MetaFilter

What's the deal with your nickname? How did you get it? If your nickname is self-explanatory, then tell everyone when you first started using the internet, and what was the first thing that made you say "wow, this isn't just a place for freaks after all?" Was it a website? Was it an email from a long-lost friend? Go on, spill it.

X-Men Origins: Cyclops Cat (previously) is what happened to me after I read AskMe for the first time, but then I listened to a Ted Leo song and decided to finally join MetaFilter, basically so I could tell someone to get a lawyer. Since then, I've boldly edited the MeFi Wiki Get a lawyer page, including sections on how to find an attorney and free or low-cost legal assistance.

Since opening my account, I've answered a question about what to do when a lawyer is not an option and suggested lawyers for aging parents, national security and mass surveillance, coparenting, adoption, coparenting, adoption, debt collection, estate planning, stalkers, shutting down the fuck barrel, starting a business, tenant, tax issues, wage theft and possible crimes, real estate, consumer fraud, divorce, aging parents, radical feminist reading lists, information security, estate administration, tenants, worker's comp, SSDI questions, journalists, guardianship and SSI appeals, SSDI appeals, tenants, high-conflict family law, slut-shaming school dress codes, reasonable accommodations in court, consumer fraud, fast-track SSI, insurance bad faith, estate planning and long-term care, low-conflict family law, criminal defense, high-conflict family law, high-conflict family law with kids, questions about spousal support, small claims court, recording people without their consent, horrible neighbors, evil aunts, dealing with a lack of everything, job scams, lease buyout offers, elder care, finding a private investigator, dealing with a hostile coworker, hit-and-run insurance claims, practicing medicine without a license, asterisks, reputation management, SSI questions, lead paint, bankruptcy, SSDI, SSI, confidentiality, reptile aliens, unbundled legal services, horrible landlords, low income and serious illness, ending a business, software developers, military families, generic legal forms, deja vu, students at for-profit colleges, deja vu all over again, good news, internalized misogyny, consumer rights, drama queen roommates, consumer fraud, ethical adoptions, "good" intent, revenge campaigns, agent orange, peaceful exits, imperfect solutions, debt management, online ordinations, mental health crisis, interview release forms, constitutional rights, subject matter expert journalists, free education apps, thought leaders, breaking a lease, car accidents, stalkers, high-conflict family law, estate administration, deadbeat and hostile roommates, institutionalized racism, witch hunts, escaping the fuck barrel, sleazy landlords, psychiatric crisis, getting married, estate administration, a jury summons mess, journalists, naiveté, adult children with disabilities, hostile work environments, terrifying roommates, disclaimers, divorcing for Medicaid, divorce and relocation, surviving divorce, elder abuse and neglect, wishful thinking, estate planning, independent contractors, stalkers and evil landlords.

After about three months as a MeFite, I helped start the Homeless Survival Guide page to organize ideas from the MeFi Hive Mind and a directory of starting points for local referrals to assistance agencies and organizations. I've also worked on the MeFi Wiki ThereIsHelp page, including sections for Domestic Violence and Abuse Hotlines and therapist directories.

I've also edited the MeFi Wiki Legal information available online page, and added information about student loans, because default can be terrible but there are options for managing student loans before and after it becomes a legal or financial planning issue.

My favorite AskMes encourage research, especially because these questions have helped me learn new things about the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, coercive control and domestic violence, how the SSA responds to domestic violence, cross-cultural perspectives, how to get busy living, Star Trek, how to write an effective training manual, how to talk to authority figures, how to verify a survivor's story without re-traumatizing them, ideas for family literacy programs, how to improve readability in writing, how to avoid snipers, scientific literature on trigger warnings, mental health treatment locators, CBT and ACT, how to fend off crows, the essence of journalism, why crime varies by location, why family therapy and domestic violence don't mix, the permeable line between good and evil, factchecking US politics, police use of force, Moore's law as applied to human rights, the art of persuasion and feminist discussions.

Ultimately, I've joined MetaFilter to learn new things, including about online communication and social media. Some lessons are things I already knew but didn't immediately apply in this context, such as how helpful it can be to avoid sarcasm, and the interviewing maxim we must expect to be misunderstood, we must expect to misunderstand. I've also learned to start with a general presumption that a MeFite is acting in good faith, or not, and about how to write online in the era of linkrot.

I haven't talked much about myself yet, but I am a fan of Zotero, butterflies, awesome stories about adopting two cats, planning sci fi gardens, spinning right round round round and relatedly, like a dreidel.

My AskMe Interest Areas often include: legal, law, relationship, marriage, college, abuse, writing, money, property, education