Our Spotlight Award winner for August 2012 is Ashley Nelson!
Ashley is a Library Information Specialist II with the Engineering Library, a position she has held for two years. She previously worked for two years as a graduate student in several departments, including Tech Services, Reference, and the Journalism library before receiving her Master’s degree in Library Science from MU. She also holds a degree from Westminster College in Fulton (English major, Math minor) and is originally from metro Seattle, Washington.
Ashley has two pets, a cat named Creamy Delight Bubba Boedeker Nelson (not a cuddler) and a green-cheeked conure/parakeet named Lucy (a major cuddler).
When my family got Creamy from the pound, she wasn’t old enough to be weaned yet, but she refused to eat anything except dry cat food and quickly taught herself how to hunt.
Lucy’s wings aren’t clipped, and she loves to fly around and land in your hair or try to stroll up and down your arm while you’re trying to eat. She’ll even land on Creamy’s back, but Creamy just ignores her.
In her free time, Ashley has many hobbies. She reads quirky non-fiction, obscure histories, and classic YA, and loves to write, especially autobiographical short stories and YA novels). Her interest in film and TV tends towards psychological thrillers and British comedy. She also likes to pick up conversation-starting hobbies like Morse Code, cross-stitching, and glass beadmaking. She also loves to spend time with family and friends by going on walks and reading aloud. Her favorite snack or candy is fruit, particularly strawberries and watermelon.
In answer to the question “what’s the coolest place you’ve ever visited?”, Ashley replies:
Most adventurous cool: With my mom, cycling the Katy Trail both ways (aprx.480 miles) in June-heat with no training or conditioning other than having ridden to the park once the previous year.
Most “this-will-make-a-great-story-later” cool: In Germany, accidentally buying drug paraphernalia out of a vending machine when trying to buy a train ticket.
Most “wacky teen comedy movie” cool: Having a door handle come off, trapping me in a German bar/internet café bathroom at 6:30AM where I yelled 20 minutes for help through a barred window at an empty street.
In a movie of her life, Ashley would like to be portrayed by “a glamorous old-timey actress who can act, sing, and dance. Because if they’re making a movie about my life, they must already be significantly embellishing things and won’t mind a bit more.” For the soundtrack: “I love Broadway musicals, but I think they would be an overly-dramatic score for my life. Classical music would probably be more appropriate.”
If picking any fictional or real person to have a drink with, Ashley would choose James Wight (aka James Herriot). “His humor, genuineness, and empathy are evident in his books, and the beer would ensure I’d get to hear a lot of his stories.” If she was featured in a magazine, she would be most surprised and thrilled to be featured in a literary or world magazine.
Ashley has a range of shoes that she would pick as her favorite:
I enjoy my oxford heels (Chelsea Crew Jenny) and my grey and white polka-dot Converse (dELiA*s). My third choice (I know you only asked for one!) would be my high heels with cat faces on them (ModCloth).
I am pretty conservative in footwear now when compared to high school where I wore fuzzy slippers, mismatched sneakers with neon-colored shoelaces, and striped knee-high toe socks with flip-flops.
Ashley’s photo was taken off the southwest coast of Ireland on her summer vacation this year. She was inspired to use it for this Spotlight post after seeing Diane Johnson’s picture with the meerkat from earlier this year. “It was the very first fish I caught and ate (instead of tearfully breaking down and releasing it.)”
Congratulations, Ashley!