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.
![A square watercolour painting with intersecting diagonal white lines running parallel from top right to bottom left and in an gradually distanced patten from bottom right (where they're close to each other) to top left (where they aren't). The lines intersect to create blocks of colours in shades of blue, orange, pink and purple. The image is dithered, making the colour palette artistically muted](./assets/images/watercolour_1_dithered.jpg)
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.
![Two photos of me side by side. On the left, a photo taken by Linda Bournane Engelberth as part of her Outside the Binary project. In the photo, I'm white, slim with a bubblegum pink/blonde died fringe. The rest of my hair is in the shadows. I'm wearing a translucent green t-shirt with light floral patterning, and underneath you can see a bra which has an X-shaped support between my neck and chest, in addition to the usual parallel straps. I'm in a corner looking out a window above me to the right. The bottom left of the image is in the shadows. The other image, on the right, show a close-up of my head, with blonder hair and shaved dark hair on the sides. My eyes are deep blue and I'm wearing makeup - red and gold eye shadow, foundation, blush or bronzer and possibly some light lipstick. My head is tilted and I'm looking off to the left of the frame. I have a light blue snake print top on, but you can mostly only see the neckline. In the background is an ornate mirror with a tall candle at the bottom. The image is dithered, making the colour palette artistically muted](./assets/images/Linda_Bournane_Engleberth+self_mirror_makeup_dithered.jpg)
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.
![A rectangular watercolour painting with intesecting diagonal white lines, which are in the form of adjacent isosceles trapeziums intersecting horizontally and vertically. The lines intersect to create more irregular trapeziums/quadrilaterals which are blocks of colour in shades of blue, green, orange, pink, purple and yellow. The image is dithered, making the colour palette artistically muted](./assets/images/watercolour_2_dithered.jpg)
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.
![A group of people in a park on a bright day hold up a freshly painted Non-binary London banner. I'm on the right. In the image, I'm white, slim and blonde-haired. I'm wearing brown cat ears, a black t-shirt with text on the front (not readable), light pink short shorts and some slip-on floral print Vans shoes. Four other people are visible, but mostly only the legs are visible on three of them. The image is dithered, making the colour palette artistically muted](./assets/images/Non-binary_London_dithered.jpg)
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.