Greetings! I've moved instances so now it's time to rewrite an #intro
I love #languages #linguistics and #etymology. I'm hesitant to list what languages I study as my interests tend to shift, but I know a few phrases in some European languages. Speaking is the hardest part of using a language given that darn real-time compilation aspect, so it's safe to say reading is the easiest to get a grasp of. I've really gotten in to #Latin of late thanks to my dealings with learning plant species.
Speaking of which, I'm also really into #NativePlants, #ReWilding and #Permaculture. I've spent over the past 2 years converting my traditional American hellscape of a lawn into a recovering (thriving, even?) ecosystem of native plants. It's not much, but it's work 
Currently I'm tracking over 110 species I've either transplanted or nurtured. How am I tracking that? Well, I'm also into #SoftwareEngineering
For that project, I just built a simple, local CRUD webapp with some mapping functionality for logging where I plant things, how they're doing and some basic info about them. Outside of work I work on a lot of small projects like the one above, but they've all felt so much more interesting than the work I get paid to do. That's how life goes, I suppose. Anyway, brief list of what I've built: DIY 6 Zone Automated Sprinkler system with ball valves (!) controlled by an ESP32 running ESPHome, A local webapp that (among other things) uses diceware to create unique passwords, A Slack bot for friends that admins a game of Cards Against Humanity, I built a web scraper service for a local nonprofit to better collect municipality permit data, I've gone through 3 iterations of installing 5v LED strips on a bike of mine to stay visible, I've probably written countless automations in #HomeAssistant. One thing remains true for most of my projects: I always end up overengineering the solution lol. It's a double-edged sword, but I'm trying to either embrace it or learn when to avoid it, depending on my mood for that day.
Last, let's talk about reading. I love #SciFi, but primarily #HardSciFi. Anything where there's more focus on the technology being used. Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Greg Egan, Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy. Always eager to take some book recommendations.
Anyway, I think that's enough of an intro to satisfy the Mastodon.
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A Tiger Swallowtail has recently emerged at a time when there are few preferred 
