member introduction thread

[temp]

heheh...so I requested a chat forum....I guess I'll be the first poster here. How about an introduction thread? I'm temp, been here on the forum for...well, looks like over a year now.
I'm 29, an avid sci/fi reader/movie goer/tv watcher/game player for about 20 years now...when I'm not geekin out with the sci fi stuff, you'll find me on the ultimate disc field or soccer field or volleyball court, or at work finding bugs in a big chunk of software for a large corporation that I work for (also known as "the man"...err, the company I mean, not me...unless you want to think of me as "the man" then be my guest)

From Toronto area...married, baby on the way, enjoys long walks on the beach...lol, hehe, I laugh at my own humour (spelled with a u to all you yanks out there)

[SoulThief]

I can relate to a lot of that. And congrats on the forthcoming little one

I am 41, was born in Cambridge England but moved to Sydney Australia when 4, and have been a keen reader of absolutely anything since... um... since I can remember. I could read quite well before I went to school, a fact that caused my kindegarten teacher to tell off my mother.

I have three university degrees: one in History/English, one in Computing, and one in Education. The first 20 years of my life were spent working with computers (initally writing queries for mainframes, then doing system administration, and finally doing software engineering). At 39, in an act of sheer idealistic lunacy I changed careers to become a teacher. Help me - I want back into computing!!!!!!!

I am a rabid computer gamer. From 2000 til a month ago I was running a online computer game clan (club) called WAR (www.warclan.org). I've retired to spen d more time with my family.

I've written 2 textbooks on management that are used in colleges in Australia. I've written a couple of magazine articles on computing. In 1988 I won the Aisling Society of Sydney Award for an essay on Celtic History (it was about the god Cernunnos). In the early 90s I was the Editor of Celtic Connections - the Journal of the Australian Celtic Foundation. And I've only just got up the courage to submit a short horror story to a publisher who has put out the request for submissions for an anthology (I'm a perfectionist in my fiction writing and this is the first time I've submitted any fiction).

SoulThief is a name I gave my online persona in 2000. The inspiration was David Gemmel. It seemed a good name for a person who played violent computer games.

I also love stupid jokes... and laugh at my own

ST

[admin]

My name is Rick, and I'm an alcoholic. No, sorry, that's another forum. I'm not an alcoholic, I'm a sf-aholic. I teach math at university in Tennessee, and do research in knot theory. And I write for sfsite. I also write a lot of fiction, articles, and poems, which mostly get very nice rejection slips that say, "I like this, but not quite enough to buy it." I've sold some stories, most recently to Black Gate.

Ah, but meek, mild-mannered Rick Norwood, mathematician, is in reality a small press publisher. Which means that my superpower is that I get to send other people rejection slips. (Maniacal laughter!) Most recent book published, Buz Sawyer, the War in the Pacific. Also I publish a monthly comic book, Comics Revue.

Currently I'm reading Samuel Delany's Dhalgren, Livy's History of Rome, Alan Moore's Top 10, Fox's Introduction to Knot Theory (for the third time), Carl Bark's Land of the Totem Poles, Will Durant's The Story of Philosophy, and Hugo Pratt's Banana Conga, plus short story collections by Faulkner, Clarke, Hammett, and Heinlein. I write a lot on Wikipedia -- every time I learn something new I store it in Wikimemory. I'm playing Tomb Raider Legend and Myst Uru.

Most recent movie seen, X-Men: the Last Stand, which I liked a lot. Most recent tv watched, X-Files, season 5, Emily.

Soulthief, what do you teach?

[SoulThief]

Theoretically I am a qualified computer studies teacher at High School level. However the lunacy that is the local Education department has decreed me to teach (variously): English, History, Geography, Business Studies, and Religion. In almost a year and a half I have never taught Computing

ST

[temp]

I have a question...what's "knot theory"?
I will not google it, instead I will offer my guesses here and see how close I am:
- The study of knots (i.e. you know, for sailors and boy scouts and such)
- the opposite of kyes theory

okay, out of ideas...must be something mathematical. Maybe you should write a short story about a guy who uses his breakthrough's in knot theory to save the world.

[Jackle]

My name is Steven. I am 19 years old and live in Melbourne Australia. Currently im studing a Business at university, but wish to transfer to law as soon as i can.

My interests are mainly computer game based, and i do love fantasy novels and movies. Something thats not so interesting, i've been on a bit of a health kick since new years, 27kg's down so far, and quite a few to go heh.

I found my way here via SoulThiefs post on the -WAR- forums or http://warclan.org. I am currently one of the people running this clan after we left the wing of ST (PS greg dont be a stranger ).

