Neco the NightwraithI find it shocking that since my last posting in this thread (Sep 7, 2007) several things have changed. I don't know why I am so shocked, as I should be expecting quite a bit of change at this stage in my life, but I am.

Here's the update, since some of you might not know me, especially our newest associates:

I'm known as Neco here on the board, though I was given the regular old fashioned name of Sharon (I say old fashioned, because I have yet to find anyone in my generation with the same name). You can call me by either, if you wish, though since we have two (perhaps more) Sharons here, Neco is probably best (and time honored. )

I still work at Little Stars Daycare as an assistant child care provider, but as of December 26 2007, I have also taken up the position as weekend morning baker at Oliver's Market. The hours are somewhat gnarly (5:30 am to 2:00 pm), but it is something I can do (much more easily now) and it brings in the money every week (love those paychecks).

In seventeen weeks and two days (but who's counting? ) I will turn 21. Though if it's anything like turning 16 or 18, I'm not looking forward to anything too special (I work on that day anyway. ) Like that quote I read somewhere: Turning 21 just means you can legally do all the stuff you'd been doing since you were 15. :D

As far as schooling goes, I thought I was done after three years and a certificate, but apparently I am not. After assessing that no, being a baker might not be the best way to make a living (as much as I love it), and that really all I did was take the path of least resistance with the Culinary classes, I've decided to buck up, grit my teeth, and take what I wanted from the beginning: an Associates Degree in Graphic Arts. My original dream was to take up computer graphics and animation, preferably for cinema, but upon further thought I realized that it could be applied to many other things, like forensics or paleontology.

I start school...again...this summer.

Since my last bio, I have developed a taste for martial arts (I'm taking karate and plan to take judo over the summer), techno music, and a mostly vegetarian diet (besides, you only have to glance at the meat/dairy prices to forgo buying them!) I have also been writing, have continued to draw though in a different style, and I have taken a recent interest in Australian wildlife (particularly the kangaroo).

I love, and am loved.

I am currently saving for a long vacation to visit the world.

And that's it for now. 

Posted: 11:11 AM - Apr 12, 2008agricolawell - first, Neco - congratulations on setting out to make a life. I think mine just happened to me, until I was much MUCH older.

minimals 'about me'

I am 55 going on 56 (I have never had that weird age obsession thing going on. I LIKE my age fine, thank you.)

Married twenty-one years come June. Three daughters (15, 17, 19). Oldest is in college and second one is looking around for one. Husband is Israeli and gorgeous. That is my opinion, and I'm sticking to it. But I'm a sucker for curly hair and big shoulders. He is a black belt in Shotokan (traditional) karate, and has done many different kinds of work - currently, he drives a bus.

I work full time, as an exploration geologist for a major international gold mining corporation. I like it fine. I have been fortunate enough to be based at a major ('the flagship') operation for over twenty years, so I rarely travel, and I'm home almost every night (some exploration geos aren't so lucky).

(Least favorite Cherryh bit was when Bren dissed visiting mines. Mines are INTERESTING places! Get in touch with me some time and I'll try to arrange a tour. Who doesn't like giant equipment and blowing things up?)

I don't remember when I didn't read SF. Possibly third grade? Andre Norton, Heinlein, Clarke, Asimov, Dickson, Cordwainer Smith were early 'reads'. I am a compulsive and unrepentant reader. I suffer withdrawal pains with nothing to read. I will read cereal boxes if there is nothing else available.

I also read: romances, westerns, mysteries, historicals, non-fiction of various kinds (popularizations of sciences, theology, history, biography), travel books - I like photography, and do a little bit of that as a hobby, though not as seriously as I did before I had a family to keep me busy in my off time.

I am on the board of the local Habitat for Humanity (feel free to send money, we need it) and the local chavurah (an independent Jewish social/religious/educational community group).

We have one elderly terrier. Over the years we have had other dogs, cats, and several birds (finches), and uncountable small fish.

I have read C.J. Cherryh at least since Hunter of Worlds. Maybe earlier. A confession - I bought the first Foreigner book when it came out - but didn't read it. I bought the second and the third also - and held them pending reading the first one. No special reason - I bought them because I buy Cherryh's books, but for some reason, I just wasn't 'in the mood' for Foreignor, so never started - (trust me, I was reading HUNDREDS of books all during that time, I just was never quite 'in the mood' for that PARTICULAR book - I thought).

then about the time the FIFTH book was in the works, I decided I really ought to read the series, or at least start it, to see if I wanted to buy a FIFTH book (that I hadn't read).

oh golly oh gee oh wow!! I DEVOURED the first four in less than a week! Then I did something I almost NEVER do - I turned right back to the beginning and read them all AGAIN! and THEN, (because the fifth book was still not quite out yet) I read them all AGAIN!

