cygnoir.net | About

hypnosted, by Mike Jeung Email · Twitter · Facebook · Delicious

Welcome to cygnoir.net, my online journal and weblog. Why cygnoir.net? Well, “cygnoir” is a portmanteau: “cygne” and “noir” are the French words for “swan” and “black”, respectively. Pronounce it /seen-WAH/ while apologizing profusely to la langue française. The reason behind it is simple: I love black swans and wordplay. Special thanks go to my friend Mike Jeung of Angry Muse Productions, who created my black swan logo as well as the hypno-eyed portrait. (Neither is in the public domain, so don’t steal.)

cygnoir.net hatched on 4 July 2002, but I have been online since 1984, and have had a web presence since 1995. After having a page on a friend’s website, I moved to GeoCities (pre-Yahoo!) and then Tripod (pre-Lycos). From 1998 through 2001, I inhabited squixel.net, “squixel” being a portmanteau for “squid” and “pixel”, which were two of my favorite things at the time.

Though I prefer to work with HTML directly, I have used a few different content management systems, including LiveJournal, Greymatter, and Movable Type. On 10 May 2006, I made the switch to WordPress.

For readers who would like to know more about the person behind the website, what follows is a (long) list of description.

Name: Halsted Mencotti Bernard. My first name comes from Halsted Street in Chicago. My middle name is my paternal family name, and my last is derived from my maternal family name. No hyphens, please!
Aliases: I prefer to be called Halsted or ‘Sted, but my other aliases include Cygnoir, Joey, saranrapture, princestuous, Carah, and Carinah.
Likeness: There are (too) many photos of me on Flickr.
Birthday: 23 February. I am a Pisces with a Scorpio Moon and Cancer rising. It is unsurprising to anyone remotely interested in astrology that all three are water signs. According to Chinese astrology, I am a water ox. I have a wish list for gift-giving types.
Birthplace: Northwestern Pennsylvania. I say “pop” instead of “soda” or “coke” though I don’t drink it. I also say “expressway” instead of “freeway” and I know the difference between Mennonites and Amish.
Residence: Le Chateau de Jambon, located in the Sunset District of San Francisco, California. Past homes include Chicago, northwestern Pennsylvania, and Birmingham, Alabama. There is an interesting story behind how I found myself in the Bay Area.
Languages: Fluent in English. I was also once so in Italian, Spanish, German, and French, but they’re gone now. I have also dabbled in Esperanto, ASL, Irish Gaelic, and Mandarin.
Culture: Italian-American.
Totem: Cygnus atratus, the black swan, but you knew that already.
Alignment: Chaotic good.
Stats: str 5, int 15, wis 16, dex 12, con 5, chr 18.
Status: Engaged.
Profession: Writer.
Occupation: Library professional. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed herein are solely my own and not of any employer.
Education: Bachelor of Arts in the structure and culture of the English language (an individually-designed major that fused linguistics, literary theory and creative writing) from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Politics: Yes.
Religion: No.
Personality type: According to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, I am the rarest type, INFJ.
State: Liquid.
Phase: Moult.
Metal: Silver.
Stone: Moonstone.
Cuisine: I love to eat, especially gluten-free versions of the following: tom kha gai, sushi, ph?, butternut squash, barbecue, corn chowder, risotto, hanger steak, salt and pepper crab, nav ratna korma, mashed potatoes, Nutella-filled crepes, cheese fondue, roasted beets, prawn cocktail, lobster bisque, biscuits and gravy, gnocchi, pickles, and good old macaroni and cheese.
Couture: Simple, comfortable, and boyishly girlish. Solid, deep colors, mostly black. Wide-legged pants and black boots.
Soundtrack: Compiled by Last.FM.
Favorite word: Cygnoir, somewhat obviously. I also like serendipity, foible, extrapolate, and oblivescence.
Favorite letter: X.
Favorite typeface: Gill Sans regular.
Favorite color: Aubergine, known on the Web as #330033.
Favorite flowers: Calla lilies, French tulips, purple irises, moss roses, winter daphne, and poet’s jasmine.
Favorite time of day: The gloaming.
Favorite season: Autumn.
Favorite beverages: Water, carrot juice, lapsang souchong tea, espresso, syrah, and Islay whisky.
Favorite flavor: Chocolate hazelnut, e.g. Nutella.
Favorite scents: Sandalwood, seawater, garlic, petrichor, amber, and books.
Favorite love song: “Gorecki” by Lamb.
Favorite place to be: Near the Pacific Ocean.
Favorite OS: Mac OS X.
Favorite toy: Serendipity, my iPhone.
Obsession: Fountain pens.
Aversions: illiteracy, close spaces, spoiled dairy products, eyeball injuries, people who don’t respect my very clear boundaries, feet, pretentiousness, mainstream media, Tori Amos, yellow gold, Burning Man, ignorance, instant coffee, pats on the head, warmongering, incurable diseases, sexism, homophobia, racism, classism, organized religion, incorrect metadata, peeing outdoors, Paris Hilton, passive aggression, sport-utility vehicles, alcoholism, and apathy.