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Until further notice: I no longer have regular Internet access, and when I do, it is usually only for a short time. There is a backlog of messages in my inbox - my apologies to those people whose messages I haven't yet replied to - but I will attempt to answer every one. If you do choose to write to me, please keep this in mind.

Your perception of me is who I am to you. With a few words on a page, I cannot summarize myself; however, I can try.

I am the type of person who seems reserved until you get to know me. I'm introverted more so than extroverted, I prefer solitude to large crowds, and I have a small circle of closer friends instead of a string of casual acquaintances.

My passions lie in the arts - literature, music, and art. As I write this, I am listening to a recording of J. S. Bach's Goldberg Variations, I have Jane Austen's Emma open and face-down on my bedside table, and a few unfinished drawings on my desk. I play the piano, and have for thirteen years. It is something that affords me true enjoyment - creating music with my own hands.

I try to live my life by the golden rule - doing unto others as I would have done unto me. Honesty, integrity, respect, trust, and love are very important to me.

Almost every single one of my friends has commented on the same thing, when I asked about their first impression of me.

Apparently, I am 'intense'. The person who stands alone in a crowd. Unapproachable. Regal. Aloof. Serious.

I don't know if I agree with all that, because apparently I am also 'different once you get to know [me]'.

Since that really won't tell you anything (everyone's perception is different), I would venture to guess that the first things people notice about me are my sex (female), eyes (blue), hair (straight, long, and light brown), and good posture (hence the impression of being 'regal', perhaps?).

I'll be a bit more imaginative, and assume that this question means something other than what is required for me to survive on this earth.

1. Beautiful music. As exemplified by Johann Sebastian Bach plus piano plus Glenn Gould. But of course, there is so much more...

2. Something to stimulate my mind. This has a wide range of possibilities, I know, but it's nice to be able to include them all.

3. Having an outlet for creative inspiration. This could be in painting, drawing, writing poetry or prose, playing piano, etc.

4. Books. I suppose I have to make this a separate entry, even though it could come under number 2, because I love to read. I've read many hundreds of books. I don't look at this as any great accomplishment, however -- and why would I? Quality is so much more important than quantity.

5. Solitude. I think it would be very difficult to live, if constantly surrounded by people. Having said that, though, the company of friends is something else I could not do completely without.

6. ________. I think I'll leave this entry blank. I like to leave my options open.

Metacognition. That is, thinking about thinking, reflecting on my own knowledge, recognizing the way I learn, pondering my thought processes, etc.

I do think about the past quite a bit. How past events have built up to the today of now, which will become the yesterday of tomorrow. What kinds of things would be different now, or later, if something had or had not happened in the past. Contingencies upon contingencies. Why something happened, or why I did what I did. The recurring themes of life as evident from past events, related to today, and projected onto the (still completely unknowable) future. And to top it all off, whatever past event I contemplate, I was most likely pondering the past, then, as well. It all keeps going backward in time, in retrospect, and then forward in associations, until all I have is 'now'. I try not to dwell on the past.

Language. I speak two fluently: Finnish and English. I've studied French for several years, in school, but am not proficient. I like to contemplate the incredible diversity between languages, especially between the two that I speak. The mental leaps involved in near-automatic translation intrigue me.

Thoughts themselves, and also how these relate to language. What are the words we 'hear' in our minds? Our thoughts are in the form of words, but are the words our thoughts? The universality of thought is complicated by the concept of language. Are the words in our minds translations of our thoughts, conveyed in a way that our brains can understand? Or are the words the actual thoughts? How do babies think, and what do they think about? Have we lost some of our capacity for raw, pure emotion due to the limitations imposed by language?

Music. People I meet. Books I've read. Self-improvement. What I've learned. What I want to learn. Anything and everything.

Either in my dorm at university, or travelling home for the weekend.

If I'm in my dorm, I am likely online writing an e-mail or chatting with a friend, or catching up on readings for school.

If I'm on my way home, I am likely on the train, sitting in one of the comfortable seats with eyes closed, thoughts far away...

Hmmm. There's nothing very private about me. What you see is what you get. However, no one who knows me seems to fully agree with that statement...

I suppose that itself could be my little tidbit of 'private information'. As someone once said to me, I'm somehow "open, yet closed, yet friendly," all at the same time. Can you figure that one out?

Anything I've written resonates with you.

You think I would like you. Or that you would like me.

You have something interesting to say.

You are a classical music enthusiast, a musician, an artist, and you enjoy reading.

[If not, that's all right, too. As long as you're not looking to play games. I am not interested in insincerity. (Wow, three words in a row that begin with the letters 'i-n'.)]

You think I'm weird, and just want to tell me that. It will only amuse me.