User:Spacefem

I am Spacefem, a 20-something electrical engineer living in Wichita, Kansas. I started this website when I was in college to voice my opinions about the world, some of which are very thoughtful, some of which make no sense at all. Years later, others come here for the same reasons.

Spacefem's answers to frequently asked questions

You can also find out more from Spacefem's forum profile.

What general things should we know about you?

Let's see... I've been running this site since I was 18, in one form or another. I like php. I live in Kansas. I'm allergic to cats. I work in the aircraft industry. I sometimes dream that I'm falling. I don't feel like I read enough books.

How do you generally stand on political issues?

I consider myself a libertarian. I always vote for the libertarian presidential candidate, and have supported other candidates as well. I don't want the government restricting reproductive rights, freedom of speech, due process, or marriage rights. I worked very hard to keep my state from passing an anti-gay marriage state constitution amendment... the amendment passed anyway, but I'm proud that I fought it.

Also, being a Christian has given me a strong sense of social justice. I think we need some form of welfare to take care of disadvantaged people. I don't think we have the right to treat someone differently just because they weren't born in this country. I don't think we have the right to keep someone in prison for five years without a trial because he might be a terrorist and terrorism is really scary. I'm insulted by Christian organizations who try to tell me that the most important political issues are abortion, gay rights, and euthanasia, when billions more are effected by poverty, malnutrition, poor education and lack of health care. I'm against the death penalty. I'm against the war.

What do you feel is your greatest achievement in life?

Being an engineer ranks up there, but really I'd say I'm most proud that I got my top two wisdom teeth a year ago. I'm one of those rare people whose wisdom teeth came in perfectly and I won't have to have them removed or anything. This proves that I am wise. I apparently have no bottom wisdom teeth but I've grown to accept this, and just admire the top ones.

Describe any animals you live with.

Currently I live with a spastic two year old golden retriever. His hobbies include sniffing things, bringing us toys to play with, demonstrating how fun toys are and then bringing them to us again, begging at the table, licking feet, and barking at squirrels.

What are your favorite books of all time?

Faludi's Backlash definitely ranks up there. I'm a child of the 80s so I can relate to everything she talked about, but even if you're not, you can still see similar trends every few years today. If you're going to be a feminist, or talk to a feminist, or think about feminism, you have to read Backlash.

And this'll sound dumb but I love Contact by Carl Sagan. They did a bad job making that into a movie, the book is incredible, it makes you think so much about humanity. The book really uses alien contact as a metaphor about how we connect with one another. I'd highly recommend that everyone read it.

What kinds of music do you like?

Totally depends on what mood I'm in. I like alternative, electronic, rock, hip-hop, soul, world, and folk, and I used to listen to country, and sometimes I really like classical. I like hearing about new artists, especially women. My favorite performers are Liz Phair, Le Tigre, Sleater-Kinney, The Smashing Pumpkins, Ben Folds, Jill Sobule and The Killers.

What do you like/not like to wear?

I like to wear camisoles, tube tops, flip flops and tissue t-shirts. warm sweaters if I have to. hoodies are nice. converse all-stars are glorious.

I do not like to wear capri pants, winter coats, high heels, skirts, jackets, 3/4 length sleeves, earrings, or matching working clothes set thingies. I don't even respect people who do wear those, come to think of it.

What is your gender?

Female.

list every job you've ever had, in any particular order

Okay, I'll list them from best to worst!

discovery channel store - sales minion
airplane company - electrical engineer
shoe store - sales
freelance - web designer
random neighbors - babysitter
random office - intern puts stickers on mailings

powerplant company - engineering intern

What's your major?

For my undergrad, it was Electronics Engineering Technology. It's funny too because I was just going to aim for some vague technology/math/physics thing, and only took Intro to Electronics because the department gave me a scholarship to try it. but it worked out. Once I looked into switching to real engineering at another school, but transferring schools would have been a huge deal, at least 1.5 if not two more years of college. The advisor said I could basically have a masters in that same time. So I opted to stick with my tech degree and then go back to grad school. I used the extra time to get minors in math and technical writing.

so NOW I'm in school getting my master's in electrical engineering. I might graduate in May of 2008.

What are your favorite movies?

Definitely all the Lord of the Rings movies. After that, anything with Jackie Chan. And I like foreign films, artsy films, independents, all that trendy stuff. I strongly dislike romantic comedies, poorly-done sci-fi (unless it's MST3000 material), and gratuitous violence.

What part of the world do you live in? Do you like it?

Kansas, Midwest, America. It's okay. Sometimes I feel like escaping, because everything here is small and crappy, and we'll never get an IKEA. Other times I appreciate the low cost of living and short commutes. Depends on the day.

What are your nicknames (on this forum, or in real life)?

Actually, more people in real life are starting to call me Spacefem, which I really see as an accomplishment.

On the forums I'm spacefem, lady spacefem, the queen of everything, you get the picture. oh, my friend mikey who taught me HTML calls me spacey which is funny.

Which gender are you sexually attracted to?

Men. Especially the one I'm married to. But I've been a strong supporter of gay rights for years, I've worked on campaigns, staffed booths at pride, the whole bit.

What's your Myers-Briggs type?

I've taken the test before and was an INTJ... which is pretty accurate. I do observe the world obsessively with the primary goal of applying observations to projects, which is what drives most of this website.

it says INTJs always think they're right which is true for me, except they call it a "weakness" and trust me it's not so bad. i'm so sick of people around me who can't stand up for themselves, I seriously don't get how those types make it in the world.