Steven Sumpter, or Latentexistence to his virtual friends, is thirty-something who is married, has a cat, lives in a broken body and is stuck in bed a lot. Steven likes messing around on computers, gaming, and ranting about politics in written form. He also occasionally writes for The Pod Delusion and Where’s The Benefit?
Steven hates the current government and didn’t like the last one much either. He likes science and technology, and considers himself a skeptic. He rants and swears a lot on Twitter and on this blog. He has a rather non-functional body and as a result is often depressed and usually sick.
He also hates writing in the third person, so that’s enough of that.
I suffer from M.E, diabetes, migraines, RLS, and depression. My life at the moment is largely pain and fatigue and not getting out much and so the internet is my lifeline. I write about my experience of illness so that others might understand it. I get angry about right-wing politicians destroying the country, and about the increasing numbers of oppressive laws that take away our freedoms.
This blog is my own personal blog and contains my observations and opinions. When commenting on events I try to include references and links wherever possible. Don’t just take my word on things, check the evidence and think for yourself!
I am married, we have a cat, live in the cotswolds and I have a degree in computer science. I used to ride a Yamaha Diversion 900 motorbike and I don’t like cars but my illness has forced me to get one. I use a wheelchair when I’m out. Before I got worse in 2010, my father and I ran an IT company which I set up because the unpredictable nature of my various serious diseases make me virtually unemployable by anyone else and life on government benefits is not a pleasant experience.
I also run a gaming clan, Don’t Kill Me! [DKM!] which plays Half Life 2: Deathmatch and some other games like Left 4 Dead 2 and Team Fortress 2.
Where does the name Latentexistence come from?
Back in 2005 I was persuaded to set up a Livejournal account and I needed to choose a name before I could set it up. At the time I was housebound because of my M.E. and I felt like my whole life was on hold. In computing and communications the term ‘latency’ refers to the delay in sending information. The word latent also means ‘present but not visible, apparent, or actualized; existing as potential.’ I chose the name Latentexistence to describe my life being on hold (high latency) and to show that I had hidden life waiting to emerge.
The name has been completely unique to me until 2010. There seems to be someone on facebook using it too now! If you google latentexistence, (no space) the first few pages are me. If you google my real name, be aware that I am not an American footballer, no matter what Google tells you.
As a new development, in 2010 someone pointed out to me that Latentexistence is an anagram of Tentacle Sixteen. This ties in nicely with the fact that I love the 90s computer game Day Of The Tentacle. (The game played a part in getting my now wife to agree to go out with me!) I adopted Purple Tentacle as my avatar in several places as a result of finding this anagram.
