In 2020, and to a lesser extent in 2021, I spent many hours every day editing Wikipedia. In 2022, however, I made several major life changes that have reduced my activity on Wikipedia down to about one light edit per day. I still try to visit the website every day to check for pings and skim changes to my watchlist, so I am very reachable on here, but I probably won't notice much that happens here unless it's specifically brought to my attention. I really hope that in the medium term I will strike a balance that leaves me time to regularly commit larger edits, since I miss writing and overhauling pages. I'm proud that at one time I was one of the most prolific writers of high-quality biographies on Wikipedia, and I would like very much to return to that pace. So, as both an archive and a piece of self-motivation, I have constructed below a record of the things I did back when I had more time, as well as some hopeful plans for a more flexible future. Oh, and sorry to anyone who tries to look at this page on a smartphone (or other small screen). I know that this page's layout is broken for smaller screens, and one of my plans is to fix that. - Astrophobe (talk) 13:39, 14 March 2024 (UTC)




MY BEST CONTRIBUTIONS:

*Completely rewriting political party , turning it into a GA
*Creating Simonie Michael and bringing it to FA
*Completely rewriting Numerical linear algebra
*Creating Qapik Attagutsiak
*Creating Louise Overacker
*Creating Hanes Walton Jr.
*Creating Michele Clark
*Creating Berge equilibrium
*Creating Gender and politics
*Creating Andriamihaja – it was pretty amazing to find a historical national prime minister without a page in 2021.
*Creating Mont Tremblant Conference - People dragged me to this tourist trap a few times when I was a kid, and many years later I was amazed to learn that it hosted a pretty important conference during WWII on the future of countries in East Asia and the Pacific
*At one time I think I had the most-viewed GA on Wikipedia, but nobody knows why or how. An article I brought to GA received more than 20 million pageviews over the following year. How is that possible, when the very top content pages at Wikipedia:Popular pages are getting maybe 17 million views a year? Nobody actually knows. The page I brought to GA is Skathi (moon), its pageviews are up there with the biggest content pages on this website for some unknown reason, and a phabricator ticket on its suspicious pageviews still remains open.

If you're interested in any of those subjects, I really encourage you to take a look and see what you can improve.



Pages I created edit

Essays edit

1. Wikipedia:AfD stats don't measure what you think

Mainspace edit

FAs

1.   Simonie Michael  

Social scientists (political scientists unless otherwise noted):

