I was born on 16th November, 1976 - you work out my age, its always out
of date.
I have dark brown hair (which unsurprisingly changes length) muscular build (thanks to two years of training), and
have
green/grey eyes. I live in central Forest of Dean, in Gloucestershire
with my mum.
Work
I currently work for an architects in Gloucestershire, where I do a lot of the CAD work there - drawings on computer etc. I also do 3d models of buildings and design flyby animations to show off the designs and how they will often compare to existing buildings. I have also been known to produce small promotional videos for the company. I use Autodesk Architectural desktop 3.3 (based on autocad 2002), 3d studio max 2.5 & 3 and Adobe premier (occasionally for the video side of things).
Hobbies
Computing is a major hobby of mine. I have a Macbook Pro running Mac OS X 10.4. PS2 and PS3 also gets some use when I fancy getting a game that isn't available on the Mac.
My interests include: Computers, internet, music, graphics and programming
- all that sort of thing. MMORPG playing (Massively multiplayer online role playing
game) I currently play Runescape, and occasionally play Neverwinter Nights online.
I also enjoy kite flying, ice skating, roller skating, cycling, camping (in the countryside or at medieval re-enactments!), regular weight training, reading, sci-fi and various other things. I like most Sci-Fi
programs!
I like to write midi music using my computer and also I have a graphics tablet that allows me to produce some quite interesting artwork. I'm often mucking about with digital video a lot now, due to the fact that I've got a camera that I can put video back down to after editing. My niece and nephew (Jamie and Liam) often take part in recording special effects, such as reverse video and stopframe animation (as well as the occasional trip to feed the ducks!)
I enjoy programming, and started off years ago on an old commodore vic-20 in
BASIC, then moved up through commodore +4, c64, Amiga and then on to PC - staying
with BASIC and Visual Basic. I have recently begun to learn to write in Java,
and am finding it quite intuitive after getting to grips with the basics. In fact
after using it for a fortnight then going back to VB6, I found VB to not be very
intuitive at all!
I've begun learning Inform for Interactive Fiction programming (text adventure
games) which is proving to be a good outlet for my literary talents. Straightforward
storytelling was never my forte.
I also like animals, especially dogs - we have a welsh springer spaniel named Burt.
One of my favourite things to do is participate in medieval re-enactment (usually
14th to early 15th century and also Viking) although I do not take part in the battles. I am often
found either dressed as a monk, or in my "Bard" type costume. In either
case I usually carry a large wooden staff, that has several twists in it, and
am known to carry a small fife (due to lack of a renaissance flute) and often
play early 14th century music on it at the events. After getting interested in Viking period re-enactment, I made myself an Anglo-Saxon lyre that I also play at events.
I enjoy joining in with
the other groups of musicians, when I can often pick a tune up by ear - or just
barely get the gist of it from the sheet music. I enjoy it most though, when we
all know a vague tune and can improvise it together. I purchased a harp in late 2006 and managed to pick it up within about a week of playing - at the end of the first weekend away with the harp, I was able to play a couple of tunes.
I've also learned to read the runes (germanic elder for those interested), so often do a bit of 'fortune telling' for the public at events. Well, I prefer not to class it as fortune telling, as it's less about predicting than it is a form of counseling.
The runes hobby inspired me to make my first overseas trip to Norway, where I went alone. I began learning a bit of Norwegian just in case I had to speak to people who didn't know english - or at least so I could understand signs. It turned out that I didn't really need to. Forstår du Engelsk? (Four-shtore do engilsk) Would have been enough - do you understand english? Most Norwegians do.
The second trip, just before Christmas '06, was to Iceland. This time I started learning Icelandic, again, not a necessity - but this was more out of interest for Norse lore (see below). Talarðu ensku? (Tallar-thoo enskoo) Will get you by, provided the person you're speaking to does speak english.
I've also been to Sweden for a short trip to visit the burial sites in Uppsala, and was afforded the opportunity to go underneath the church to view the post-holes of the original 'heathen' temple.
Religion
After getting into the re-enactment scene, the time away from the "modern
world" whilst at re-enactments caused me to think about certain things more
frequently. I discovered that I had an interest in herbs and their uses in healing
and food, and also developed a more active interest in trees and wildflowers.
Branching off from this (pardon the pun) I developed an interest in the folklore
associated with plants and herbs, and then found about the Pagan roots of these
beliefs (puns coming thick and fast here!)
I had never really been sure as to what my religious beliefs were, but when I
looked into Paganism deeper, I found that I had a great affinity for many of the
ideas that Pagans hold. Particularly with my interests in healing and now herbs,
I felt close to the "Green man" - the god or spirit of the forests.
Many people see this figure as Herne, though no two pagans necessarily have the
same view of their beliefs.
As I experienced it, I saw Herne and the Green Man, as a kind of Yin/Yang duality, with the whole making the Goddess - whilst she herself has three facets, but is in balance. The duality of Herne and the Green Man, to me, was an interlinking of many things, it expresses life through death, and growth through conflict and rest - exactly the way that nature seems to work. That is, of course, a very simplistic view of my beliefs.
Since taking an interest in martial arts, I had begun to think about the spiritual side of Tai Chi - after investigating Daoism (one of the main religions/philosophies in China, often spelled using the old innaccurate name 'Taoism' ) I found that my already extant beliefs matched up with Daoism closely, regarding the balanced forces of the universe (except there are no personifications of gods etc.), so now that became my philosophy whilst I practised Tai Chi.
After a few changes in my life, I found that the laid back 'let it all happen' attitude of Daoism didn't really fit - I couldn't allow life to career out of control if it felt like it. A long sequence of events and 'coincidences' that happened revolving around the runes started prompting me to find out more about Ásatrú (an icelandic word pronounced Ow-sa-troo) - the reconstructionist movement based on the Norse/Northern Heathen tradition (that's basically those of us who are loyal to the Norse gods - the Æsir - such as Odin, Thor, Freyja etc.)
More hobbies
For the Pagan new year (Samhain) - known to most as Halloween, I made a mask to represent the Green Man (see the medieval section on the site). It was a brown cotton base, just a simple shape to go over the head, with felt oak leaves cut out and sewn onto it to cover the base material. The veins on the oak leaves were sewn on with a sewing machine - but they were attached to the head by hand due to the way they had to be arranged. There was also a ponytail on the mask, made from curtain tying cord, with felt Ivy leaves and cotton birch leaves sewn to it.
Most of my medieval/viking kit I make myself, except for a few items
such as a sword, shoes and trousers/hose that I could not make. I bought my first costume
- which was a brown tunic with white hood and tabard, yet it seemed rather expensive
for that basic bit (coming to around £60!) and that was the point at which
I decided to make the white monks costume, simply tracing the one I had bought
out onto paper and working from that.
The bard costume was rather more difficult, as I had to copy the vest/jerkin from
a padded gilet (bodywarmer thing) - and also made a bit of a mistake with the
trousers, and ended up having to sew a gusset in them after they split one day
when I sat down!
Since then I have made lots of items for Viking and medieval costume, and photographs can be seen on the costume pages.
My niece - Jamie, Mum and myself in medieval gear
Re-enactment also got me interested in archery, I have a recurve bow - but
in recent months, its been put on a backburner. The club tried to pressure me
into competition, when I was actually participating in it to better myself, not
compete.
As a physical outlet, I've practised Karate, and then moved on Tai Chi - which gives the combined benefits of learning self control, coordination,
along with an idea of how the body can be used to direct spritual forces and how
to focus the mind. The Karate club I trained with is quite friendly - they have
a website at http://www.fudoshinkarateclub.co.uk
as does the Tai Chi group http://www.crystaltaichi.co.uk I no longer practice Tai Chi due to time restraints (and it actually didn't help a knee problem that I had - the weight training did, however).
Gaydar profile
(Not a lot here that isn't already somewhere on this site)