Lol, i have a bit of a habbit of being a "forum whore" and this is the 3rd forum i've followed ST too. LOL, i even joined a forum he created as an online staff room.

All in all, Terry Goodkind is win, and the next book is out in july i believe .


Peace.

[admin]

Soutthief, it is typical of schools that they figure any warm body can teach any subject. I love it -- I've taught chemistry, physics, science fiction, and general education. But sometimes it doesn't work out so well, as when the person teaching math doesn't know any math.

How did you like teaching religion?

Knot theory is the study of those things boy scouts and sailors tie, though the applications tend more toward knotted DNA.

Rick

[SoulThief]

I was a bit concerned about teaching religion because even though I am Christian I tend to consider myself a bit of a heretic because I am also a strong believer in science. And the school I was teaching in was VERY religious (albeit that I disagreed with aspects of their doctrine)

Having said that, I really enjoyed teaching religion. I think that if you treat it as an opportunity to get kids to consider the grander questions of life, present them all the options (not just one), and let them make up their own minds then it can be a good experience for all concerned. However I did manage to alienate the priest who ran the school (oops).

ST

[admin]

My position vis a vis Christianity is right on the fence. I certainly am happy to accept Christ as my savior, but if I'm required to believe -- that I cannot manage. There are too many contradictions.

But I hate Christianism, which is rife in the part of the world I live in. The Tennessee legislature as recently as 1999 tried to introduce a law against teaching evolution in college! Of course, the public schools teach that evolution is this crazy idea that most scientists rejected years ago. The scientific evidence all supports a creation by an omnipotent God about six thousand years ago. And the Grand Canyon in Arizona is proof of the Biblical flood.

I wouldn't even mind this so much if Christ's gospel of love were not being replaced by a gospel of hate...hate for homosexuals, for liberals, for women, and especially for Mexicans.

[Jackle]

Its interesting to see how things are over in america. I just finished my last year of high school last year, and although i attended a catholic school, the teachers were very careful not to ram evolution or religious opinions down our throats. Obviously they all had their own thoughts on the matter, but you werent shunned for saying one way or another.

The principal on the other hand wouldnt give two seconds of thought to any thought that God may not exist.

[spacecat]

Hi,
My name is BJ. I am 53 and an avid scifi and rather choosy fantasy reader. I was a computer programmer but have been segueing into other parts of IT ever since the Y2K push ended. Doing Systems administration right now...well not 'right now'. Heh, heh...

My two favorite things are reading and traveling. Reading is much more affordable and I like to combine the two by visiting Used Book Stores whenever I travel. I am hoping to be able to afford to travel more in the next three years after retirement. And to read more as well, of course.

I've been devoted to the SF Site since my early days on the internet. You guys had only been on line for about a year ahead of me and I spent a lot of time catching up on past issues.

My other favorite site/place to spend time/forum is at sf-books.com - a book trading site. It's global but predominantly Aussies, and North Americans there. If you go and join, tell them spacecat sent you.

I mostly get my books second hand, either at UBS's or through SF-Books trades. That puts me a bit behind the curve of the newest reads except for the ones I get through the fantastic public library system here in St Louis, MO. But since I don't like waiting for the next installment of series being a few years behind is just fine.

Some of my favorite authors are: C.J. Cherryh, Tim Powers, Lois McMasters Bujold, Kim Stanley Robinson, Elizabeth Moon, Charles DeLint, Ursula K. LeGuin, Steven Brust, Susan R.Matthews, Guy Gavriel Kay, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, Emma Bull, Patrick O'Brian, Rosemary Kirstein, Jack McDevitt, Robin Hobb, Iain M. Banks, Kage Baker, John Ringo & David Weber, Laurie J. Marks and John M. Ford.

I enjoy the discussions here and don't get here often enough. Congrats to Temp on the baby. Thanks to all for making this an interesting place.

[admin]

We have a lot of favorite authors in common.

I have here a request from you to be an administrator? Is that really something you want?

Rick

[SoulThief]

Indeed, a lot of authors I like too. Though at present I am trying to read outside my normal areas. Felt the need to expand. So I read Memoris of a Geisha and really enjoyed it. Am now reading a book called Plan B - jury is still out on it though.

Seems we are getting a few IT pople here

ST

[admin]

When I was in my teens, I read almost nothing but sf. Now, I guess sf makes up a little less than half of my reading. Great non sf books I've read lately include The Strange Case of the Dog in the Nighttime, The Story of Pi, and The Orchard Keeper. All highly recommended.

[temp]

Seems we are getting a few IT pople here

yep. IT geeks tend to gravitate towards sci/fi like [insert analogy here].
(was going to say something rude but decided instead to be politically correct)