Oh, hello there.

Intro

tl;dr - I'm a #queer, #pagan, #autistic software engineer from my beloved NJ. I write #fiction & #essays, play #videogames & #read. I like #tea, #comicbooks, #oldtech & #music. I'm older than most of you.

Most of my posts are self-indulgent ramblings about stuff that passes through my head and grumblings about technology. I don't shitpost. ymmv.

My alt is https://icosahedron.website/@pixelpaperyarn which I use for various writing talk and announcements.

My hub for finding me and my projects is https://paladin.space/

I enjoy showing my learning process, hopefully demystifying how the tech industry works. I chat about the ideas I have that I don't have time to manifest.

I'm a neutral good paladin and I am friends with chaos. Systems have their uses, but my moral code will always take precedence.

I believe in kindness and do my best to help when I can.

#introductions #reintroductions

Projects

I do a LOT of things, many of which are meant to be helpful to others and some just because I love doing them.

I run http://lunastationquarterly.com, a speculative lit mag for women-identified authors.

I run https://selfcare.tech & its bots for those that need self care resources.

I've have a newsletter (https://buttondown.email/commonplace), create web development guides (https://aquantityofstuff.com/guides/), and maintain a digital garden (https://www.woolgathering.xyz/).

Details on all this stuff and more are here: http://pixelpaperyarn.rocks/projects/

You can also find my books and card decks here (sales announced on my alt):
• itch.io: https://pixelpaperyarn.itch.io/
• gumroad: https://gumroad.com/lunastationpress?sort=page_layout&tags=jennifer%20lyn%20parsons
• amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jennifer-Lyn-Parsons/e/B008A5Z8YA

Support

I'm fortunate enough to be financially stable right now so please feel free to donate elsewhere. That said, if you'd like to tip me for my community work, I always enjoy a cup of tea: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/pixelpaperyarn

I’m unabashedly proud of something I’ve made. “Take On Me” is the best thing I’ve ever written.

It’s a story about love, grief, food, music, and the people who accept you exactly as you are.

And now it’s not just mine anymore, it’s yours, too.

https://takeonme.xyz/

No less than 3 times this week have I had people ask for my blessing before they did stuff that could have looked like they were ignoring the work I did. It made me grateful that these folks were caring enough to take the time to ask, even on things that are completely open-sourced. It also made me really feel like my work is SEEN.

I don't know who needs to hear this, but sometimes code/processes/documentation that you worked really hard on gets thrown out and that is OKAY and often even GOOD. I suggest that when this happens you take a little time to take notes on what you learned, because you always learned something from that kind of experience.

Speaking as someone who went through this twice today and realized that I'm not even a little mad about it. I can see my growth as an engineer very clearly right now.

I think I need to start a file in my notebook called "If I ever manage to get enough consistency in my blogging that people start following me, here's stuff I might want to do".

I mention this because I got an email from the BuyMeACoffee folks that they released a LinkTree competitor and I was like, ooh, that sounds cool and then I realized that wait. I already have paladin.space which does the same damn thing for free and how many people are actually clicking on anything in my bios anyway?

I am like a dog with a bone when it comes to software test coverage.

I am always going to ask if the scope includes time to write/update tests. I am always going to advocate for a ticket and time if I find something that isn't covered.

I am working on Luna Station Quarterly stuff and scrolling Pintrest drooling over amazing D&D terrain. I want to build all the things, in miniature!

What if I stop worrying about "hoarding" links and that Pocket will never be all read and just accept that I am a human, a hunter/gatherer, and that interesting things to read is my stockpile for the winter.

Happiness is forgetting a word for a basic concept (in this case it was "enum") and working someplace where I can ask for help remembering it without feeling like it's going to count against me.

My German ist Scheisse but when I practice in the morning a tiny bit of my brain wants to keep speaking it. I’m taking it as a sign that something is actually sinking in.

It's gradually sinking in how much of my depression has been tied to how much I hated my previous jobs.

Life has gotten immeasurably better and brighter since I started this new one. And over 8 months in, I'm still as happy as when I started.

I cleaned up my tabs (something I want to start doing regularly) and got them sorted into a Workona project I labeled "inbox". Hopefully going to make a habit of filing, reading, or tossing them regularly.

Workona has been super helpful with my tab management on Firefox. Especially useful for work stuff and now I'm starting to use it for personal stuff, too. It's got features I haven't started using (notes, resources, todo lists) but I wouldn't rule them out if the right scenario comes along.

I have complicated thoughts about the Cat Person story kerfuffle. I don't think I can articulate them clearly.

As an author myself, I haven't trolled social media for ideas, but I have definitely pulled various real-life situations, events, etc. (mostly my own) into my fiction. I've snagged an idea from fanfic here, something from a video game there, etc.

Stories are built on stories. If you don't read (consume other media, etc), you don't write.

I see folks getting paranoid that authors are just sitting there all day watching for interesting posts to show up and take their life for story fodder. I won't say they're wrong, I'm sure some authors do this.

But I'll also say it's interesting to note that it's almost as if people have forgotten that the internet is still a bit of a free-for-all as far as privacy goes. If it's posted publicly, it's public.

My thoughts get way more complicated from there, delving into what should or should not be considered private and how much personal responsibility plays into things compared with marginal voices needing a place to be heard.

Stay safe, my friends.

It's Friday, been a light week, we have a big all-hands meeting.

I'm taking some time to clean up tabs and study.

Also, I got to do a lot of work on our tests this week and it was super satisfying but omg I have THOUGHTS. So much we could fix, but what else is new, right?

My manager is joining my team as the engineering manager for the project I'm on (about 25 engineers) and I'm so excited.

Here we keep the same manager, no matter what project we're on. The focus of the manager/report relationship is on career development, not project success.

Anyway, I respect the hell out of him and I'm excited we'll get to work together directly.

I have been delving back in time a bit and I'm so pleased to see that http://www.saidthegramophone.com/ is still up and running.

I also found that someone has gathered all of Limyaael's writing essays: https://curiosityquills.com/limyaael/