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Name: Amy (she/her)
Age: 40-something
Location: Boston, originally from the Chicago area.
Stuff about me: I've lived with anxiety since I was a teenager, and take antidepressants. I am functional, but I am probably more anxious than average, and every so often, I get really keyed up. Sometimes it's in relation to a specific thing, sometimes for no reason at all. Brains are weird.
Identity: queer. Probably a more accurate description is biromantic grey ace, but that's a mouthful. I didn't identify as bi until my early 40s-yeah, and I'm embracing that identity. The ace stuff, that took longer to figure out, and to be honest, I'd rather not be.
Family:
Dana (she/her): wife. Together for a ridiculous amount of time. Engineering manager, works remote. Quintessential computer geek, collector of Commodore and vintage Apple/Mac computers. Laughs at my stupid jokes. Dana began a gender transition in summer of 2020. It's had a lot of ups and downs.
Andrew: child (she/they) born in April 2016 (aka Andy or Little Bean). Andy is on a gender journey of their own, and considers themselves genderfluid at this time. Is this the final stop on the journey? Who knows? I'm just along for the ride. Anyway, I use all of the above pronouns, depending on the day. Anyway, Andy loves public transit, Minecraft, Super Mario brothers, kitties, stuffed animals, math, and donuts.
Kitties:
Hanna Valentina (2014?-)-grey domestic longhair, shy around people, but loves to play with toys.
Ashmont Pixie (Ash) (2019-) brown tabby DSH, skittish, but playful and demanding of pets. Loves her big sister Hanna.
Previous kitties:
Inigo (2002?-2009)
Daisy (2005-2017)
Margarita (2001-2018)
Turing (2008-2024)
Most of the rest of our family lives in Chicago:
Mom and Dad-married 50 years, 70 somethings, retired.
Brother-divorced, software engineer living in the Chicago suburbs. Ex-sister in law works for the National Park Service. Nephew was born in 2015, super sweet and loves Hot Wheels and Nintendo.
Sister-graphic designer. Husband is a freelance photographer. Son born in October 2024
On Dana's side: We are currently no-contact with her abusive parents. We are in limited contact with the rest of the family. Two brothers, both married, one niece, three nephews (all grown), and two great nephews.
Work:
Occupation: Mad Scientist! OK, I'm lab manager of an academic research group. Our project is the development of drug-eluting contact lenses for the treatment of various ophthalmic diseases.
Education: MS in Bioengineering from the University of Illinois-Chicago, BA in Psychology from DePaul University.
Work people:
My boss-Ophthalmologist and principal investigator
Dr. B-postdoc (optometry)
Dr. K2-instructor (ophthalmology)
S-postdoc (bioengineering)
V-instructor (cancer and genetics)
A-postdoc (nanobiotechnology)
SG-visiting scientist (bioengineering)
M-postdoc (veterinary science/toxicology)
I like:
Geek stuff (Doctor Who is my emotional support TV show. Also Star Trek, MST3K/Rifftrax, many many others),
Euro-style board games
Baking
Books (sci-fi but usually not fantasy, medical biography/discovery are my big reading categories)
LGBTQ history, particularly the history of HIV.
Puzzles
Writing:
I am co-organizer for a local critique group.
One novel self-published, another in progress.
Fanfiction (Either as justphoenix or Allamarain on AO3). I will talk about it from time to time, but try not to go crazy over it.)
I tend to write in the speculative genre (fantasy, sci-fi, alt history), but not exclusively. I like writing queer characters. I like finding interesting worlds and thinking about the implications.
Animal welfare-We have both volunteered at no-kill shelters in the past
Bicycling! I got a bike in 2021 after 30 years of not riding one, and am loving it. I commute regularly to work on bike, weather permitting (12-15 miles daily)
Journal notes:
Things I write about: daily life, occasional ruminations on current events
Will cut for: pictures, lengthy entries, NSFW content, sensitive topics, weight/diet talk. I don't do weight loss diets, but I might talk about body image, clothing sizes, and frustration with diet culture/weight loss fixations.
Comments: As you see fit. A little, a lot, or not at all. Don't feel obligated.
Things that might be deal breakers for you:
Talk about kids and parenting-I do a lot of this. I don't discuss anything about my child involving the swimsuit area. Biomedical research involving animals-I do some of this (mostly in rabbits). Anything highly descriptive will be behind a cut.
Atheism. I'm not self-righteous or evangelical about it, but if you're uber-religious and write about it a lot, I don't think we're going to click.
