Zazilicious: portmanteau of my online pseudonym "Zaz" and "delicious"
I have autism, I do not know how to interact with people. Sorry in advance if I interact with you.
I’m an Ashkenazi Jew ethnically and culturally, but not religiously (strictly speaking). I was raised Catholic, but am Jewish through my mom, and was raised within Jewish culture through her. In terms of actual spiritual belief, I’m an agnostic atheist, which is to say I do not know if there’s a God, but I am more inclined to think there isn’t than there is (and would require evidence to become a believer in anything immaterial). The specifics of my philosophical beliefs are written here
Professionally and academically I have a primary background in Psychology (I work as a therapist and am a grad student at the time of writing), but have worked as a climate and computer science researcher in the past (quick clarification: this was a 14-month internship at a lab local to my area when I was in undergrad, my cohort made some models to predict migration patterns in response to climate change, and then expressed those models in python with fancy visualizations and stuff), as well as an usher. I also briefly worked at Target, and did some informal writing commissions in the past.
Politically, I separate myself into a duality of practical and ideal, or the Utopian target and my actual, actionable beliefs. In this sense, I’m a libertarian socialist in ideal, and a social democrat and liberal in practice. What this means is that I generally align myself with secular liberalism and social democracy in the Scandinavian sense in my political action, but use libertarian socialist values as a barometer under which my political actions are directed. I have in the past identified myself as a socialist, but I presently think its of more value to describe the duality rather than place a preference in one half or the other. With regard to the particulars: I’m anti-authoritarian, anti-racist, anti-fascist, and am deeply passionate about LGBTQ+ rights, civil rights, and the advocacy of autonomy for the individual, and the maximized capacity for each person to self-actualize. I am open to debate most any of my beliefs, but do not take objection on the grounds of baseline human rights (i.e. I will not entertain debating whether or not slavery is ethical on any serious grounds, etc.). Fundamentally, I am fallible, and don’t have access to ultimate truth, only incomplete means at hopefully arriving at truth, so I am always ready and willing to be corrected or refuted!
Below are some stuff that I like!
Books: Waiting for Godot (Samuel Beckett)(its a play but whatever, I first consumed it as text; it is my fav piece of fiction period); The Three Body Problem series(Liu Cixin)(fav book that isn't waiting for godot);The Picture of Dorian Gray(Oscar Wilde); The Brother's karamazov(Fyodor Dostoyevsky); The Secret history (Donna Tartt); Existentialism and Humanism (Jean-Paul Sartre) No Country for Old Men (Cormac McCarthy); Child of God (Cormac McCarthy); Blood Meridian (Cormac McCarthy); I really have come to love Cormac McCarthy's books; A Clockwork Orange(Anthony Burgess); Lord of the Rings (J.R.R Tolkein); A Song of Ice and Fire series(George RR Martin); The Witcher series(Andrzej Sapkowski); Utilitarianism (John Stewart Mill); The Scientific Outlook (Bertrand Russell); The Stranger (Albert Camus); The Metamorphisis (Franz Kafka); Candide (Voltaire); The Death of Ivan Ilych (Leo Tolstoy); Les Miserables (Victor Hugo).
Movies and Shows: Synecdoche, New York; Godzilla Minus One(fav); Gojra (1954); the rest of the Godzilla movies; Mr. Robot(fav); Barton Fink; Samurai Jack; Stalker(1979); Under The Skin; The Wailing; Full Metal Jacket; The Grand Budapest Hotel; Ghost in the Shell; An Honest Liar; Dear Zachary; Mama Mia!; Les Miserables; Sweeney Todd; Star Trek: The Next Generation; other various Star Trek series'; Doctor Who (esp. classic who and 9th+10th Doctors); Twin Peaks; ; Breaking Bad; X-Files; Death Note; Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Games: The Elder Scrolls series (especially Morrowind)(fav); Baldur's Gate 3; Dragon Age Origins; World of Warcraft(fav MMO) ; Guild Wars 2 ; Fallout: New Vegas; Fallout 1+2 (1 a lil more than 2); Elder Scrolls Online; Star Trek Online; Lord of the Rings Online; Metal Gear series (especially Snake Eater);Civilization V; Pillars of Eternity; Grim Dawn;Godzilla: Save the Earth; Giga Bash; Unciv; Vintage Story; Doom (original); Quake; Unreal Tournament; Prodeus; The Sims 3; Sim City 2000; Townsman; Left 4 Dead 2; Exiled Kingdoms; 7 Days to Die; Minecraft; Dwarf Fortress; 5D Chess with Multiverse Time Travel; OSU.
Music: Nine Inch Nails (fav); Radiohead; Cunninlynguists; Busdriver; Tyler the Creator; Nirvana; Pixies; Torre Florim(De Staat); Syd Matters; Alt-J; Local Natives; Mud Flow; Sparklehorse; Perfume Genius; Beach House; The Beatles; Immortal Technique; Dead Kennedys; Black Flag; Adolescents; David Bowie; GROUPLOVE; Tame Impala; Childish Gambino; Ummet Ozcan; Percival Shuttenbach; Avril Lavigne; Borislav Slavov; Pink Floyd; Joji; Coldplay; Linkin Park; PELINAL(song by Allinall) (love this song so much holy shit); Aliyah's interlude; Sex Pistols; Limp Wrists; G.L.O.S.S; War on Women.
Food:Sushi(fav), Steak, Burgers, every potato dish, Latkes (fav potato dish), tinned fish of all varieties (although Sardines are my favorite), Kimbap, Chicken Alfredo, Spaghetti Bolognese, Ramen, chicken katsu (I don't eat pork), chicken schnitzel, Knishes, Korean BBQ in general, kimchi, tiramisu, miso soup, cream of crab soup, crab cakes (maryland style; blue crabs preferred), egg custard snowballs (baltimore thing), old bay on everything (one of my favorites is to have a peanut butter sandwich with honey and old bay on it), steamed crabs done maryland style (bunch of old bay on the steamed local maryland blue crabs, picked on a big table lined with newspaper with the whole family), tempura everything, french fries (I prefer thick cut to thin), vanilla gelato, strawberries, bananas, pecan pie, sweet potato pie.
Hobbies:Writing(fav), reading, coding, gaming, collecting Godzilla toys, watching Godzilla movies, playing Godzilla games, being obsessed with Godzilla, oldish computers, and computing in general from a hardware and software perspective. Operating systems in general, but especially anything Linux/built with the Linux Kernel. Archery. Cooking. Fishing. Hiking and wilderness exploration. Foraging.
Languages spoken: English (native), Spanish (Intermediate, not fluent), Yiddish (formerly native, presently intermediate, almost fluent), Esperanto (Beginner)
Favorite quote: "Truth does not do as much good in the world, as its counterfeits do evil" - François de La Rochefoucauld
Pictured, my dog Kody!: