Getting Started
I've been meaning to play with LiveJournal since I first discovered the original Pervy Hobbit Fancier's Journal (http://cassieclaire.livejournal.com/) some years ago. I have a true gift for procrastination, so only taking three years or so is good for me!
Presumably the place to start is with some introductory information about myself. I'm a computer network administrator for a government agency, which I suppose makes me that lower life form known as the bureaucrat. The Powers That Be generally keep me out of sight. That's partly because I prefer twill pants and polo shirts to pantsuits, skirts, and dresses, but mostly because I don't suffer fools gladly and have an unfortunate tendency to speak frankly about it. For myself, I'm just as happy to stay behind the scenes. If I rise any further in the hierarchy, I'll spend more time writing reports and attending meetings, and less time playing with the techy toys. No, thank you. I have no desire to achieve project equilibrium, where you spend all your time reporting on the projects that you're not getting done because you spend all your time reporting on them.
You can pretty much rest assured that any political opinions expressed here will fall into the "flaming liberal" category. I'm a card-carrying member of the ACLU, NOW, local PBS outlets, the Franklin Institute science museum, and the National Constitution Center. Discussing Constitutional principles can bring tears to my eyes. Lately, reading the newspaper does the same thing, but for opposite reasons.
In 1984 I met the woman of my dreams, and we've been together ever since. After 9/11, I got nervous about establishing legal ties. As a result, we are now registered as (roughly west to east): "reciprocal beneficiaries" in Hawaii; "domestic partners" in California; "life partners" in Philadelphia, PA; "domestic partners" in New Jersey; and a "civil union" in Vermont. In Canada, we're married. It's not entirely clear what our status is in most other states. In some we're legal strangers, as we are to the US government. In others, there are varying degrees of legal recognition. But as with most things, in practical terms how we're regarded mostly depends on the mood of the individual we're dealing with at any given moment. Despite my discomfort with the patriarchal history of marriage as an institution, I want the same rights as other citizens, and that includes the right to marry.
When I'm not working, I waste time on the Internet, especially Web Sudoku, and read. I have very eclectic tastes in reading material. Our house is filled with books (my wife's job as a bookstore manager does nothing to reduce the flow), and I'll read just about anything. As a child I read the back of the cereal box at breakfast if there was nothing else available. I drive my wife crazy when we visit museums, because I want to read each little card on the exhibits.
My wife and I both enjoy science fiction and fantasy, so our vacation time is usually spent at a convention. We've been going to Gaylaxicons since 1992, and WorldCons since 1998, although we haven't made all of either along the way.
In a challenge to the stereotype, we currently have only one cat; we topped out at three, but two died in 2004.
Presumably the place to start is with some introductory information about myself. I'm a computer network administrator for a government agency, which I suppose makes me that lower life form known as the bureaucrat. The Powers That Be generally keep me out of sight. That's partly because I prefer twill pants and polo shirts to pantsuits, skirts, and dresses, but mostly because I don't suffer fools gladly and have an unfortunate tendency to speak frankly about it. For myself, I'm just as happy to stay behind the scenes. If I rise any further in the hierarchy, I'll spend more time writing reports and attending meetings, and less time playing with the techy toys. No, thank you. I have no desire to achieve project equilibrium, where you spend all your time reporting on the projects that you're not getting done because you spend all your time reporting on them.
You can pretty much rest assured that any political opinions expressed here will fall into the "flaming liberal" category. I'm a card-carrying member of the ACLU, NOW, local PBS outlets, the Franklin Institute science museum, and the National Constitution Center. Discussing Constitutional principles can bring tears to my eyes. Lately, reading the newspaper does the same thing, but for opposite reasons.
In 1984 I met the woman of my dreams, and we've been together ever since. After 9/11, I got nervous about establishing legal ties. As a result, we are now registered as (roughly west to east): "reciprocal beneficiaries" in Hawaii; "domestic partners" in California; "life partners" in Philadelphia, PA; "domestic partners" in New Jersey; and a "civil union" in Vermont. In Canada, we're married. It's not entirely clear what our status is in most other states. In some we're legal strangers, as we are to the US government. In others, there are varying degrees of legal recognition. But as with most things, in practical terms how we're regarded mostly depends on the mood of the individual we're dealing with at any given moment. Despite my discomfort with the patriarchal history of marriage as an institution, I want the same rights as other citizens, and that includes the right to marry.
When I'm not working, I waste time on the Internet, especially Web Sudoku, and read. I have very eclectic tastes in reading material. Our house is filled with books (my wife's job as a bookstore manager does nothing to reduce the flow), and I'll read just about anything. As a child I read the back of the cereal box at breakfast if there was nothing else available. I drive my wife crazy when we visit museums, because I want to read each little card on the exhibits.
My wife and I both enjoy science fiction and fantasy, so our vacation time is usually spent at a convention. We've been going to Gaylaxicons since 1992, and WorldCons since 1998, although we haven't made all of either along the way.
In a challenge to the stereotype, we currently have only one cat; we topped out at three, but two died in 2004.