, U2
Bands/artists I've seen live:
Tim McGraw, Fairplex, Los Angeles County Fair, CA, 1995(?)
Bleeding Vagina, live concert, La Habra, CA, 1996
Red Hour, live concert, La Habra, CA, 1996
JABOG, multiple concerts, 1996-2001
Weezer, Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, CA, 1996
The Suicide Machines, Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, CA, 1996
No Doubt, Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, CA, 1996
R.E.M., Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, CA, 1997
Save Ferris, Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, CA, 1997
George Takei in Johan de Meij's The Lord of the Rings, Orange County Performing Arts Center(?), Costa Mesa, CA, 1997
Robert Goulet in Man of La Mancha, Detroit, MI, 1997
Ron Bohmer in The Phantom of the Opera, Pantages Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, 1997
Patrick Stewart with the L.A. Philharmonic, Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, CA, 1998
Cabana Boys, Plummer Auditorium, Fullerton, CA, 1999
Sprung Monkey, appeared in one of their videos, 2000
Weird Al Yankovic, Brea Summerfest, Brea, CA, 2001
Pete Fountain, Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, CA, 2001
Dr. John, Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, CA, 2001
Chubby Checker, Orange County Fair, Costa Mesa, CA, 2002
The Fab Four, Orange County Fair, Costa Mesa, CA, 2002
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Brea Summerfest, Brea, CA 2002
Blast!, Orange County Performing Arts Center, Costa Mesa, CA, 2002
Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Irvine Meadows Amphitheater, Irvine, CA, 2002
Moonlight Express Big Band, Orange County Fair, Costa Mesa, CA, 2003
Weird Al Yankovic, Orange County Fair, Costa Mesa, CA, 2004
Darenda Owens, Galaxy Theater, Santa Ana, CA, 2004
Lara Landon, Galaxy Theater, Santa Ana, CA, 2004
Josh Cloud, Galaxy Theater, Santa Ana, CA, 2004
Gdfrey Paul, Galaxy Theater, Santa Ana, CA, 2004
Anthologies in which I've been published:
The Best Poems and Poets of 2003, The National Library of Poetry, 2003.
Letters from the Soul, The National Library of Poetry, 2003.
Theatre of the Mind, Noble House, London, 2003.
The Best Poems and Poets of 2002, The National Library of Poetry, 2002.
Dewdrops at Dawn, The National Library of Poetry, 2000.
The Best Poems of the '90s, The National Library of Poetry, 1992.
Windows on the World, Volume II; The National Library of Poetry, 1991.
Almost-famous people I know (ain't I lucky):
Jesus "Buddha" Barron - trombonist for Skalavera
Josh Cloud - country artist
Bill Guffey - original keyboardist for Shooting Star
Bob Wallace - editor-in-chief of Vette Magazine
Robert Ward - founder of The Santa Ana Winds
All the guys at JABOG!
Favorite kickaround clothes: green and blue plaid pajama pants or a jean skirt (depending if I'm going out or vegging at home), black tank top, wood and leather sandles, hair loose or in a braid
Favorite dress-up clothes: black velvet dress, high heel sandles, black coat, hair braided and wrapped around head
Favorite cas clothes: black slacks, button up shirt, tennies
Favorite sports to watch: basketball, sailing, hockey... will accept some football games
Favorite sports to play: sailing, miniature golf, air hockey
Favorite teams: LA Lakers, Anaheim Angels, Washington Huskies, the Raiders but only when they were in LA, team Dennis Conner Stars and Stripes
Favorite toothpaste: Mentadent
Favorite shampoo: Pert Plus
Favorite smell: Lavender
Favorite fruit: Grapes
Favorite food in the whole wide world: Pepperoni Pizza
Favorite candy: Almond Joy
Favorite quote: "If a man does not keep pace with his companion, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." - Thoreau
Favorite words: Huh?, indeed, definitely, *shrug*
Best days of my life: June 12, 1997 (the day I graduated), July 2, 1998 (the day a vcertain shy boy asked me out), and August 2, 2004 (the day I got engaged to that shy boy)
Qualities I admire in other people: Honesty, generosity, humor, eyes that sparkle when interested
Things I love about the world: The diversity of people and cultures, the natural beauty of the planet, the sound of the wind coming ashore, the taste of a good pizza, the love of a trusted friend