I'm 37 years old. My ethnic background is fairly diverse - my mother is from Finland, while my father is from Pakistan. (He was born in Lucknow, India, then moved to Karachi, Pakistan with his family when he was a teenager.) I was born in the United States and have lived most of my life near the Gulf Coast in Houston, Texas. Now I live and work in Central Texas (which includes the beautiful Hill Country and the I-35 Corridor from Austin to San Antonio) with my husband Jeff. We have a cute house, a cute kitty and hope to add a cute dog to that list sometime.

I've had numerous small pets - hamsters, gerbils, hermit crabs, a cockatiel and guinea pigs. But for all the little rodents and crustaceans that I've taken care of, I'm really a dog and cat person.

I like an eclectic mix of music, but my book collection far outnumbers the CDs. My hobbies include scale model building (dollhouses as well as plastic kit models), anything related to space or science fiction, photography and painting. I do both wet-on-wet oil painting, (I'm a Bob Ross fan) and airbrushing

I also do a lot of embroidery, crewel, counted cross-stitch, and needlepoint - and I'm finally knitting! (With all my female scandinavian ancestors, it was a real shame that I couldn't knit for so long.) I own a spinning wheel, a Kromski Symphony, but I'm also hunting for an antique Finnish spinning wheel like my great-grandmother would have used. And yes, I spin my own wool.

I don't watch as much television as I used to, but I do have a few favorite shows. Currently that's "Good Eats" (hosted by Alton Brown) and Iron Chef America from the FoodTV network, and stuff like "Smallville", "StarGate SG1", (as well as Stargate Atlantis), the Deadzone, Psych and CSI.

I chose the name "Fusion Reaction" for my weblog to reflect myself and the way I see and interact with the world. I love both the hard and the social sciences. I'm a geek and an artist. I code during the day and embroider at night. Half my ethnic heritage comes from the quiet and frozen north, and the other from the steamy and lively south of asia. I love cultural fusion, shades of grey and androgeny.

In short, the name points to the paradigm that defines me - the melting, blending and fusion of cultures, ideas and realities, in everything from music to food to ... people. I grew up in thinking nobody else had such an extreme ethnic blend, but I've since met people who are Pakistani/Irish, Mexican/French, Chinese/Dutch, etc. etc. It doesn't hurt that the intials for Fusion Reaction are the same as my name, Fazia Rizvi.

And so "Fusion Reaction" was born. The things I write about here vary - from food to feminism, needlework to nebulae, and just about anything else I can think of. The topics reflect me and my interests and topics I'd like to write about. Sometimes it'll read like a journal, and sometimes I'll just be sharing some nifty information I came across. Othertimes I may have something to say, or to teach. I also try to remember to infuse it with a bit of global culture when I can.

Trailride picture in 1998.


Mom and me.


Mom.


Dad and me.


Dad.


My sis.


Recent pic of my sis.


Jeff, myself and my family
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Jeff, myself and my in-laws
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