The Early Years .............................................................................................

The number 13 may be unlucky for some, but not Belinda! She was born on April 13 in the Sydney North Shore suburb of Manly, Australia. Belinda attended pre-school and kindergarten in Sydney and showed an early affinity for music, art, dance, mathematics, and language.

Just before her 5th birthday, Belinda's family moved to the small country town of Telegraph Point, near Port Macquarie on the mid-north coast of New South Wales. Belinda enrolled in 1st grade at the local primary school (which only had about 100 students across the six grades), and it soon became apparent that she was ahead of her classmates. By the 4th grade, Belinda was attending higher grade classes and was learning high school level material before she had even graduated primary school - she was like a sponge, thirsty for knowledge and absorbing everything around her. Belinda was also athletic, regularly winning sprint (100m, 200m) and long jump events at annual sports carnivals, and going on to represent the school. Unfortunately, being a high achiever didn't make Belinda popular - the strange, quiet girl from the city, who preferred reading books to playing with dolls, didn't make friends easily, and the friends she did have were boys...

Anyway, once our little tomboy had finished her primary schooling, she began secondary studies at Westport Technology High School in Port Macquarie. Her academic, musical, artistic, and sporting excellence continued, and Belinda found herself torn between the various disciplines - which one should she focus on for her future? Which subjects to study? Unfortunately, she couldn't study everything ... In fact, during the final two years of high school, Belinda studied more subjects than required: 4 unit Maths, 3 unit Art, 2 unit English, 2 unit Physics, 2 unit Chemistry, 1 unit Ceramics. As you can see, she majored in both Maths and Art; her 3 unit major artwork depicts this inner struggle to choose between The Arts and The Sciences. Belinda graduated from High School with a TER (Tertiary Entrance Rank) of 95.2/100, scoring in the top 10% of the state in English, Mathematics and Visual Arts.

As a result of her excellent results, Belinda was accepted into many universities around Australia. It was crunch time: what to study? In the end, logic prevailed - Belinda discarded her fancies for an artistic future, and enrolled in a double Bachelor of Mathematics/Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Newcastle (the university closest to Port Macquarie, at that time). And so, at the tender age of 17, Belinda packed her bags, left her family, and moved to Newcastle to begin the next phase of her life: university.

University .......................................................................................................

At the end of the first year, Belinda decided lab work wasn't for her; she ditched Physics and Chemistry, and focused on Applied Mathematics & Statistics. After three years (and a high distinction average) Belinda completed her Bachelor of Mathematics, majoring in Statistics. She then went on to do a fourth Honours year, in which she wrote her first thesis: The Effect of Non-normality on the Performance of Cumulative Sum Quality Control Schemes. On completion, and after being awarded First Class Honours (the highest level attainable), Belinda was given the option of entering a (pure research) postgraduate doctoral program (PhD) - which she accepted. Three and a half years (and one 300 page thesis) later, Belinda graduated with a Doctorate (PhD) in Statistics; her thesis: Problems in Edge Detection and Edge Location.

Belinda's university academic record was exemplary and, as a result, she received several prizes and scholarships, including:

• The SAS Institute Prize
• The Statistical Society of Australia Prize
• The Statistical Society of Australia Honours Scholarship
• The University of Newcastle NEWSTAT Honours Scholarship
• An Australian Postgraduate Award
• The University of Newcastle Faculty of Economics and Commerce Scholarship

Now, don't think Belinda spent all her time at university studying. As you will see in the following sections, she balanced her life doing a variety of activities such as swimming, squash, Tae Kwon Do, and Physical Culture. She was also a member of the Newcastle University Choir, modelled part-time, and ran her own web site design business, which brings us to the next section ...

Career ...........................................................................................................

It was during the second year of her doctorate program that Belinda started to think seriously about her future career. As she saw it, there were two options: stay in the academic world and continue to regurgitate knowledge to fledgling students (at this stage, she had been teaching undergraduate Statistics for several years), or get a job in the real world, in a field still largely dominated by (chauvinistic) men. Not satisfied by either option, Belinda soon became disillusioned. Unimpressed by her academic achievements, she regretted her choice to study a scientific field and sorely missed the Arts, which she was truly passionate about (her choral activities didn't sate her artistic appetite). After dabbling with graphic design and programming throughout university, Belinda began combining the two skills in web site design. She built several personal web sites for family and friends, and soon was in demand to produce commercial sites ... Her web design business had begun! And so, still only in the second year of her doctorate, Belinda moved to Sydney to pursue her web design business.

