cygnoir.net is a personal website that has existed in some form or another since May 1998. It is written and produced by me, Halsted, a/k/a Cygnoir, and it is where I write about:
Recently I added a now page to document my current projects and passions. If you have your own website, you should make one, too.
Email me at halsted@cygnoir.net or schedule a quick chat. I love hearing from people!
My current bio blurb is: “A black swan with digital wings. Reader, writer, library director, fighter for a better tomorrow for everyone. She/her.” I live in Portland, OR, with my husband and our two cats, Crivens and Criminy, a/k/a the Bottlebrush Brothers.
I love words. I wrote my first story when I was 4 years old and I never stopped writing.
I also love the Internet. In 1985, I first logged into a BBS, and I’ve been active in online communities ever since. I’m a member of The WELL, I dabble in virtual reality, and I’ve had a webpage in some form or another since 1993. Using the Internet to connect and share information changed my life in a hundred small ways and one very big one: it led me to my career in libraries.
I am the director of the Tigard Public Library, where we serve our community by providing resources to educate, entertain, and enrich everyone’s lives. I believe in public libraries as vital third places and community hubs.
🎧 Listen: I was the first guest on the Talking Tigard podcast.
As a member of the City of Tigard’s leadership team, I help to develop our anti-racism action plan with the goal of improving equity in all aspects of our city service. Read more about our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
I am also the Vice Chair / Chair Elect of the Oregon Library Association’s Public Library Division executive board.
I give my time and resources to these excellent organizations:
I believe wholeheartedly in random acts of kindness! If you do too, check out Butterfly Coins and BookCrossing.
cygnoir.net is hosted on Micro.blog.
📖 Read: If you’re curious about what Micro.blog is, here’s a great starting point.
🎧 Listen: I talk about why I use Micro.blog on Episode 29 of the Micro Monday podcast.
🌐 Elsewhere: I believe in the indieweb practice of POSSE, which stands for Publish (on your) Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere, so my Micro.blog posts are crossposted to Mastodon, Twitter, and Tumblr. I no longer post to Facebook or Instagram.
Why the funny name? Cygnoir is a word I made up many years ago. It is a portmanteau of cygne and noir, the French words for “swan” and “black”, respectively. (It is pronounced /siɲ-nwaʀ’/ while apologizing profusely to la langue française.) The pseudonym and site predate Taleb’s book and Aronofsky’s film, and I have never been a goth or a member of the SCA. I simply love wordplay and Cygnus atratus.
This is a personal website. The opinions and views expressed therein are solely the author’s and not of any organization or employer. They are also subject to change, because the author is human, fallible, and always learning. Caveat lector.