User:SilkTork

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Welcome!!! Pull up a chair, let's have a nice chat.

I started on Wiki concerned only with helping out on the beer articles. Gradually as I spent more time here I became more and more aware of the Wiki structure that both enables editors to do their work, and curiously interferes with the editing process; I have become aware of all the backstage stuff, the debates and Wikipedia essays about policy and consensus, the votes for admins, and the labyrinthine towers containing contradictory guidelines: Wikipedia:Interpret all rules and Wikipedia:Ignore all rules. Now I come onto Wiki to do a little editing, or to check something, and I find myself involved in maintenance or policy debate or assisting editors in a dispute. Time flies. I forget why I logged on in the first place. The Wiki structure is vast and complex and people work in various areas. It's easy to get lost and confused. However, at the heart of all this is honest communication and debate. I am always ready to chat over a nice cup of tea. Let's talk.

[edit] The user page (now in colour)

I, GraemeL, hereby award you The Exceptional Newcomer Award for your work on beer related articles. Hic! 18:40, 24 January 2006 (UTC) (KC)

For Good Works on Beer Cats
Presented by Syrthiss

Sango

SilkTork is a name I first used when I joined Audiogalaxy ^[1]back in the 1990s. That was my first real experience of an internet community, and I loved it. Those who were active on the AG forums in the late 1990s will remember that community with great fondness. It all exploded and fragmented later when Napster closed and AG ended up dealing with over 30 million users.

Who I am:

I’m Steve Pereira. I live in Rochester, Kent, UK. I married Chrissie on my 50th birthday last year in France, and Feb 23rd 2007 we discovered she is pregnant. Currently I am doing contract work with Medway Council for adults with a learning disability; I have now stopped teaching at London University. I'm a scooper and part-time beer writer. I’m easing my way back into work while undergoing drug treatment for a small brain tumour. I have taken up running as a hobby and completed the Paris Marathon and the Beachy Head Marathon in just over 6 hours. I have four children from two marriages and I have seven grandchildren. My son, Piers, is an actor, scriptwriter and director of some talent who is starting to get some attention, while my youngest daughter, Zelie, is in RADA. I have had a varied career in which I have been dustman, welder, shop manager, wine salesman, businessman, publisher, gardener, teacher, kitchen designer, examiner, reviewer, writer, warehouseman, editor of poetry magazines and editor of an international travel magazine. I am a published poet who has appeared on TV and radio. I have danced on stage with Rod Stewart, got stoned with Lemmy and had a brief affair with Kathy Acker. I have cyclic depression which strikes about every seven years and fucks up my life. I sometimes appear to be arrogant, grumpy and self-absorbed, but I am actually quite open, friendly, liberal and helpful, and I adore my friends - even though I rarely tell them that. Chrissie and I have three cats who rule our lives. I drive a very old and tatty Jag which should be an embarrassment because of the rust holes and broken doors, but I love it like a warm blanket. My interests are varied and constantly changing, but include: films, especially those of Tarkovsky, David Lean, Kubrick and Kurosawa; popular music from the 1950s onwards; literature of all times and countries; playing chess badly; human rights; the history of roads; and researching and reading up on whatever grabs my attention this month!

For a while I felt disappointed that my life was not a glittering success, but I have come to terms with that and am now at peace with myself. Usually.

This is me at Weeley Festival in 1971. I'm the one standing on the left.