Now, Belinda had been doing other work prior to setting up her web design business. She'd taught at university, worked with colleagues on research projects, and modelled part-time. She never took modelling seriously, however ... it was more of an amusement, a distraction. Something completely different from the academic world, and her way of rebelling against the stereotyping of intellectuals, or nerds as they are so often called. Even now, Belinda still hears: "You've got a PhD? In MATH? Yeah, right!" Anyway, at around the time Belinda was preparing to submit her doctorate thesis, a model agent came across her web site, and contacted her with a business proposal. One thing led to another, and before she knew it, Belinda was working at a modelling agency by day, and continuing her web site design business by night. (For more information on Belinda's modelling career please visit her model page.) After several years of developing her entertainment career, and with experience dealing with Korean clients, Belinda choose South Korea as the platform to launch her international career. And so, in early 2003, she sold her car, gave away or stored her belongings, got on a plane and made her way to Seoul, South Korea. (Of course, there was more impetus than that, but we won't go into that here ;-) ...)

Since her relocation to South Korea, Belinda has gained invaluable experience in broadcasting and film, evolving her talents as an all-round entertainer. If you are interesting in working with Belinda, please contact her.

Sport ..............................................................................................................

Belinda is a keen sportsperson.

During primary and secondary school, Belinda annually represented her school in both athletics and swimming. Her crowning athletics achievement occurred at age 16, when she set a new school record for the 100m sprint, won numerous other events, and was awarded 16 years age champion in athletics.

Belinda also participated in the uniquely Australian competitive dance sport, Physical Culture, which is a mixture of aerobics, ballet and jazz, designed to help develop poise, grace and confidence. More recently, Belinda discovered Middle Eastern dance, and her life was soon dominated by this expressive dance form. (See her dance page for more details.)

Don't be fooled that Belinda is all “sugar 'n spice” - she has a blue belt in Tae Kwon Do, has completed a Self Defence course, and has attended Karate and Hap Ki Do classes.

Belinda can play a variety of sports, was notably squash, which she began playing in primary school, and continued playing socially throughout high school. At university, she won her division in the Newcastle University Flexi-Comp two years running.

Music .............................................................................................................

Music has always been an integral part of Belinda's life - she was born into a musical family. Her mother, a gifted pianist, encouraged Belinda to pursue her talents from an early age (Belinda has been performing since the age of 5).

At 7 years of age Belinda began teaching herself (through books) how to read music and play the piano (with help and guidance from her mother). Soon after, she began attending guitar classes at primary school. During secondary school she was the pianist in both the Jazz and Stage bands and performed regularly at school functions, and in public. As a member of the rock band Beg, Borrow, and Steel, Belinda played bass guitar, keys, and sang. She composed her own songs and music, some of which was recorded.

Although gifted with instruments (she'll give any instrument a go - just give her 10 minutes to work out how to play it!), Belinda's main musical passion is singing. She has been performing in concerts, musicals, and talent shows since the age of 5 and has performed at the Newcastle Conservatorium of Music, and the Sydney Opera House, amongst other venues. During university, Belinda was a first soprano in the Newcastle University Choir, where she performed works such as Britten's War Requiem, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Mozart's Requiem, and Handel's Messiah. Prior to that, Belinda performed statewide as a member of various choirs, including the Combined Schools Choir and the Hastings Choristers.

Belinda has performed musicals with various community groups. She is particularly fond of Andrew Lloyd Webber's work; her dream is to one day be involved in a production of Cats or Jesus Christ Superstar.

Belinda respects all genres of music, but her favourite is progressive rock. She is currently studying Middle Eastern and ethnic music.

For information on Belinda's musical endeavours and influences, please visit her musician page.

Art ..................................................................................................................

As well as music, Belinda has been artistically creative since she could hold a pencil. Her earliest artistic adventures took her into the Aussie bush (she lived on a 4 acre property, complete with its own creek and mini rainforest). She drew whatever she saw - trees, wildlife. Her artistic abilities grew and matured, but most of Belinda's work still exhibited a mother nature theme, such as her Orchid Loving Sun (acrylic on denim jeans) to the right (click thumbnail for larger image).

Belinda likes to work with 3-dimensional canvas (achieved by stretching canvas over a wooden frame). An example of this is her Year 10 School Certificate artwork, seen left. This artwork was donated to Westport Technology High School and now hangs in the foyer area of the school office. Belinda receive numerous awards for her artwork, which regularly featured in the annual Westport Technology High School Magazine Mingara. In fact, her Major Artwork for the 2 Unit Visual Arts course (she also did the higher, 3 Unit, level course for the Higher School Certificate) was used for the magazine cover.

