User:Katherine Noel

As a regular researcher on Wikipedia, I felt that I should contribute to the site, seeing that I use it so often. This is why I created an account. Despite the overlooked vandalism/smut that may be prevalent on Wickipedia, for the majority who does not search for those areas of interest can benefit greatly from the properly referenced articles. I hope that I can contribute to this. I have a few ideas for pages that I think would be very interesting; Perhaps once I've managed to make decent edits quickly, I can move on to a project of that size.

For now, because I'm new and merely have relatively small edits not worth mentioning, I thought I'd fill-up my page with subjects of interests and experience (really just for editing practice). But you're welcome to read and mock me.

Current Interests, Areas of Knowledge

Louisiana

This is probably the area of knowledge I appreciate the most. I was born and raised a south-eastern Louisiana native. I lived on the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain, which is about 30 minutes away from New Orleans. My parents were both raised in New Orleans, and all of my immediate and most of my extended family are still residing there,in the Parishes bordering New Orleans Parish or along the borders of Lake Ponchartrain. There is much to know and appreciate about New Orleans, and Louisiana as a whole, as many things such as the history, wildlife, climate, laws, and (of course) culture is very different than the rest of the United States. I'd be more than happy to answer any questions or contribute references, from history to upcoming events.

Medical

I am currently ill with chronic health issues that have been apparent for the past three years, and I have yet to find a solution to get back to normal activities. Because of this, I have plenty of time at home, and ultimately feel like a huge waste on society. However, the amount of research and abundant resources on CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), Fibromyalgia, and other illnesses/conditions that I've collected can hopefully help anyone needing the information.

Gaming

Being made in the 80's, I have always played and enjoyed a variety of video games and consoles. From the Jaguar to present, it's most likely I've played it or at least have heard of it. Perhaps this can help another loser in need of useless history or facts about this subject.

I'm not someone who gives into peer pressure, or cares whether there's a current bandwagon for a particular subject, or if everyone loathes one. That being said, I have always loved and still love Nintendo. They have always been innovative, whether at the forefront of the current technology or creating an alternative to the latest.

Just want to note, I'll admit to semi-ignoring Sega Saturn and later consoles, but OMFG how awesome was the Game Gear??

Although still happy with the Snes (Game Gear broke after retarded amount of use), I bought the original Playstation console, worth 40 bucks at the time, which tells you a lot about how cheap I am, to the point of waiting 5 years to buy a new product. The few games I played, I loved... My all-time favorite being Final Fantasy 8 (told you, don't care what the majority says).

In general, there seems to be a controversial reaction from the fact that my least favorite console is Xbox. Before your head explodes, let me say that the only reason is that Xbox controllers resemble the shape and bulk of a small balloon filled with sand. Xbox 360 did improve their controller design, but I guess I got used to avoiding Xbox in general, and have failed to go out of my way to really give it a try. My bad.

Animals

I appreciate all life, but my favorite area of interest is aquatic life, including reptiles. Thanks to Louisiana's climate and ecosystem, this type of wildlife is abundant everywhere^[1], including one's backyard and neighborhood ditches, so perhaps this is why I have such an appreciation for it. There's no need for a table on a user page, but there's also no need for any of the crap on my page, it's practice. The following are animals of which I am knowledgeable.

This will be continually updated.

