hi fellow cohocitizens! in our final days, I come to you bearing two exciting pieces of news, interjected with some links of where you can find me in the post-cohost dark. here's the first update:
I got a new job!!
some of you may know that I've been doing government public health work for the last few years. while I've really loved my work, a lot of the stereotypical bureaucracy was really starting to get grating, and it was time for something new. I'm happy to report I've taken on a new set of institutional challenges by accepting a position among academia (still relating to public health)! best of all, it pays well and is fully remote, which means at long last, I'm going to finally have the time I need to post more on Coh—
ah, shit.
Where to find me
Look, I know everyone is clamoring to have you subscribe to their stuff right now. But perhaps I could convince you to subscribe to just one or two more things?
On Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/meau_tender/
On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@meau_tender
I'll be frank: I don't have any videos yet, and the streams aren't regularly scheduled... so, uh, think of it this way: you're getting in on the ground floor of a hot new content creator! Why am I starting from such a blank slate, you ask? Well, that brings me to update 2:
I'm reinventing myself!!
or, to put it less-palatably, I'm... rebranding myself (eww). There are many reasons for this, but in a nutshell, all my old artistic spaces were attached to my given name and to people whom I needed some creative freedom from (not in a bad way, necessarily— mostly they're just overly-involved relatives). Over the past several years, I've taken a much more active role in shaping the course of my own life, setting myself down the path of "creative person" that I always wanted to be on. And part of that means re-learning how to make art for myself.
of course, doing this at cohost's eleventh hour is NOT great timing on my part! (but then again, my job woes have only just been resolved). in any case, here we are: I'd like to thank you for sticking with me and following my infrequent posts here if you have, and (re)introduce myself by my new nom de plume / keyboard:
I am meau tender.
FAQ:
Q: is Hector Sperra your real / deadname now?
A: nope, neither! Hector Sperra is (one of) the main character(s) in the novel series I am writing. It was an easy-to-reach-for screen name when I set this account up, but in the time since, I realized that using your character's name as your own presents its own set of branding difficulties. hence, another reason for the change.
Q: why'd you choose the name meau tender?
A: I like names that sort of sound like things. Mark Twain. bell hooks. meau tender. (meau is pronounced "mo" if that wasn't obvious. I also like names with a lot of vowels, thus the unusual spelling). plus, so much of my personhood and identity has become about being "more tender" that the name just felt like it fit as soon as I thought of it. If my book ends up being called The Tenderer as planned, then I will probably publish it under the name "meau <differentlastname>" because that would also be a bit weird. But that's a way way future problem for me.
Q: wait, so what IS your real name, then?
A: none of your business, unless we're friends! or you meet me at the Chicago Cohost meetups (which I will hopefully be at!) or you follow me on Twitch and maybe inadvertently find out that way. it's not, like, a secret, but I am trying to keep my digital life and my personal life somewhat separate, which I'm guessing most of you can totally understand. which brings me to the last thing:
Q: are you going to be on any social media after Cohost? Aside from just Twitch and YouTube?
A: well... sadly, no. At least, I don't think so; I think this is the end of the line for posting, for me. I may try generating my own static site or doing some microblogging that way at some point in the future, but I have no concrete plans at this time. I'm sure the internet will always be a huge part of my life, but I'm in my late 20s now, and at this point I've realized how much better my life is (personally, for me) without social media than with it (Cohost being the exception). So again, if you want to keep following me, follow me! I'd love to have some folks say "hi from cohost!" in a twitch chat or youtube comment! I'm endeavoring to follow as many folks as I can in the methods I'm able to, but I won't be joining you on pillowfort or mastodon or bluesky or any of the other ones. But I love you all, and wish you the very best! if a new site that's as good as cohost ever gets developed some day, I really hope to see you all there. 
that's all for me. happy cohost graduation, everybody! I'm really, really going to miss you. :')