Spventi

Hi. I've recently started participating in Wikipedia, so I guess it would be a good idea to flesh out this page, too, so that people who might care one way or the other can find out what they need to know.

My main interest at Wikipedia is editing for readability and factuality. My two main areas of interest are music and Japanese Studies. I have an interest in world history and science, as well, but for the time being I'm trying to stay focused on what I know best.

I have a BA in music composition from the University of California at Santa Barbara and an MA in Advanced Japanese Studies from the University of Sheffield, but my real love in life is language. I have never had any real linguistic training, but love of language is the unifying thread that runs through my experience as a singer during college and then as a teacher, translator, and interpreter during my years in Japan. Not to mention that, ever since I was a kid, I've had a real mouth on me.

I make my living running a small translation business out of my home in Japan, where I've lived for more than 30 years now. I've done a lot of different things in Japan, but have been a full time translator and interpreter since 1995. When I'm not working, I'm either participating in one of the several mailing lists for J>E translators that I belong to or I'm watching the Boston Red Sox on the Internet.

Feel free to scribble something on my talk page if I have managed to annoy or impress you enough that you want me to know about it.