I am SO hooked! I read the whole series at least once a year and invariably read all I have immediately prior to recieving the NEXT book. I make NOTES. I have lists of QUESTIONS.

(One of the 'benefits' of working where I do is a company bus ride to and from the minesite each workday - an hour each way: I can READ - something which is sometimes hard to do at home, with husband, dog, children and activities involving them and life in general.)

So - here I am. Checking the 'new releases' area at amazon regularly, haunting the Great One's blog, and mentally calculating how soon the publisher will put that newly completed book into my own personal hands.


 Posted: 11:26 AM - Apr 12, 2008starexplorerNeco, thanks for the update -- sounds like things are develping very positively in your life, for which one is glad!

Fascinating bio agricola! Where is the gold mine?

Very happy you found us and Baruchim Haba'im.

Posted: 6:42 PM - Apr 12, 2008KokipyReverting to Neco's updated bio, let me just say this about that. Neco-ji, one is certain you are a very fine number one baker. But your art is truly remarkable. This seems like a very promising career shift.

Posted: 6:47 PM - Apr 12, 2008agricolaDitto neco - it is nice to do what you love, but it is also nice to get paid to do it!

Posted: 11:54 PM - Apr 12, 2008hrhspenceTo continue the conversation about the IDF, please go to the new thread "IDF nostalgia" in The Quinaltine Steps.

Thanks!
Posted: 12:47 AM - Apr 13, 2008Felicitous Sk8er

Kel-J,
Not to worry. Shejidan has never been known to stick closely to a given conversational thread & one sees no need to break tradition now! 

If discussion wanders too far abreast, a new topic is simply split off into the appropriate forum.

Posted: 1:01 PM - Apr 13, 2008hrhspenceNot a problem kel Julian. Not annoyed in the least. Continue the fascinating discussion. We'd just like this thread for bios, is all.

Posted: 7:46 PM - Apr 14, 2008LemnHello,

I am Eric. 37 year old male living in the US. I have been a medical technician in the military, a dishwasher/pizza driver engineering college student, technical support/QA/Field engineer/testing/lab manager all in one job, and currently just finished my AS in Radiography and passed my registry to be an xray technologist. Soon to be doing MRI's I hope.

I started reading books when I was 7 years old. I was in the hospital and my mother gave me the Hobbit and the John Carter of Mars books. I have since read quite a number of books. I love reading. It makes you understand that everything is POV. Going outside of your little perspective and seeing things through many eyes. Valuable lessons.

I like this author especially. Something about the way she writes resonates inside me deeply.

Pleased to meet you all.

Posted: 7:48 PM - Apr 14, 2008readyHappy to meet your acquaintance! 

Last edited by Kardaen (4/24/2020 7:57 pm)

Neco the NightwraithWelcome to our newest members. 

Posted: 5:29 PM - May 06, 2008Resa(waves a hearty welcome to the new members Jewel and Theamak!)

Welcome! Welcome! Have a cup of our very safe  !
 
Posted: 9:33 PM - May 08, 2008megraveHello,
Am a 35 yr old Welsh female lost for the past 30 yrs in England. Cannot remember a time I didn't read, punishment as a child was being told to go outside to play.
Adore sci-fi and fantasy, cannot stand most modern fiction (mainly 'chick-lit'  ). Love to read anything that makes me think.
Live in Kent, UK, work in London as a casino cashier, (previous jobs include street sweeper, binman, receptionist, waitress, barmaid, tour guide, kitchen asst, temp asst QM, temp embassy admin clerk, temp consular admin clerk, and croupier). Could never really settle in a job till I ended up in my current industry, tried to study Business and Finance but stopped when I realised that I could do it in my sleep.
Hobbies include cross stitch, knitting (badly), cooking, movies, music, walking and travelling. Have been to France, Germany, Spain, former Soviet Union, Japan, Poland, America, New Zealand, Australia, Morrocco, Goa, Iceland, Malta and Slovenia. Worked in some of these lovely places, so I can at least say please and thank you, in the language.
Fairly new to the idea of computers and internet, so many apologies in advance for my numerous lapses in protocol.
Yours, hoping to become a salad,
Megrave

Posted: 10:33 PM - May 08, 2008Neco the NightwraithWelcome Megrave!

Make yourself at home. Do have some of our incredibly safe 

And some cookies, because I am the cookie monster. 

