Other Interests

When not thinking about research, I like to:

  • Circus! I take Partner Balancing and Beginner Acrobatics at Cirque-ability, a circus school in downtown Toronto. I'm currently working on front handsprings, splits, general flexibility, and handstand skills. My current goal is to work up to handbalancing, while improving my flexibility and partner balancing skills.
  • Fire spin! (and other object manipulation things!) I first started fire spinning in 2008. My prop of choice is Fire Fans, a metal prop shaped like an open fan. While living in Pittsburgh, I performed with Steel Town Fire, a local fire performance troupe. Here is a video of me spinning fans, from 2011. I also enjoy contact juggling, but I am not very proficient.
  • Garden! I'm very excited to have a backyard with a garden space, so I grew tomatoes, radishes, peas, kale, spinach, watermelon, mint, and oregano this year. The watermelon and the peas aren't doing so great, but everything else is doing very well! It's been a fun experiment! The mint and the oregano are doing too well.
  • Knit! I've been an avid knitter since I was a kid. I'm particularly a fan of doing lacework, and am almost finished with my first big lacework shawl. I also just started diving into colourwork and stranded knitting as well! You can check out my projects on my Ravelry page.
  • Board Games! My housemate Velian and I are both avid board gamers. Lately, I've been enjoying A Game of Thrones: The Board Game, Stone Age, Power Grid, and Arkham Horror.
  • Sing! While living in Pittsburgh, I was active in a number of choirs. I particularly enjoy singing baroque and romance era music; Purcell is a favourite.