Phylum or Class	Species	Description of Domestication, Captivity, Study/Observation, Research, Google, etc.
Carnivorans	Domesticated Dog	I had a dog for about 11 years. She was adopted from the Humane Society, who estimated her age to be about 3 months old when they found her. They told my family that she was a mutt, some mix of Terrier, and "other". However, recently I came across a photo of what I thought was my childhood pet, but was actually a Hollandse Smoushond, a RARE breed of purebred dog. I looked up details on the breed, and I was shocked to find that she met every detail of FCI-standard description^[2]. It takes a crappy person to abandon any animal, but who puts a valuable purebred puppy out on the streets? A crappy, dumb person I guess.
	Domesticated Cat	I took care of various kittens and cats for periods of time, but the last cat I found was in 2000. I was walking through SLU campus when I spotted him near a building, attempting to hide under an air condenser unit. Imagining the end results of that, I grabbed him and put him in a bag I was carrying. He was very tiny, only about 2 weeks old, and displaying the early effects of malnourishment, as his hind legs appeared to look slightly deformed. A proper diet guided his growth back in the right direction, then the opposite direction. The fat free-loader is still part of the family today.
Lagomorphs	Rabbit	Description incomplete
Rodents	Hamster/Gerbil	Description incomplete
	Mouse/Rat	Description incomplete
	Squirrel	Description incomplete
	Chipmunk	Description incomplete
Avian	Parakeet	Description incomplete
	Parrot	Description incomplete
	Toucan	Description incomplete
	Egret/Herring	Description incomplete
	Small wild Perching Birds	Description incomplete
	Ducks	Description incomplete
	Seagull/Goose	Description incomplete
Reptiles	Red-eared Slider	Description incomplete
	Green Anole	Description incomplete
	American Alligator	Description incomplete
	Green Iguana	Description incomplete
	Gecko	Description incomplete
	Garter Snake	Description incomplete
	Ribbon Snake	Description incomplete
	Albino African Clawed Frog	I only knew it as an Albino Frog, from the fine people at Grow-A-Frog, founders of the mail-order tadpole kit. ^[3]
Amphibians	Squirrel Tree Frog
	Toad	Description incomplete
Fish	Eastern Mosquitofish	Description incomplete
	Various Guppies	Description incomplete
	Beta Fish	Description incomplete
	Indian Glassy Fish	Description incomplete
	Algae Eater	Description incomplete
	Colombian Tetra	Description incomplete
	Lamp-eye Tetra	Description incomplete
Crustaceans	Hermit Crab	Description incomplete
	Blue Crab	How could I not be educated on one of Louisiana's leading exports? It also doesn't hurt to know who to curse when you feel a tiny tug on your fishing line and realize your baits gone. At least they're delicious.
	Red Swamp Crawfish	Feisty, great at get-togethers, and prevalent in La and the Gulf. These are one of the sneakiest, hardiest little heathens you'll ever come across, to the point of amazement. They breath water, but they actually have the ability to be on land for long periods of time (helpful for relocation). This is possible because they have special gill filaments (looks like hairs) on the underparts of their tails, that somehow help them get oxygen out of the air as well. If they're destination is too far and need to take a breather, they'll burrow into the ground until reaching water (La is at sea level). After rain it's typical to see tiny clumps of mud piled into a small tube on lawns, resembling a miniature fort or look-out tower, which is the result of their burrowing (hence the local nickname "mud-bugs." Too close to the term "mud-butt" for me).


Mollusks	Pond Snail	Description incomplete
	Mystery Snail	Description incomplete
Annelida	Earthworm	Description incomplete
Arthopods (ie Bugs)		Description incomplete

Other Animal Encounters

A beautiful portrait of a Barred Owl, closely resembling the one I whacked, the only difference being that its belly pattern was spotted/muddled rather than striped/streaked. Photo by Mdf.

Owls

Once, late at night while driving down a dark, remote area of highway, I caught a glimpse of a large, tall object in the middle of the road... uhh, just before hitting it straight-on with my car. Recently before this I had spotted a white paint bucket in the exact same manner and in the approximate area, so I turned around to remove another obstruction. There was no obstruction found, only a GIGANTIC freaking owl, its body laying sideways and head straight up (and owls like to do that, so it died happy...). It definitely died instantly, but certainly not in mid-thought, seeing how it was loitering alone in the middle of a highway, indifferent to the 55 mph moving vehicle approaching from behind. Regardless, I was mortified. I did some sorrowful Googling to find that it was a Barred owl.

Hobbies/Areas of Interests Not Currently Pursued

These are typically interests/passions of mine, but until getting well I won't be involved with much, or at all.

Sports/Athletic Recreation

Camping, fishing, swimming, wakeboarding, skateboarding, lawn games, mini-golf/variations of, laser-tag, water gun/balloon antics, hiking, running, Yoga, kite-flying, bowling, rock-climbing, sledding, snowboarding.

The Arts

(For lame arts, see Theater.)

Visual Arts

Fine arts (Drawing, pen and ink, charcoal/pastels, painting, sculpture), photography, calligraphy, graphic design, graphic animation, interior design, side-walk chalk, sewing, crocheting.

Music

Drums (set, percussion), piano, composition, appreciation of, Fruity Loops, Mariopaint.

Miscellaneous Experience/Interests

The internet, random/useless information, Photoshop (and other photo-manipulation programs), using forward slashes, dialects of English in the United States, anime, satire, Real Ultimate Power (link is blocked? Info there is more useful than half of Wikipedia), genetics, awful movies, Windows 3.1 Version, Adult Swim, LOST theories, satirical analysis of babies/old people, water-diluted lemon Gatorade, GSA cookies (strictly Tag-a-longs and Thin-Mints), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Owl City, freeware, cellphone games, punching before eating, practicing the golden rule through karate, technology, memory foam, Yahoo!Answers, Scrabble, trolls, farts.

Remembering Wiki Edit Codes

Yeah, so I'll definitely have to get used to these. I don't want to have to hit preview to make sure that I've done something correctly every 2 minutes. Awesome.

This page is half-edited, in a very sorry manner. I will continue using my page unknowingly as practice until complete, then I'll suddenly know Wikipedia's formatting codes and execute them as second nature (see The Karate Kid).