Cynthia Houng recently escaped from academia. Though a writer by vocation, she prefers to introduce herself to strangers as an art historian and a "gallery slave." (Note that the IRS does not recognize either occupation.) She dabbles in the visual arts and believes that the word "amateur" should not be considered an epithet. A long-time Bay Area resident, Cynthia was born in Bloomington, Indiana, a leafy college town, and split her childhood between Taipei and the United States.When she isn't writing poetry (or reading trashy fashion magazines), Cynthia can be found window-shopping, wandering through museums and galleries, engaging in gluttonous behavior, hiking on the East Side, or climbing a rock. Like a magpie, she is drawn to bright and shiny things, and admits to a great weakness for fashion. And jewelry. Especially hand-crafted jewelry with precious stones.Read her unfiltered thoughts on her blog at Kimikocat's Journal
