Welcome!
2009 Edit: I pretty much don't write in my LJ anymore. I use LJ mostly for browsing communities and keeping up with family and friends. Unless I already know you pretty well, you don't really need to add me, because I'm not going to add you back. No hard feelings, it's just true.
What follows is what used to be a "here's information about me so you can add me if you want" type post. It's all horribly out-of-date.
I live on the north side of Seattle (in Washington state) with my partner. I'm still relatively new (2004) to Seattle, having formerly spent my life in St. Paul and Minneapolis (the Twin Cities) in the state of Minnesota. My partner and I live with an assortment of creatures: a whippet named Stein ("stone" in the Scandinavian languages), an Italian Greyhound named Ned, a Ragdoll/Siamese kitty named Celie (pronounced "See-lee"), and a budgerigar (parakeet) named PetCo.
Here's a (incomplete) family portrait:
Left to right: selfish, Stein, me (summer 2004)
Here are our two dogs, whom I often refer to as "the boys":
Left to right: Ned, Stein
I love life.
What I do
I'm a recent graduate of the Master of Library and Information Science program at the University of Washington's Information School. My main areas of interest in the discipline lie mostly in "traditional" librarianship (academic libraries especially). However I'm very interested in non-traditional approaches to libraries, radical changes to the OPAC, redefining reference services in a digital age, discourse about the library as place and library as service, making libraries competitive in an information-rich society (keeping up with the Amazons and Googles of today and tomorrow), changing the academic publishing conundrum (where universities pay faculty to do the research, write and edit the articles, and then pay again (and heftily) for the products of that research (online and paper journals). Isn't that exciting?!
I currently work for a library-oriented software company and it's awesome. I got my bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota in Anthropology (sociocultural) and Scandinavian Languages and Finnish (Norwegian, Old Norse, Viking Age history/archaeology, Icelandic sagas and folklore).
I enjoy spending time with my partner and my dogs, watching films (and television shows of varying quality via Netflix!), going on walks, playing the occasional (or not-so-occasional) video games, going places, spending time with friends, reading, that sort of thing. I'm also fairly recently obsessed with cycling and bicycles. I ride to work every day, even in the cold winter rain and wind, but I'm looking forward to some nice weather for longer rides. And a new bike.
I’m a former Adept (II°) of the Temple of Set, and a former Knight of the Temple's Order of the Trapezoid. I’m also learning runic magic, a la Dr. Stephen Flowers/Edred Thorsson’s runic system.
I’m currently a vegetarian (or more accurately, I'm a pescetarian, but not many people know what that means), although I miss bacon terribly and have occasional In-N-Out cravings. Lately I've been sneaking a small piece of meat here and there when I'm out. I guess I'm not very good at dietary restriction despite my beliefs about the meat industry.
I travel. I think. I cuddle. I game. I eat. You get the idea.
What I like
I like sarcasm. A lot. In fact, so much so that sometimes people think I’m being a jerk when I’m actually being sincere. I think there's something about the upper Midwest that cultivates self-depricating sarcasm that some people from other places don't understand; they think we're serious or something. If you just assume that whatever I just said is sarcastic, you're probably right. If in doubt, ask. ;)
Musically, I enjoy Black Metal most (and extreme metal in general), but I also enjoy Neo-folk/Apocalyptic folk, Scandinavian folk ("roots" music), shoegaze, electronic music of various kinds, baroque, and the occasional indie band. I'm also a huge Pearl Jam fan. I am rather discerning about my musical (and other) tastes, and never like (or dislike) a genre categorically. I used to be very active in the metal scene, with a band and everything, but I've since withdrawn myself. I am getting back into making music, but only for me at this point.
For films and televison, I really enjoy sci-fi, at least it's been growing on me more in the past few years. I also a sucker for period/historical films. I can enjoy even a bad period film if it's convincing enough. I love good plots the best, but sometimes I enjoy character films with little "meat" as far as story goes as long as the characters are done well. I'm not going to name anything specific here because it will look dumb in a few years and I really don't want to have to re-type this.
I like things like Black Metal and zombies, but I also like cuddly animals and cute cartoons. I’m a walking contradiction.
Outlook
The Simpsons are pure genius. Most products and people of society are not.
I despise falsehood. I hate people who hate other people because of their ethnicity or because of who they fuck. I’m not fond of fundamentalist religions or individuals that proselytize (if you’re one of those individuals, you’d best turn elsewhere). I’m a self-professed liberal, and have gotten more liberal as I’ve gotten older. I dream of a world where people aren’t exploited for business’ profit, where oil ceases to run the world, where Americans buy responsibly and consciously, and where religion and traditions cease to keep society asleep and ignorant. I buy locally whenever possible. I hate Wal-Mart and, for the most part, suburban culture. Anything that resembles American consumer-imperialism, gentrification, and the like is probably not on my "good" list, you know? I’m not preachy or arrogant about vegetarianism, or much of anything else for that matter. Except perhaps for education. I’m brutal with my opinions and character assessments, but I generally only give those when asked for.
