About Jem
Hello… I’m Jem.
I’m a blog post writing, website making, heavy weight lifting, geek t-shirt collecting, taekwon-do doing, feminist mama geek. Or something like that.
I work at home and create things online for money: websites, content, bad jokes on social media (nobody pays me for that one really). I’ve been making websites since the tender age of 14 — the nerdy spotty teen sat on the fastest PC in the after-school computing club — and I have around 20 years commercial development experience. You can read more about my professional credentials and my WordPress web development work on my portfolio →
I am ‘mum’ to two school-age kids — Isabel and Oliver — who fill my life with love and laughter, and are the cause of my drinking problem (jokes 👀).
I am married to a fellow nerd, whom I met on OKCupid in May 2014, shortly after kicking out my then-partner of 12 years. As cliché as it sounds, my husband brought out the best in me & has helped me discover more happiness than I ever thought possible. We ‘tied the knot’ in a private ceremony in May 2016 on the second anniversary of when we met, and then went for pizza.
We opened our marriage in early 2022 and are both currently exploring what this means for us as a couple and separately.
I came out as bisexual in October 2017.
I run a variety of distances (although won’t be breaking records any time soon) and like to lift heavy weights because it makes me look badass. Or just an ass, not sure which.
I have a bit of a pet “problem”. At one point I owned the equivalent of a petting zoo with 6 cats, 2 rabbits, 5 guinea pigs and a tarantula. To stop me from going full zoo, I spent a few years as a volunteer at Shropshire Cat Rescue. Unfortunately this didn’t quite work as planned, as several of our current animals were adopted from the rescue anyway.
We currently have a Labrador and 4 cats. That’s almost a normal amount of animals!
I’m stubborn, sarcastic, honest to a fault (probably not a good idea to ask me if your bum looks big in that) and have a habit of being a bit of a “know it all”. Probably because I really do know it all. Turns out this might be the autism though.
I love to read, used to collect geek t-shirts, and vaguely remember a time when I had chance to be a gamer. Now I’m an adult with responsibilities and my Animal Crossing island looks frankly post-apocalyptic.
I suffer from a severe form of PMS called Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Despite being categorised as a depressive disorder, research suggests that women with PMDD are more sensitive to normal hormone fluctuations due to a molecular mechanism in their genes. Either way, PMDD causes cyclical feelings of anxiety, depression, anger and even suicide idealisation. But, it turns out this might be the autism too. Read more about my PMDD and what I’m doing to treat the symptoms →
In March 2017 I realised that alcohol was having a negative impact upon my life for no net benefit and gave it up. Mostly. You can read about my journey to and from sobriety here.
I am actively involved in a boycott of all Nestlé products.