      

Posted: 10:47 PM - May 08, 2008megraveThank you.

Posted: 11:41 PM - May 08, 2008griffinmoonNoswaith dda, megrave nadi!
What a fascinating set of life experiences you list! I think I would have liked to gain same. The tea is quite safe here!

Nos da, nadi!

Posted: 3:16 AM - May 09, 2008Felicitous Sk8erFascinating bio, megrave-ji! 


Please feel free to wander around the site; there are many fascinating threads. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask any of us for help. Interested in a custom title? Let any Guild member know what you would like added to your profile. 

Posted: 10:21 AM - May 09, 2008penceMegrave-ji: Your bio reads like a novel, or several! Welcome to another stitcher.
I keep hoping to come across the  's work in audio so that I coule listen while doing cross stitch. (BTW The Bujold recordings are pretty good, also The 'full cast audio' recordings of some of the Tamora Pierce books if you like YA fantasy.)
 +  for an evenings read.

Posted: 9:33 PM - May 09, 2008Chia I wish I could get the Vorkorsigans on audio! I heard the tapes from my old library and then had to move. :sniffles Can't find a tape for sale anywhere and they aren't on CD. (I knit while I listen)

Posted: 12:33 AM - May 10, 2008penceThe vorkosigans ARE available on audio! 

Last edited by Kardaen (4/24/2020 8:03 pm)

Page 30 of 46
Posted: 11:53 AM - Nov 05, 2008
Aelith
Welcom Vic, I wish you joy of discovering the rest of CJC's work!

Posted: 6:51 PM - Nov 05, 2008
meersan
Welcome, vic! Your namesake* sounds like quite a character.

* Or reverse of namesake? Oh well, OED allows it!

Posted: 9:54 PM - Nov 05, 2008
Felicitous Sk8er
Vic-ji,

Thank you for postign your bio. One always enjoys learning about our Associates.

It sounds as if you have not read  's "Finiesterre" aka the "Nighthorse" books. Big favorites here, they may be of special interest to you.  

Posted: 5:05 PM - Dec 24, 2008
Hakkikt
Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year everyone.

Apologies for not sending snailmail cards again this year, but at least I have an Xmas message and letting you know how I've been the last two years. Things are not as hectic as last year, I'm not even working Boxing Day this year 

A mere two years ago, life was a mess: still unemployed, M moving to Canada in Feb, still at LOAC, still surrounded and trapped by memories and past feelings: Still single: descending further into mild but chronic depression: life off Lexapro was not agreeing with me. In Jan 07 I went back on a Lexapro generic, Esipram, while Mum made preparations to leave.

With things getting more and more sour at LOAC I agreed it was time to move on and went to Work for the Dole at TasMusic with Carl Fidler instead, which was a complete change of scene and responsibilities and a tremendous breath of fresh air. It was great to be in a relaxed environment with musos again.

Unexpectedly in March one of Dad's neighbouring landlords asked if he knew anyone who wanted to rent #5, my grandmother's old unit, and I jumped at at this chance as well. It is slightly better arranged than D's and has windows facing the sun in kitchen and lounge and bedrooms in the right order.

A hectic two week's packing was followed by a hectic two weeks in which I moved and D drove 30-odd 1-tonne vanloads from Youngtown back into the middle of Kings Meadows. So now I had a warmer, slightly larger unit five mins walk from supermarkets, mall and post office, right next door to Dad, where he could look after my place and I his.

It also meant I could be online much more easily, a few moments from home instead of 15 minutes walk uphill. I could keep in touch with Neco, whom I was growing closer to all the time, Sk8r-ji, and other friends around the state, country, and world.

I kept busy unpacking, making new connections and renewing old ones, as changes and challenges overcome and Esipram gradually made everything better and brighter. I started to manage life again, not just endure it. M and I booked a flight to visit her in Vancouver in Oct-Nov with a week with Neco in Santa Rosa. I could have my birthday there, spend time with her, see the Charles [Peanuts] Schultz museum and just rest.

In April 07 I did the Right Course employment preparation course thru Work Directions. It had much better followup and support than every other workplace and motivation course I had been on, which was a real improvement.

While on it Andrew Murray at Northern Group Training pitched order-picking traineeships in Warehousing at Statewide Independent Wholesalers to us, and I was immediately attracted. It offered $12 an hr to someone my age, physical exercise indoors out of the sun, located close enough to home to cycle to, and early starts to get me to bed early, up very early, and all afternoon in the winter sun to relax and write afterwards.

