List Your Specialist Subjects

[gorileeus]

I'm a software developer (although I really just work on websites), so anything related to technology or AI I can provide a little expertise.

 

[Realspiritik]

I can help with history of the early church.

Update (March 17, 2023): I wrote a lot more than this last year, but I deleted most of it because I realized I wasn't yet ready to put myself out there.

Most of my areas of specialty relate to human spirituality; religious traditions (the helpful parts and the not-so-helpful parts); the history and practice of mysticism in various religious traditions; human consciousness; and the unexpected places where science and spirituality overlap.

I have a B.A. in Chemistry and Art History; a Master of Art Conservation (with a specialty in artifacts); and a Master of Theological Studies. A weird mix, to be sure, which partially explains the above paragraph.

I'm also a bereaved mother, so I can talk about that.

Thanks for your patience!

 

[bl-nero]

Here are some topics you can ask me about, because I had a lot of exposure to it:

• Life in a big corporation (spent some 8 years at one)
• Software engineering (I'm a staff SWE, 18 years of experience, including managing small teams)
• Parenting (father of 1, 15yo)
• Poland (I live here since I was born)
• Burnout and impostor syndrome (have been through both)
• Transitioning from a devoted Catholic (every Sunday in a church, lector in a rural parish) to a vehement atheist
• Growing up in a rural area during the communism-capitalism transition

Some topics I for which I shouldn't be your first source of information, but I still am non-professionally interested in:

• Civil aviation
• Space exploration history
• Astrophysics
• Electronics

 

[Mevrouw Bee]

Oooh this is a good thread to know about!

I can probably help with:

- Canadian stuff (especially Ontario)
- Living in the Netherlands (especially as an immigrant), specifically the Haarlem and Rotterdam areas (and what I don't know my Dutch husband would).
- Being a kid in 1960s Canada
- Popular music and pop culture in the 1960s (and the 1950s, but the 60s are my decade)
- Working in an advertising agency as a copywriter
- Menopause ( )

 

[Unimportant]

- Menopause ( )

I think we should all get together and write a humorous anthology on menopause. I'm guessing the stories we could tell would be pretty compelling, and should be required reading for any cis-female aged 20 - 45

 

[Chris P]

I think we should all get together and write a humorous anthology on menopause. I'm guessing the stories we could tell would be pretty compelling, and should be required reading for any cis-female aged 20 - 45

And their partners. And I thought the kids' puberty was tough

 

[Fi Webster]

I think we should all get together and write a humorous anthology on menopause. I'm guessing the stories we could tell would be pretty compelling, and should be required reading for any cis-female aged 20 - 45

Something that amazed me as I hit the end of menopause: my healing from minor things like a cut finger was dramatically slowed down. I eventually got used to the change, but for a while it sure felt like Mother Nature was saying, "Oh, so you have no more chance of reproducing your DNA? OK, giving up on maintaining this body. Bye bye."

And I'll never forget the nights I woke up so drenched in sweat that when I got out of bed to go get a towel, there was a soaking wet indentation in the bottom sheet in the exact shape of my body. Arms, legs, everything—outlined by a puddle.

There was a definite upside, though. No further need for birth control—yay!

 

[CMBright]

Something that amazed me as I hit the end of menopause: my healing from minor things like a cut finger was dramatically slowed down. I eventually got used to the change, but for a while it sure felt like Mother Nature was saying, "Oh, so you have no more chance of reproducing your DNA? OK, giving up on maintaining this body. Bye bye."

And I'll never forget the nights I woke up so drenched in sweat that when I got out of bed to go get a towel, there was a soaking wet indentation in the bottom sheet in the exact shape of my body. Arms, legs, everything—outlined by a puddle.

There was a definite upside, though. No further need for birth control—yay!

I am soooo ready for that time of the month to give way to that time of life. Even with the downsides.

 

[Mevrouw Bee]

Something that amazed me as I hit the end of menopause: my healing from minor things like a cut finger was dramatically slowed down. I eventually got used to the change, but for a while it sure felt like Mother Nature was saying, "Oh, so you have no more chance of reproducing your DNA? OK, giving up on maintaining this body. Bye bye."

And I'll never forget the nights I woke up so drenched in sweat that when I got out of bed to go get a towel, there was a soaking wet indentation in the bottom sheet in the exact shape of my body. Arms, legs, everything—outlined by a puddle.

There was a definite upside, though. No further need for birth control—yay!

That's the weird thing. I got hot flashes twice. During the day. Then, never again.

But I was emotionally a MESS for 10 years. At least, I think it was menopause. Advice: don't move to a foreign country for the first time in your 40s. I'm serious...I never quite knew what to attribute to culture shock and adjusting to my once-fledging career going down the toilet and what could be blamed on hormones.

All I know is that I went through it 10 years too early...in the respect that the prevailing wisdom was that hormone therapy was considered dangerous if there was a history of breast cancer in your family. So I went on anti-depressants instead...that's all the Dutch menopause "experts" could recommend. Nowadays, they say it isn't half as risky as they thought. Gee thanks...maybe I would have never gone on sick leave from my job if I knew then what I know now...

Over the hump now at 61...but never worked again except for one temp contract...

 

[Maryn]

Can we return to listing our specialist subjects? Thank you all.

Maryn, being all official and stuff

 

[Leigh KC]

• Executive level management, mid-size US corporation
• US infrastructure and transportation design (secondary), and construction (primary), (road/bridge/underground utilities) - includes knowledge of contracts, federal funding, procurements - not sure who’d want to write about that, but …
• Executive Coaching (recipient of)
• Slalom water skiing
• Non-competition weight lifting
• Running
• Aikido (traditional Japanese), but been awhile.
• I’m open to answering questions about Catholicism but I’m not a theologian or trained apologist
• Husband is a cabinet maker, sculptor, painter, wine maker, black-belt, and retired self-defense teacher. I’m offering him as a resource as well. He loves answering questions. He is also far more interesting than I am.

 

[Gramps]

While my wife says I know a little about a lot of things and not a whole lot about anything, I have the following life experience:
30+ years as lower level management for a global manufacturer, distributor, sales corporation
Experience in logistics and Quality Assurance
The father of two adult daughters. Therefore, I know nothing about females in general.

 

[Leigh KC]

The father of two adult daughters. Therefore, I know nothing about females in general.

 

[Leigh KC]

• Executive level management, mid-size US corporation
• US infrastructure and transportation design (secondary), and construction (primary), (road/bridge/underground utilities) - includes knowledge of contracts, federal funding, procurements - not sure who’d want to write about that, but …
• Executive Coaching (recipient of)
• Slalom water skiing
• Non-competition weight lifting
• Running
• Aikido (traditional Japanese), but been awhile.
• I’m open to answering questions about Catholicism but I’m not a theologian or trained apologist
• Husband is a cabinet maker, sculptor, painter, wine maker, black-belt, and retired self-defense teacher. I’m offering him as a resource as well. He loves answering questions. He is also far more interesting than I am.

Oh, also, I’ve seen quite a bit of SYW related to environmental topics. My firm has an environmental division. It’s not my area of expertise personally, but, I can ask them questions.

 

[jadamson]

I have a little experience in a few things:

• I am a qualified nurse in the UK for 18 years, working on various wards (most notably one dealing in people with neurological conditions such as brain injuries, strokes and other conditions affecting the brain and spinal cord), Intensive care, and more recently District nursing (community nursing in patients own homes)
• I ran a small haberdashery business where I sold various thread based craft items at markets and craft fairs for 2 years.
• As a hobby, I have hand knitted, crocheted, cross stitched, made small scale models (not my most expert thing) and done quilting on sewing machine.
• I also have extensive experience using domestic knitting machines to produce sweaters, blankets and small Christmas decorations. I have used knitting machine software to make my own designs which I have transferred to machine to knit.
• Although I am no longer affiliated with the church, I spent much of my childhood in church choirs, much of my life being involved in going to services, so have a good knowledge of church culture, church music, choir direction etc.
• I have a musical background and have played the violin and piano to significant grades, have taken part in orchestras in my youth.

 

[Jlombardi]

• Raised in a strict evangelical home, now a rainbow snowflake
• Dyslexic
• BA in History and MSED
• Taught in rural upstate New York for five years, both gifted and at-risk students
• Worked in remote and e-learning for fifteen years in various roles: design, programming, LMS admin, customer service, implementation
• History nerd
• Folklore and mythology nerd
• Whiskey nerd
• Gardening nerd

 

[Maddiem56]

Stained Glass Artist
Soap Maker
Spiritualist Medium/Rescue Medium
Reiki and Trance Healer
Victorian England Clothing and Etiquette.
Professional Middle Eastern Dancer and teacher for 20 years.

 

[damnitmyradio]

hey all! I'm a history student. Specialities are U.S. history and Jewish history. I've studied the Holocaust from both the Nazi and victim perspectives, so hopefully I can give you tips about your WWII novel to make sure it's respectful.

 

[moondust]

As an autistic person with ADHD, I thank you for this opportunity to list my many special interests xD
- Reading / Writing (more specifically, I know a lot about 19th and 20th century authors around the world)
- Art history (I know a lot about different histories but I did audited a few courses in art history specifically, including one of the history of poetry!)
- Biology, especially genetics, ecology, botany, entomology, marine biology, and herpetology (including field entomology and herpetology as a conservation group leader on UK wildlife). Ask me anything about bee gut microbiomes, oak tree diseases, and deep sea invertebrate physiology.
- Physics, especially astronomy, cosmology, and astrophysics. I audited a few courses in Astrophysics including one taught by a Nobel laureate in Physics!
- Cooking, I like reading about it, I like doing it, I come from a family of cooks and farmers which leads me to...
- Farming and gardening. I just love being in the garden plant veg and picking fruit for jams and pies etc.
- Nature Conservation work, I volunteer for a few organisations to try and protect threatened native species near me.
- Painting, graphic design, mosaics, sculpting, and drawing. Even sell some of my art sometimes.
- Interior design and garden design. A couple of gardens I helped design won awards even!
- Woodworking and carpentry. I'm a novice at it in practice, but I have the theory down pat. Just need to keep at it. One day my furniture won't look like it's crooked xD
- Cars and engines. Again, theory not much in terms of practice though I have made an engine. I know a lot about car models, car design history etc but not much about making them personally.
- Swimming (I swim, not really interested in watching the sport though).
- Cross-country (same as above).
- History of jazz, blues, rock, and classical music. I can name over 100 subgenres and describe their origin stories and their pioneers etc.
- North African history. I am North African so I know a lot about the Greater Maghreb and Tamaghza and have a personal interest in it.
- Dinosaurs and extinct fauna and flora. I'd just typically count this in my general biology bit but I guess this is more paleobiology.
- Biochem and pharmaceuticals: I do a lot of biochem in my plant sciences work, mostly looking at proteins, signalling chemicals etc but I find it interesting when plant and invertebrate derived chemicals can be used in things like medication and have spent way too many hours researching this.
- Medicine and medical history. Similar to the previous point, just fascinated with it and it is close enough to what I actually do that I have an above average understanding of it, especially given that I also did some medical biology modules at university.
- Languages. I speak five languages and love learning new ones, similarities and differences in language groups and how languages come to be.

This is a long list and it isn't even complete.

 

[moondust]

• Raised in a strict evangelical home, now a rainbow snowflake
• Dyslexic
• BA in History and MSED
• Taught in rural upstate New York for five years, both gifted and at-risk students
• Worked in remote and e-learning for fifteen years in various roles: design, programming, LMS admin, customer service, implementation
• History nerd
• Folklore and mythology nerd
• Whiskey nerd
• Gardening nerd

You had me at whiskey and gardening!

