Picture of a nametag that says 'Hello my name is Joe'

Since 2021 I have written a yearly introduction post.

I can’t quite put down the reason in words. It’s something to do with the new year, and something to do with the nature of social media (‘you can know every detail of someone’s dark trauma but be surprised they turn out to have a dog’).

Hi, my name is Joseph Reddington. You can call me Joe. I have no middle name, and have never wanted for one.

I live in Luton with my partner and two children. There are no pets. I like the house and it’s getting nicer. We currently pour all our disposable income into rebuilding and upgrading it. I’m super pleased that we have automated blinds now. You’ll be shown them if you visit; you have been warned.

I have been vegan since 2010. I am very frugal: we are a household of reusable nappies, second-hand toys and books, and well-worn clothes. Our cars, phones, TVs and computers are modest, bordering on miserly. I am far too frugal for my own good and end up having a lot of stuff that is low-quality or broken.

I am difficult to talk to: I am precise, literal, direct, and combative. I am almost entirely incapable of small talk, I will also assume you are interested in my broad collection of obscure facts unless I’m told otherwise. People tend to only ask my advice if they are looking for the advice: “Tell them to piss off”. I am working on all of this, but so far I have been unsuccessful.

I tend to be factually very open, but emotionally very closed. My todo list, internet history, and, indeed, most other factual bits of my life are public, but I generally fail to articulate ‘why I am angry’ to myself, let alone the general public.

My favourite dinosaur is Ankylosaurus.

I am surprised to find I have hobbies: I enjoy both photography and cookery, and am having particular fun because I start from almost no knowledge in either. I climb sometimes, but my main exercise is Judo or riding an exercise bike.

The kids cycle to school every day and I run with them. By ‘every school day’ I mean ‘at most half of the school days because sometimes I’m tired or it’s raining or I don’t want to’. Also by ‘run’ I mean ‘hobble like a wounded animal’ - currently this is ‘at the pace of a 4yo’ but I suspect I’ll be running much faster through 2025.

I’m a lecturer in the Information Security Department of Royal Holloway on a 0.6 contract and I’m filling the rest of the time with childcare and consultancy.

I wrote a book called “Advanced Memory Palaces” it is available at very few good bookshops, but you can buy it on Amazon. It earns about a hundred pounds a month in royalties which is about ninety five pounds more than I expected when writing it. I am halfway through writing a second.

I have issues with negativity, and a talent, nay gift for seeing the worst possible world. I have various tricks to compensate but they are at best a sticking plaster rather than a cure. I think The Lego Movie is the greatest movie of all time and Spider-Verse is a close second.

I have two children. Nova is nearly seven and Leo is four and a half. Leo spent the first month of life at Great Ormond Street and that is something I keep incorrectly thinking I’ve processed. I refuse, refuse to be negative about them. Nova enjoys gymnastics and asking questions; Leo enjoys ‘being a pirate’.

I lost a brother during Covid. I have another brother, and a sister. My younger brother has complex needs and has a staff team that look after them. That officially makes me a ‘glass sibling’ and I am mildly active in groups that work with or talk to other glass siblings.

I wear glasses. The image is from https://newmediarockstars.com/hello-my-name-is-joe/. I have strong opinions about people citing sources.

There is a big pile of unread books on my bookshelf. I have a blog at https://joereddington.github.io/, where there are 167 articles. That’s 43 more than this time last year.