StephG219

Heya,

I'm a 29 year old female, currently living in Germany who loves doing creative things, and sending and receiving snail mail and swaps.

I love stickers and washi (which I also use in my bullet journal), in particular anything autumn, tree, cacti themed, but also just pretty patterns.

I'd prefer getting longer letters with questions and reflections, so we can get to know each other.

INTERESTS:

• languages (I speak English and German fluently, as well as French, Spanish and Mandarin at intermediate levels),

• going for walks and taking pictures,

• reading (see below),

• science (I have a PhD in astrophysics, so I love anything to do with physics, maths, astronomy etc),

• religions/philosophy (I'm a Baha'i, so I believe that all faiths originate from the same Source, and hence I love learning and celebrating the diversity of the expression of this; I also love learning about philosophy and the big questions of Life).

Looking forward to getting to know you :)

I love to read, and I tend to read about about a week on average. I read anything from sci-fi to historical fiction, non-fiction to contemporary etc. My favourite books so far this year have been:

• All Systems Red: a sci-fi book about a sentient robot who would rather watch series than read through the manual about the humans it is tasked to protect...

• Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?: a non-fiction book about animal cognition, with many interesting examples of how we have to stop considering animals as reaction machines.

• A Call for Revolution: A Vision for the Future: a book by the Dalai Lama about how the youth of the world need to create a revolution of compassion.

• Dark Matter: a sci-fi book about a physics college teacher who gets transported into an alternate reality...

• The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue: a hilarious book about a bisexual teenage lord who travels to Europe with his sister (who happens to secretely attend lectures) and his (boy)friend... there's some kidnapping by pirates, looking for the philosopher's stone, and reflections on (mental) health, sexism and racism in there.

• Brave New World (I'm not giving a synopsis for this, just read it yourself :P )

• NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity: a non-fiction book about the history of the autism diagnosis, with shocking descriptions of how autistic children used to be treated by "doctors". It explained where ideas about "refrigerator mums" came from, and in general made me understand better where a lot of the prejudice originates.

• The Knife of Never Letting Go: first in a trilogy by Patrick Ness, about a boy who grows up in a villege where everybody can hear each other's thoughts... until he encounters an area of silence for the first time in his life...

I love different patterned paper (particularly natural colours and themes), cute stickers, inspiring cards, washi tape...

Likes:

• botanical, nature-themed, or geometric washi
• autumnal colours and themes
• journalling cards
• doilies
• teas (not ginger or very spicy ones)
• magazine cuttings
• anything space/astronomy themed
• crafting paper

Dislikes:

• neon colours
• partisan political topics