231. Marian Irish 230. Mary M. Lepper 229. Marian Elizabeth Ridgeway 228. Marjorie Ruth Dilley 227. Marcia Lynn Whicker 226. Rita Nealon Cooley 225. Virginia Emerson Lewis 224. Jacqueline DeLaat 223. Evelyn Paniagua Stevens (Latin American and women's studies scholar) 222. Betty Nesvold 221. Ruth Lawson 220. Gladys Kammerer 219. Vivien Hart 218. Harriet Berger 217. Susette Talarico 216. Barbara Hinckley 215. Miriam Mills 214. Cecelia Kenyon 213. Twiley Barker 212. Marjorie Lansing 211. Rodney Higgins 210. E. Walter Miles 209. Carol Weiss 208. Phoebe Nahanni (a geographer) 207. Rita Mae Kelly 206. Judith A. Baer 205. Nancy McGlen 204. Barbara J. Nelson 203. Catherine Rudder 202. Barbara Burrell 201. Cheryl Koopman 200. Maritza Montero 199. Roberta Sigel 198. Nancy Wang Yuen (a sociologist) 197. Diane Blair 196. Yvonne Seon (an African and African American studies scholar) 195. Colette Capriles 194. Monika Płatek (a legal scholar) 193. Barbara Labuda (a philologist) 192. Marianne Thyrring 191. Agnieszka Dudzińska (a sociologist) 190. William David Chappelle III (a music theorist) 189. Arlien Johnson 188. Ahilan Arulanantham (a lawyer and legal scholar) 187. Rami Nashashibi (a sociologist and Muslim studies scholar) 186. Thomas W. Mitchell (a legal scholar) 185. Constanze Stelzenmüller (an IR analyst) 184. Àngels Martínez Castells (an economist, Es translation) 183. Erika Fairchild 182. Dina Zinnes 181. Ruth C. Silva 180. Edna Paisano (a demographer and statistician) 179. Zofia Celińska (an economist, Pl translation) 178. Maria Marván Laborde 177. Iryna Bekeshkina (a sociologist) 176. Teresa Rakowska-Harmstone (Pl translation) 175. Nathalie Tocci 174. Małgorzata Tarasiewicz (Pl translation) 173. Miriam Budiardjo 172. Louise Holborn 171. Rebecca Adler-Nissen (Da translation) 170. Ragnhild Stolt-Nielsen (No translation) 169. Helga Henselder-Barzel (De translation) 168. Máriam Martínez-Bascuñán (Es translation) 167. Edurne Uriarte (Es translation) 166. Manca Košir (a philologist/journalism scholar) 165. Marlene Wind 164. Marija Golubeva 163. Zsuzsa Ferge (a sociologist) 162. Carolina Bescansa (Es translation) 161. Martin Edzodzomo-Ela (an economist) 160. Fauziya Bayramova (a historian) 159. Lilit Galstyan 158. Nerea Barjola 157. Amaia Pérez Orozco (an economist) 156. Ágnes Vadai 155. Grażyna Bernatowicz 154. Márta Demeter 153. Fania Noël‎ 152. Jennifer Mercieca (a communications professor) 151. Vanesa Cejudo (a sociologist, ostensibly Es translation) 150. Clifford M. Lytle 149. K. Tsianina Lomawaima   148. David E. Wilkins 147. Lorena Parini (Fr translation) 146. Louis Moore (historian) (a historian) 145. Rasma Kārkliņa 144. Olena Parkhomchuk (Uk translation) 143. Layna Mosley 142. Nur Omarov 141. Susan Franceschet 140. Zholbors Zhorobekov 139. Michael K. Fauntroy   138. Deborah Schildkraut 137. Alphonse Maindo   136. Nadmidyn Bayartsaikhan 135. Natalia Mehlman Petrzela (a historian) 134. Aitkul Samakova 133. Mamoudou Gazibo 132. John Makumbe 131. Veronika Kalmus (a sociologist, Et translation) 130. Gemma Ubasart (Es translation) 129. Betilde Muñoz-Pogossian (Es translation) 128. Dina Bousselham (Ca translation) 127. Solange Paiva Vieira (an economist, Pt translation) 126.   Esther Pineda G (a sociologist, Es translation) 125. Teija Tiilikainen (Ca translation) 124. Gertruda Uścińska (Pl translation) 123. Olena Koppel (Uk translation) 122. Marisa von Bülow 121. Judith Stiehm   120. Kristin Bumiller 119. Aloysius-Michaels Nnabugwu Okolie 118. Mary Margaret Conway 117. Béatrice Hibou (Fr translation) 116. Kali Nicole Gross (a historian)   115. Leslie M. Harris (a historian)   114. Daina Ramey Berry (a historian) 113. Marie-Anne Cohendet (Fr translation) 112. Martha S. Jones (a historian) 111. Hélène Hatzfeld (Fr translation) 110. Melissa Thomasson (an economist) 109. Eva G. T. Green 108. Géraldine Muhlmann (Fr translation) 107. Rivka Weinberg (a philosopher) 106. Ganesh Sitaraman (a legal scholar)   105. Melissa Deckman 104. Lilly Goren 103. Louise Overacker   102. Shireen Hassim 101. Alyson Cole 100. Women Are Boring (a research platform) 99. Roberta Guerrina 98. Karen Stenner 97. Nicole Hemmer (a historian) 96. Alexandra Goujon (Fr translation) 95. Réjane Sénac (Fr translation) 94. Lisa Baldez 93. Women also know stuff (a scholar database) 92. Melissa Schwartzberg   91. Dana Burde 90. Jacqui True   89. Karen Mossberger 88. Frédérique Matonti (Fr translation) 87. Catherine Wihtol de Wenden (Fr translation) 86. Anne de Tinguy (Fr translation) 85. Willard Johnson (political scientist) 84. Ruth Mandel 83. Maria Stephan 82.   Julia Azari 81. Louise Chappell 80. Mona Lena Krook 79. Kim Weeden (a sociologist) 78.   Neil Malhotra 77. Mariam Abou Zahab (Fr translation) 76. Annie Laurent‎ (Fr translation) 75. Christina Wolbrecht 74. Nonna Mayer (Fr translation) 73. Louise Dandurand (Fr translation) 72. Martha Ackelsberg 71. Mary Fainsod Katzenstein 70. Minion K. C. Morrison 69. John Ishiyama 68. Orit Kedar 67. Vera Troeger 66. Brett Ashley Leeds 65. Lyn Ragsdale 64.   Kristin Goss 63. Ada Finifter 62. Eileen McDonagh 61. Malinda S. Smith 60. Jane Junn 59. Kathie Stromile Golden 58. Shelby F. Lewis 57. Mae C. King 56. Susan J. Carroll 55.   Elizabeth Theiss-Morse 54. Kristi Andersen 53. Frances McCall Rosenbluth 52. Jan Leighley 51. Jean C. Oi 50. Clara Penniman 49. Melissa R. Michelson 48. Michele Betsill 47. Leslie McCall 46. Lisa Martin (political scientist) 45. Caroline Tolbert 44. Wendy Rahn 43. Judith Goldstein (political scientist) 42. Pamela Conover 41. Holli Semetko 40. Virginia Gray (political scientist) 39. Myriam Benraad (Fr translation) 38. Pap Ndiaye (a historian, Fr translation) 37. Juliet Hooker 36. Michael Hanchard 35. Marie-Christine Kessler (Fr translation) 34. Évelyne Pisier (Fr translation) 33. Louise Toupin (Fr translation) 32. Marion Orr (political scientist) 31. Valérie Igounet (Fr translation) 30. Michael Dawson (political scientist) 29. Mariette Sineau (Fr translation) 28. Hanes Walton Jr.   27. Maria Hermínia Tavares de Almeida (Pt translation) 26. Flávia Biroli (Pt translation) 25. Leonie Huddy 24. Karthick Ramakrishnan 23. Deborah Bräutigam 22. Valerie Jane Bunce 21. Mala Htun 20. Evelyne Huber 19. Rosana Pinheiro-Machado (an anthropologist) 18. Margaret Keck 17. Irene S. Rubin 16. Elisabeth Gidengil 15. Nadia E. Brown 14. Elisabeth Jean Wood 13. Denise Walsh 12. Dara Strolovitch 11. Valeria Sinclair-Chapman 10. Julie Novkov 9. Kelly Kadera 8. Clarissa Rile Hayward 7. Michelle Dion 6. Lisa García Bedolla 5. Fernando Limongi (Pt translation) 4. Sharon Wright Austin 3. S. Laurel Weldon 2. Donald E. Stokes 1. Kay Lehman Schlozman  

