Active Users:347 Time:07/10/2024 08:41:15 PM

The RAFO Team

Imagine, if you will, that the ReadAndFindOut website is like a little child, trying to make its way in the world. Everything is bright and shiny, each day brings us new surprises and adventures. Sometimes we'll come home covered in mud with a pet frog. Sometimes we'll cry because a bully stole our pocket money or rubbed spam into our hair. Some days we'll learn, and some days we'll laugh, some days we'll mourn and some days we'll do things wrong.

I am far from an ideal parent, so I've asked the following members of the RAFO community to help me look after and guide the website as it grows over the coming years. They'll be the ones helping us when we fall over and cut ourselves, or admonishing us when we do something stupid. They'll patiently answer our incessant questioning. They'll clean the spam out of our hair, and cattle-prod any strangers who try to lure us into their car. They'll teach us things we don't know, and help us to teach ourselves.

They are the admins.

Sci-Fi & Fantasy (Back to top)

Jacob

Hello, my name is Jacob, and I am a Sci-fi and Fantasy Admin. I was born and have lived in Minnesota, USA, my entire life. I got married in July 2000 to my best friend and true love. Over the years we’ve had two kids, a boy and a girl, and have had a lot of adventures together… and we look forward to many more.

I have undergraduate degrees in history and English. My focus in history was Rome and also early European studies. My focus in English was writing and critical theory. I currently work for the University of Minnesota as a Systems Analyst in the Office of Information Technology. I still don’t quite know how I went from humanities to IT analyst, but I enjoy the work.

My goal as an admin at RAFO is to help foster a community that values discussing books of all varieties, a community that is self-sustaining and wide-reaching. I hope to build a repository of reviews, recommendations, and synopses, which can be added to by users and admins alike (a future project). I hope that Sci-Fi and Fantasy can be a growing and dynamic resource and home MB to any and all interested readers.

Rebekah

Rebekah is a Sci-Fi & Fantasy admin who is sadly given to talking about herself in the third person. Originally a New Zealander, she now lives in Scotland and has pretensions to being a Brit. Her accent, however, gives her away as being South African. Which isn't true.

Rebekah is more than a little fond of reading, which is one of the reasons why she landed the admin gig. The other reason is that she has too much time on her hands. She hopes that she will be able to help the Sci-Fi & Fantasy board grow into an exciting place filled with discussions of all depths, and she has a big bag of fertiliser in the form of nearly-boundless enthusiasm to sprinkle over the site for encouragement of said growth.

Despite her obvious nuttity, Rebekah managed to bag herself a husband, and they live happily in their little flat with two fish and an American tenant. Madness ensues.

Wheel of Time (Back to top)

Sidious

Hi there, my name is Mark and I'm the Wheel of Time MB admin. I've been a devoted follower of Robert Jordan's work for many years and still never tire of even the most mundane arguments. It's great to see old hands discuss complex issues regarding this mammoth series, and just as fun to see new posters investigating their new found interest in the series.

I live in South Africa - was born here, and have lived here my whole life. I'm an Anaesthesiologist during the day, and a rather normal guy at night. My hobbies include reading, writing, cycling, running, and Lanfear worship.

RugbyPlayingAshaman

Drew was born and raised in the New Yorker, currently residing in Washington, D.C. During his college years, he was an editor for his alma maters’ literary magazine, and takes the same hyper-critical approach to reading for fun. Ironically, since becoming a working person with limited time for pleasure reading, he has become more interested in the commentary posted by other fans.

He is a paralegal contemplating law school as well as a part-time model. In addition, he owns his own consulting firm. His favorite characters are Egwene, Rand and Graendal and his hobbies include working out, running, anthropology, boxing and psychology.

Community (Back to top)

TaskmasterJack

TaskmasterJack is small white ferret* whose mental capacity increased dramatically after being bitten by a radioactive human one evening as he was rooting through the garbage. With his newfound literacy, he moved into a cardboard box in one corner of the Lincoln Memorial and currently spends his time terrorising pigeons by pretending to be Karl.

