I have been playing the piano since I was five. At first, I found it terribly boring — my parents made me take lessons against my will. As I grew older, though, I came to like it more and more, and it now contstitutes one of the primary parts of my life. My username, ‘Ondine’, is a reference to the first movement of Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit, one of the most difficult pieces in the world. My favorite composer is Rachmaninoff, but most of his good pieces are still beyond my ability.

I’ve always been a reader, but in my adolescence, I took an interest in classic literature initially because I wanted to challenge myself. But reading more and more of it, I grew to like it for its detail and deep cultural roots. And it’s fun to talk about classic literature with other people, because each book is vast and we all see something different in them.

My favorite language is probably Russian — many find it harsh, but to me, it’s a cool, crisp, cutting sound. After that, Latin, but its grammar, although beautiful, is exhausting… For example, why must one learn four different stems just for one verb‽

Other than all this, I am a busy student, a girl, and an American. This is my second website; my first was an Animal Jam fansite. I came to Neocities because it allows more room for creativity, individuality, and long-form content. Also, I admit this website is a bit messy, I'm working on cleaning it up...