Northern, Inuit, & First Nations topics:

9. Juliana Cardoso (Pt translation) 8. Murray Angus 7. Qapik Attagutsiak   6. Aasiva 5. James V. Scott 4. Becky Han 3. Eastern Arctic 2. 31st Legislature of Yukon 1. List of Nunavut Legislative Assemblies

Other main space pages:

66. Winnifred Kydd 65. Election administration 64. Susan Kilham 63. Michele Clark 62. Storyboard P 61.   Mont Tremblant Conference 60. Abraham Solomon Freidus 59. Andriamihaja 58. Jan Hamber 57. Marisa Serrano 56. Janete Pietá 55. Marianna Iorio (Fr translation) 54. Carmela Grippa (Fr translation) 53. Giorgia Latini (Fr translation) 52. Mara Lapia (Fr translation) 51. Roberta Alaimo (Fr translation) 50. Silvia Benedetti (Fr translation) 49. Ingrid Bisa (Fr translation) 48. Carmela Bucalo (Fr translation) 47. Gender and politics 46. Toraichi Kono 45. Danuta Kuroń (Pl translation) 44. Diane Ducret 43. Kitty Wilson-Evans 42. Simona Suriano (Fr translation) 41. Maria Pallini (Fr translation) 40. Arianna Lazzarini (Fr translation) 39. Edna Reed Clayton DeWees 38. Olivia Santana 37. Ylenja Lucaselli 36. Gloria Saccani Jotti (Fr translation) 35. Celeste D'Arrando (Fr translation) 34. Anna Lisa Baroni (Fr translation) 33. Vittoria Baldino (Fr translation) 32. Angela Ianaro (Fr translation) 31. Valentina Corneli (Fr translation) 30. Yolanda Domínguez (Ca translation) 29. Pepca Kardelj 28. Eulàlia Reguant (Es translation) 27. Jeanne Barseghian (Fr translation)   26. Mary Jarrett White 25. Nevena Georgieva (Ro translation) 24. Sol Sánchez 23. Mercedes Lourdes Frias 22. Rodjaraeg Wattanapanit 21. Bárbara de Alencar (Pt translation) 20. Maurice Kilgore 19. State Prize of Ukraine in Science and Technology 18. Diana Kinnert (Ostensibly a De translation) 17. Margaret Morton (photographer) 16. Aminata Koné (Fr translation) 15. Zora Martin-Felton 14. Sandra Abd'Allah-Alvarez Ramírez (Es translation) 13. Sarah Soilihi (Fr translation) 12. Hadija Haruna-Oelker (De translation) 11. Hezekiah Grice   10. Lúcia Guimarães (Ostensibly a Pt translation) 9. Corrine Sparks 8. Anna Ptaszynski 7.   Berge equilibrium 6. James Harkin (podcaster) 5. Erin Gloria Ryan 4. Tara McGowan 3. John D. Biggers 2. Kent Carlsson (politician) 1. Jon Lovett