This pigeon paradise still leaves some small time for his fourth favourite pastime of bashing keyboards at a local internet cafe in an effort to make people on the other end of the virtual line chuckle every now and then.

*Level of ferret-ness is yet to be established. This section may be revised once TMJ actually writes it himself... - Ben

Avendesora

Hi, I'm Avendesora. I was a member of wotmania.com for 9 years. I live in the northeastern United States, and have lived off the grid for 10 years.

I am thrilled to be a community message board admin. I suppose my job is to whack your knuckles with a ruler if you're misbehaving. So be good. That's an order!

One of the things this community likes is gatherings. If you're planning a get-together for readandfindout.com users, let me know. I'll make your thread an announcement if you wish. Just be sure to invite me!

Avendesora's roots are firmy placed in the community, and her leafy canopy provides welcome shade for many a weary wanderer.

TV & Movies (Back to top)

ironclad

Hi, my name is Jens (pronounces Yens) and I am the admin of the TV & Movies section of RAFO. I won this position in a game of "Buzz", the xbox movie quiz, against a dozen contenders from five or so nations at an international convention in Edinburgh, Scotland, last January. Good thing we didn't play Guitar Hero for it.

I'm from Germany, lived here all of my life, too. I've studied German and English (but don't let that trick you into believing I know grammar, vocab or spelling) and have been working at a small local TV station as camera man, editor and news mag presenter (a rather recent and pretty terrifying experience) for two years now.

Whenever I am not sleeping, online or out with friends, I am watching a TV show or movie.

I hope that we can get the TV & Movies board to be a lively and fun section of this new site, with lots of interesting posts, discussions and links about the funnest thing you can do while sitting on a couch.

Games (Back to top)

Aemon

Salutationerific greetings; my name is Matt. I'm RAFO's games board admin, and in Real Life™ I'm a super-senior Computer Science student at a state university in the US of A. In addition to my scholarly pursuits, I also work as a full time, part time, who-knows-when-time perl programmer for a telecommunications-software company. Hobbies of mine include playing soccer (at which I am reasonably proficient), reading the occasional sci-fi/fantasy novel, and acquiring useless knowledge. There's also a girl that should be added to the list somewhere...

When it comes to RAFO, I've been part of the community for a long time, and want very much for it to prosper in its cozy new home. To that effect, please feel free to get in touch with me at any point to ask questions, share ideas, or engage in pointless debate on any number of subjects. I'm sure we'll get along famously, and I look forward to many years of time wasting with each and every one of you.

RPG (Back to top)

Fanatic-Templar

Hey there. I'm Benjamin. I'll be managing the Roleplaying Games board, which in my experience means knowing the right people to prod annoyingly when things get too quiet. We've got some good people there already, but we could definitely use more players, so hop on by and we'll show you a good time, we will... Mwa, ha, ha, ha, ha!

As for me, I'm a college boy from that french part in Canada. I've got interest in pretty much anything, which is probably why I haven't decided on any one thing I want to do for a number of straight decades. I'm in world studies, and blindly hoping it ends up somewhere interesting. It's an enjoyable experience, so I'm not complaining.

You might also see me on the Wheel of Time Board, where I'll be happily discussing this series which I love, and poking Sidious. Poke, poke, poke.

Other (Back to top)

Zeeb (Mistress of the Ships, QuickPoll and Merchandising)

Zeeb lives in London and generally can be found pottering. Zeeb has more time on her hands than even Rebekah and most likely does a lot less with it, but is content. Zeeb is a big fan of the Gilmore Girls, silliness in general, and hats. Zeeb does not like squirrels.

Zeeb was a member of Wotmania for 8 yearsish before it sadly was no more and spent most of her time on chat. Now her time at RAFO is taken up with poking the QuickPoll and making pretty pictures and soon even programming. However, if the site is broken it is still Ben's fault.