I am Pro-Choice, which means that I'm first and foremost in favor of mandatory sex education, affordable birth control and public sexual health programs. In the unfortunate event that these fail, I'm in favor of letting a woman and her partner choose whether or not to take a pregnancy to term. People have the right to do with their bodies what they will. I'm a firm believer that every child should be wanted by his or her biological parents. I'm a longtime member and supporter of NARAL Pro-Choice America. You'll see Pro-Choice stuff on my journal occasionally, but it's not preachy- it's usually more along the lines of "if you're pro-choice, check this out." Pro-Sex. Pro-Family. Pro-Children. Pro-Women. Pro-Choice.
I'm also a feminist. (I also love Wikipedia)
I'm an environmentalist to a large extent and support sustainable urban planning, public transit initiatives, green architecture (my partner works at the nation's leading sustainable/green architecture firms in the country), emissions and fuel consumption regulation, and alternative/sustainable sources of fuel and energy in addition to wildlife conservation and all that crap. I like to buy organic (not chemically or genetically treated) products if possible. I like the outdoors. I'm essentially a hippy without the fucking patchouli and kumbaya bullshit.
About the journal
I write fairly regularly, at least a few times a week and often every day. But sometimes I go through spurts where I don't write at all. I tend to write about what's going on in my life, I don't wax philosophical or write articles on my political outlook or my worldview very often. My journal is about me, and those other writings are best left for another forum, IMO. I'm fairly "real" that way. My journal isn't about posturing or trying to be someone I'm not. Sometimes, if there's something that I'm really into (like my profession, a particular video game, whatever) I'll write about it incessantly. I apologize in advance.
Also, in case you haven't noticed, I tend to be sort of long-winded/verbose. I try to keep my entries down, or else warn you in a cut if you're in for a doozy of an entry if possible.
Sometimes I post memes (although generally not quizzes), but they're typically under a cut unless they're relatively short and I feel the content actually says something about me.
My journal is friends-only. Just because you add me, that does not mean I'll add you back necessarily (although I'm likely to!). When I friend someone, it means I want to read their journal. I friend and unfriend people on whims, so please, please don't be offended, shocked, appalled, outraged, etc. if I unfriend you. If you want to be back on my list so you can read my entries, let me know! Consequently, if you don't want me reading or don't want to friend me, let me know that, too. I can take it. =) LJ drama has no place in my life.
I'm not likely to add anyone under the age of 21 (and less likely those under the age of 18) - not because my life is in any way "illicit" (it certainly isn't that exciting!), but because I choose to associate with adults, and I've found I just don't have that much in common anymore with the younger crowd.
If you do decide to add me, drop me a line so that I know. I don't always notice if someone pops up on my "friends of" list!
Welcome!
If you've read this far, I applaud you. You should treat yourself to a cookie (or whatever) as a reward.
What follows is what used to be a "here's information about me so you can add me if you want" type post. It's all horribly out-of-date.
I live on the north side of Seattle (in Washington state) with my partner. I'm still relatively new (2004) to Seattle, having formerly spent my life in St. Paul and Minneapolis (the Twin Cities) in the state of Minnesota. My partner and I live with an assortment of creatures: a whippet named Stein ("stone" in the Scandinavian languages), an Italian Greyhound named Ned, a Ragdoll/Siamese kitty named Celie (pronounced "See-lee"), and a budgerigar (parakeet) named PetCo.
Here's a (incomplete) family portrait:
Left to right: selfish, Stein, me (summer 2004)
Here are our two dogs, whom I often refer to as "the boys":
Left to right: Ned, Stein
I love life.
What I do
I'm a recent graduate of the Master of Library and Information Science program at the University of Washington's Information School. My main areas of interest in the discipline lie mostly in "traditional" librarianship (academic libraries especially). However I'm very interested in non-traditional approaches to libraries, radical changes to the OPAC, redefining reference services in a digital age, discourse about the library as place and library as service, making libraries competitive in an information-rich society (keeping up with the Amazons and Googles of today and tomorrow), changing the academic publishing conundrum (where universities pay faculty to do the research, write and edit the articles, and then pay again (and heftily) for the products of that research (online and paper journals). Isn't that exciting?!
I currently work for a library-oriented software company and it's awesome. I got my bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota in Anthropology (sociocultural) and Scandinavian Languages and Finnish (Norwegian, Old Norse, Viking Age history/archaeology, Icelandic sagas and folklore).
I enjoy spending time with my partner and my dogs, watching films (and television shows of varying quality via Netflix!), going on walks, playing the occasional (or not-so-occasional) video games, going places, spending time with friends, reading, that sort of thing. I'm also fairly recently obsessed with cycling and bicycles. I ride to work every day, even in the cold winter rain and wind, but I'm looking forward to some nice weather for longer rides. And a new bike.
I’m a former Adept (II°) of the Temple of Set, and a former Knight of the Temple's Order of the Trapezoid. I’m also learning runic magic, a la Dr. Stephen Flowers/Edred Thorsson’s runic system.
I’m currently a vegetarian (or more accurately, I'm a pescetarian, but not many people know what that means), although I miss bacon terribly and have occasional In-N-Out cravings. Lately I've been sneaking a small piece of meat here and there when I'm out. I guess I'm not very good at dietary restriction despite my beliefs about the meat industry.
