write your name in lightning; shame the sky

Name: Tom

Age: 58

I mostly post about: Day to day life, random thoughts, whatever I'm watching/reading, etc. It's more or less stream of consciousness, though I try to link certain items that I consider relevant; books, restaurants, significant locations, etc. In the past, I've used Amazon to link them, but as I have grown to really hate Jeff Bezos for what he's done to the Washington Post, I now use Barnes and Noble for book links.

My hobbies are: TTRPs (primarily Dungeons and Dragons), community theater, cooking, hiking, camping, wine collecting, computer programming (also my profession but I like to code for fun as well), writing, reading, building things, tinkering, drawing, and more things I generally have no actual time for.

My fandoms are: Star Trek, Doctor Who, Marvel (Silver Age), A Song of Ice and Fire, Remembrance of Earth's Past aka The Three Body Problem, et al. Some of my favorite authors include Douglas Adams, George R.R. Martin, James S. A. Corey, Tanith Lee, Michael Moorock, Brad Meltzer, John Steinbeck, and William Gibson. There are more, but that's who comes to mind.

I'm looking to meet people who: are basically cool and like to interact. I have a presence on other socials but I don't like using them because they either have become echo chambers, or are trying to push things on me in which I have no interest. I'm not looking to share memes and I have no interest in someone's OnlyFans page. I have nothing against people who have that sort of thing, but it doesn't interest me. I'd rather interact with someone who might want to discuss the Medici family of Renaissance Florence, or discuss the actual mechanics of LLMs rather than rant about how AI is going to destroy the world. Want to talk meaningfully about physics, archeology, musicology, mythology, literature, or the nature of consciousness? You might be someone I'd like to know.

My posting schedule tends to be: It's been kind of sporadic over the last year, but I'm looking to make a fresh start this year. I won't post daily, probably, but weekly at least.

When I add people, my dealbreakers are: If you're MAGA, move on. I probably represent everything you hate, and I don't have time to educate people in a cult. I do not tolerate hate speech, homophobia, transphobia, incels, etc.

Before adding me, you should know: I'm an atheist for starters. I don't have a problem with people of faith, provided they don't try to rub my nose in it. I don't generally countenance evangelicals or fundamentalists, or anyone who feels the need to inject some performative demonstration of their supposed piety into literally every situation. I've known many people like this, and I lose patience with them very quickly.

I'm a 2 time cancer survivor. The last bout was diagnosed 4 years ago, and nearly killed me. I've written about some of the experience here, but may expand on it more in the future, now that I feel like I'm in a reasonably good headspace to think about what I went through.

I try to be polite and respectful of everyone with whom I interact. I expect the same from others. Slurs, insults, etc., are not tolerated. The basic rule of interacting with me: Don't be a dick. It's pretty much the closest thing I have to a philosophy of life.

Most of my journal is friends locked, but I'm happy to add people if they're interested. I've met some wonderful people here, and am always happy to meet more.