Southsideofthesky

*******************************************UPDATE********************************************* My family has kept me home due to coronavirus, and I am not allowed to return to university or even find a post box near a grocery to send stuff out. The remaining letter I have not yet answered will be picked up and brought back by a friend. I have sent out everything for my last swap. Until Shelter in Place is over, friends.

Got into this through fountain pens/inks, and I can talk about those all day every day. Love origami/kirigami and paper in general; I collect.

I very much love plants (I collect those and seeds), aquatic and marine life (studying marine biology), and science fiction/fact. I collect bones/wet specimens/taxidermy, either already prepared or things I have to DIY, both macroscopic and microscopic.

I conduct a school orchestra, help run a theatre group, and am part of a Renaissance History and Combat Club.

I love seeing what strange little things people are passionate about, and have a healthy sense of humour, so feel free to joke around or rant a little about that really niche thing you love. That’s the coolest stuff.

I’ll listen from anything from Bach to The Doors. Recommendations are welcome!

Love love love progressive rock!! Yes will always be first in my heart, though Genesis (Gabriel era), King Crimson, Jethro Tull, and contemporaries are like ambrosia for the ears.

I like a lot of classical, my favourite composers being Ravel and Scriabin. Runners up of course being Rimsky-Korsakov and Chopin.

My favourite band still putting out new material is King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. I like having no idea what they're about to do next, as just about every album is a different genre.

I have a turntable and a growing collection of records, with an equal amount of classical and rock. I collect sheet music too!

I specifically collect (geez didn’t realise how much I collected until I started writing this thing) science fiction compendiums from before 1980. They can be from any era, but 1940-1980 is the golden window to me. I like a lot of science fiction in general.

I enjoy contemporary and older works about ecology and palaeontology and such.

Discworld is a personal weakness.

I enjoy old scientific manuals, Romantic era poetry, and Steinbeck. Much like with music, recommendations welcome!

I’m a mad multimedia scientist. You name it, I have the equipment. (Except knitting; I cannot knit to save my life.) Wood burning, resin pours, screen printing, free motion quilting, aquascaping... it’s not a disease, it’s a passion. I’ll take any chance to get the creative juices flowing, and I especially love seeing what other people come up with.

A moment of silence for abandoned pet projects forever in project limbo. Always looking for more paper ephemera and such for pieces.

9 cats from the streets. 4 dogs: 1 Doberman, 3 yorkies. Goofy 14-year-old leopard gecko. Mated pair of rescue box turtles and their 7 kids, and 2 tanks of cherry shrimp (1 fire red colony; 1 blue jelly colony).

Anything with animals, especially invertebrates like snails and spiders and shrimp as well as all kinds of birds. The grimy little critters usually thought of as ugly are some of the most beautiful things.

Cambrian-era creatures!!! The most beautiful thing in the world you can see without a microscope is the Burgess Shale.

Metallic colours, especially copper. Brown is really under-appreciated.

I like night/space themed, vintage themed, and medical themed stuff. All maps are beautiful. I cook a lot, especially baking. Send me recipes!!!

Science. Science-theme is fine by me, but if you’ve got a paper or study to recommend, I’d be delighted. Marine biology or medical related a plus.

I love tea. I am friends with my local coffee roaster and make a pot of one of their coffees every week minimum.

If sending seeds: try to send stuff ok for container gardens. Rule of thumb: if it can’t grow in a 5 gallon bucket, probably can’t do it. No huge bushes or trees, for example.

Anything themed after stuff in the sections above I’ll love; pretty much anything not in the dislikes I’ll at the very least like.

I know, I know. Least favourite bit. But important.

Any kind of politics, even if you think it’s not arguable. No exceptions. Just plain tired of it.

Pop culture themed things, like Star Wars or Batman or D&D or Pokemon or things like that. My exception is classic (not reboot) Doc Who.

“Aesthetic”/tumblr culture related stuff, like “soft boi” or “kintypes” or “self dx” and the like. I have had some really, really bad experiences with people strongly into/involved in these communities and I don’t want to be reminded of any of it. I know some people are strongly involved with that sort of thing here, but I ask you to perhaps keep it out of the mail.

Not a big fan of the Q word. Still an insult that carries weight where I live. Please refrain from using the Q-word in mail to me.

Not into girly stuff.

Anything intentionally “edgy” (serial killer stuff, imagery associated with self-harm, asylums/pills or suicide, excessive blood/gore). Modern goth stuff (Victorian gothic is fine).

Rooibos/red tea and or almond extract/amaretto (I’ve tried so hard to like it, it’s just so medicine-y.)

Phil Collins.

I’m a bit late to the game, I know. I promise I’ll put effort and care into my swaps, and you can hold me accountable for this.

I have limited windows I can do this in due to limited post access during summer and winter, so my swap-o-meter’s gonna tick up awful slow. I promise I will only swap during these windows, and that those exchanges will be prompt and complete.

I’m sorry if it takes a while to get there; sent date is the day it goes in the post; but I’m on an island off of an island so sometimes it takes its sweet time. Might take a bit to get here too, so if it’s been a good bit and there’s no rating, I’m a-waiting. Feel free to dm if concerned.