About

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. This is where I share my life and my interests online. But I still don’t call it a blog.

Recently I added a now page to document my current projects and passions. If you have your own website, you should make one, too.

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.

I used to have a long list of description here, but it doesn’t suit me anymore. My current bio blurb reads:

A black swan with digital wings. Reader, writer, library director, over-enunciator. Listening + Unlearning. She/her. #BlackLivesMatter

Micro.blog is my community on the Web. If you’re curious about what Micro.blog is, here’s a great starting point. I talk about what Micro.blog means to me on Episode 29 of the Micro Monday podcast.

While this site crossposts to Mastodon, Twitter, and Tumblr, I don’t spend much time interacting there, and I rarely check messages on Facebook and Instagram.

Want to say hello? I love hearing from people! The most efficient way to reach me is to email me or send me a Keybase chat.

Disclaimer: 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.