 

[tusenord]

A list of my stuff:

*Sweden, born and living here
*Entomology, especially caddis flies and light pollution-stuff
*Nature conservation work (practical and theoretical), so a lot of tree stuff
*Horses, cats, dogs, various other pets. Also got a flock of chickens almost 2 years ago.
*Living on tiny horse hobby farm
*Going through close relatives' cancer-fights. Dad didn't make it, my sister so far has. My uncle also died in cancer.
*Getting out of depression and living with PDMS
*Becoming heavier-set and still exercising (You know, sit ups and some stretches/yoga/tai chi are really frigging annoying when my belly is PHYSICALLY in the way)
*Asexual/lesbian

 

[Brigid Barry]

*Living on tiny horse hobby farm

It this a tiny hobby farm or horses or a hobby farm of tiny horses? The world must know!

*Becoming heavier-set and still exercising (You know, sit ups and some stretches/yoga/tai chi are really frigging annoying when my belly is PHYSICALLY in the way)

I'm still riding, so preach!

 

[tusenord]

It this a tiny hobby farm or horses or a hobby farm of tiny horses? The world must know!

I'm still riding, so preach!

Alas, no tiny horses yet, just a tiny farm (only 5 hectares)! I'm still dreaming of having a flock of tiny horses and use them in nature conservation - herding them around like goats.

 

[capricornair]

Cool thread! Experiences/area of knowledge I can offer:

-Teaching in a small liberal arts college
-Living in the northeast region of the U.S.
-Dancing professionally
-Pregnancy/childbirth
-Mothering a toddler
-Living the "gig life" (3+ jobs at a time) for years

Enjoyed reading this post and will keep it in my back pocket for future research.

 

[Tarren]

I'm a little reluctant to mention my specialist field of knowledge, it's somewhat delicate, many people hold strong opinions on it and it provokes a lot of moral judgement. However it is also quite rare to encounter someone who knows about this and many who do won't discuss it. I have an extensive and in depth knowledge of sex work (aka prostitution) and the entire sex industry (production of pornography, adult entertainment, bar girls, stripping etc) based on 40 years active participation in almost all aspects of it. And I also still have extensive contacts within the industry who are happy to share their knowledge with me, so any questions I can't answer, I'll probably know someone who can.

I'm in no way ashamed of this, nor do I try to hide it, I normally speak quite freely about it, attitudes in New Zealand around sex work are quite progressive. I actually developed a large number of valuable shills due to it, time management, administration, controlling finances, conflict resolution, the ability to read people very quickly and a huge range of extremely useful interpersonal skills. However I am aware New Zealand's progressive attitude is far less common elsewhere and people do make judgements regarding my character because of it. You have no idea how hard it is for me to get a date because of these attitudes, even though I no longer do any sex work. For many people, once a sex worker always a sex worker. So I'm a little cautious about this, I certainly have no desire to give out gratuitous details for peoples entertainment, nor do I want to get into any kind of political or ethical discussions about it, so please don't ask unless you're planning on writing about it.

Irrespective of any such moral issues, the fact is I do have detailed and intimate knowledge of the sex industry, and such knowledge is rather uncommon, especially when it comes to those willing to share it. Moreover it's based on extensive first hand practical experience rather than the more commonly used academic sources, which are frankly inaccurate, unreliable and contradictory (it is incredibly difficult to gather accurate date regarding the sax industry due to the extreme stigma attached and its criminalisation). I'll also point out a very large proportion of available research into the sex industry is heavily tainted by strong ideological biases on the part of those conducting the research.

So, I have this knowledge and am more than happy to share it if asked. I will point out my long involvement in the sex industry has led to me having exceptionally good skills when it comes to being discreet. I always respect peoples privacy, sensibilities, and moral viewpoints. Basically I'm not going to be jumping up and down, shouting, and waving about a big banner saying 'sex worker and proud' (though I do hold to that position), worst I'd do is to quietly and politely mention I have this knowledge and might be able to help. I did consider giving a résumé of the areas I've been involved with, but decided against it, seems unnecessarily gratuitous. I'll just say if you can think of something, I've probably done it.