Hi there, I'm theleekycauldron! I do some things here, sometimes many things. I do some writing and editing around here – it's pretty fun, in addition to being an enormous privilege. I also do some other stuff around here, usually at Wikipedia:Did you know, sometimes with some fancy-looking extra buttons I've been given access to. They're really not all that scary, and I hope I'm not either – in fact, I bet you're pretty cool! Come hang around and talk to me if you'd like, maybe there's something I can do for you :) if you want some dense information about what exactly I do around here and why, keep reading – if you find that terribly dull, maybe instead you can spend that time finishing up that project that's been sitting on your to-do list for eons. You know which one I'm talking about. Go do it! Or stay here! I'll probably never know either way! Happy editing :)
Bit about me
I started editing in the summer of 2020, as a minor who was bored out of her skull in the pandemic – I kind of flitted in and out, making fixing[a] typos here and there, scoring my first GA in March 2021. By that summer, I could feel the habit slipping – I hadn't really made any connections with other people, I couldn't find much to write about, and I was getting discouraged. But then, in August, I discovered the project side of Did you know (DYK), which I'd only vaguely interacted with before. One of the admins running the project noted that they needed someone to build prep sets, and after trying it once, I immediately fell in love with it, going back to do it again the next day and the next. I got to read and fact-check a half-dozen fun facts from new articles a day – it was enjoyable, it was insightful, and I was helping do something positive and productive. And I started making friends! Having familiar faces to work alongside was a huge bonus; all at once, I went from a nerd trying to relieve pandemic boredom to a nerd in a community of other nerds just like me! (Who were also, presumably, trying to relieve pandemic boredom.) The rest is history – I've helping out at DYK ever since, and I've been hoping to find people who need the same jolt of inspiration and community I did, particularly minors who don't have much of a voice anywhere else.
It was a leek. Leeks happen. They've happened since the beginning of time.
I've got no deeds to do, no promises to keep
I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep, let the
morningtime drop all its petals on me
Life, I love you, all is groovy!
I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountains
There's more than one answer to these questions
Pointing me in a crooked line
And the less I seek my source for some definitive,
Closer I am to fine!
Some people like to call me "leek" or "leeky" – fine by me, as long as you spell it in lowercase! As for the name itself, theleekycauldron is a rough portmanteau of leek, the root vegetable, and The Leaky Cauldron, a pub in the Harry Potter universe.[1] Leeks have been my thing for about as long as I've had this account: my friend and I randomly chose vegetables to identify with, and I went with leeks on a lark.[b] Couldn't tell ya why! I've been a Harry Potter fan for way, way longer than that, though – really, about as far back as I can remember. It's a rocky time to be a Harry Potter fan, I suppose, especially being a trans person who doesn't read a lot of fanfiction – but the books helped me find a passion for reading and learning, and I owe them my thanks for that, even if their author turned out to be not so nice.
In real life, I'm studying mathematics and political science – mostly because I'm indecisive. But I do also love to make music, write music, write code, write fiction, write opinion pieces, write in my diary; I'm a big writing fan, although I can't ever seem to actually get myself to do it. My general modus operandi is that my sleep schedule is awful, my attention span is unpredictable, and my talent for procrastination is awe-inspiring; but I generally feel that being active[c] is good for me, so I make an effort to find the people and things that make me want to engage with a productive and healthy life, and Wikipedia is one of those things. Thankfully, there are lots of things that keep me alive, healthy, and full of a joie de vivre that compels me to sing Simon & Garfunkel in public :)
As I'll cover in great detail below, I do a bunch of odd tasks to make this site a little better and prevent it from going off the rails. I do my best to avoid being wrong on the internet – unfortunately, I find myself to be human, and the thought of disengaging from anything and everything that might cause me to make a mistake is terribly boring! So instead, I have a talk page where you can go to complain about me, ask me questions, and otherwise challenge me to make better decisions on the project. I like being challenged! If no one ever did that, I'd be pretty bad at my job. Some of my favorite people, on and off of this website, achieved that distinction because they told me to my face that I was wrong and needed to do better, and brought a convincing argument to boot. Sometimes I make decisions using extra buttons, in which case, uh, everything I said above still applies (applies more, actually!).
