still, i should know better. you need more.

so. hi. i'm christine castro.

when i was a child, i wanted to dye my hair blonde hair and change my name to regina. i write in lowercase letters not because i think i am e.e. cummings nor because i do not know the proper grammatical rules, but because i think it is more aesthetically pleasing. in 3rd grade, i won 3rd place in a penmanship contest. we were rewarded with bubblegum ice cream. i have always loved writing, so i studied journalism in school. my heart wasn't into community reporting, so now i work as an assistant web producer. i make websites. my mother thinks if i tell you more information, you will find me and kill me. i hope not, because i want to live to cry at my wedding and have dinner parties in my backyard. i am 24.

i still believe that there are good things in the world. i believe in God. i believe everything happens for a reason. i believe my body will tell me if it's getting sick or craving a hamburger. i believe that if you love your job, success will follow. sometimes i have a hard time believing how lucky i am.

i was born in quezon city, philippines, sometime around 10 a.m. on november 22, 1975, the death anniversary of JFK, on the scorpio/sagittarius cusp, on the feast days of Christ the King and St. Cecilia, for whom i was named. when i was 9 months old, my parents brought me and my two older brothers to the united states so that we could have a better life, one that included an education, security and opportunity. i am 1.5 generation filipina american. i became a u.s. citizen when i was 20 years old.

a majority of my family is still in the philippines, including my grandparents whom i miss dearly. i have gone back several times and am treated like a princess whenever i do. aside from the philippines, i have also traveled throughout europe, up the west coast and some of the east. i've never been to the mid-west but want to someday drive across the country. i love to travel and try to leave the country once a year. as i get older, however, that is more and more difficult.

i grew up in a very pleasant place in orange county and now live near the coast in the greater los angeles area. i am not your typical SoCal Baywatch Babe, so don't ask, and come to think of it, i never really thought i'd live in LA. i've always had a fascination with the other coast and have recently been dreaming of Pulling a Felicity. i heart new york. but who knows. i, of all people, know that anything can -- and will -- happen.

recently i was asked what are my goals. i have so many, i don't know where to begin. i want to help people see how beautiful they are. i want to write and illustrate children's books. i want to handcraft greeting cards and sell them on the corner. i want to have children and teach them how to paint with their fingers. i want to grow a daisy and tulip garden in my backyard. i want to take care of my parents as they've taken care of me. i want to make money the least of my worries. i want to fall in love.

i am a media fiend. i devour literature and film and music and art. i've dabbled in all areas -- scribbling poetry, attempting a screenplay, playing the piano, and swirling around the paintbrush -- but the downside is i feel like i'll never know nearly enough about any medium. so i am always trying to learn more. i am horrible at picking favorites, so i won't even try. besides, that's more of a first-date topic that you and i might share over a cup of coffee.

i have no illusions about my imperfections. i am a self-proclaimed mess. i am moody and picky and antsy and careless and self-absorbed and vain. i am horrible with names. i stare and glare without realizing. i judge books by their covers, and sometimes i judge people that way, too. i snort when i laugh. i trip over things. i make jokes that nobody gets but me, and when i do, i laugh, no, i guffaw, without even a trace of grace. it's just embarrassing. i hardly ever get hatemail, and i almost wish i would, because i can really be quite a bitch, sometimes. honestly.

i began this website as an attempt to learn HTML and write better and more often. it started off as a string of pages on free homepage space and has grown into an excessive and sprawling domain that has actually been recognized. i keep writing because i am delusional: i imagine things and i imagine that people want to read them. it's an overwhelming feeling when i discover that people actually do.

to you, this might seem like a bunch of useless facts -- places, numbers, names. to me, it's just the stuff inbetween the air i breathe and the moments i seek. it's just part of me and my life.

to find out the rest, you may want to start from the beginning.

updated 22 july 2000