I really went after this position, with the zeal that I had found something that fulfilled my odd requirements. It was busy and challenging, but essentially no stress, plenty of exercise, mind free to think, but still working to pick and stack properly, like admin and library positions I had had and life with files and boxes at home. It was a large team, and as I found out, a lot of camraderie and spirit. Allen Bowcock's team at Work Directions could also see how serious and interested I was, and put all their skills and push behind it as well, and I started on 28 May 2007.

The next 18 months were a whirl of learning new skills and reworking old ones, adjusting to getting up at 4am, and then 3am, to have a comfortable unrushed breakfast and time to get to work for a 4:50 start. I deliberately took care to build my picking speed slowly and Statewide was generous enough to give me the time to adapt at my own pace, given my age, size and background.

They were also generous enough to allow me, four months in, to go to North America for a month. It was a needed break after a year of changes for me and six years with no real holiday. For Statewide it would mean I was home, rested and refreshed before the xmas-new year-summer holiday rush season.

All winter I got on with the task of improving my fitness, thinking on my feet and building my pickrate, while watching my workmates and getting along with everyone. It felt great to become accepted as a new worker, as a dedicated worker, and simply deliver what I'd promised them and myself.

After a brief, tumultuous online relationship, I found myself drawing closer and closer to Neco, whom I'd met thru Shejidan, the CJ Cherryh site, and whom I was going to meet in Oct. Accommodation and travel fell thru' at the last minute, tho' the flights and staying with M in Vanc and Sk8r-ji in Spokane, to meet CJ, were still good. I simply had to book a room for a week in a cheap motel, and it turned out perfectly well.

I worked right up to the day before I left, took Show Day off to pack, went to bed at 1am and got up at 5, and had pleasant flights to the US with Air NZ: great food, good movies, and excellent seat-back moving-map display, which I photo'd continually. I slept thru a storm in mid-Pac and landed in heavy rain at San Francisco, half an hr after I left Melbourne and it was still Friday, tho' I
was already well over 20 hours astray of myself. The Express bus to SR took me north thru Frisco and over the Golden Gate only two hours after landing in the US, and I was in SR in mid-afternoon, well ahead of sched.

Meeting Neco was truly like greeting an old friend I hadn't seen for a few days, both in how we felt about each other, but also seeing each other every day on Webcam meant this meeting was just a change of place. Motel 6 was lovely and clean, the Mall was down the street and had buses to the city. I kept getting lost exploring, as my internal compass kept expecting the sun to
move the other way.

Neco and her friend Lee took me to a Mexican birthday lunch and a movie, Neco and I shared an icecream as if we did this every week. Sunday I had to myself, shopping

and exploring, Monday I shopped and spent time with Neco, Tuesday I shopped at Montgomery Village and was introduced to Jake's Life, a shop and philosophy that pegged what I'd been thinking and feeling for years. Wednesday Neco and I did the Schultz icerink, giftshop and museum, Thursday I shopped and prepped to leave, and had the arvo and evening with Neco. We were both hiding how we felt, so there was no big romantic scene, but everything felt tremendous. Friday I raced around, posted stuff home, bused to Frisco and flew into rain and multiple drug-war murders in Vancouver.

The next three weeks were a mix of resting and talking with M, more shopping, days out to Vancouver when it didn't rain and reading, online, and shopping when it was. In the last week, I bused to Seattle and flew to stay with Sk8r-ji in Spokane, spending the time inbetween at the Seattle Museum of Flight at Boeing-Renton field.

It has a brilliant collection of aircraft and models, including a unique CIA spyplane, the other reason I came to the US and thru Seattle. My two days with Sk8r-ji, husband Steve and cats were brilliant: talking, catching up online, icesk8n again, and three of the most amazing restaurant meals I've ever had. At lunch with CJ we talked about all sorts of things, she signed no less than nine of her novels, seven I'd bought on this trip and the other two unique ex-Library ones from Launceston, the actual first CJ books I had ever read.

Online from Sk8r-ji's lounge, Neco and I revealed our feelings for each other, and were officially coupled. Sk8r-ji was first to find out, when she asked what I'd been doing up all night, and Beck at Work Directions was first to know here in Tas when I got home, when she saw Neco's photo, I said Neco was my new other half, and Beck asked if we were getting married. Malinda at Content was next to know, when I bought an engagement card.

Back in Vanc M and I saw _Elizabeth: the Golden Age_, the Moscow Ballet's _Swan Lake_ complete with meeting the dancers afterwards, and had a great day driving with a friend of hers to Horseshoe Bay, Snohomish and the Grizzly Bears at Grouse Mountain. Getting ready for home, I had trouble, as in SR, stuffing everything into my luggage. In SR I posted the light models and miniatures home, in Vanc I had to leave them for M to bring in February, along with stuff she wld post to Neco for me.

