Getting to know each other

[hoverFrog]

Ha 56 isn't that old, not in the 21st century.

[Geoff]

Age: 29
Sex: Male
Relationship: Single
Pets: None
Religious past: Brought up Seventh-Day Adventist Christian
Current beliefs/Lack thereof: Still Seventh-Day Adventist Christian
Location: Kingston, Jamaica
Occupation: Hydrogeologist
Favorites: lots of stuff...music (classic rock, christian, jazz), TV Shows (The Wire, BSG, Lost, lots more), books
Have you met Hemant or read his book?: In the process of reading the book, it led me to this site.
Picture: nah, not right now
Education: BA in Computer Science, BS in Geology, MS in Hydrology
Occupational Goals: Hydrogeologist, thinking about Guidance/Counseling as a plan B for later life.

There seems to be more atheists than theists on this board, but I'll trust that the "friendly" part applies. I used to take part on a freethinkers forum a few years ago until it disappeared, so I'm kinda glad to find another place that can hopefully offer the same type of discussion with the same level of respect. I won't assume anything about your beliefs if you won't assume anything about mine

[Jarad]

Welcome fellow theist. It is nice to know that others are on this site. I look forward to seeing you put your thoughts forward.

[Julia]

Age: 31
Sex: Female
Relationships: Married
Pets: Six rabbits (I'm not a crazy rabbit lady - I swear!)
Religious past: pretty non religious in immediate family
Current beliefs/Lack thereof: Atheist, Humanist
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Occupation: Geotechnical Engineer
Education: B.A.Sc. in Geological Engineering and going back for my masters (M.Eng.) in Geo. Eng. in September
Favorites: Sci fi shows, booksbooksbooks, rabbit rescue (and other small animals), electronic music & parties, delicious beer, gaming, and other stuff.
Have you met Hemant or read his book? neither, but I've been enjoying his blog
Picture:

I married a guy from a mennoite family. His parents were very concerned about us being 'un-equally yoked', so I've deconverted him - now we're 'equal'.

[hoverFrog]

Bunnies.

This is Saffie and my youngest daughter, Tiny.

[Julia]

Well, if we're going to share bunny pictures...

This is Gandalf (lighter grey) and Boudicca (bluish grey), Boudicca is at least 9 yrs old now:


Lola (red rex) and Bowie (white with black) desparately trying to get at the treats:


and Sinatra (white) and Piccola (black) (who were supposed to be fosters but are here to stay):


And YES they are all fixed so I don't end up with 600 bunnies!

[Anarchitist]

Age: 22
Sex: Male
Relationships: So very alone
Pets: none
Religious past: raised agnostic (even that's a stretch)
Current beliefs/Lack thereof: non-believer, skeptic
Location: middle of Florida
Occupation: Currently doing web-programming for a few companies (NOT website design)
Favorites: Problems/Solutions, bio-technology, nonsensicalness, thought experiments, documentaries
Have you met Hemant or read his book? Not yet
Education: BS in Computer Science from Stetson University, also 22 years in the school of life
Occupational Goals: To have enough time to write my own quality software. Not be a wage save. Help found the industry of bio-electronics.

pictures and other info can be found on my facebook here:
http://www.facebook.com/AnsonKindred#/home.php?ref=home

if you're awesome, friend me. If you're awesome and into biology or technology friend me extra hard.

[thinman1189]

Age: 19
Sex: Male
Relationships: Single
Pets: None currently, though I plan on getting one after graduation (or before, if the RA is chill)
Religious past: Brought up Episcopalian, but parents are [what I call] "recovering Catholic" and Jehovah's witness
Current beliefs/Lack thereof: Whenever asked, I just say that I'm not religious. I don't believe [in] anything. I'm open, but it must be proved empirically.
Location: New York, grew up in the 'burbs around NYC. Born in the city, moving back there this summer. My school is in the North Country (nearest major city is across the border- either Montreal or Ottawa)
Occupation: Computer Science Major. Considering a minor in law studies or journalism.
Favorites: Sci-fi shows (Stargate, Firefly, BSG, Dr Who), Sci-fi lit (Asimov, Card, Adams, Dietz), rock (classic, prog, folk, blues, alt, indie) metal (heavy, alt, prog) music, just about anything on socioeconomic issues, chilling
Have you met Hemant or read his book? Read the book
Picture: None available at the moment, to be honest I don't like to post pictures- too many scene friends for me to risk photoshopping. However, there are a few out there, free cookie to whoever finds one.
Education: Sophomore in college for Computer Science
Occupational Goals: Something in the tech industry, preferably with linux.

