Friends?

[83_tauri]

My friends list has got quieter and quieter, and I figure it's time to breathe some new life into my DW. So here goes.

Who am I? I'm 37 and I live in the South West of the UK. (Don't be alarmed, I'm not one of the crazy Brexity people - in fact I think all of that stuff is complete madness.) I work in publishing and I have a background in science (astronomy, as it happens). Honestly, the main thing that postgraduate study taught me was that academia is a nightmarish hellscape. I got out basically as soon as I could, though making my escape had its own consequences. I do retain an interest in my former subject-area, though, and sometimes post about that - though mine is a personal journal, not a science blog.

As to my interests, I'm vaguely-active in a few fandoms, mainly Mass Effect, Elder Scrolls and science fiction more generally. (I'm not really anyone you would have heard of, though I have written a few fics over the years.) I'm an amateur artist, though I should probably be more productive than I am. Once in a while, I still write the odd bit of fic, though sadly my writing fell off a cliff after 2016. (I didn't have a great year then - believe it or not, my 2016 was sufficiently-awful that 2020 is still only the second-worst year I've been living through!)

My journal is mostly a personal one. I write about the various frustrations and events that happen in my fairly-average and unexciting life. I do also write about the difficulties that I encounter as part of that, so be aware of that (I put them under cuts and tag all of those sorts of posts, so you can avoid them if needs be).

If my journal sounds interesting, please feel to add me, I'd love to make some new friends!

Comments

[silver_chipmunk]

Hi, I'm a 58 year old librarian in New York City who lives with a cat and a turtle, and has a 30 year old daughter. I am boring and mostly write about my daily life, but I write every day so you will always have something to read. I am going to friend you, hope you friend me back.

[annofowlshire]

Hello! 41 y/o American-in-the-UK, currently trying to move out of London to the Forest of Dean with my family.

I post about life. At the moment mostly frustrations on our attempts to move that keeps getting stymied by one thing or another; a bit of adventures in parenting (I have a 2 year old); a bit on gaming my family like TT RPGs, board games, and LARP (although not much of that is happening lately); occasional travel (which obviously isn’t happening right now); writing (mostly fantasy fiction, recently made a sidestep into writing electronic games).

Hoping the journal will include a bit more about frolicking in the woods and gardening in the months to come. :)

Adding you!

[83_tauri]

Cool; I have added you back. I will admit to being quite curious about the turtle :)

[83_tauri]

I can absolutely understand the frustrations of house-hunting in this country. In fact, by odd coincidence, I'm currently staring down the barrel of a similar dilemma, actually. Adding you back :)

[annofowlshire]

I wish you all the luck, I love living in the UK, but the English home selling/buying system is a nightmare.

[earthspirits]

Looks like we have several interests in common, such as SF, writing / art, tea, etc.

Would you like to add each other to our subscription and access circles?

Thanks and best wishes. :)

[rabbitica]

It sounds like we have similar blogs in that we write about everyday things and think Brexit is madness ;-) (although I live in the US so I feel this way based on what my friends over there say). I helped coax my wife out of academia with many of the same feelings you had about the whole enterprise and I think she's much happier now...

[muladhara]

I also like Mass Effect and the Elder Scrolls games and sci-fi! Hope you don't mind if I add you?

[83_tauri]

Fantastic, the more the merrier :) Let's do it!

[83_tauri]

Yeah, the Stockholm syndrome of academia really is something else, isn't it? I think a lot of people have had similar experiences, especially if they came straight to academia from undergraduate study. (At least for me, I'd worked for a few years before I went back, so I was aware that "another world" existed, which helped in making the decision to leave.)

[83_tauri]

By all means; the more the merrier :)

[muladhara]

Excellent news! Thanks :)

[jo]

Hello!

I've added you and granted you access to my journal as it's 99% friends-locked. I write about my day to day life mostly, which is always rather dull, and especially so these days. I've been working from home since mid-March so I don't even have mildly amusing tales from the office to share anymore. I'm 57, Canadian, married to a Brit. And likely have an About Me post somewhere...

If we don't click, no worries.

[howsmyenglish]

Hey, my 2016 sucked much more than 2020 does, too. And my creative writing feel off a cliff at the same time, also.
But this is not why I'm adding you. :D
Don't be too alarmed about my journal not having been updated for long: I read every day, and I plan to stage a comeback very soon!

[earthspirits]

Thank you - added you back! : )

[83_tauri]

Haha, yeah I know that feeling. For various reasons my personal lockdown started two weeks ahead of the rest of the country (I started coughing around early March, so began quarantining myself then), but I've been WFH too, ever since.

[83_tauri]

We can all agree that 2016 needed to get in the bin, then :) And welcome aboard!

[ranawinter]

I'm 36, also from the UK. Happy to find more UK people on here, and I think you may be the first I've managed to find!

[83_tauri]

Yeah, there don't seem to be that many of us out there now. Most of the other DW Brits I know are LJ refugees - actually, scratch that, all of them are LJ refugees. I think DW is now just too small a corner of the social media domain, really, so people just don't hear about it.

[ranawinter]

I'm an LJ refugee too haha. I think we've reached a point where social media has reached it's height of hideousness, where the old school folk (those of us who used the internet when using your real name was considered the worst idea ever!.. still is IMHO!) are starting to search out these sorts of places again, where people connect not because they know each other IRL, but because they want to connect with people who are more like them.

[rabbitica]

It is very hard I think! My wife said at one point re: tenure track "Where else do you get seven year job security" (i.e. a place that guarantees you employment for a minimum of seven years), parroting what someone else had said. I was like, actually, most professional jobs, unless explicitly stated otherwise, hire you indefinitely with NO expiration date. (Obviously you can get laid off, although as people are discovering now tenure is no protection from that.) But she had never had a job outside of academia so she really didn't have perspective on it.

Anyway, happy to add you and I promise I generally don't rant about academia...just other stuff ;-)

[ai]

Hi there. My friends list has also grown quieter (so it goes with sites like this: people get hit with a wave of nostalgia or impulse to make an account, then disappear a couple months in) so I would be interested in getting to know someone more active.

I've never gotten into ME or ES, though I have been interested in pursuing both of them. Just never had the time before. It'd be neat to hear more about the UK though!

[83_tauri]

Yes, I think it's quite common for people to just run out of things to say, or forget, or lose interest. I've seen that happen many times too. Anyway, please feel free to add me if you'd like to!

[ai]

Indeed. Especially in this year, a lot of individuals might have been excited to return to journaling only to realize it is quite depressing of a time to write about. I know I initially felt that way with my monolog journal (a physical 10 year journal where you write 2-3 lines each day) so I can understand it.

Just makes it boring otherwise for folks like us who are still hanging around~