The trip home was like the trip out: good food, good movies, and coming back to things changed and things the same. It was suddenly hot bright and dry in Melbourne, the Commonwealth election was on for the 24th, and I was straight back to work on monday morning.

Back from the US I was moved to afternoon shift for the summer, where I found the hours and slower pace to be a good change, tho' it was impossible to produce the same results. It was nice to have the mornings to myself, and to come home, go straight to bed, and sleep, or watch TV, instead of being in bed at 8 and up again at 3am. I also missed the Morning Shift guy's spirit and camraderie.

M flew in to submit her M.SW thesis at the end of Feb and we had some time together, and it was accepted in Aug and she graduated in December, six years and a hell of a lot of work. In March I was moved back to mornings, having worked Boxing Day, New Year's Day and Aust Day.

My pickrate improved straight away, and went on improving till I was on target - 120 cartons/hr - a little under a year after I started. From then on it was a matter of staying consistent and working as hard as ever. I also applied for jobs in-house as they were advertised, both to showing my other skills and abilities and to show that I was dedicated to staying and improving. The weather got colder, I got faster, the house still wasn't tidy or cleaned often enough.

In June yet another lucky accident meant my landlords wanted to sell #5 and M and I were able to buy it, with me paying the mortgage and repaying M, as it was affordable even on the traineeship, even more if I got a permanent position after the NGT traineeship at Statewide ended. Just as with moving there to start with, it was a saving.

I'd made up half the difference in rent by eliminating the phone from 2/77 Waroona St, now my mortgage wld be less than the rent, and I'd have a home of my own, and for Neco, should we choose to live here. Shortly after that, Neco made the decision she would move here, as the situation in the US continued to deteriorate. At present we plan she will spend a month here in Aug 2009 and move the following July.

D and I were able to split the Net feed and move the comp and scanner and graphics tablet to my place from D's, while he had separate comp. and Net at his. I was able to relax a good bit more by doing stuff at home and online at once, tho' I was still working very hard and didn't have much time to cook, tidy, or clean.

I did forklift training in July-Aug 2008 with the innimitable Dave Jarvis and enjoyed that challenge a great deal as well. I really liked just learning the controls and procedures by repetition, only watched by Dave until he needed to correct me. Three bursts of 3 Tuesdays to Thursdays and his test, followed by a national exam, and I was thru. I was picked for Jury Duty shortly after, and never served, so I benefitted from rests some days a week and wearing a shirt and tie for my Forklift Licence photo.

My NGT traineeship finished at the end of Nov and I was now employed by Statewide on 1 December 2008, the first permanent full-time job I have ever had. I still enjoy the mix of hard physical work, very early mornings and the challenge of meeting pickrate and picking and stacking as much as ever. It has the minutiae and attention to detail I like along with exercise and keeping out of the sun all year round. I also felt I earned the morning shift position which leaves my arvos free for Neco, reviews, scanning, and writing.

The last two years have been a steady, strong upward climb in every way, getting everything back on track, and building on all the good luck along the way. While some of it is due to hard work and dedication, a large chunk of it is due to good furtune and things falling into place. It was luck my landlords needed to rent #5, good luck I was able to get on with it, good luck they later wanted to sell it, and good luck that interest rates went down instead of up.

I realised in April 2007 that I have always been a lucky person, but I never had the confidence to believe in it and relax. Long-term unemployment, depression and ill health made me feel as unlucky as I seemed to be.

This was why Jake and Rocket's message of "Life is Good: like what you do, do what you like" made such an impression on me, months later in Danielle's Jake's Life in the Village. It said what I had been thinking and trying to do for years.

I didn't make the choice [of Neco. the job, Esipram]: the choice made me.
I still made the choices, but the changes have made me who I am.

Apart from all that, everything is going tremendously, Neco and I have good plans, life is settled, and Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to us all.

Posted: 11:03 PM - Jan 06, 2009
Bumiso
Since it seems to be the custom...

My degrees are in science, although I am a closet artist. I was not born on the continent. Currently I reside in FL, have had a short adventure in TN, and prior to that, the snow-swept landscapes of the northeast; NY mostly and PA briefly. Always a daydreamer, a night dreamer, too. Not much of a surprise, then, that science fiction is one place where one finds familiar worlds, among others. Books, on many varied topics, have been constant companions... throughout more than 18 relocations (the majority not far, but packing and strong, young men were involved.)