Long time reader, first time poster. Hi everyone

[JulietEcho]

Nice to have a couple of newbies around. Thanks for sharing, guys

Favorites: Sci-fi shows (Stargate, Firefly, BSG, Dr Who), Sci-fi lit (Asimov, Card, Adams, Dietz), rock (classic, prog, folk, blues, alt, indie) metal (heavy, alt, prog) music, just about anything on socioeconomic issues, chilling

Why are all the people who share my excellent taste in sci-fi shows and books also metal fans? It seems super correlated, in my experience. I've tried to listen to metal, but I just can't find pleasure in it. Maybe it's because I'm not a math or tech head.

Welcome to the boards! Feel free to start posting anywhere and everywhere - we've got lots of discussions going on, and it's also fun whenever someone resurrects an old thread.

[Anarchitist]

...Why are all the people who share my excellent taste in sci-fi shows and books also metal fans?...

Not me, I'm way into sci-fi and way not into metal.

[JulietEcho]

...Why are all the people who share my excellent taste in sci-fi shows and books also metal fans?...

Not me, I'm way into sci-fi and way not into metal.

Well good to know that I have some company, anyway. Allons-y!

[Ulrich]

Hello to the newcomers!

I don't know about sci-fi, but over here it's the fantasy fans (and RP gamers in particular) that are supposed to be metalheads. ^^ Anyway, the thing about metal is that it is an extremely diverse genre. I, for one, am a fan of European-style power and symphonic metal, but there are other types of music also categorized as metal that I can barely stand or just bore me to death.

[Veritas]

Age: 24
Sex: Male
Relationships: It's a complex thing.
Pets: None.
Religious past: I didn't have a particularly religious upbringing. Mom tried to take me to an Anglican church a few times. I experimented with the local Baptist and United churches when I was around 10-12, and again when I was 16 when I had a crush on a evangelical girl. Since then it's been pretty much deism-leading-to-agnostic atheism.
Current beliefs/Lack thereof: I define myself as an atheist.
Location: I live in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Occupation: Tech support.
Favorites: Books: Rowling's Harry Potter, Tolkien's Middle-Earth, Whyte's Dream of Eagles, anything about any period in history. Movies: Hot Fuzz, Patton, Star Wars, Super Troopers Music: Metal & Rock TV: Burn Notice, Stargate, Star Trek, Top Gear.
Have you met Hemant or read his book? I have not done either.....yet.
Picture:
Education: BA in US History
Occupational Goals: Eventually? Education.

[unTheist]

Age: 24
Sex: Male
Relationships: Long term relationship
Pets: My little shitzu/terrier that I had from age 4 to 19 died 5yrs ago, still in mourning
Religious past: Mostly "unchurched" catholic
Current beliefs/Lack thereof: Sort-of-agnostic Agnostic Atheist Secular Humanist...
Location: Chicago, IL (specifically a suburb called Cicero
Occupation: Web Developer
Favorites: Star Trek, Dexter, The Shield, Thomas Paine, cartoons that remind me of when I was 12 (i.e. capt. planet, pwr rangers), dark comedy, idk.. filling out generic "favorites" is not one of my favorite things to do.

Have you met Hemant or read his book? No, and no. But I think we talked about the Cubs on twitter once.

Picture: Old pic from about 3yrs ago. Some think this pic looks creepy.

[JulietEcho]

@unTheist: The only thing I think is creepy is the mustache, and I think 99% of mustaches look creepy, so there you go.

[hoverFrog]

@unTheist: The only thing I think is creepy is the mustache, and I think 99% of mustaches look creepy, so there you go.

