This is my first attempt at the @williambanks #nameinlights initiative. I hadn't thought about doing something like this previously because I have fewer followers than many of my followers do. Wasn't thinking about the broader visibility of the hashtag, I guess.
In any case, I'd like to introduce @mada. He was one of my first contacts here on SteemIt, someone who consistently left thoughtful comments on my posts (never just a thumbs-up from that guy). His own posts are often process-commentary on his paintings, which are interesting in a wow-I-wish-I-had-the-patience-for-that kind of way but not what really turns my crank. That happens at the intersection of the Venn diagram for neuroscience, social policy, and science fiction. @mada has a series of posts he calls #trancewar, on the unseen currents that drive our political ecosystem, for instance the upwelling of blue-collar anger that Trump managed to harness so effectively during the 2016 campaign. A more fun treatment of some of those same themes is a sci-fi novel he posted here to Steemit called H-17, which I reviewed here to capture a bounty he had posted. It was that experience that inspired me to start posting reviews of other books, which have generally been my most popular ones. So in one sense, @mada is responsible for most of what I've written here.
Today was the first time I had followed any threads of his writing outside of Steemit. From his #introduceyourself post, I went to his website, where he has another book (which I haven't read yet) and where he describes the cluster headaches that have prevented him from getting a "real" 9-5 job. I had a choice about leaving that world to become an entrepreneur, for which I am grateful, but now I'm curious about what the "couple of small businesses" he mentioned are.
I could maybe say more, but I'm due to see Dr. Strange in about 20 minutes. Hope all of your Sundays are equally trippy.