Of CJC, I read the Chanur saga many turnings ago. Picked up Foreigner's 1st 3 books and as quickly as I read them I set them aside; it was a bizarre, parallel reality. At that time one was involved in advanced, intense, competitive (university... !!!) studies and was somewhat brain-frazzled. It can’t be helped that I like fiction that is intricate and is supported by complex interpersonal relationships and emotions, so eventually, recently, I had to come back to the whole series, driven by je ne sais quoi.

I have ended up being an interpreter of sorts, truly between species, though I keep but little conflicts from developing rather than nation-wide ones. I can tell you all those doubts and concerns about translating accurately, understanding all the unspoken nuances, re-examination of previous exchanges; all that worry is real, if one is doing the job right, in my humble estimation. Homo sapiens-wise, I fluently speak and write 2 languages, live between 2 cultures, reside mostly on the mainland, and travel to an island on occasion... when I do, I have to shift both linguistically and culturally. There even is a change in dreaming language. I have experienced times when no words will come, in either tongue, usually when under strong emotion; a very unsettling experience because part of you does know that one *can* speak, rather eloquently at that, yet not at said moment. I have an interest in languages in general and understand or speak a smattering of simple statements in a few others; at some point or another one captures me for a while.

An inherent sensibility to Japanese ways was cultivated thorough the practice of a martial art; several dojo members were immersed in the culture (including language fluency) and one sensei was Japanese. Our parties included much partaking of homemade Japanese foods, kabuki plays & sumo wrestling videotapes, AND tea... to this day a distinctly calming household ritual. The forms and manners of Japan seemed then second nature. My martial inclinations also found expression in the bow traditions of... pick a culture, any culture; I am a generic bowman, er, bow-woman... bowperson?

Add to that a penchant for the baroque era... handwritten letters (legible longhand…), the longstanding use of sealing wax and ribbons, a personal signet ring, classical fencing and horsemanship... I experience fierce, unquestionable loyalty (once given but not an instant before), an analogous feeling to man'chi, had hair once worn in a long and thick pigtail (I do not jest!) and, well, you can see the unavoidable homologies and why I am ensnared by the atevi. I could *be* in that world; other than that the fate of races does not rest on my shoulders, and that no one (that I am aware of, at least) is trying to assassinate me, though, ooh, how dearly I have wanted to file Intent on certain melon-headed fools... Did I mention the knife/knives in my boot?

And that's just one slice of this peculiar orange. Even so, I read the newspaper on Sundays, I decorate for the holidays, I have a library card, I do my own laundry; in most other matters, I am perfectly ordinary.
It provides good cover... or decreases the medication dose, not sure which...

Posted: 11:23 PM - Jan 06, 2009
Aelith
Welcome home nand Bumiso.

Posted: 1:59 AM - Jan 07, 2009
starexplorer
Thank you Bumiso. You sound most kindred.

Posted: 2:23 AM - Jan 07, 2009
Felicitous Sk8er
Fascinating bio, Bumiso! Thanks for sharing! 
Posted: 9:25 AM - Jan 07, 2009
the mule
Bumiso_ji a fellow bow-person!  welcome indeed!

Posted: 11:48 PM - Jan 07, 2009
Bumiso
Thank you all, nandiin.
Paidhi-Aiji, a bowperson I still am though sorely out of practice. One hopes to attempt mounted archery in this lifetime, which should prove most interesting. However, one hopes not to need  after the first few attempts. 

Last edited by Kardaen (4/24/2020 8:13 pm)

Neco the Nightwraith
I fear it may be time to write another update. This is alarming, the changes that happen so fast in ones life. :O

Posted: 10:58 PM - Feb 02, 2009
megrave
Neco the Nightwraith,Feb 3 2009 wrote:I fear it may be time to write another update. This is alarming, the changes that happen so fast in ones life. :O
Neco-ji, it is more alarming when things don't change...

....failure to adapt, extinction beckons. I'm just a dinosaur 

Posted: 8:18 PM - Feb 24, 2009
Susan
I'm so grateful that my old biography from early 2002 was saved. I don't think I have the emotional energy to write it again, and I'd like to introduce myself to all my new friends.

Here's what I wrote (and it's all still true, except the age - I'm no longer 56, I'm 63):

"I was born and brought up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, have lived there most (but not all) my life, and live there now. I'm 56. I was born in January, 1946 - one of the very first of the Baby Boom. When I was young I always knew that when I grew up I would be a college teacher just like my Mommy. Having discovered that I loved history and things English, I went and got a Ph.D. in English history. I really wanted to teach, to excite other people about history the way it excited me.

