If we were meeting over coffee, here’s the quick version: I’ve got formal schooling, I’m aggressively self-taught, and I’m the kind of person who learns the thing because it interests me— not because I need a piece of paper to prove it.
BA, University of Colorado at Boulder, Psychology (Cognitive – developing models for how the brain processes information,), Anthropology, Classical Civilization (Evolution of Civilization)
BS, Computer Science Engineering, Metropolitan State College of Denver (half completed; got sidetracked)
Clerical / Administrative Assistant skills, Barnes Business College, Denver
That’s just my official education. I’m very self-taught, and could test out to get degrees in other fields as well. I just don’t bother because, “What am I going to do with a degree in Egyptology? My focus is elsewhere.”
I know that I know, and that’s what matters. I do very well as the intellectual sparring partner for a retired Professor of Electrical Engineering Technology, so there’s your proof in the pudding right there.
Perl, C, Fortran, Visual Basic, Basic, Pascal, Cobol, HTML, JavaScript... How many do you want to see?
English (primary), Spanish (semi-fluent), Gift for Mirroring Accents, Glossolalia (I’m aware that the phenomenon is not a real language.)
In late 2025 I reached a point where I seriously had to upgrade my PC for film/video editing and apps like Blender and Unreal Engine. A series 5 processor just wasn’t cutting it anymore. A series 7 would do, but I decided on headroom and went for a series 9 build.
So I built my own PC. The final specs were as follows: Aorus B850 Motherboard with Ryzen 9 9900X CPU, 64GB RAM, 2TB and 4TB internal SSD storage, Gigabyte Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB GPU, with extra ports provided via USB 3.0 PCIe Expansion Card with 4 ports, plus a GrauGear 5.25 inch Front Panel unit with USB 3.2 x 2 ports, Audio ports, micro SD Internal Card Reader, and two USB-C type ports.
Peripherals are more than that. I also had to expand to 3 monitors, add a digital tablet and stylus, already use a web camera (lots of Zoom calls since Covid; what else...) and a 5 TB external drive.
It may seem like overkill, but when juggling an AI as your copilot, PhotoShop, Davinci Resolve, and Blender (not just MS Word and Final Draft) as your main go-to applications—plus keeping a web connection open—the workflow demand makes it a prerequisite. Then there's the professional grade sound equipment I bust out when recording (plus post-), and run into the whole array too.
In a nod to the Krell Machine of Forbidden Planet (1956) I named this monster The Krell Mk-1. When it fired up, I told the AI I work with, “Mission Control, this is Eagle One. The Eagle has landed. Repeat. The Eagle has landed.” It replied, “Big Smiley Face Copy that Eagle One. We’re all celebrating here at Mission Control.”
Now my house is identifiable by the green glow emanating from it and the low, barely sub-audible hum that makes houseplants nervous.
Tribal Fusion (a Belly Dancing sub-style) to Contemporary Western Music (Techno, for example). For me, it’s about the Primal Goddess Energy. You feel it with every cultivated, controlled roll of your muscles.
Always creating health and beauty products. That includes perfumes, anti-wrinkle cream (for the husband), body butter, a pain rub, leave-in hair treatment, custom hair oil blend, and general healing herbalism practiced too.
Cooking Cuisines: Tex-Mex, Asian-American, Middle American.
Yes, I’m a d@mn good cook if I don’t say so myself, with quite a range of what I fix. It’s something I approach as though it’s alchemy and magic—challenging the standard of not only excellent taste, but wonderful presentation.
I could devote a very detailed website to everything I do with that – which I’m not going to put the energy into doing. I should probably just put up a picture of the 10 spice racks I have mounted on one wall in my 1,500 square foot kitchen to illustrate the point.
Why do I do it? Because I enjoy it. It’s chemistry and alchemy, combined with the art of presentation.
Note: Some people may say, “Sandra, you’re a Feminist. Why are you so into cooking?” Because that’s my choice too. If someone said, “I expect my dinner on the table by 5 o’clock!” I’d reply, “Well then you’d better get busy cookin’, ‘cuz I’m not doing it for you with that attitude.”
Another Note: Someone pointed out to me that part of what may be going on is that cooking is more of a statement on my relationship to food. I’d become pre-diabetic at one point, so got stomach surgery to reset my metabolism. As a result I can’t eat much. Therefore, I focus on the art of creation—smells, prep, nuances, presentation and a sample taste.
This is just how much I take my cooking seriously:
