Current things
- I go by Ynda Jas, pronounced in-duh jass, and they/them pronouns.
- I work as a developer at dxw.
- I play a lot of tennis.
- I've lived in Bristol since March 2024.
- I've been on oestrogen since February 2021.
- I've been vegan since early 2013, and not knowingly eaten meat since 2010.
- I've got long hair again, which I had when I was a teenager.
- I mostly listen to a mixture of hip hop, jazz, neo-soul, Afrobeat, Brazilian music (various styles), and Japanese city pop: lots of bright and dynamic sounds.
- I'm on Instagram. Mastodon (low output), and GitHub.
Things that I'd like to be more current
- I'd like to get back to experimenting in the kitchen.
- I'd like to explore ethical non-monogamy a little more, after a long break from actively dating.
- I'd like to spend more time learning and making music things, but music takes up space.
- I'd like to read all the books on my shelf, but I rarely read on paper or anything in long form.
- I'd like to explore other forms of sport and exercise, like climbing.
- I'd like to be more active in anti-capitalist work, but I'm not sure how to separate the fruitful from the indulgent.
Sometimes things
- I like to study Japanese.
- I play a few video games, and 'hunt' trophies.
- I've come to enjoy board games quite a bit, and played once a month with mostly queer friends in London before moving north. I'm looking to play more in Leeds.
- I watch quite a lot of tennis.
- I like writing, when I have something worth writing about.
- I don't love proofreading (most of the time), but I'm pretty good at it.
Things that once were
- I scored my first full-time developer job at the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre. The length of the name is a nice icebreaker.
- I started Non-binary London and York LGBTQ+ History Month.
- I had colourful hair for a few years, mostly shaved on the sides, often with patterns, symbols or words.
- I was a DJ at Bar Wotever at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern for a few years, and coordinator of the DJs for most of that time.
- I was a PhD student for two and a half years, looking at non-binary linguistics. I stepped away in 2019 with mixed emotions, but it was the right choice. Before that, I did an MA in Sociolingistics, a PGCert in Diversity Management and a BA in Film and Television Production.
- I felt and made a lot of things in (and maybe around) 2018, the two feeding off each other. I went through a breakup, went to North America twice for academic conferences, wrote a lot of poetry, saw some of my favourite jazz artists in New York, made a lot of music, and modelled once or twice.
- I've had a lot of higher education jobs in different departments: registry/academic quality, planning/research, careers and so on.
- I've done a lot of shorter, overlapping spells of activism in mostly queer and lefty circles.
- I lived in London from 2016, York from 2009, Yorkshire from 1996 and Sussex from 1991, if you discount time in the womb. My extended family are from none of these places.
- I used to be on Twitter.
Things that are trival
- Someone once thought my name was an "into jazz" pun, which I wish was intentional.
- I'm distantly related to Jim Broadbent.