Categories:

25. Category:Midlands Technical College alumni (& 1st page in cat) 24. Category:Prairie View A&M University faculty 23. Category:Ecuadorian political scientists 22. Category:Afghan political scientists 21. Category:Guatemalan political scientists 20. Category:Bissau-Guinean political scientists 19. Category:Chadian political scientists 18. Category:Ethiopian political scientists‎ 17. Category:Kyrgyzstani political scientists (& 1st page in cat) 16. Category:Democratic Republic of the Congo political scientists (& 1st page in cat) 15. Category:Mongolian political scientists (& 1st page in cat) 14. Category:Nicaraguan political scientists (& 1st page in cat) 13. Category:Dominican Republic political scientists 12. Category:Nigerien political scientists (& 1st page in cat) 11. Category:Zimbabwean political scientists (& 1st page in cat) 10. Category:Malawian political scientists 9. Category:Ugandan political scientists 8. Category:Tajikistani political scientists 7. Category:Mauritanian political scientists 6. Category:Cypriot political scientists 5. Category:Croatian political scientists 4. Category:Iraqi political scientists 3. Category:Sammarinese historians 2. Category:Sammarinese political scientists 1. Category:Venezuelan political scientists (& 1st page in cat)

I try to track pages I wrote that have been rated   class so that I can easily see which pages might be good candidates to try to improve to GA.

SOME MOTIVATION: Do you know about this?


Some pages I made major contributions to edit

Brought (or helped bring) to Good Article:

  Political party (     )   Sarah Cooper (     )   Skathi (moon) (     )

Other assessment change:

  Tabata Amaral (     )   Elizabeth F. Cohen (     )   Numerical linear algebra (     )   Mumilaaq Qaqqaq (         )   ACRONYM (Non-profit) (     )   Aude Bono-Vandorme (Fr translation) (     )

No assessment change:

  Lucius Barker   Political science   Jane Green (political scientist)   Osagie Obasogie   List of Jewish American activists   Danièle Obono   Claude Bourgelat   Tera Hunter   Merle Black   Dominique Anglade   Germán Suárez Flamerich   Nagoum Yamassoum   Gloria Álvarez   Rashid Alimov   José Gil Fortoul   Nancy L. Rosenblum   Matthew Søberg Shugart   Anita Isaacs   Victoria Schuck   Victoria Schuck Award   Aili M. Tripp   Jacquelin Holzman   Law of the unconscious statistician   List of chemists   List of political scientists   List of the first LGBT holders of political offices   Speaker of the Yukon Legislative Assembly   Stone butch

WP:HEYs

  Meir Blinken

Pages I took photos for

  University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability   Tower Plaza (Ann Arbor, Michigan)   Ann Arbor Railroad (1988)   University of Michigan Coliseum   University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts   Labadie Collection   Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research   Angell Hall Observatory   University of Alaska Press   Troth Yeddha'


REMEMBERING: Boris Tsirelson זיכרונו לברכה, a prolific mathematician on Wikipedia as User:Tsirel, and a very efficient teacher


4 Wikipedians (seated) pursue consensus on a Talk Page, to the bemusement of a reader (standing, second from right), while another Wikipedian (far left) works on categories.


Some other things I've done edit

  • I enjoy manually doing gnome work to correct simple MoS violations, especially MOS:CITEPUNCT and MOS:CURLY. It's pretty satisfying to make Wikipedia marginally more readable and standardized.
  • I did substantial fact-checking on the List of the first LGBT holders of political offices and the biographies it links to throughout summer 2018. I spent a huge amount of time in summer 2018 removing LGBT tags and categories from the pages of elected representatives when I could find absolutely no evidence that they are LGBT. That could have serious repercussions for people. Before you publicly declare that somebody is LGBT, please triple check your sources!

