LFGryph

Normally, the intro post would be made a little sooner than three days in, but I needed to do the Happy Blaugust post first and I absolutely could not wait another moment to babble on about Good Omens Season 2. So here we are!

Hi.

I updated my About page the day before Blaugust started, so it should be relatively accurate, but let’s spend a little time on introductions anyway.

My real name is Sarah (she/her), I turn 40 this year, I’m ADHD (diagnosed as an adult) and part of the LGBTQIA+ community. I enjoy gaming, reading, cooking, various other creative endeavors, livestreaming, and learning new things. I am incredibly passionate about my career in animal welfare and will talk your ear off about TNR initiatives for feral cats if you give me half a chance.

I moved around a lot as a kid, but mostly grew up in the midwest/northern US – Minnesota (you betcha!) and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (got sisu?) are both very close to my heart. My grandfather on Mom’s side was Finnish and Mom says that explains a lot about me, heh. I currently live in South Carolina with my partner Nash (he/him) and an assortment of animals. 

Grady is our toasted marshmallow Ragdoll, Lumi (TSW reference!) is our spicy calico, and Charlie Chaplin is our recent and unexpected foster cat after he decided he did NOT want to be a community cat thank-you-very-much. I also have a gargoyle gecko named Ember (Dragonlance reference!) and two gerbils named Meg and Progo (A Wind in the Door reference!). We had a lovely lab/hound mix named Loki, who was absolutely my heart dog, but lost him to cancer a few years back. We plan on adopting another dog when the time seems right.

We also care for a loose group of community cats, most of whom we’ve been able to put through the TNR program here. Calvin, Hobbes, and Susie are three tabbies who are regulars. We also have Cow Kitty (real name TBD) that we still need to catch and who we suspect is related to Charlie, and a long haired torbie who recently started hanging around (already TNR’d).

Oh, we also have a possum who hangs out on the porch sometimes. He doesn’t bother anyone and they don’t bother him.

I work at a large open intake animal shelter that’s part of a No-Kill Community and strives not to euthanize healthy or treatable animals. I very deliberately got back into the field a couple years ago because despite often being mentally/emotionally/physically taxing, it’s also the most fulfilling career I’ve ever had. I don’t get too far into the weeds talking about work stuff online as I know some of it can be traumatic to hear about, but it’s absolutely a passion of mine.

As for gaming, I jump all over the place and have learned to embrace that. My all time favorite game is The Secret World/Secret World Legends. My first console was an NES, and these days I still lean towards my Switch if I’m playing console. The first PC game that really hit me (not the first one I played, just the first one that really grabbed me) was Myst. I was ridiculously young when it came out, but I can have the claim to fame that Smol Me played and beat Myst before “jumping online for hints” was really a thing. I was heavily into Minecraft on the Video Games Awesome server for a number of years and I used to be pretty regular on DCUO. I own FFXIV and switch between playing Only That and arguing with myself about pausing my sub after not having played for months.

These days, I freely admit I’m a sucker for decent games with animals (Stray was amazing!) and I discovered a few years ago that actually I sometimes like simulators? I also discovered a love of cozy games. Lots of Steam games mixed with messing around on my Switch at the moment. I was using my Oculus Quest 2 regularly for a bit, but I’ve fallen off. I try to stream on Twitch 2-3 evenings a week (https://www.twitch.tv/darkgryphon42) and upload lightly edited VODs to Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/user/darkgryphon42). Usually the animals cameo, if not the indoor ones then on our porch camera for the community cats.

I usually read horror, but I’m also a fan of fantasy and some sci-fi. Neil Gaiman is a favorite of mine, as is Stephen King. I was obsessed with the Redwall books as a kid and can still quote some poems from memory. (The wind’s icy breath o’er the land of death/tells a tale of the yet to come…). When I have to pick a favorite book, I’ve said Watership Down ever since I read it. At 8 years old. Don’t look at me like that. I like a lot of Mercedes Lackey, and it was originally The Black Gryphon that inspired my screenname of darkgryphon, back before I added the “42.” I think my most recent finished book was when I finally got around to Redshirts last month. (Fun read, I enjoyed it!)

Let’s see, what else can I add?

I exercise fairly regularly. I legitimately prefer daily – it’s good for my brain meats – but since I often wind up working 10+ hour days that doesn’t always happen. When I do, I like walking on the treadmill with an audiobook or podcast, my indoor bike, basic yoga, and hand weights. I do floor exercises like crunches too, but I always forget I enjoy moving my body that way since they were my most hated exercises as a kid.

I’m in a lifelong struggle to ever get enough sleep.

I have an on again/off again relationship with caffeine.

Lake Superior and the Keewenaw are My Places and I don’t get to visit nearly often enough.

I was goth before I got lazy and still much prefer wearing black to most other colors.

I used to be on a Rocky Horror Picture Show shadowcast and frequent the Renaissance Festival when I lived in Minnesota.

I have multiple tattoos and piercings but not many visible. I bounced back and forth in a retail management career and tried to keep things subtle.

Oh…and I enjoy writing. There’s that, too. 😉

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Curious about #Blaugust2023? Visit the Blaugust 2023 is Coming page, where you can also join the Discord. Or check out #Blaugust2023 on social media.