There sure are a lot of threads here

[That Colossal Wreck]

But I'm going to add another one anyway.

Here is my deal: I am 25 years old. I have a master's degree in physics, and I'm planning to go back to school soon to pick up my PhD, after which I may never touch the subject again. I wound up here by way of a link in a comment on a My Cardboard Life comic.

I'm a vegetarian. I'm not a very good conversationalist, but I can fake it a lot better in this kind of forum environment than elsewhere. I'm male, and a little self-conscious about it (seems like there are a lot more of us in the newbie area than elsewhere here). I enjoy a wide variety of stereotypical nerd activities. I'd like to visit Iceland someday. I have lots of ideas for creative projects that I rarely go through with. I make a mean Strawberry-Rhubarb pie. I would like to be braver than I am. I like thinking of names for things and people.

AND NOW YOU KNOW

[monk]

Welcome to Spacefem.

I am happy you found us. There are a few of us "males" around and we all love math crunchers such as yourself.

I hope you don't mind that I killed your link but it's a general no no for a first post. People can still google it, if they're of a mind.

Tell us your favorite breakfast food or maybe just what you had for breakfast.

[great girl wonder]

Salutations!
We must know about breakfast foods. Serious business.

There are actually a few vocal men on the forum but the gender of the poster doesn't always show in their writing. It's actually interesting to see men and women discussing topics without referring to their own gender or position.

Nerds are cool now.

[That Colossal Wreck]

Oh no! One post in and I'm already on the run from the law!
Am I okay to link to things in future posts?

I think it's hard to beat an egg and cheese sandwich on a sesame seed bagel for breakfast.

I can't tell someone's gender from their writing style. I just thought I saw a gender poll around here somewhere that was almost all female, but I can't find it now. Alas.

[Rainbow Dolphins]

Our member base is mostly female but don't feel self-conscious about being male- we really don't care either way. The established male posters here are just as beloved as their female counterparts.

Welcome to spacefem, your breakfast pick has officially made me hungry.

(And yes, you are free to link to things in the future, we are just paranoid about people joining our forum to plug websites and then run.)

[Sonic#]

Welcome to the board!

I'm not terribly good at distinguishing gender through writing style. I took a test after V.S. Naipaul claimed that women's writing was always inferior to men's because it's narrower and sentimental. Excluding the ones that I knew because I'd read the books, I struck less than even.

Will you never touch physics again after your PhD because of the difficulty finding a tenured job? Or for some other reason?

[That Colossal Wreck]

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone!

About the physics, I wasn't sure when I started that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, and I'm less sure now. But since I'm already in the program, I figure I might as well keep at it.
I'm pretty sure that I don't want to be a professor, though.

[HelixLuco]

what do you think you want to do in the future then?

[rowan]

^that's a good question. Really, don't bother with the PhD if you don't actually NEED it for what you think you want to do. In some cases, it may make it harder to get hired. (Speaking as someone also in physics) OTOH it is useful for some things. So...

[That Colossal Wreck]

Oops, sorry, I missed the question earlier. At this point, it's a toss-up between Cartoonist and Space Admiral.

Honestly, I don't know what I want to do. But I took a year off from school to try and figure that out, and didn't really come up with anything better, so I'm going back. Plus, the professor I'm talking to now works in optics, which is a lot more marketable than my concentration to date in "whatever courses looked interesting at the time".

(I am probably trying to convince myself as much as you that I'm making the right move here.)

[newlydiscovered]

I make a mean Strawberry-Rhubarb pie.

Prove it!

Also welcome, I hope you stick around.