Friending Frenzy

[andrewducker]

Ok, I want to try and experiment. People intermittently post that LJ* is shrinking and the number of posts on their flist keeps dropping. So, let's see if we can huddle together for warmth a bit.

If you're not currently overwhelmed with posts and using 7 filters to keep them under control** then leave a comment underneath saying hi, and a little bit about yourself, and let's see if we can link some people together!

*And Dreamwidth is pretty small comparitively, so I know a fair number of people on there could do with meeting additional people too.
**Yes, I know. But I can't help it. I _like_ people.

Comments

[j_v_lynch]

Gentle Readers,

Hi! I'm a SCAdian, Software Developer, Western Martial Arts geek and parent living in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. When I do post, it tends to be recaps of my recent life including SCA events, discussions about western martial arts, a bit of life as a parent, some small amount about small group politics in the various organizations I participate in, and probably too much frustration with dietary and blood sugar issues.

I'm trying to get back in the habit of posting more frequently. This is harder than expected.

[ironjeff]

I'm a lumberjack pirate and I'm OK.

I enjoy carousing, boozing it up (to the extent of occasionally brewing my own beer and mead), blowing stuff up, and stabbing things.

I'm also a recovering tabletop gamer, but only because I live out in Far Suburbia and have a hard time getting a group together.

I'm more likely to comment than to post, although I'm trying to get better about the latter.

[redbird]

I read fewer books than I'd like to, but hope to get back to posting about at least some of them. A lot of my posts are basically my exercise log, but I cut-tag those to avoid boring everyone else (sometimes leaving a bit I think is interesting outside the cut). I travel quite a bit, but mostly the same places, to see people I love, rather than the sort of tourist stuff that leads to long posts. At the moment I am unemployed, and looking for editorial work; as such, it probably wouldn't be prudent to grab a discount trip to Paris or Madrid or someplace, though I'm tempted. (My idea of a plausible package holiday is one where the airfare plus hotel cost significantly less than if I did it myself, and then I get there and do my own thing.)

I read science news (especially bio and astronomy) but don't post about it very often.

Unlike our host, I filter for posting, but rarely reading (I do have a "priority" filter, but that tends to be for "I've been offline for a week and don't have time to catch up").

[cheekbones3]

As seen on LJ:

Well hello there. I don't post here enough, but I'm a statistician from Edinburgh who enjoys the interweb vicariously via Mr Ducker's links.

I'm also a geek, hippy, sportsman and web entrepreneur*.


*In that I run** a very basic site detailing rugby league statistics.
** My web-fu is amply demonstrated by my lack of ability to shrink the text in these footnotes.

[nickys]

Oh hello. I do western martial arts too.
I did a bit of SCA for a while, but mostly do British re-enactment with steel weapons.
One of my projects is digging up historical references to women in armies so I can use them on anyone who objects to my presence on the battlefield.
In my day job I'm a librarian.

[nickys]

What's your recipe for mead? Plain or spiced?

[nickys]

I'm a librarian and I drink a lot of tea.

I like your hair. Mine's grey too.

[ironjeff]

Yes.

I do plain as well as spiced, and am especially fond of dry sparkling meads!

A typical batch is about 12 pounds honey for a 5 gallon batch, fermented with champagne yeast to a final gravity of around 0.995. Then I bottle it and age it for 4 or 5 years. NOT a drink for the impatient!

There is, by the way, a small com here called w-i-r, for "Women in Ranks" dedicated to the ladies who do (Primarily American Revolutionary War) reenactment.

[redbird]

I am a very happy library user, and generally in favor of librarians, so that's good.

[susiemutha]

(comment as posted on LJ)

Hi. My name is Brenda. I am at home most of the time, due to a disability, and I use the internet to explore the world and see what life is like through other people's eyes. I feel that no one is really interested in what I have to share, which is why I don't post that often. I also have an intense feeling of being quite socially inept. I am sure this all comes from my screwed up psyche and has nothing to do with reality. Though in some ways my depression and anxiety may have a lot to do with it. I am trying though and seem to be making a bit of headway.

I found LJ while searching for a place to write about my life and share my artwork. While here I have found a few people that I love to follow. AndrewDucker and TheFerrett are my favorites so far. I hope to find more friends here. I recently joined DreamWidth and am hoping for the same there as well.

I have read each entry in response to this post and find everyone quite interesting. I thank Andrew for making this possible.

[nickys]

I shall look up Women in Ranks, thanks.
I've encountered Iron Rose which is a similar thing for the SCA)

As to the mead, we made a batch a year or two back and it turned out nice, but not spectacular, and we've got a vague plan to try again using a Polish recipe for a thicker than usual mead this year.

[nickys]

Cool.
We're currently campaigning to save libraries in general as there are lots of cut backs going on here just now. :-(

[j_v_lynch]

Nifty.
What weapons do you study? What era of history do you reenact?

[j_v_lynch]

We've seen similar issues in Toronto who didn't learn from Ottawa's mistake of electing someone as Mayor who campaigned solely on no new taxes and decreasing city spending.

