Hello there! I'm Tilly, this is creativeinsanity.net, and most of my content is on sub-sites and random pages. In other words, you've reached something somewhere in between splash page, about-me, and links list. Don't worry, there's no obnoxious Flash thing that plays techno (I actually like techno, but it's the principle of the thing).
The current layout is based heavily off how I have Terminal set up in Ubuntu—my windows have Glider controls, custom colors, Metabox border, and Mist icons, for what it's worth.
About Me
If you just want to know what I look like, here's pictures of me making odd faces in front of my webcam. There's also this picture, which Google image search once closely associated with "zoids" for reasons unknown.
The short version of me-ness: I have an obsessive fondness for writing and fiction, music, models, and assorted things computer. I live in Wisconsin, aim to live in the UK, and love me some neutral pronouns (singular "they" is cool too). I like creative commons and open source ideals rather a lot, though I am hopefully not rabid about either ;p. My LJ and Zoids site profiles have more trivia and rambling.
Art
I draw for fun and less often now (hello, RSI), so my art is crammed in poorly-sorted directories. I move stuff around a lot (mostly in the form of punting it to the sketches directory), but rarely delete, so there's some pretty embarrassingly old work still in there. Whoo boy. It's all reasonably safe for work, though, only the occasional bit of blood or swearing.
If you dig Zoids fanart, I've got a proper archive of most of mine on Liger's Union, and select pieces on DeviantArt.
Writing
Fiction stuff is on Wordpress. It's all fanfiction at the moment, but eventually I'll get around to those original projects. Really. I mostly write Zoids stuff (and mostly for obscure continuities), but there's a bit of Doctor Who/Torchwood in there on occasion.
Zoids
Model kits of mecha animals! I collect these things. They're a fascinating, moving, well-engineered crossbreed of model and toy, and they're shaped like animals and dinosaurs. The line itself has several written backstories (one in comic form) and a number of animation and game tieins, so I have fanworks here beyond models and photography.
My Zoids site is almost always in a continuous state of "under construction" as I add things, and it's the one I use for most of my HTML and CSS experiments. This may or may not be a good thing, but it does explain the differences in coding ability between sections!
Joined & Adopted
Links
Want to link to me? Text links are fine, but if you want to use an image, I've got a couple. For Zoids-related link banners and links, check out my Zoids links page.
Japanese language
Japanese-English Dictionary The kanji lookup speaks SKIP. Very customizable. Don't like my settings? Make your own!Jim Breen's WWWJDIC The translate words in Japanese text feature is particularly handy, as is the multi-radical lookup.
nihongoresources.com Multiple dictionaries plus all sorts of resources...in your choice of colors.
Kiki's Kanji Dictionary Good for when you can pick out a radical but are lost on stroke count, or for when you just want to browse kanji.
Tae Kim's Japanese guide to Japanese grammar One of the better grammar references I've found—and downloadable!
Tim's Takamatsu Japanese language and culture info. Lots on verbs and adjectives, in particular. (Beware the romaji, though.)
The Kanji Game A javascript game for memorizing kanji, both by reading and by English meaning. Also includes kana!
Babelfish Mocked for its (funny) gibberish, it's still pretty useful for navigating sites. Things it doesn't understand get left in Japanese.
Excite translation The Japanese answer to Babelfish, and usually better with prose. Sometimes implodes in a pile of ellipses.
Convert characters to Unicode Or rather, convert Chinese (and Japanese, including kana) to those funky &number; things.
Hanzi Smatter How not to use Chinese characters to look cool. Beware tattoo artists bearing gibberish fonts!
OS and software
Linux is not Windows Good reading before you attempt the ol' Windows to Linux switch, especially if all you've heard of Linux has been from rabid fans on either side of the fence.Ubuntu comes in a ton of flavors, and it's free for the mucking about with. See also its Minty cousin for a different look and more media stuff preinstalled.
Knoppix I haven't used it personally, but Knoppix is specifically made to work off a Live CD, and is thus useful for those "my hard drive broke too much to boot the OS, but I know there's files on there I can save" situations.
Damn Small Linux Another haven't used it personally distro, but their mission amuses me.
Rockbox Open-sorce firmware for your mp3 player with tons of plugins and replaygain support. A bit wobbly sometimes, but so was my default firmware.
foobar2000 Speaking of replaygain and your music, foobar is refreshingly simple, and works natively in Windows and pretty well in Wine (other than the equalizer). Music on shuffle is not the same without replaygain: save your ears needless pain from the loudness war!
Amarok If you want something more complex in the style of iTunes or WMP, there's Amarok.
Pidgin Multiple IM clients in one customizable program. No ads, no spyware, no failure at chats.
The GNU Image Manipulation Program (also for Windows). My program of choice for photo editing. Want thing X or Y? There's probably a plugin for that. Recent versions look more like Photoshop stock, which is woe to me and boon to others.
ArtRage ArtRage sports oil paint with tasty blending (especially with a tablet) and other real media-mimic tools. The free version is usable, and the full version cheap. Works readily in Wine.
Notepad++ Like Notepad and tabs had wonderful babies, with syntax highlighting and many other features useful for coding. Good for opening Linux text files in Windows without Notepad's...issues, runs great off a USB stick, and also works readily in Wine.
Lynx installer for Windows Lynx, besides being made of plain text and win, is a good way to test sites.
Opera Everybody and their dog's heard of Firefox now, but if you don't run any extensions in Firefox and want speed (or you just want something different), Opera may be more to your liking. I found it noticibly more zippy on my old XP compy.
Nethack If you have any interest in games, you must give Nethack a try. Don't flee from the (lack of) graphics, grab the Wiki and prepare to die. Often. Don't worry, the ants get everybody.
Terragen Ever wanted to make cheesy CGI terrain for backgrounds? Now you can.
µTorrent Small, lightweight, and functional.
CSS, (X)HTML, and website stuff
The WC3's (X)HTML and CSS validators, aka the first things to check when your page breaks.A List Apart Articles and info on a great many topics.
Position Is Everything Something broken in your layout? PIE may well have the answer in its list of issues and fixes for multiple browsers.
CSSplay Many examples of what one can do with CSS, including menus. Most are free to use, and can make great reference.
CSS Zen Garden Proof standards-compliant code can do pretty and flexible—same HTML, many layouts.
CSS Color Chart For when you want to find colors by name and shade rather than fiddling with a graphics program.
NineChime Software Home of Wacintaki, one of the better oekaki scripts out there.
Simple Machines Forums aka SMF. I prefer these to phpBB, though it's a worthy free solution too. Both are very moddable.
Random Useful Things
RIAA Radar Check if that CD you wanna buy is Big Evil Label or not, and find smaller independent stuff.Measurement Units Conversion ...for just about everything.
LEO Dictionary German to and from a number of languages, English included. Also in English.
A Teaspoon and an Open Mind Lots of Doctor Who fanfic in a more sortable and searchable form than fanfiction.net.
Doctor Who Ebooks From the BBC. Free
Wikipedia: Silly Things are what they say on the tin. Not so much useful as funny, but I wanted them here.
How To Be Funny And Not Just Stupid Courtesy of Uncyclopedia, but applicable to much humor writing.