Introducing Me to Blaugust 2024

I’m led to believe we’re supposed to write an introductory post for Blaugust 2024. I assume this means an introduction of me to you.

This is, of course, the worst thing that could ever be asked of me, as I have a particular distate for talking about myself. I have a fairly poor sense of self at the best of times, but when you do the “hey why don’t we go around the room and introduce ourselves it’ll be fun” thing, it turns into a full-blown anxiety disorder.

To make things easier I’ll stick to the verifiable facts that would stand up in a court of law. I’m Tom, but I’ve been inexplicably using the name UltrViolet on the Internet since 1997 (well, there is an explanation but it’s not particularly relevant here). I’m an adult Gen-X male who (shockingly, given the above lack of personality) lives alone with a couple of cats that I didn’t really ask for.

I’ve been a working software developer since 1990, and have somehow convinced enough people to pay me a living wage for most of that time. A real miracle because I’m from that older generation of software developers who typically has some kind of personality defect that socially ostracizes them in life, and makes them bad at job interviews and human interaction, but suited to the abstract detail work of programming (and anything else detail-oriented, really).

The rise of video games and the Internet intersected perfectly with my life, and it’s impossible to imagine a world where I didn’t fall completely under their influence and struggle ever since to maintain some sense of reality and perspective. (Though I have to admit I’ve been finding the video game “scene” somewhat lackluster for the last 5-10 years.)

I’ve had a web site on the Internet since around 1998. This blog has been around since 2013. I’ve been writing in some form or another since I was a kid. I find it far easier to write thoughts than to verbalize thoughts (actually it’s not that easy to write either because I’m not very good at word recall, but it’s easier to mask that in writing).

I used to write and record music but I don’t do that very much anymore. I keep telling myself I’m going to get back into that, but I never do. As a minor performative compensation, I started recording game videos and putting them on a YouTube channel around 2016.

I’m a big fan of dry humor, and it’s not uncommon for people to think I’m serious when I’m not.

That’s enough probably, right? Yeah, that’s enough. If it’s not enough, I also have an About page.

Please return to your normal business, while I have a meltdown for posting something that sounds way too personal.