I don't really like talking about myself, but since I have a peculiar love of reading the "about me" sections on fandom websites, I figure I might as well put something down for the people who share my curiosity. I've been a Pokémon fan since the release of the original generation, which means I can reminisce about the "good old days" when it seemed the world had gone absolutely Pokémon-crazy. I didn't really get into the online fandom until around 2005, shortly after I read Butterfree's fanfic and decided to join her forums. Fanfiction and ASB have always been my primary fandom interests. Although I enjoy competitive battling, I've never taken the time to become more than above average at it.

I'm in my late twenties, with a BS in biology. At the moment I'm pursuing a doctorate in computational biology, and that's going to keep me busy for the next few years. I'm still not entirely sure what I want to do when I get out of school, but it will definitely involve coding in some form, and probably large-scale data analysis, provided I can stop sucking at it by the time I graduate.

I'm not in any fandoms other than Pokémon, although Ghost Trick and Homestuck have both come pretty close to swaying me at one point or another. I love books, typically of the urban fantasy or sci-fi genre, and I have too many favorites to go into; I also like video games, although I don't spend nearly so much time playing them as I used to. I tend to prefer tactical/strategy games, story-driven puzzle games, and games with heavy elements of exploration like the Metroid Prime saga or Zelda series. I also tend to prefer portable games, since these days, especially, long trips are the best time for me to be playing them. Aside from members of the Pokémon franchise, The World Ends With You and Ghost Trick are my favorites.

I have a great love of the outdoors, which is somewhat in conflict with my love of all things that can be enjoyed with one's butt in a chair in front of a glowing screen. I'm always game for hiking, camping, and generally clambering around in the natural world. I like all environments in their own way, and can even enjoy cities in small doses, but I prefer mountainous areas above all all. I like all seasons but winter, and tend to decide that whatever one is currently going on is my favorite, but in truth I probably like summer best (note that it's summer as I write this); I'm a thermophile, and summer is the only season when my hands are reliably not blocks of ice.

Travel is one of my other favorite things, and takes up by far the majority of my discretionary income. I haven't gotten to take near as many big trips as I'd like, but I've spent time in Canada, France, Belgium, Germany, and China, and fully intend to cover way more ground than that before I bite it--including outer space. I've always been attracted to the nomadic way of life, and this probably explains a considerable portion of my love of the Pokémon series. The monsters are great, of course, but the idea of pulling up stakes and striking out into the unknown is really what pulls me in. It's no surprise that I prefer to read and write journeyfics.

And, finally, games. I adore games of all non-athletic stripes, and I'm fascinated by their design as much as I enjoy playing them. Magic: the Gathering is probably my favorite non-video game, and if you bring up game design in any way, shape, or form, I'll probably start gushing about Mark Rosewater, its head designer, at some point. ASB has been a beloved guinea pig for working out my game-design itches, and I've considered work in the area more than once--it seems like a place where my diverse interests and skills would be a great asset.

In general, I'm a dabbler; I love learning about new things, and it's always dangerous for me to visit a library, since I always end up with more books than I could ever possibly read, all of which looked too fascinating to pass up. I know at least a little bit about topics all across the hard and soft sciences. I have intellectual as much as physical wanderlust--I'm an explorer, which comes through in what I write as much as in what I do. Exploration is a major theme for this site, as reflected by its name.

Perhaps above all, though, I'm a maker. I love to produce things that I can share with other people, and which I can look back on later as time well spent. There's nothing quite like the thrill of thinking, "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if someone made X," or, "You know, I wish there were more stories about Y," and then going out and actually being able to make it happen. And if you're lucky, some other people might end up finding what you made pretty neat, too. Part of what drives me forward in my desire to learn new things is knowing that I'll come up with tons of new project ideas and gain the skills necessary to bring to life things I never would have imagined I'd be able to create. From this site, to my fanfics, to ASB, I can't stop grinding along, scratching out one project after another. It's just too much fun.