Introductions meme!

[kaberett]

me_and, also referred to herein as facesfriend, is tentatively stepping back into using DW as a social network, on the grounds that having committed enough patches to make a dw_news post he might want to shake the dust off his account. He's techy (to nobody's surprise, um), he reads spec fic (I'm hoping to persuade him to post about the various books I just foisted onto him), he is into systems and logistics in a way that I find utterly captivating but leads D to describe him as My Boring Dudefriend With Whom I Boring, and he's kind and thoughtful and generous with his time. He does LARP (about which I know nothing), can be very entertainingly snide and deadpan if encouraged but is careful to keep it away from people who don't like it, and is a singlet who picked his handle lo these many years ago for entirely unrelated reasons unaware of what the naming convention implies (if this clause is opaque to you then the meaning's largely irrelevant).

Or, to put it another way, I think it's time for an introductions meme.

If you would like to, please comment to this post, and I'll introduce you to everybody else by giving a reason why I think you're great. Some people I know better than others, so I can't promise all my introductions will exactly encapsulate why someone might want to get to know you. You're also welcome to comment to someone else's thread and ask for a specific introduction to that person; I know some people are more confident than others about just jumping in and introducing themselves to a stranger. I am also happy to matchmake if you would like that; ask me for a recommendation of a personal journal and/or community from my circles.

And of course, feel free to repost this game in your own journal, if you think it would be a good way to make connections between some of your people. I think this could go quite well if it spreads a few hops away from here, but also worth doing even if no-one picks it up.

Please do play if you'd like to; if you want to PM me to ask permission and encouragement I will gladly dispense same. <3

Comments

[alexseanchai]

Oh, hey, introductions meme! :)

[kaberett]

Alex is a poet and a storyteller and, in the most general of senses, a creator: fibre arts and jewellery and, increasingly, metalwork (currently largely of the stampy variety). They're engaged and thoughtful and put a lot of effort into Understanding The World Better, with recurrent themes in addition to narratives-that-shape-our-selves including intersectional feminisms of economics and ecology. They're kind, and generous with their time and their self; and where they don't Get It already, they're apparently endlessly willing to go out and learn. Their job doesn't feature much; there's lots in their journal on school and writing and interpersonal dynamics and selfhood. :-)

[flippac]

Eh, I figure I ought to be in this time?

[kaberett]

flippa's a mathematician and a programmer specialising in Haskell; she's also someone who provides a lot of intra-community support particularly to people at intersections of autism, having been around the block with UK services on the topic Several Times. Also into electronic music (she's a composer; unfortunately the genre intersects with my sensory processing issues in ways that mean I Just Don't Listen), gaming (in the in-depth literary-criticism sense as well as the being really good at blowing shit up one), the Laundry Files, and analysing social dynamics.

[sgsabbage]

I'll go for this, out of interest!

[kaberett]

Fannish and writing-oriented! Pretty quiet; nonetheless, into poetry (wry comments about Sappho) and does an excellent line in encouragement and anecdote. Known to exhibit fantastic turns of phrase. :-)

[jelazakazone]

I'll step in. Very distracted at the moment though :D

[kaberett]

Stunning fibre artist, specialising in quilting, particularly of the communicating-science variety (I am at all times 100% up for art! in an adventure with science! and vice versa, phrasing nicked from jjhunter, so this suits me very well). One of the first people I think of when I think "podficcer"; has encouraged me into transformative art forms and creation I'd otherwise have continued wary of. Fannish and enthusiastic and a parent. Kind and encouraging and very open to asking (and being asked) questions. :-)

[sporky_rat]

Howdy! What kind of LARP? I just got back into it myself - a fantasy, post apocalyptic type of thing. That's how I met my Husbandthing!

[kihou.livejournal.com]

I was going to ask something similar. I do a lot of LARP in Boston, and vaguely intended to investigate the LARP scene in London while I'm here but haven't actually followed through.

[thatyourefuse]

Oh, all right, go for it.

[kaberett]

Fannish! Mostly about media that I'm not into but it's still lovely to read in-depth meta and unabashed squee and writing process; we met via perfume fandom as curated by rydra_wong and smellsgood. Writes life updates in a particularly engaging tone of arch commentary. Entertaining and incisive and intense in all the best ways.

[batdina]

sure, why not? new people is most always a good thing.

[kaberett]

Fannish and Jewish and very much into writing, of their own and of others'; engages thoughtfully. Queers and sports and community and history and community history; continuity and selfhood and the stories we tell to make sense of ourselves.

[kihou.livejournal.com]

Sure, I'll bite.

[kaberett]

Xavid is someone I know via sorrilia! They're a scientist-type, very patient with being dragged around botanical gardens, and interested in speculative fiction and gaming (of tabletop and LARP varieties particularly). Currently on An Adventure In London from Boston, and blogging about it!

[silveradept]

I'm always curious to know how other people would introduce me.

[kaberett]

Silver's updates are mostly in the forms of fantastically curated linkspams, from grab-bags to single-topic-focus. They're always informative and always lovingly written; and as a commenter Silver is thoughtful & engaged if erring on the shy side. (me_and, Silver is one of the contributors who hung around with us a fair bit at OSB and is signing up to improve Dreamwidth's documentation -- everyone else, please observe the interest in community maintenance in a behind-the-scenes sort of a way.) Voracious interests expressed incredibly retiringly. :-)

[syderia]

I'm in.

[kaberett]

So I think the thing I want to lead with here is that a few months back syderia and I had a somewhat fraught disagreement in which I was not exactly my best or most compassionate self, and she responded to me graciously and reflectively and in a thoroughly honest & open manner that left her vulnerable, and that right there is something I admire a great deal and, for that matter, aspire to.

Engaging life-blogging; wry anecdotes of bureaucracy, discussion of media consumed, prone to outbursts of infectious enthusiasm about football.

[quartzpebble]

Hello there.

[kaberett]

(Ooooh, are those gloves to go with that one shawl?)

quartzpebble is fibre artist extraordinaire (knitting and spinning are the ones I'm at all qualified to judge on and holy shit that's some even tension), fierce and incredibly fucking determined and astonishingly reflective. Will go away and think and then give you a considered opinion on pretty much anything; excellent on interpersonal dynamics; self-aware and kind, of the variety that takes no shit but will always encourage you. Excellent on SCIENCE, computers, and cocktails.

[forthwritten]

I'm always curious about how others see me.

[kaberett]

Yesss. Advocate, mentor, author. Adorable mythological creatures that only want to eat you to death a little bit (oooh, if you haven't read The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater I recommend it); Adventures Of The American Girlfriend (including Adventures In British Biscuits); analysis and meta, incisive and thought-provoking and yes. Linguistics & trans rights & representations; strongly recommended.

[sonia]

Tentatively sticks a toe in, although we haven't interacted much (yet?).

[kaberett]

Remembers people fiercely, with love and compassion and honour, and makes space for them & for their memory. Gentle reflective lifeblogging; amplification of beauty.

[me_and]

I suppose I ought to drop myself in here...

[kaberett]

Yep, but I'm not writing you another one. :-p

[littlebutfierce]

I feel like I don't post all that much publicly these days & have been not actively able to/seeking to add people to my DW circle for a while, but eh, I dunno, maybe that should change on both counts. In any case, generally curious what people would say to introduce me... !

[kaberett]

littlebutfierce is where I get most of my new music these days (bands they have introduced me to including but not limited to: Stars, Muncie Girls, Virginia Jetzt! [at least I'm pretty sure that one was you], and so on and so forth); my impression is very much that the stuff I pick up from them (which perhaps tells you more about the intersection of our tastes than anything else) is skewed towards musically upbeat pop with complex and ambiguous lyrics. So there's enthusiasm about music; and then there's enthusiasm about languages, which makes me feel less tentative and ashamed about my own (faltering) Adventures In Bilingualism; and there was the mutual decompression at WorldCon where we had OPINIONS at each other about talks; and through it all a fierce determination to seek joy and to find it, howsoever bad things are, be as it may that they are small and fragile joys nonetheless they exist, and that matters.

[worlds_of_smoke]

Sure, why not?

[kaberett]

Provides excellent science-news-focussed linkspam, pictures of cute fuzzy aminals, and Anecdotes. They are good Anecdotes. As of recently, ADVENTURES IN GARDENING, which delight me to no end (as one might expect). Interested & interesting; always informative. <3

[oursin]

Feel like I'm going through a bit of a dull patch as regards posting, but these come and go.

[kaberett]

Bread and hedgehogs! Or, more informatively, posts comfortingly domestic Here's The Bread I Made This Weekend; fascinating historical snippets and politics; creative writing in a similar vein; and Extremely Wry Commentary on current affairs. A joy & a pleasure to read.

[shanaqui]

*waves hand*

[kaberett]

DINOSAURS. Made me the dinosaur duvet cover! Lovely lifeblogging, including adventures in BOOKS (libraries, purchasing, reading); volunteering in a medical setting; navigating familial structures and identity; and partners and siblings and pets. Yes. <3

[rydra_wong]

Um, hi.

(Also, hi to me_and! I hope he is finding interesting people here!)

[kaberett]

Heyyy :D :D :D

rydra_wong does a fantastic job of community-building on DW (and presumably off); is generous with knowledge and expertise (they're the reason I know anything like as much as I do about perfumes and the history thereof, and are also indirectly the reason I have The Book Of Best Reviews); politics and recommendations, for media and otherwise; funny and kind and interesting.

[frith_in_thorns]

Please could you introduce me? (I'm trying to get into the swing of posting more again.)

[kaberett]

Fannisssssh. Brilliant fannish enabler. Boundless infectious enthusiasm; cheerful recommendations; booklogging; charming life updates. Likes the Mechs. <3

[shortcipher]

o/

(I don't post here; I am chris_boyle_feed (oops no posts for ages there either), c_boyle, shortcipher and shortcipher among others.)

[kaberett]

My useless ex :-) Perhaps best known on the internets for maintaining the Android port of simont's portable puzzle collection; sweet and punny and generous and generally far too Nice for his own good except on the topic of the correct ways to do whitespace. Likes electronic gothy bleep (I have successfully made recommendations to him to the tune of "I hate this music in exactly the same way I hate all your shit"), gothing about affably in general, cats, and writing code. Also cheerfully devours media misc (mostly visual not textual these days IIRC, at least for the non-fiction) and will happily go YES THAT THING I LIKED THAT THING at you; doesn't tend to be much more opinionated than that. ♥

[403]

I'll toss my name in, with the note that I comment a fair bit, and don't post nearly often enough.

[kaberett]

A willingness to work shit out in public that I greatly admire. Excellent taste in poetry and book recs; compassion for self; and updates about the vagaries of health, gardens, and literature searches that I find really very enjoyable. (Sorry for not commenting enough to say so!)

[randomling]

*waves* Me, please, I always love your introductions!

(I am trying to get better at posting again.)

[kaberett]

<3 randomthing!

randomling was not at this year's OSB but is 100% of the reason I took a very deep breath and actually got around to trying DW dev when I did, for which I am eternally grateful. They're generous and kind if shy with it; they're fantastically enthusiastic and to my delight are willing to spend hours doing in-depth literary criticism at me, the better to expand my horizons. They founded awesomeers, for handling impostor syndrome; they're introspective and eager to learn and they just... keep making themself bigger, keep encompassing more, and it is a joy to watch.

[jjhunter]

Yes, please!

<3

[kaberett]

JJ is why I dare do poetry in public. JJ is, in fact, why I dare do a lot of things in public; when I talk about how surprising it is to me that people who met me since anti-depressants consider me intense, I also mean people-who-met-me-since-JJ, because the two happened more or less simultaneously, and the latter is a good deal of what helped me screw up my courage and do. The reason I'm going about this at such length is that it's characteristic: JJ nurtures people, works out how to help them grow and whether they need a larger pot. She seeks out joy and whimsy and - not novelty, but attention, ways to pay attention and see what you've looked at every day on your way into work - and she distills it into poetry and prose. Yes. (That is how to summarise JJ: yes.) ♥

[ex_we935]

We would like to play. :D

~K.

[kaberett]

Consistently lovely system, currently in the process of providing KITTENSPAM. Very supportive of community, particularly in terms of carefully-curated signalboosts; lifeblogging including detailed introspection and brainlogging, which makes me at least feel better about doing my own; and commentary on current events and politics that, well, frequently makes me furious, actually, but furious in solidarity and agreement rather than anything else.