After high school, Belinda found it hard to devote time to her artist explorations. There are many incomplete works hidden away in her home. Spending anywhere up to 18 hours a day on a computer, it was only a matter of time before Belinda ventured into the area of computer graphics ... you don't have to wait for paint for dry, and the storage space is tiny. The creation of her web site design business was a great excuse for Belinda to release her artist expression in the form of graphical design.

Other Trivia ...................................................................................................

Belinda's favourite colour is purple.

Her starsign is Aries.

She has a pet rabbit, called Doog ("oo" as in "book"), who loves eating licorice (and really doesn't like being bathed).

She is crazy about anything to do with Ancient Egypt (one reason she got into belly dance), and highly recommends Christian Jacq's Ramses series (6 books total) as well as Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock.

A self-confessed sci-fi freak, Belinda's favourite TV shows include Stargate SG-1, Blackadder, Red Dwarf, The X-Files, South Park (Cartman's just the best, Isn't he?), Star Trek, Doctor Who, Angel (the Vampire), Buffy (the Vampire Slayer), Farscape, Dark Angel (Belinda would love to land a role in a sci-fi film or Tv show!!!). She despises daytime talk shows, and reality TV shows (what a waste of time ... really!). Her favourite TV channels are Discovery and National Geographic - she loves watching documentaries.

Favourite movies include Stargate, The Mummy Returns, Cleopatra, Arabian Nights, My Fair Lady, The Kind And I, Ben-hur, The Ten Commandments, Gladiator, Planet of the Apes, The Rock, Highlander, The Crow - anything starring Sean Connery, Rex Harrison, Yul Brynner, or Charlton Heston. She loves martial art movies, especially those starring Jet Li, Steven Seagal, or Jackie Chan.

Belinda is a bookworm and reads daily. Her favourite authors include Dan Brown, Terry Brooks, David Eddings, Raymond E. Feist, David Gemmell, Frank Herbert, Robert Jordan, Katherine Kerr, Julian May, Anne Rice, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Wilbur Smith, and Isaac Asimov.

She has a modest collection of Arthurian literature (you know ... King Arthur and the Holy Grail ...). In fact, Belinda wrote her own Arthurian (mini) novel Dragon of the Lake when she was 15, and has even had poems published. Some of her poems are influenced by her love of Arthurian legend, as you can see below:

The Cycle Alone I wait; I wait 'till morn' When darkness sleeps and day does dawn As light awakes from slumber deep Alone I wait, bereft of sleep. I sit alone; silent, serene To dream alone a thousand dreams. I sleep awhile, no more to mourn The friendships lost and love forlorn. Whence Awake! from slumber deep As light across the land does sweep And I must rise to live again Another day, until it's end When once again, lost and forlorn, Alone I'll wait from dusk 'till dawn.

Death of The Cycle No more to wait from dusk 'till dawn To dream of what once was and mourn. The sword flashed once, was swift and true To slash the bonds 'tween me and you. Observe the gleam off tempered steel Which bade me on the ground to kneel Behold! the hands upon the hilt Hands stained with the blood of guilt. 'Twas just a flash of crimson white And then the sword was out of sight But still the image does remain The hands whereby my love was slain.

The Wheels of Time The Wheels of Time renew the moon, As Wind intones a mournful tune: Death to death as dust to dust Blades of steel decay and rust. Forefathers die, the young grow old Their stories never to be told. Mortality looms upon our heads And babies die, asleep in bed. Enhance the precious time you own; Enrich your soul, your blood, your bone. Take your life just day by day, You cannot keep the scythe at bay. Make peace with those you love to hate Before your husk capitulates. As the Wheels of Time revolve once more And your lifeless body hits the floor, The body which has breathed its last, Nothing but memories in the past. And who shall mourn for this poor soul? Whose life was never fully whole, Nobody.

Father’s Day As cold damp evaporates with the rising day An old man gently rocks in metronomic silence, Reflecting. Oblivious of surrounding loved ones he relives Days gone by, once again, the Leader of the Squad, Bound for Glory. A knowing pat of reassurance: a sudden start, “Who are you?” Wild eyes, sky blue, inquiring those, doe brown: Pain, frustration, resignation, acceptance, “I’m John, Pop.” Recognition flickers, confusion reigns, rocking resumes. White walls encapsulate the madness, serving as protection For the innocent. Quality time transforms to doing time, the family Ashamedly considering it necessary to forewarn The uninitiated. Blue orbs overflowing with life, now gone, regard the Current stranger; formerly indifferent heads now Turn in silent expectation, awaiting the query: “Who are you?”