A Light and Friendly Intro

Afternoon! I'm Si. You've probably seen me somewhere on the Internet.

I like xkcd, science, fantasy, and doing ALL THE THINGS. I have so many hobbies I never get very far in any of them. I get bored incredibly easily.

Here's a few things I'm currently involved in:

(does this have Markdown? I'm guessing not. Sad) (Ooh but HTML! Not that I'm great at that.)

• NaNoWriMo

• Okay, technically in November. I haven't won since ... four years ago. I still do it every year, AND the camps. Great fun. I always write fantasy, usually something fairly ridiculous, and manage between 5k-20k. This was one of the 5k years.

• WriYe

• Going along with NaNo, but with a much more pessimistic goal and a longer time to accomplish it in. I'm in for 500/day, for the year. So far haven't broken it! Doing short stories, seventeen to be precise. Known as the Seventeen Chosen. More on that some other time.

• Script Frenzy

• Yes, I'm aware it technically doesn't exist anymore (sad!). I still try to write a play every April. Current ongoing play is Ildrono of Taranaan, a ridiculous piece with lots of duelling, lots of stupid yet honorable knights, and of course lots of death. It's great, and unfinished.

I'm also an active member of Mythic Scribes and the NaNo forums. Just joined the WriYe forums and am observing suspiciously until I feel at-home enough to jump in. I'm an accomplished lurker. SFFworld used to be my home until it started to ... fade. I have fond memories of that corner of the internet still--best recommendations anywhere. I like forums.

Oh, I also RP! Still pretty new. But it's great fun.

I like way too many books to list in one post, ever. I read a LOT. Currently reading Devices and Desires by KJ Parker for an online book club, and I just acquired an intriguing new book entitled "Parasite"--apparently hard scifi and a genetic/medical thriller! Hopefully it lives up.

I volunteer with Distributed Proofreaders (Project Gutenburg) and really need to get back to that. It's fun.

What else ... I knit, sew, weave, and try to paint.  I really really like stationary.

Oh, and I code. *whistles innocently*

I'm an avid Linux user, and strong FOSS supporter. There's nothing that's not free on any of my computers, very little that's user friendly (whee, Arch! I love it so), and very little that's not fully open source (flash ... and skype. One day they will fall. One day ...). I would love to contribute more to the Open Source community and intend to adopt packages in the AUR, when I feel ready. I'm far more comfortable with scripting than software, so I haven't yet. I sometimes float about on IRC, depending on how many idiots are in a channel.

I'll not say anything about my programming ... yet. *ominous music plays*

I want to learn shorthand, Sindarin, and advanced stats (though that's more of a Need than a Want). Someone *coughs* recently reminded me of how cool conlangs are, and now I want to do that, too. I always intend to take part in Epic Poetry Month (May) but haven't been able to yet. I love to read codegolf on StackExchange and occasionally submit a Perl solution (though I've never won).

IRL I'm a final-year undergrad college student studying genetics, molecular biology, and programming. I intend to go for a PhD in Bioinformatics.

Overwhelmed yet?

So yeah, organization kinda broke down, but oh well. Welcome to my brain!