[nickys]

Currently 16th Century longsword, plus a bit of 14th Century sword and buckler.
I've previously done Viking broadsword, axe and spear (not all at the same time... :-) )
I've also done some 18th Century stuff but that uses black powder weapons, which don't really take a lot of studying to point the right way...

[ironjeff]

which don't really take a lot of studying to point the right way...

But they do take a bit of study to use safely... even a blank charge has been known to kill someone. On the other hand, I have seen older children taught to safely load and fire, something that can decidedly not be said about blade-work!

[nickys]

This is true. You do need to learn how to be safe with black powder weapons before using them.
I guess the difference is that it's a couple of weeks and a bit of common sense to get competant as opposed to a couple of years for swords etc.

[nickys]

[sigh]
Yes, that's a big problem. :-(

[channelpenguin.livejournal.com]

well, I don't post, and you know who I am, so not sure there's much good in me saying hi - but I will anyway!

[cosmolinguist]

Hi, I'm Holly. I'm an American living in the UK; it's all my dear husband andrewhickey's fault; he actually likes Manchester. Oh I like it better now, but I'm still very attached to where I'm from.

I'm a Lib Dem and a bi activist, and these overlap in my efforts for LGBT+ Lib Dems. I'm currently not well enough to work; I talk about mental illness (mine and generally) and the plight of the unemployable, but mostly about more fun things.

[bart-calendar.livejournal.com]

Hi. I'm Bart Calendar, otherwise known as the Drunk Ex Pat Writer. I grew up in New Jersey, went to the infamous Bard College, spent 10 years as a journalist covering murder trials and interviewing rock stars, got fed up and moved to the South Of France where I've been living as an illegal alien for 11 years as a freelance writer (which more often than not involves writing ads for all sorts of weird porn sites, dodgy weight loss pills and odd get rich quick schemes. Sometimes people actually pay me for something more substantial, but in this day and age legitimate content pays almost nothing and, honestly, is far less fun that figuring out some weird fetish I don't happen to share and finding ways to write about it in a way that will turn people on.)

My blog ends up being about whatever the fuck is on my mind that day, which can range from anything from a silly poll about whether people wash their hair before their body or vice versa when they shower, to comments on absurd news stories, to celebrity gossip that interests me.

But, honesty, the reason to read my blog isn't because of the stuff I write. It's because of the diverse community of people who come to it and comment and have discussions with each other on a regular basis. They are always fascinating and often insightful. This is mostly because how incredibly diverse they are. I have asexuals, girlfags, poly folk, mono folk, gay folk, bi folk, lesbian folk, serious fetish people, women who are proud to be adulteresses, cuckolds, lots of left wing people and even a far right Aryan nation expat psychologist who comment. Strangely, despite the widely different views of the people who comment everyone treats each other with respect and flame wars are almost non existent. (The last one was a couple years ago during a post where I had a poll about whether or not teeth should be used during a blow job and the pro-teeth and anti-teeth people could not reach a common ground.)

While I have an agreement with my partner to not talk about our personal sex lives at all on my blog, my blog does sway slightly pro poly though I have an immense amount of respect for people who are able to make the mono thing work.

Note: My blog is not for people who easily offend. A fair bit of non-PC misanthropic irony is sometimes employed.

[bart-calendar.livejournal.com]

Isn't Manchester the home of the LGBT community in the UK? I'm an expat in France and when my gay, bi and lesbian friends want to go to the UK to get laid they seem to always go to Manchester and rave about the LGBT scene there.

Zornhau!

[zornhau.livejournal.com]

Swords, rah!
Sword and Sorcery, rah!
Fatherhood, rah!
Post Modernism, gah!
Writing, I try...

[cosmolinguist]

Well I've never tried going here to get laid (unless you count moving here to live with my partner!) so I can't speak with great confidence but it does have one of the bigger and more orgiastic-seeming Prides, a nice Village where boring old people like me can have a proper pint, or some chips somewhere friendly and quiet, as well as the places full of stereotypical noisy dance music and multi-colored cocktails that gay people are supposed to like.

[alitheapipkin.livejournal.com]

Hi, I'm Helen. I'm awkward and contradictary - I'm pantheistic pagan but a scientist and not into woo-woo and would rather live in a world run by atheists than a theocracy anyday, I'm bi but in a monogamous relationship with a guy, I'm both a cat person and a dog person (but I only have a cat), I live in the city but long to live in the country even though I can't drive. I'm a feminist of the believing in equality and choice variety, a bit of a bleeding heart liberal, definitely an idealist but also a realist, a proper environmental scientist not a greeny who lives in cloud cuckoo-land, and a humanitarian. I can't do with people who agree with the death penalty or climate change deniers, or people who lack compassion for their fellow human beings. My hobbies are reading (SF&F, historical, literary especially magical realism, the odd thriller as long as it's not too icky), t'ai chi, roleplaying, swimming, pottery (on hiatus currently as I have no studio access), and now knitting.

My journal is generally of a fairly domestic bent but occasionally I rant about politics, human rights etc. I like to play nicely with people.