Well… to talk about this site, I need to start by…
Who I am
My name is Maria Q. Stultz. I was born in Colombia many-many moons ago. That’s where I grew up, went to college, and got my first job as an Industrial Engineer.
Trying to escape from the job, an ex-boyfriend, and the natural fear that comes from driving through Bogotá at night, I went to a top business school in the U.S. Got my MBA degree, and somewhere in between I also found a great job as a financial analyst, and a new blond, blue-eyed boyfriend in Dallas, TX. A few years later, after many esoteric signs of celestial approval, I married my adorable quesito.
I was doing great as a senior analyst, but MBAs don’t get paid big bucks to be simple contributors forever. Oh, no…, they must become leaders, climb the corporate ladder, and in my heart I couldn’t get excited by any of that.
I believe that your trips to Barnes & Noble tell a lot about yourself. In my case, I would NEVER EVER come even close to the Business Management section. Invariably, I would go straight to the Art and Design shelves and spend hours looking at books to improve my watercolor painting techniques. It was frightening… How could I keep growing in a business career I wasn’t that interested in?
I can’t live without drive and passion. So, after some soul-searching, I did the inconceivable and left my business job to begin training on a field that would always keep me going… A field where working some occasional “Investment Banking” hours wouldn’t make me feel miserable… A field that would allow me to CREATE tangible products… A field that combined my artistic inclination with my undeniably analytical ISTJ mind… And so, today I am a Web Designer.
Mafe Maria
Still talking about me… I am both: Mafe and Maria.
Mafe, short for “María Fernanda” was my nickname in Colombia. I am still Mafe for all of my Colombian friends and most of my family, but suspecting that my full name would be too much for poor American tongues, I currently live as Maria in the U.S.
I could have called this site many other things since I respond to several other names like “Lola” (from my memorable performance as Lola Flórez while telling a dirty joke), “Francesca” (I much prefer this over Fernanda), and “Q” (a lot easier on English-speaking tongues than my full maiden name).
Spanglish
I live in English and Spanish.
Although most Americans tell me I speak English very well, there is just no way that I will ever be able to lose my endearing Latin accent. It’s not as Latinoamericánamente proud as Salma Hayek’s, or as painful as Penélope Cruz’s. On the other hand, after living almost 10 years out of my 30something in English, my Spanish has suffered a little… Just enough to annoy family and friends who think I believe it’s cool to sound like I’ve forgotten my Colombian. And so, you may be able to hear all this mess through my writing:
- I make up English words if I need them and if it sounds like they may exist. Some times I hit, some times I miss.
- I have completely forgotten — or don’t know — Spanish words for things that I now mostly speak of in English… Web jargon, for instance.
- Despite much direction in business school and in pre-MBA English classes, I still write like Hispanics speak: As my dad would say, “Sin el don de la síntesis.”
- I can’t remember all the rules and exceptions regarding tildes in Spanish. What’s worse, my keyboard is American, so putting the damn tildes is an absolute whip. So, in this site, I may be skipping those unless it looks offensive not to mark them.
- As any other Latin American alive, I completely disapprove of Americans calling themselves “Americans”. If you don’t know why, well it’s because WE are also Americans. You are only NORTH Americans (but then, there’s Canadians too). However, after living almost 10 years out of my 30something in the U.S., it’s just easier to let it go and enjoy the convenience of just saying “Americans” and not “Estadounidenses”, or “gringos” for which I could get killed at my own house. He! he!
- My English is not perfect, and although I always ask my husband to proof-read stuff like my resume, we always get on a fight over his editorial comments. So I won’t be doing that here. Expect horrors. Embrace them, in rejoice of the Great American Melting Pot.
- Some English words don’t exist in my house any more. They have been completely replaced by more flavorful Spanish words. For instance, “hands” and “feet” are now “manitas” and “patitas”.
- I overdo commas and have a constant need for “…”
This Site
This site begins somewhere around late March, 2006 as a personal experiment.
My main purpose is to use it as a playground to help me keep the creative juices flowing. I also intend to post opinions or stories that I’d like to share with the world… even if only three stray cats are interested. I’m just beginning, so there might not be much focus for a while.
Some topics come more naturally to me in Spanish, and some others in English. So, as part of the experiment, for now I will be writing in both languages… and some times in Spanglish.
Sentimental Site Trivia
Birth: March 16, 2006. (A Pisces with ascendant in Sagittarius)
First comment: April 11, 2006, by Lorelle VanFossen on “Sticking my patita in the blogosphere”
Claimed in Technorati: April 21, 2006. Initial rank: 1,178,156
First feed subscriber: Chris and Petie DiPaolo on May 5, 2006
First blogroll link from an unrelated blogger: Mandarine on Oct 12, 2006
First comment from a personally admired celebrity: Feb 23, 2007. Internationally acclaimed tenor, Jerome Pruett, thanks me for my complimentary comments on “The Music Teacher”
First blushing praise email from a stranger: Mar 3, 2007 by Tracey
First client request driven by this site and not my business portfolio: Jul 23, 2007, by a gentleman who I hope will write a certain great story some day
First comment from my mom: Aug 12, 2007 on “One”