{ Make yourself comfortable }
I am certainly not a morning person. That said, I do enjoy waffles.
I also fear that cats will one day rule the world.
On a more serious note, my name is Naudia Jacqueline Lane Jawad, but I wasn't known as that until I was over a year old. Born Jacqueline Lane Jawad, the Naudia was added on later. I quite like it, and hey, now I have two middle names instead of one. That's pretty cool, right?
I was born in Killeen, Texas, on April 16, 1987. Back then, Killeen was a moderately small army town, right off of Fort Hood. It has since grown into a somewhat larger army town along with the growth of the base.
Even as a young girl, I loved to read. That love for reading grew into a love for writing, which, as a journalism student at the University of Florida, I continue to do today. I developed somewhat of a fascination with Christiane Amanpour, which added fuel to the journalist fire burning inside of me. While the life of an international correspondent reporting during times of war sounds like a totally awesome gig to me, I know my grandmother would probably have a heart attack if I told her I was heading off to Afghanistan as an embed.
And I just can't be responsible for that.
My current obsession is literary journalism: Wolfe, Mailer, Thompson, you name it. I'm currently working on my graduate project which will be a Web site built around literary journalism pieces, photography and other various multimedia elements about the Gainesville Roller Rebels, a local roller derby team. The project will look at the team members' lives both on and off the track.
Completely unrelated but just as important, I am quite fond of piña coladas (not so much getting caught in the rain, however), late-night talk shows and my stuffed lion, Jackpot, that I have had for around 14 years. He's a little worn around the edges and his tail has fallen off already, but I love him all the same.
Above all, though, my family means the world to me. I don't know where I would be without my parents' unyielding support and the love of my extended family. My sister Dina and brother Sammy, aged five and ten respectively, are two of my favorite people in the whole world. Some of the stuff that comes out of their mouths amazes me, either because it's totally insightful, hilarious or simply absurd.
So without further ado, feel free to click around to learn a little about what I'm all about.