But by then - 1971 - it was clear that the Ph.D. was going to be useful primarily for wrapping fish, since there were NO JOBS.

I was bitter, I was shocked, I was depressed, I was furious at the injustice of the universe. But, having been brought up with a raised consciousness long before The Feminine Mystique came out, I was determined to have a career of some sort, and I went to law school. Strictly for the lack of anything better to do, mind you. (I was married by then, but it didn't make a difference. I would have had no self respect if I didn't do something).

Law school was kind of boring, sort of like junior high school compared to graduate school, which had really stretched and challenged me. But I graduated in 1975, and I've been a lawyer ever since.

Nowadays I enjoy the work I do very much, have a nice sense of competence and of having achieved some reputation in my rather narrow field of specialization. But I don't love the law the way I loved (and still love) history.

I was married for 12 years, but have been divorced for longer. I didn't have children, which I regret. But as I've mentioned elsewhere at this site, I did have nephews, and I adore them.

I have been utterly addicted to reading ever since they showed me the trick. I've read science fiction since I was 7 or so - Heinlein in the children's room. I also like mysteries; historical fiction (but only if it's very, very, good, and really good historical novels are hard to find); English "women's novels", the kind with villages and Agas (English women's novels seem much better than the American equivalents, which I can't read); 19th century English novelists, particularly Jane Austen and Anthony Trollope; and, of course, history. Somebody - the novelist Amy Tan, I think - spoke once of having a "life in books." That sounds fine to me.

[I apologize for the length of all this - it was either tell it long or say so little that it didn't mean very much.]"

* * *

I've been away from you all for a couple of years because I had what some kind soul who missed me described as "health issues," and a great deal of sadness about my mother's long struggle with Alzheimer, her death and said health issues.

Today I still work for the same lawfirm, but from home, and I've been feeling much more better emotionally. It's so ironically sad that it took CK's death to bring me back here to what was my second home for years. I do like it so here.

Posted: 8:26 PM - Feb 24, 2009
ready
Susan,
Thank you for sharing with your new associates. We appreciate the continuity you bring and the feeling of connection.

  

Posted: 9:41 PM - Feb 24, 2009
Aelith
Point of interest Susan, I was born September of 1946 but in Georgia. My Father died of Parkinson's. I too have had health issues periodically through my adult life. When I'm up for it art is my passion but books are a lifeline and escape. The associations here have been very good to me these last 3 years.


Posted: 9:55 PM - Feb 24, 2009
arethusa
I have not much time; I'm listening to Obama and reading the web at the same time. I've not written a biography - I must do that soon. However, I also must say that 1946 was a very good year - at least 3 women with good literary taste were born in it, and two of them were named Susan.

Posted: 4:30 AM - Feb 25, 2009
Felicitous Sk8er
 , Kel-J!

Susan-ji, I didn't know all this about you. I loved your bio. Fascinating! One is very hopeful that you may go feral on the board once again! 

Posted: 6:17 AM - Feb 25, 2009
Surtac
wrote:One is very hopeful that you may go feral on the board once again! zimmerc.gif
What is this 'feral' of which you speak? 

I for one am just so very very pleased that Susan is back and in obvious fine form, though I am in almost despair at the circumstances that drew her back.

I have to admit I was in tears again today as I visited CKs gallery.
 

Posted: 5:29 PM - Feb 28, 2009
Susan
Aelith, it is wonderful to have a fellow-board member who knows how it feels to be on the very leading edge of the Baby Boom.

Thank you everyone for the kind words.

Felici-ji, I have apparently gone hog-feral on the board this week, with endless off-topic posts on some favorite subjects that may interest nobody but myself. I'm sure I'll work it out of my system soon, though, and be more mildly wild.

Posted: 9:09 PM - Feb 28, 2009
Felicitous Sk8er
wrote:I'm sure I'll work it out of my system soon
NO! NO! Say it won't be so! 

Last edited by Kardaen (4/24/2020 8:22 pm)

starexplorer
Hey Todd -- enjoyed your bio. Poul Anderson was an important early writer for me too. And I share your predilection for the A/U universe, though one day I will venture more deeply into Foreigner...

Posted: 4:08 AM - Sep 03, 2009
Surtac
Hey Todd, welcome in!

So it wasn't you who turned up here in Canberra in that KC-135 I saw parked at Fairbairn a couple of months back ... oh well.

I'm firmly with you in the A/U camp hereabouts btw and will be very happy to discuss those works again.