As I mentioned above, I do a lot of work at DYK – and while a huge draw was finding a community there, the importance of the actual content work that DYK does can't be understated. As someone who grew up on the educational side of YouTube,[d] who had the chance to pick my own interests and chase after them to my heart's content, I know firsthand of the power a resource like Wikipedia can have to shape minds and help people discover their own love of learning. DYK is one of Wikipedia's best ways of being more than a stack of reading material – of trying to give readers something they can be inspired by, something that leaves them wanting to know more. That's why I'll always push the project towards content that is engaging, insightful, edifying, or just plain fun, and try to encourage those submissions when we get them. That doesn't mean that I think we should be posting clickbait, though.
Lately, I've taken an interest in reforming the requests for adminship process. As it currently stands, the process is hostile to candidates, hostile to participants, and fairly inefficient in its use of participant time and energy. There are lots of things we can do about that – and there are many, many reforms that I find myself in favor of – but we do actually have to be willing to try new things and work together towards a solution.
The vast majority of my energy is spent at Did you know, a section of the Main Page that airs fun and intruiging facts from new and improved articles. I nominate my articles to appear at DYK virtually every chance I get, but I spend much more time assembling and scheduling DYK sets (known in the biz as "prep building"), and as an administrator, I also stamp sets that others have built so that they can go on the Main Page (we need more of these!).
This is a random selection of my hooks about political figures:
I run GalliumBot; he does a bunch of tasks related to DYK and stuff. Does any of it work? ... not really, no. But I sure did put a bunch of time into 'em!
This editor is a Most Pluperfect Labutnum and is entitled to display this Book of Knowledge with Coffee Cup Stain, Cigarette Burn, Chewed Broken Pencil, Sticky Note, and Bookmark.
Recognized for her brilliant DYK prep work, eclectic article writing and active promotion at DYK, creating many prep sets and userscripts to speed up the process. She frequents WT:DYK, making quick decisions on nominations and significant contributions to discussions. leek's featured work ranges from United States congressional delegations from Hawaii to C. J. Cregg to the ever-debated Pronunciation of GIF, and her GAs are no less varied! Her sense of humor and ease of manner does not go unnoticed.
Hi Theleekycauldron, a little appreciation of all the hard work you've put into the DYK space in the past few weeks. There is often a shortage of people willing to build prep sets and take part in the other grunt work, and thanks in part to your efforts the large backlog has now been reduced. Keep up the good work!
Hello there! Thanks so much for the energy that you bring to the WP:DYK project!!! Editors like you are the reason this place is so beautiful! Thanks and stay awesome!
As we come to the end of another terrifying year, I must express my gratitude for you on Wikipedia. Be it quick responses, prepbuilding like nobody has before (and we've tried!), or just putting up with all my DYK talk messages, requests, and getting lost. Thank you, happy new year.
For your honest introspection in response to question 20. The ability to realize your mistakes, straight-up admit that you were wrong without making excuses, and reflect on how it helped you grow shows true character and a level of maturity which a lot of us never reach — this makes you eminently worthy of administratorship in my book.
You gave it your best efforts. There is always tomorrow, and another chance somewhere down the line. In the meantime, keep on with the good work you do for all of us
Really sorry for forgetting to attend your RfA. I'm busy in my home wiki and real life, so I forgot to look after enwiki. I've seen the answers to the RfA, and none of this is immature. Those who doubt you think that people can't change in a matter of months, but who I am talking to now clearly disproves that statement. Some other people have warned you to wait for several months for the RfA, but you pushed forward regardless. You might have lost the battle, but you won the war. Prove to them that you are not the 16-year-old they might think about.
Congrats on winning Wall-to-wall coverage, which I continue to think is one of the hardest Challenges despite the number of people who have proved me wrong! And on your first TFA as well, I believe. I know a lot of your work focuses on the Main Page, so I shouldn't be so surprised, but well done. :)
Awarded jointly and severally to Spidey104. PCN02WPS, Evrik, and Theleekycauldron, for all of your timely help with Free Comic Book Day for the event's 20th anniversary: expanding the article, cleaning it up, offering advice, reviewing it at GAN and DYK, and promoting its late entry into the queue. It has been greatly appreciated.
Thanks for all your work, both with content and especially in the (relatively thankless) task of DYK management. It is high quality, and most appreciated.
For creating some of my favorite articles in fun and engaging topics. Whenever I want to convince people that editing Wikipedia is fun I show them your work, so I thought I'd give you a lil' shiny star in recognition of your contributions.
^leek removed this entry because she felt she hadn't contributed enough, but I am grateful for her ongoing support on the article and so have restored this. Thanks as always, Claudia. -- Tamzin[cetacean needed] (she|they|xe)
^This was a lighthearted tribute to a certain user by the same name, who I encountered when I first entered the DYK sphere.
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