My so-called existential crisis is really just my personality.
‘Leah Lionheart’ is a pseudonym I’ve used for a few years now. There are many varying definitions or references of ‘Lionheart’ (to which Google may attest), however I personally use it as a nod towards Richard I, the 12th century King of England. He was known as Cœur de Lion or Richard the Lionheart, in reference to his courage and prowess (even before his ascension to the throne).
I’m currently a graduate student at very large, very homogenous mid-western state university. I am originally from the East Coast, and attended undergraduate there. My life is filled with a fairly finite number of activities that more or less consume most of my waking life. I try to take a fill of experiences, music, art, and literature in order to sufficiently placate my unhappiness with the present-day. On a personal level, I have a serious intellectual attachment to Romanticism.
- I am very interested in languages, and you will likely read many entries lamenting or praising any number of them. I am fluent, proficient, or study all of the following languages:
- English
- French
- Yiddish
- Czech
- Polish
Soon, I hope to be adding Latin and German into my repertoire.
- I love the fine arts, and have a profound love for opera – particularly Wagner, Berlioz, and Tchaikovsky.
- I have hundreds of books and am constantly in some discussion or another about some piece of literature.
- Wagner is my favorite musical dramatist. The dichotomy of studying Yiddish and enjoying Wagner is, assuredly, not lost on me.
- I am more-or-less areligious fielding my way through some semblence of a spiritual (though not necessarily religious) identity, but and remain fascinated and interested in religion as a sociological and intellectual force.
- I have been to the following countries:
- Czech Republic
- Hungary
- Bosnia i Herzegovina
- Serbia
- Croatia
- Germany
- Austria
- France
- Israel
- U.K.
- Canada
- Slovenia
- I am a graduate student, and intend on completing a doctorate in history, with an emphasis on book and print culture. My goal, right now, is to attend either the University of Toronto or Notre Dame, respectively.
- My academic interests are primarily focused on book history and print culture, specifically mid/late Medieval period Jewish manuscripts and printing in Central Europe (Bohemia, Moravia, Poland, &c.). I am also interested in antisemitism in its print manifestations, and the print relationships between Christianity and Judaism.
- I have an incredible knowledge of fitness and nutrition, but have (primarily from the demands of academia) lapsed almost entirely in practice. I would like to start this again, soon. As of August 2009, I have again re-invograted my desire for physical fitness.
- I don’t watch television and more-or-less avoid movies (two hours of film is usually dreadfully boring; I’d rather be reading a book or studying).
- I ride a Tomos TT LX 2000 moped. It has a 70 cc Alukit, Benesar pipe (without a baffle), and a kick-start A35 engine. It is fast, loud, and janky: I adore it deeply.