And yes, you do need to get onto 40000 In Gehenna asap. 



Posted: 12:01 PM - Sep 03, 2009
Kardaen
Thanks for the warm welcome! I had a feeling I spelled Gehenna wrong, but was too lazy to go look. My apologies.

I intend to read the Foreignor books in the near term, but It's my turn to read the new Patty Briggs book Hunting Ground. My wife just finished it. She really got into reading in the last year almost two years so I broadened my horizons and have added paranormal romance to my reading menu. Love Patty's werewolf stuff.

I just picked up an Alistair Reynolds book, as Amazon has been recommending him to me, along with Charles Stross. I need to get a copy of 40,000, does anyone know if Herself is planning on adding that to the ebook list?

Thanks for the Facebook adds also!
 
Posted: 1:34 PM - Sep 03, 2009
Anoel
Hi all. Call me Anoel please, there's a reason it's my screen name. Not that I don't like my name, it's just that this has been my secondary name since 6th grade and the one I prefer to use online.
Now that that rant is out of the way, here's some info about me. I am 21, but still think of myself as a girl. I am a senior in college now, and that is kinda scary. I'm majoring it IT. Uhm... I first discovered science fiction looking for something to read from my dad's bookcase. The first that really made an impact on me were some McCaffrey, specifically her Harper Hall trilogy. (I think that's what it was called...) The third book I didn't quite "get" at the time, being a young girl and all.

...I got into  because I picked up Hammerfall at the local library and loved it. Then I read Foreigner and it's squeals and loved it. That was sometime in high school. (Also got into Mercedes Lackey then. LOVE her Valdamar stuff.) As of now I only have the first two books of Foreigner and the most recent three. The rest I still have to borrow from that library. (Not such a bad thing, that.)

I've Aspergers's Syndrome, and my main passion is anime (Japanese animation) and manga (Japanese comics). I may spew jargon from that subculture from time to time. Translations to layperson are just a question away. Right now I'm on a pretty major Hetalia kick. Wikipedia for the series is here. So if you talk about countries I may have some weird reactions.

...Er yeah. Just ask if you have any questions about me.

Posted: 2:41 AM - Sep 04, 2009
Surtac
wrote:I've Aspergers's Syndrome, and my main passion is anime (Japanese animation) and manga (Japanese comics).
You've come to the right place then Anoel. Both my own daughters have Aspergers (the eldest sometimes visits here as Hilfy), and I know that there is a healthy population of both anime and manga fans hereabouts amongst our associates.

Would you like some more fresh  as you explore the place?



Posted: 3:18 PM - Sep 04, 2009
Anoel
Yes please. Virtual tea is always welcome.

Glad to know my two interests are meshed here, to a certain extent!

Posted: 8:37 AM - Nov 17, 2009
Nishiki
Hello, My user name is Nishiki I am a 25 year old College grad with little prospect of finding a job, but as long as I can afford books I'll be fine. I graduated with a degree in East Asian Studies with the vague notion I was going to get some art possition somewhere. So I am kind of in between chapters right now lookiing at options. I currently live in Albany with my Mother and sis but I grew up in NYC. I love books and have since I discovered they don't have to be boring. Apart from books I also like Manga  (air gear, Solanin), anime (FLCL,Ghost in the Shell) , Rpg's (Final Fantasy), Old and new movies (especially samurai  films by Akira Kurosawa), sports (with the exception of basketball I think its pointless to play a game where you can not hold your opponent to zero) and all things Japanese.
I fell in love with Cherryh when I read The faded sun ominbus and became a worshipper once I started reading the Foreigner Series. I love the interaction between Bren and Jago and the concept that being truly commited to someone can be a biological necessity. Um thats it if you have any questions I'll be more than happy to answer them. Thank you for allowing me into your ranks. I look forward to sharing ideas with you all.

Posted: 9:11 AM - Nov 17, 2009
Busifer
Welcome - please have some 



*extending that to everyone I have missed saying 'hello' to*

Posted: 9:22 AM - Nov 17, 2009
Felicitous Sk8er
Nishiki-ji, thank you for posting your bio! One loves learning about others interests & how they discovered . How did you find Shejidan?

Welcome again -- there are many nooks and crannies to explore. 

Posted: 10:53 AM - Nov 17, 2009
Nishiki
Thank you for the Hot tea and the warm welcome one does look forward to exploring the site, nadiin-ji. One learned of this site from one of Cherryh-ji's books, Felicitous-ji. 

Last edited by Kardaen (4/24/2020 8:59 pm)