Age: 40-something
Location: Boston, originally from the Chicago area.
Stuff about me: I've lived with anxiety since I was a teenager, and take antidepressants. I am functional, but I am probably more anxious than average, and every so often, I get really keyed up. Sometimes it's in relation to a specific thing, sometimes for no reason at all. Brains are weird.
Identity: queer. Probably a more accurate description is biromantic grey ace, but that's a mouthful. I didn't identify as bi until my early 40s-yeah, and I'm embracing that identity. The ace stuff, that took longer to figure out, and to be honest, I'd rather not be.
Family:
Dana (she/her): wife. Together for a ridiculous amount of time. Engineering manager, works remote. Quintessential computer geek, collector of Commodore and vintage Apple/Mac computers. Laughs at my stupid jokes. Dana began a gender transition in summer of 2020. It's had a lot of ups and downs.
Andrew: child (she/they) born in April 2016 (aka Andy or Little Bean). Andy is on a gender journey of their own, and considers themselves genderfluid at this time. Is this the final stop on the journey? Who knows? I'm just along for the ride. Anyway, I use all of the above pronouns, depending on the day. Anyway, Andy loves public transit, Minecraft, Super Mario brothers, kitties, stuffed animals, math, and donuts.
Kitties:
Hanna Valentina (2014?-)-grey domestic longhair, shy around people, but loves to play with toys.
Ashmont Pixie (Ash) (2019-) brown tabby DSH, skittish, but playful and demanding of pets. Loves her big sister Hanna.
Previous kitties:
Inigo (2002?-2009)
Daisy (2005-2017)
Margarita (2001-2018)
Turing (2008-2024)
Most of the rest of our family lives in Chicago:
Mom and Dad-married 50 years, 70 somethings, retired.
Brother-divorced, software engineer living in the Chicago suburbs. Ex-sister in law works for the National Park Service. Nephew was born in 2015, super sweet and loves Hot Wheels and Nintendo.
Sister-graphic designer. Husband is a freelance photographer. Son born in October 2024
On Dana's side: We are currently no-contact with her abusive parents. We are in limited contact with the rest of the family. Two brothers, both married, one niece, three nephews (all grown), and two great nephews.
Work:
Occupation: Mad Scientist! OK, I'm lab manager of an academic research group. Our project is the development of drug-eluting contact lenses for the treatment of various ophthalmic diseases.
Education: MS in Bioengineering from the University of Illinois-Chicago, BA in Psychology from DePaul University.
Work people:
My boss-Ophthalmologist and principal investigator
Dr. B-postdoc (optometry)
Dr. K2-instructor (ophthalmology)
S-postdoc (bioengineering)
V-instructor (cancer and genetics)
A-postdoc (nanobiotechnology)
SG-visiting scientist (bioengineering)
M-postdoc (veterinary science/toxicology)
I like:
Geek stuff (Doctor Who is my emotional support TV show. Also Star Trek, MST3K/Rifftrax, many many others),
Euro-style board games
Baking
Books (sci-fi but usually not fantasy, medical biography/discovery are my big reading categories)
LGBTQ history, particularly the history of HIV.
Puzzles
Writing:
I am co-organizer for a local critique group.
One novel self-published, another in progress.
Fanfiction (Either as justphoenix or Allamarain on AO3). I will talk about it from time to time, but try not to go crazy over it.)
I tend to write in the speculative genre (fantasy, sci-fi, alt history), but not exclusively. I like writing queer characters. I like finding interesting worlds and thinking about the implications.
Animal welfare-We have both volunteered at no-kill shelters in the past
Bicycling! I got a bike in 2021 after 30 years of not riding one, and am loving it. I commute regularly to work on bike, weather permitting (12-15 miles daily)
Journal notes:
Things I write about: daily life, occasional ruminations on current events
Will cut for: pictures, lengthy entries, NSFW content, sensitive topics, weight/diet talk. I don't do weight loss diets, but I might talk about body image, clothing sizes, and frustration with diet culture/weight loss fixations.
Comments: As you see fit. A little, a lot, or not at all. Don't feel obligated.
Things that might be deal breakers for you:
Talk about kids and parenting-I do a lot of this. I don't discuss anything about my child involving the swimsuit area. Biomedical research involving animals-I do some of this (mostly in rabbits). Anything highly descriptive will be behind a cut.
Atheism. I'm not self-righteous or evangelical about it, but if you're uber-religious and write about it a lot, I don't think we're going to click.