Goals edit

Inspired by a note on user:Clovermoss, I'd like to add two references (in the spirit of having multiple reliable sources, even if I can't find ones that are independent) to each page in Category:All unreferenced BLPs.

I'd also like to eventually overhaul the following fundamental pages with extremely high page views that are (at best) unpolished:

Some weird ideas edit

I think I've earned the right, as one of Wikipedia's most prolific writers of biographies, to state an extremely heterodox but sincerely held opinion about them. I think it is a demeaning and pointless practice for wikiprojects to rate the "importance" of pages about human beings. When I sit down to write a page about a person from scratch, I climb inside that person's life for a few hours, learn all about what they did and why it matters, and try to explain their notability in an enduring way that will help make sure that information about that person and their contributions will be freely available in perpetuity. I do that because I think it matters that notable (and, frankly, all) people are remembered, and that the basic facts of their lives are not hidden behind paywalls but are equally available to everyone. How do you think it feels to log in the next morning and see that the page has been rated as "importance=low"? Probably not half as bad as it feels for that person or the people who care about them, if they happen to come across the talk page banners. If you rate the importance of humans for a wikiproject I really think you should ask yourself how you make those judgments, why that's a judgment worth making, and whether it's worth your time as a volunteer.

Photos I've donated to Wikipedia edit

Other accounts edit

Magnificent awards/snacks/pets edit

  Mary Wollstonecraft Award
On behalf of WP:WPWW, thank you for your recent new article on Melissa Schwartzberg, author of Counting the Many, which received the 2016 Spitz Prize. Rosiestep (talk) 17:32, 30 April 2020 (UTC)

political sciences and Inuit singing

Thank you for quality articles about women such as Kay Lehman Schlozman, Elizabeth Theiss-Morse, Lyn Ragsdale and Aasiva, for translations from French, for service from 2007, for remembering Boris Tsirelson, - you are an awesome Wikipedian!

  Thanks for creating the article on Wendy Rahn. AugusteBlanqui (talk) 21:37, 24 February 2020 (UTC)
  The Editor's Barnstar
For all the work you do, especially on biographies! Kj cheetham (talk) 12:59, 28 November 2020 (UTC)
 
A kitten for you!
I know, you don't know me, but I just wanted to say, people like you made my life a lot easier ArriehM (talk) 00:08, 6 December 2020 (UTC)
  The Women in Red Barnstar
You have really made a big difference to our coverage of women this year, Astrophobe, with over 260 new biographies of women over the past 12 months, all well presented and informative. We look forward to more along the same lines in 2021. --Ipigott (talk) 11:46, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
  The Tireless Contributor Barnstar
Saw your Women in Red post. Exceptional work this year! Essentially triple the number of articles I've been able to create in seven years. Hope you'll keep up the hard work in the new year. :) — Bilorv (talk) 14:01, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
  The Working Wikipedian's Barnstar
Thank you for your continued service adding to Wikipedia throughout 2020. - Cdjp1 (talk) 13:25, 25 December 2020 (UTC)
  The Writer's Barnstar
I'm not the right person to take it for its GA review but I've just seen your work on Political party and it's very much appreciated, excellent stuff: a good read and I hope it'll get GA at some point soon. — Bilorv (talk) 08:09, 13 June 2021 (UTC)
 
A kitten for you!
You are an amazing Wikipedian, keep up the great work! LGBTQ+ Pride forever ;)

SassyGamer483 (talk) 19:05, 11 December 2021 (UTC)

  The Featured Article Medal
By the authority vested in me by myself it gives me great pleasure to present you with this special, very exclusive award created just for we few, we happy few, this band of brothers, who have shed sweat, tears and probably blood, in order to be able to proudly claim "I too have taken an article to Featured status". Gog the Mild (talk) 12:15, 22 January 2023 (UTC)
  Four Award
Congratulations! You have been awarded the Four Award for your work from beginning to end on Simonie Michael. ♠PMC(talk) 21:12, 22 January 2023 (UTC)
 
Astrophobe is hereby awarded a Triple Crown for their incredible work on the article Simonie Michael. Damien Linnane (talk) 10:48, 16 December 2023 (UTC)
 
This editor is a Grand Tutnum and is entitled to display this Book of Knowledge with Coffee Cup Stain.