Hanging My Ass Out Online
I am, sadly, not part of the Facebook revolution, the MySpace weltanschauung, or even the blogging mindset. I know, this is a weird thing to hear coming from someone who has been running some kind of website splattered with overflowing id since 1999, but there it is.
The thing is, I dislike hanging my ass out on the internet. By “ass” I mean “personal details.” It took nearly a year before I admitted on my rant site that I was female. I was traumatized when I realized that as part of the Dark Side of the industry, I was not going to be able to avoid having photos of my made-for-the-internet face posted. When I got married, I didn’t mention it online, and in fact did not publicly mention my legal name change until I left Mythic… two and a half years after the wedding. I use my real name when posting on behalf of an employer (and when I’m yammering on about anything to do with the gaming industry – the trust of players is too fragile a thing to risk even the APPEARANCE of sock puppetry), but in all other non-gaming forums I use handles. I won’t even post my birthday or geographical location in other online profiles if I can help it.
I don’t *hide* anything, but I’m in no rush to get all of my information into Google. I firmly believe that there is a reckoning en route for people who commit every last freaking detail to the internet. When Google becomes a network implanted inside human skulls, and potential employers and lovers just think your name and suddenly pictures of you from summer camp, that one kegger, and the all-night M:TG gaming session pop up, along with your diatribe over the 1H slashing weapon with a 2% chance to crit vs. elvenkind only YOU wanted it to be 3% and for some reason that really, really mattered? So much so that you called the community manager a three bagger who tracks rabbits by scent? Yeah. It’s not going to be pretty.
Anyway, my point… I had one… oh! Yes! My point is that despite a life lived almost entirely online, I am by modern standards an intensely private person, and have spent the last week going back and forth over making this post at all. However, many if not most of my regulars already know, and I feel like I owe an explanation for the silence to the other three of you:
My husband and I welcomed our son, the once and future Nerd King, the Rare Spawn, the Kwisatz Haderach, and the Scourge of the Galactic Empire, into the world on Saturday, February 9th.
Yeah. That’s why I wasn’t drinking at AGC. All that lovely free booze, just gone to waste.
The site will be on a bit of a… hiatus, until I can get back to reading the news and gossip and having informed opinions again. And thank you very much to everyone who has sent their good wishes so far – I have seen all the IMs and emails, but it’s been difficult to respond in a coherent manner. The decibel level that can emit from seven pounds of beady-eyed humanity is pretty astounding. See you all soon.
Congratz on the little one! If you’re the natural mom-type and are already madly in love, so much the better. If you’re like me and the mothering-thing is not natural, don’t worry. The hellish first 6 weeks will soon be over, he’ll smile at you, and it will all have been worth it.
You have gotten better at Procreation(1)
Gratz!
I’m happy for you, Sanya! I hope you have a great relationship with your son for the rest of your life.
awww a little baby shadowzerker! kidding!
Seems like to me DAOC has went downhill since you left
I would beg for you back but…… I do not think it will do any good 
Congrats on the little baby
Remember to take breaks. The baby is not as fragile as you might think. You can ALWAYS step away. Make a phone call to someone. Take a break until that “I’m going to throw it out the damned window” feeling passes. The feeling everyone gets but no one talks about. That’s the best advice I can give you. It’s normal, and it’s okay.
Love and wishes to your family.
Personally I propose the ‘Bunghole Method’ of child rearing.
( A bunghole is the hole in a wine barrel used to fill it )
1. Place child in wine barrel.
2. Feed child through bunghole.
3. After 18 years… drive the cork in.
Congrats on the new addition!
Mazel tov! In a few months he should be able to hold his head up, and you can get him started on the Wii.
Congrats! (A bit late. Gomen nasai!)
As for the Internet thang, I can hear you on that… I’m not TOO concerned as I usually use one of a few handles and I’m pretty mellow about what I post anyway.
It’s kind of fun to google your character’s name and realize that he has a bigger ‘net footprint than YOU do.
Grats on the bundle of joy!
Here’s just a few of the RA’s you have to look forward to:
Mastery of Pee I – Ability to wet oneself, RUT 10min
Mastery of Pee II – Ability to wet your clothing. Players that use this RA however also have a random chance that the RA may trigger a reverse proc, Sore Bottom. RUT 60min,
Mastery of Pee III – Ability to wet others. This allows the user to wet their clothing and not be discovered until your bottom comes in direct contact with another players lap or arm. RUT 120min
Mastery of Pee IV – AoE effect, similar to MoPee III, but can effect multiple targets if they stand/sit/lay within the range of where you used this RA. RUT 120min
Mastery of Pee V – Ability to pee on command. Best used when another player is changing your diaper and is making ‘baby-talk’ with you as you lay defenseless with all your guildies standing around watching. RUT – Random
Mastery of Poop I – Ability to soil oneself with a green, slimy ooze. – RUT240min
Mastery of Poop II – Ability to soil oneself with a green, slimy ooze that gives off an AoE type odor. – RUT240min, Min Level required 3-5 days
Mastery of Poop III – Same as MoPoop II, but if used in conjunction with MoPee III you have a random chance of triggering a Gag Reflex II reaction from your target. – RUT240min
Mastery of Poop IV – Same as MoPoop III, AoE spell, but if used in conjunction with MoPee IV you have a random chance of triggering a Gag Reflex III reaction from your target. – RUT240min
Mastery of Poop V – Similar to MoPee V but also has a 75% chance of triggering a Gag Reflex IV and also a 25% chance to trigger a Flight from Room reaction from your target. (50% chance if your opponent is male) – RUT240min
Haha, and now you will fully understand all the weird kid stuff I posted on the “rant” board.
Ahhhhh, sleep depravation. I remember it…vaguely.
Enjoy this wondrous time.
Congratulations.
Congratulations – keep in mind that in many years you’ll look back at this time fondly. When that time comes, you can wonder about your sanity.
What wonderful news! Hope he doesn’t keep you up at night too much
Top Tip! Remember to clean under your finger nails after changing him ;p
Congrats!
omgoodnesses sanya! Congrats!
Awesome news, congratulations
Of all the advice one could think of this may seem strange but….
A nurse helped us a great deal once when she said, “true diper rash will go away fairly quickly if the baby is clean and dry…if it doesn’t go away quickly chances are it isn’t diper rash but is a yeast infection on their bottom.” The nurse recommended yeast cream and my daughters diper rash, that would not go away, just seemed to vanish.
Just something to keep in mind for those times when they cry because it hurts so much and it seems like you have tried everything to make them feel well and to get that darn diper rash to go away.
rawr <3
Kwisatz! I LOL’d.
Gratz on the kid.
Congrats you guys…. About ready to pop myself.. 6 more weeks
Tweety, out of nostalgia today I logged into the old “rant” site’s ezboard and saw where Goemagog had posted that you had recently had a child. I tracked down this site just so I could tell you congratulations. Life sure is a grand ride, isn’t it?
We’ll have him posting on the Nest before he’s 5, guaranteed.
I’m just a faceless nobody I guess, but being a “fan” of you since I played DAoC I wanted to offer my congratulations anyway
[...] personal choices. I don’t post much about my private home life, for example. (see Sanya’s post from last Feb for a similar [...]