In many ways, Dreamwidth is a new start for a lot of people coming over here. I've been reading denise's reading page, and it's a theme I've encountered over and over; new site, new start. In many ways, that also reflects the ethos of the site itself - that is, going back and doing things the way they should have been done in the first place.

And right now, in my own life, I'm also going back and doing things the way they should have been done in the first place. And now, with this move to a new name, part of that is complete.

So I've decided I'm going to see if I can use Dreamwidth in a new way. Use it to overcome my fears; to try not to rely so heavily on what other people think of me. I do that all the time, and it's not healthy; way too much of my happiness rests on how other people think of me, and I need to realise that I'm my own person. I should not look to other people to validate my existence.

With that said, let me say this publicly: I am a transgendered woman. I was born with a male body, but female everything else. Female brain, female soul.

I'm stating this openly because I don't want to be controlled by the fear of what'd happen if someone were to find out. My friends know about it, but I've been keeping it hidden from the public eye because I don't like not knowing who reads my public stuff. I've been very wary about revealing information about myself online because, well, this is the Internet and public is public. Once you've said something publicly, you can't unsay it, and that information can be presumed to still be around in some form years later, even if you delete the original source.

Well, fuck that shit.

I don't want to pen myself in any longer. This is me, take it or leave it. I will not have myself be controlled by fear any longer.

New site, new start.

I hope you'll join me.

So, I guess I should make some sort of post here!

A good start would be to introduce myself, I guess. So... hi. I'm Sophie. :D I've been on board with the Dreamwidth project since it was initially announced. Before then, I was a LiveJournal Support volunteer for about 1-2 years.

I haven't 'officially' started using my Dreamwidth journal yet, because I'm waiting until open beta before importing from my LJ. There are a few reasons for this - firstly, it means all the bugs get ironed out. Second, I'm wary of importing my friends' comments without their knowledge yet. However, I do plan to move over to DW as soon as is viable.

I'm the mommydev in the team - which is to say, I look out for the babydevs hacking on the DW code and give help when they need it. I've also written articles on the wiki about BML and English-stripping.

And about me personally: I'm 26, I live in England in the UK, and I'm a computer geek. I'm also rather cute, or so my friends tell me.

Most of this journal will probably be access-only; I'm not normally too public about myself. (Hey, this is the Internet.) I take the word "friend" seriously - and even though DW isn't using the 'friend' terminology, those I add to my access list will still be those with who I'm friends. I'm going to be more free with my reading list, though - if you're on my reading list, it's because I like what you write. It very probably also means that I'd like to get to know you better, so feel free to PM/IM me - my IM details are public on my profile. Don't be shy, I don't bite.

I really love the idea of Dreamwidth. This is going to be *so* awesome.

So, for the record, the reason I haven't yet imported my old posts/userpics/etc. is because I'd like to do it all in one go, and I don't want to import comments until I know everything is okay with the importer. It's not that I don't trust it, but I don't want to import comments from other people without giving them warning. This is probably just me, though.

Also, the font in the HTML tab of the editor is waaaaaay too small. (I think this is the case with LJ too.)