the company i keep

I'm so late with posting - have been utterly swamped by life and projects in the past few weeks. It's been exciting seeing all your wishlists come in and I hope I can find a few minutes to check out some and see if there's anything I can contribute.

This year I don't have a ton of things to wish for:


1. Volunteer to help with the Yahoo Groups (Fandom) Rescue Project. It's a massive project but it would be so neat to get it all done, and 100 good volunteers would do it. Other than anime in general (some specific fandoms not counted there) and a few tiny things, most areas are still open for tagging (everything from genealogy to bands to alumni groups to every fandom under the sun that existed before 2019). All you need is time, the ability to use Google Sheets, and the ability to be careful with details. If you can't do one of those, maybe you know someone who could and might be interested in helping? Just tell them about the project, perhaps? :)


2. Old educational software (game or not) for Windows you don't want or can't use: (But definitely ask me first, in case I already have it and you'd be wasting your time/money to send them here.) I'm taking old computers people can't use or don't want, putting Linux on them, and configuring them to be useful for a local school or low-income families. If the computers are relatively new enough (like Windows 10, as opposed to Windows XP or 7) I can install a software program called Lutris which acts as a one-stop game/program launcher for games from a number of sources - not only modern Linux ones, but modern Windows games, DOS, Amiga, and my favorite - old games (generally abandonware at this point) that ran on Windows 3.1/95/98. It's easier to run them on Linux now than Windows, and I've been figuring out how to create Lutris installer scripts for many games to make it easy for others. So if you find you have CDs of educational software/games from that era which are buggy or just don't run on your Windows 10/11 computer, and you want to get rid of them, I'm happy to be the destination for them.


3. Donate older-but-still-usable electronics to organizations that can make them useful. I love seeing computers revitalized with Linux. While I'm sure you're too far from me to donate any to my project (anyone in western WA state? lol), there are organizations in many locations that will refurbish and make older computers useful. (Though I maintain that to really make use of old hardware you have to switch away from Windows - which is far more resource-hungry than most Linux distros. I don't know how many organizations consider that one, lol.)


4. Write me a fanfic! You can find my fanfic exchange letters here.
Fandom list (going back to 2019 as far as the exchange letters go): 1-800-Missing (TV), Alphas, C-16: FBI, Cybergeddon, Earth Girl, Gold Diggers (1996), Law & Order: SVU, Leverage, Lois & Clark:TNAOS, Profiler, Push (2009), Rizzoli & Isles, Rookie Blue, Smallville, Sue Thomas F.B.Eye, The Pretender, Tomorrow When the War Began (2010), Women's Murder Club (TV), Worldweavers, X-Men original timeline movies

I'm not currently interested in receiving Matrix fic, and haven't watched past S3 of FBI and S2 of FBI: Most Wanted, so although you'll find those in the exchange letters, it's probably best to stay clear of those (unless you think you can write a spoiler-free FBI or FBI MW fic). And I know this is very, very late to ask for a fic, and I absolutely don't expect one by Christmas or New Year's or anything like that - but you will honestly make me happy *any* time of the year if you write me a fic, so if this is something you think you can do, please don't worry about timeframes. :) (Use the DNW list from the most recent letter or letters if you do.)


5. Obligatory Amazon wishlist: Here
I'm always good with used books, and for CDs/DVDs I just want them in nice enough condition that they aren't scratched.


6. Music instruments: This one I don't expect to ever receive, but I'm wishing anyway. Should you come across a spare musical instrument, I can put it to good use. Either by playing it myself (pretty much anything stringed I'm good with) or by giving it to someone else who can't afford an instrument but who has talent and desire to play.


7. Code me the program I've dreamed of. This one's just as unlikely as the last, lol. I've learned some programming skills but I don't have the time to learn more, and I would have to be mentored through creating this program specifically anyway, lol. Some years ago I created a 14-page outline of a music player that I would love - and there isn't a single program out there that even comes CLOSE to having the features I want (multi-genre labeling and filtering without interacting with the actual files' tags, for instance). I run Linux Mint as my main OS and would want anything I use to run on Linux natively.


If you're going the route of mailing me directly (such as for wishes #2 or #6, or if you have a personal copy of something on my Amazon wishlist that you want to send), PM me for my address.