Really? What is the 1% of 'staches that you don't find creepy?

[unTheist]

@unTheist: The only thing I think is creepy is the mustache, and I think 99% of mustaches look creepy, so there you go.

Well the mustache is there to stay. But it is now accompanied by a full goatee. Hopefully that's a bit less creepy.

[JulietEcho]

@unTheist: The only thing I think is creepy is the mustache, and I think 99% of mustaches look creepy, so there you go.

Really? What is the 1% of 'staches that you don't find creepy?

Basically, if it's smallish and on an extremely attractive man/character. Examples below:







Note that this doesn't always guarantee that the mustache won't be creepy, no matter how attractive you are.

[Kaylya]

I don't believe I've posted here yet:

Age: 24
Sex: Female
Relationships: engaged
Pets: None at the moment.
Religious past: Brought up in Anglican Church of Canada - liberal mainline protestant. Honestly don't ever remember believing, although I do think I gave it a fair shot.
Current beliefs/Lack thereof: Humanist
Location: Ottawa, ON
Occupation: Grad student who should be working on my thesis
Favorites: I love Arthur C. Clarke and Robert Heinlein. I've always been an avid reader, for a long time that was sci-fi/fantasy almost exclusively but I read lots of non-fiction stuff now too and the odd more "mainstream" fiction.
Have you met Hemant or read his book? No. Being the poor grad student, I use the library for almost all of my reading, and they didn't have it. But I put in a request a while back and I'm happy to say they now have 3 copies on order. It will probably take another couple months to actually get on the shelves, but soon I'll get my paws on it

[hoverFrog]

Princesss Buttercup didn't have a 'stache. Oh, you meant the Dread Pirate Roberts (Wesley). Best film ever.

[Veritas]

Shouldn't you know it's Westley, then?

[hoverFrog]

Shouldn't you know it's Westley, then?

Probably. They sound the same to me.

[ade]

Great idea for a thread. It's a little less intimidating than starting my own introductory post. Yeah, I'm a little too easily intimidated, gotta start working on that.

Age: 34
Sex: Female
Relationships: Married, 3 daughters, 12, 6, and 1 1/2
Pets: two cats, a calico and a fluffy black one, and one dog, a beagle mix
Religious past: my not very religious parents sent me to the Methodist church for Sunday School and confirmation from 7th grade through 10th grade or so. I think someone probably asked them why my brother and I didn't go to church and it made them feel uncomfortable.
Current beliefs/Lack thereof: Atheist
Location: Connecticut
Occupation: stay-at-home mom
Favorites: Mad Men, Lost, Project Runway, Top Chef, Christopher Moore, Michael Chabon, David Sedaris, Kurt Vonnegut
Have you met Hemant or read his book? nope
Education: BA in government
Occupational Goals: I still have no idea

[Medora]

Age: 22
Sex: Male
Relationships: Single
Pets: 8 cats, 3 dogs.
Religious past: Brought up Catholic.
Current beliefs/Lack thereof: Atheist, secular humanist, democratic socialist.
Occupation: Student
Favorites: Shows (The Colbert Report, Dexter's Laboratory), movies (Pan's Labyrinth, Blade Runner), and music (30 Seconds To Mars, Common, In Flames, Incubus, Amon Amarth).
Have you met Hemant or read his book? I have not met him, but I did read the book.
Education: High school diploma. Currently studying criminal justice at a local community college.
Occupational Goals: Forensic scientist.

[Fett101]

Howdy. I've only discovered this interesting place this week. Can't say if I'll be posting much but I'll certainly be lurking.

Age: 26
Sex: Male
Relationships: Nada
Pets: None currently though I can say I'm a cat person.
Religious past: The classic Catholic school bit.
Current beliefs/Lack thereof: Agnostic Athiest
Location: Memphis, TN
Occupation: Retail
Favorites: If it's geeky I'm probably there. Of particular interest is sci-fi, animation, video games, technology, Douglas Adams, Roald Dahl, Mark Twain, and Disney parks (as seen below)
Have you met Hemant or read his book? Neither
Picture: