Hey there! My name is Ben, I'm 39, and I live in St. Louis, Missouri with my dog friend Sylvie and cat acquaintances Marisol, Geneviève, and Louise. I'm a bleeding heart hippie nerd social worker-type person and I started an exceedingly small non-profit that helps people with résumés and resource searches and WiFi connectivity and stuff. I've been a vegan for over twenty-four years and have therefore attained the rank of venerable tofu elder. I'm hoping to connect with folks who are oriented toward social justice and making the world a better, gentler, more compassionate place, people who are trauma informed, concerned with accessibility, community support, mutual aid, etc. I'm probably really boring, but here's some more stuff about me:

• When I was a little kid, my older brother didn't want me tagging along with him to the baseball card shop and so he would tell me that ALF had been spotted in the neighborhood and that I needed to keep a lookout and guard our ancient tortoiseshell cat and I did such a good job that ALF was too scared to even show his face!! Now I regret not yet having the cognizance to help him transition to veganism.

• I have procured 50 lbs. of sea salt, which under optimal conditions should sustain me for approximately 9.575 years, however there has already been spillage and I will share much of it as I consider it to be community salt.

• I would like to disclose that I was the person who wantonly defaced the Wikipedia article for Italic Type back in 2011 when I changed numerous instances of the word 'font' to read 'fart'- I feel like I've grown substantially as a person since then but I will always be a work in progress.

• This morning I had a dream about a brand of caffeinated peanut butter called Peanut Buzzer and woke up excited to share this concoction with you all but subsequently discovered that of course something like it already exists - there is nothing new under the sun.

• Some time ago while attempting to access Office 365 for my work, my fingers were misaligned on the keyboard and I started typing 'pgg' instead of 'office' into the address bar, which prompted Firefox to suggest that I search for PGG Wrightson, a New Zealand-based agricultural supply concern. I visited their company directory and ended up cold e-mailing a note of encouragement to Alastair, a Technical Field Representative based in Auckland, which I felt would be a kindness in these trying times of diminished serendipity. I have not received a response and I don't expect I ever will; I wish this story had a more climactic ending but that's just the way real life goes, I guess 🤷

• Last year I unwittingly used Sylvie's dog shampoo for two weeks but it was a happy accident since I was fully flea and tick free for over a month afterward (not to cast aspersions on fleas and ticks, living their little lives, going to tiny flea markets and such)!

Anyway, I guess that's all I have for you for now. I've been told that I am empathetic, kind, and reasonably self-aware - if those are qualities that you prize, feel free to reach out. ❤️