I travel. I think. I cuddle. I game. I eat. You get the idea.
What I like
I like sarcasm. A lot. In fact, so much so that sometimes people think I’m being a jerk when I’m actually being sincere. I think there's something about the upper Midwest that cultivates self-depricating sarcasm that some people from other places don't understand; they think we're serious or something. If you just assume that whatever I just said is sarcastic, you're probably right. If in doubt, ask. ;)
Musically, I enjoy Black Metal most (and extreme metal in general), but I also enjoy Neo-folk/Apocalyptic folk, Scandinavian folk ("roots" music), shoegaze, electronic music of various kinds, baroque, and the occasional indie band. I'm also a huge Pearl Jam fan. I am rather discerning about my musical (and other) tastes, and never like (or dislike) a genre categorically. I used to be very active in the metal scene, with a band and everything, but I've since withdrawn myself. I am getting back into making music, but only for me at this point.
For films and televison, I really enjoy sci-fi, at least it's been growing on me more in the past few years. I also a sucker for period/historical films. I can enjoy even a bad period film if it's convincing enough. I love good plots the best, but sometimes I enjoy character films with little "meat" as far as story goes as long as the characters are done well. I'm not going to name anything specific here because it will look dumb in a few years and I really don't want to have to re-type this.
I like things like Black Metal and zombies, but I also like cuddly animals and cute cartoons. I’m a walking contradiction.
Outlook
The Simpsons are pure genius. Most products and people of society are not.
I despise falsehood. I hate people who hate other people because of their ethnicity or because of who they fuck. I’m not fond of fundamentalist religions or individuals that proselytize (if you’re one of those individuals, you’d best turn elsewhere). I’m a self-professed liberal, and have gotten more liberal as I’ve gotten older. I dream of a world where people aren’t exploited for business’ profit, where oil ceases to run the world, where Americans buy responsibly and consciously, and where religion and traditions cease to keep society asleep and ignorant. I buy locally whenever possible. I hate Wal-Mart and, for the most part, suburban culture. Anything that resembles American consumer-imperialism, gentrification, and the like is probably not on my "good" list, you know? I’m not preachy or arrogant about vegetarianism, or much of anything else for that matter. Except perhaps for education. I’m brutal with my opinions and character assessments, but I generally only give those when asked for.
I am Pro-Choice, which means that I'm first and foremost in favor of mandatory sex education, affordable birth control and public sexual health programs. In the unfortunate event that these fail, I'm in favor of letting a woman and her partner choose whether or not to take a pregnancy to term. People have the right to do with their bodies what they will. I'm a firm believer that every child should be wanted by his or her biological parents. I'm a longtime member and supporter of NARAL Pro-Choice America. You'll see Pro-Choice stuff on my journal occasionally, but it's not preachy- it's usually more along the lines of "if you're pro-choice, check this out." Pro-Sex. Pro-Family. Pro-Children. Pro-Women. Pro-Choice.
I'm also a feminist. (I also love Wikipedia)
I'm an environmentalist to a large extent and support sustainable urban planning, public transit initiatives, green architecture (my partner works at the nation's leading sustainable/green architecture firms in the country), emissions and fuel consumption regulation, and alternative/sustainable sources of fuel and energy in addition to wildlife conservation and all that crap. I like to buy organic (not chemically or genetically treated) products if possible. I like the outdoors. I'm essentially a hippy without the fucking patchouli and kumbaya bullshit.
About the journal
I write fairly regularly, at least a few times a week and often every day. But sometimes I go through spurts where I don't write at all. I tend to write about what's going on in my life, I don't wax philosophical or write articles on my political outlook or my worldview very often. My journal is about me, and those other writings are best left for another forum, IMO. I'm fairly "real" that way. My journal isn't about posturing or trying to be someone I'm not. Sometimes, if there's something that I'm really into (like my profession, a particular video game, whatever) I'll write about it incessantly. I apologize in advance.
Also, in case you haven't noticed, I tend to be sort of long-winded/verbose. I try to keep my entries down, or else warn you in a cut if you're in for a doozy of an entry if possible.
Sometimes I post memes (although generally not quizzes), but they're typically under a cut unless they're relatively short and I feel the content actually says something about me.
My journal is friends-only. Just because you add me, that does not mean I'll add you back necessarily (although I'm likely to!). When I friend someone, it means I want to read their journal. I friend and unfriend people on whims, so please, please don't be offended, shocked, appalled, outraged, etc. if I unfriend you. If you want to be back on my list so you can read my entries, let me know! Consequently, if you don't want me reading or don't want to friend me, let me know that, too. I can take it. =) LJ drama has no place in my life.
I'm not likely to add anyone under the age of 21 (and less likely those under the age of 18) - not because my life is in any way "illicit" (it certainly isn't that exciting!), but because I choose to associate with adults, and I've found I just don't have that much in common anymore with the younger crowd.
If you do decide to add me, drop me a line so that I know. I don't always notice if someone pops up on my "friends of" list!
Welcome!
If you've read this far, I applaud you. You should treat yourself to a cookie (or whatever) as a reward.