Last Profile Update: 24 July, 2011 (Profile updated and "One New Year's Eve" edited)

BIO

I'm a guy, 20 years old, and I am a college junior at the University of Maryland. My major is Mechanical Engineering. Here's a little about me:

I'm a drummer. Been at it since I was a wee elementary schooler. Love every bit of it: concert/symphonic, marching band, drumset, etc. Drumset is my native tongue, but through high school and my University, I have slowly become well versed in the language of marching percussion. Here's to quad/quint/tenor players everywhere (holds up figurative wine glass). Any DCI fans out there?

And to follow suit, I love music. My favorite band/artist? Uh... couldn't possibly give you one. I move in a looped cycle: listening to one band/artist non-stop for weeks, then on to another. After being in school bands for so many years, I have a large appreciation for classical and contemporary symphonic/orchestral music. Search up John Mackey; he is an extraordinary composer. Among my favorite rock/metal groups are Audioslave, Distrubed, Korn, Rage Against the Machine, Sevendust, and System of a Down. For Jazz/Fusion: Cheiro de Vida, Karim Ziad, Return to Forever, Tribal Tech, and Weather Report. Gotta love some classic Dave Brubeck too. Also, Dennis Chambers is a God on drums.

Recently, I came across underground hip-hop artists from Japan and subsequently found other artists in the genre. If you can spare the time, please Google and Youtube names like Nujabes, Fat jon, Tsutchie, Force of Nature, Uyama Hiroto, Substantial, Five Deez, Pase Rock, CYNE, etc. Some of you may recognize the first four names. They are indeed the musical geniuses behind the soundtrack to Samurai Champloo. That soundtrack and their individual works are pure musical bliss.

I ran track; both Indoor and Outdoor. I ran sprints, mainly mid distances races ranging from 300m to 500m. I ran the 4x400m relay the most. My 400-meter dash record was 53 seconds. I now run for my own benefit. I'm trying to get my mile time down to 5 minutes since my scholastic track days are over. This might be wishful thinking, haha.

Other than these things (and reading/writing), my life revolves around one other thing: Rollercoasters. I'm a junkie. Yeah, I'm that guy who goes to Six Flags once a week because he has a season pass; who brings his camera to parks ONLY to document the rides; who has several rollercoaster models in his bedroom; who gets a rollercoaster calender every christmas; whose homepage is rcdb.com; who has designed more than 1,000 rollercoasters between Rollercoaster Tycoons 1, 2, and 3; who owns DVDs of JUST raw on-ride footage. Yes, I am that guy whose dream in life is to someday work in the amusement industry designing rides or rollercoasters. And that's exactly why I'm aspiring to be a mechanical engineer. Let's hope I learn well. ;)

On another note, I also have my poor excuses for art online at http://trippwire.deviantart.com I have some Teen Titans works and other random musings I have created in my spare time.

Favorite Cartoon Series: (1) Avatar: The Last Airbender, (2) Teen Titans

Favorite Anime Series: (1) Witchblade (I fucking cried!), (2) Cowboy Bebop, (3) Samurai Champloo, (4) Sekirei, (5) Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?, (6) Freezing

Favorite Books: Looking for Alaska (John Green), Harry Potter Series

A FEW WORDS ON TEEN TITANS

Teen Titans is just a fantastic show. The creators did an exceptional job on the characterization; they were aiming to make Robin, Starfire, Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy emotional figures that the audience can relate to. My favorite character in the show is Raven because I relate to her the most, or more than the other characters, at least. There's just something about her that's more than just appealing to me. We don't relate too much in our social personalities, but there's a connection in many other ways. Overall, this show has garnered so much attention from fans of all ages. From the children that just want a Saturday morning cartoon, to the teens that want to find something to relate to, and to the adults who know the Titans from their original era. I never thought a cartoon show could inspire such a passion in me for it's characters, and the passion to write about them.

Current Favorite Quote: "Hey, I know where we are! We're in that place where I didn't know where we were before!" - Cyborg, Episode 6

STORY STATUS

Complete:

A Haven for the Mind - Raven is curious about Beast Boy's unannounced outtings to a particular place on their island. She goes down to talk to him about some things she is all to familiar with. Takes place in between Season 2 and 3, no romance involved. Inspired by ntmnky's "Plain Vanilla". (edited on 24 November 2009)

A Premonition Unheard - This is probably my first and only attempt at poetry thats not free verse. This is a poem about Raven in the style of an English sonnet; very organized rhyme scheme and every line is 10 syllables. MY GOD what a pain it was, but I think it turned out quite nice. (reformatted on 15 October 2008)

(NEW!) Beginning from the End - After about 2 years of hiatus, I finally had a thought in the back of my brain that screamed at me to write it. In this oneshot, we join Beast Boy (now called Garfield) in his mid twenties at a place he would have never imagined being at during this stage of his life, a place that only holds memories and saddness.

In Ten Seconds - A short story for the new year 2007. It's just a BBxRae thing I threw together because I was stuck on my other stories, and I didn't feel like procrastinating anymore. I'm glad I got at least some production done before the end of 2006. (edited on 24 November 2009)

One New Year's Eve - I had the holiday bug again so I wrote another New Year's fic for 2009. It has a slightly different tone than the last and the situation is much different. It's more aimed at Raven and Beast Boy's friendship, but it does show hints at developing interests in one another. Hope that doesn't give away too much. (edited on 24 July 2011)

The Note - It's weird what will come to you in the midst of learning how to find the volume of a sphere. A short short oneshot containing a lot of poetic devices: similes, metaphors, and personification. You need a taste for poetic devices to read this, I guess. (edited on 24 November 2009)

The Price of Comfort - What was intended to be a short piece of nothing, well, became a long big piece of nothing. If you like tales of awkward moments, then I suggest taking a risk and read this oneshot. (edited on 11 January 2011)

You Try Too Hard - My take on Raven confronting Beast Boy about his annoying joke-telling and corny sense of humor. Just a short little thing. (edited/revised on 19 June 2010)

--x--X--x--

In Progress:

Heat of the Moment - Well, I'll start off by saying this one will probably be a LIME. Not to be confused with LEMON. A lime is less detailed and such. This story is about Raven trying to figure out her feelings to a certain green-skinned Titan, and how he will react to her sudden urge of passion. (SCENES 1 & 2 EDITED ON 26 JUNE 2009)

Untitled - Well, as you can tell, I don't have a title. I honestly don't have any idea where I'm going with it. I'm making it up as I go along, finding new ideas to use. I have alot of editing to do though. It's a BBRae fic. I think their the only couple I'm willing to write full length stories about. (ON HOLD)

The Rooftop - This is another inspired piece. I got the idea from Emania Hilel's "It Only Takes A Moment." The Rooftop is a series of oneshots, but they will have nothing to do with each other, and they all will take place on the Titans's Tower roof. They all will vary in theme and pairings. One may be a BBRae thing, another may even just be Cyborg, and another may just be a random "out of the blue" moment involving everyone. ("Silent Night" and "A Little Privacy" edited on 19 June 2011)