Hello, there. My name is Liz; I'm a Ph.D. student at Southern Illinois University. Officially, my degree will be in Mass Communication and Media Arts, but my specialty is in psychoanalytic film theory. I'm a bit of a weirdo when it comes to nerdiness. I love hyper-geek things like Star Trek (yes, I even own an original series uniform), but I also love fashion (I wear high heels to work every day). Studying mass media really just combines my passion for television, film, and all things pop culture. It's sort of the perfect life: everything I do is research!
I have one cat, whom I love. Her name is Jane Bingley. 10 points to you if you understand that reference.
The down side to researching all the time is that I find it difficult to date for two reasons: 1) the only people I manage to see are those in my classes; 2) people tend to be afraid of smart AND sexy women. This has become a problem I'm seeking to fix.
While I don't ascribe to auteur theory, I would like to expand the topic of "writers" to "filmmakers." Quentin Tarantino is currently top of my list, along with Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg, David Fincher, Jean-Luc Godard, and the list goes on and on.
In terms of writers of print texts, I absolutely flip for Jane Austen, Fyodor Dostoevski, Nikolai Gogol', Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan, Slavoj Zizek, and (most recently) Dick Hebdige.
How do you synthesize a methalated alkaloid? (And, as a side note, have you seen the film Love Potion No. 9?)
An ideal first date for me is pretty simple: let's talk. Let's connect. Let's do that over coffee or a beer. The rest of the romantic possibilities are just things Hallmark and a series of Romantic Comedies made up for those of us who don't know what to say to each other.
I absolutely love Trivial Pursuit. Oh, and I recently received Scene It: Star Trek edition. So I suppose trivia games are where it's at for me.
My top film is David Fincher's Se7en. But, I do have a whole slew of other favourites: The Shining, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure; Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey; Wayne's World; Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; The Muppet Movie; Pulp Fiction; Reservoir Dogs; Velvet Goldmine; M*A*S*H (Yes, it was a film, and before that, it was a book); Cigarette Burns; Breathless; this list could go on for quite some time, so I'll just leave it at that.
My favourite music is a bit more difficult to pin down. I love Veruca Salt. But I'm also currently obsessed with Lady Gaga. Van Halen works its way in there, as do Ray Charles, Joe Cocker, David Bowie, Fiona Apple, Eminem, etc. etc. etc.
History Literature Philosophy Psychology/Sociology Visual Arts
I love watching movies and TV, talking about movies and TV, using random, nerdy quotes in the midst of conversation or lecture, exploring the possibilities of an internet-based open-source form of scholarship that dispenses with the necessity of peer review, dancing, and hanging out with my cat.
