(Psst! I think this weekly thread is getting a little bit past its due date 🤫)

So all of a sudden I’ve been swept away into gardening, despite myself.

It started with wanting to a little supply of green leaves to munch on when my fridge is running low and I don’t have the energy to leave my enclosure. Really simple. Just one or two plants. Nothing much.

Skip forward a few weeks and suddenly I’ve got about a dozen different edible plants on the go and a friend has asked me to get another edible plant started for them so they can steal my hard work (/s). And I’ve got two fruit trees. And I just inherited a few raised garden beds that I’ve gotten started on.

Somehow, on top of all of that, I’ve just taken the first step to starting a program in my community to provide seedlings and cuttings for free to people living in poverty. I’m starting small but I’m very close to finding someone to act as my agent so they can deal with all the people stuff like communicating and coordinating while I can propagate from cuttings and start seedlings from the spare seeds that I have lying around.

At the moment it’s just going to be free vegetable plants that I’ll be sharing on basically zero budget but, if it gains traction and it’s manageable, the next level that I want to take it to would be by making semi-permanent planters and planting them up with a small variety of vegetable seedlings so they can be distributed to people, that way all they need to do is to find a sunny spot and remember to water the plants. I’ll propagate those trees from cuttings once they’re established too.

I can probably rope about 3 people into this project as suppliers with minimal coercion and I can act as the distribution hub. I guess this is how community networks are built.

You already know which relevant clip fits here

After actual years of trying, I finally got my proof of citizenship.

There’s still a few things I need to do to be recognized as documented in all the systems the government uses but I made the appointments and will do that next month.

After that I can start building credit and finally escape my abusive adoptive family

Funding for basically every queer project near me almost got sneakily cancelled without any debate, but the community noticed in time and applied some publicity pressure at the last moment and got politicians from almost all parties to commit to funding long-term.

I retired my old server which was a thinkpad w520 and im currently installing windows vista on it and I don’t think any mortal can comprehend exactly how excited i am about this. Vista lives in my head in a kind of mythological status because i never personally ran it I went from xp to 7 and whatever vista i did interact with didnt have aero enabled. So this will actually be the first time running it on almost period correct hardware and im gyrating

I’ve leveled up my kitchen skills to an insane degree lately.

I’m getting jealous looks from my coworkers when I bring my sandwiches to lunch.

Lmao, Debra you paid 8 bucks for a chicken sandwich with barely any chicken in it. Mine has an entire fucking chicken breast and homemade aioli and tomatoes I grew myself.

Ive been managing to go out and meet ppl for once! Im tired as fuck now but its been 100% worth it plus a good 50% were queer and ppl respected my fem name and saw me as a girl even if physically i mostly look like a boymoder haha

The other day I learned that I will no longer have to travel to America for work. I will instead have to travel to a country that doesn’t demand 5 year’s of social media history and active email addresses, deport you if you don’t hand over your electronic devices for inspection, or have armed forces that can shoot people without fear of being held accountable.

I got to watch some of my nephew play basketball via a smartphone even though the game was far away. I know that’s not impressive these days but it’s the first time I’ve experienced that technology and it was great. I can get all grump about technology sometimes but when it’s not being twisted by malign boneheads and vampires it’s really neat! Yay for the internet still bringing us together.

I passed all my exams. I m certifiably like… a fifth of a doctor.

This is borderline, but I beat someone up real real good at BJJ. There was this video from the Olympics, I believe, where Curry hits a 3 while sitting down at the bench and he sort of stomps around and giggles. The man likes to put the ball in the bucket. I think of him the way I was laughing after I put someone on the highlight reel in sparring.

Well, when I was told I ought to work on my guard, I endeavored to do just that. I’ve been looking at instructional videos I’ve had in my backlog, trying the techniques, talking to fellow brown belts, and trying to get it to work. Rinse and repeat, suddenly I have a white belt to practice with.

You see, when you have an extra decade of experience on someone, suffice to say you don’t need to go all out and you should give them some chances to work on what they want to work. I decide it’s the perfect chance to work on my new guard technique. After all, it hasn’t been working and they’ll be able to defend it, pass the guard, and get their top game going. The issue? The latest round of tweaks finally work - exceedingly well. I collapse their posture an I’m in that exploratory mode as if I’ve started lucid dreaming. So, in the first time the guard really clicked for me, I decide to grab something and pull. Again, it works - exceedingly well. I pull their ass back so they’re staring at the ceiling with an exposed neck. I put my fist against the single exposed carotid and BAM! It’s Joever.

Did I pick on people my own size this week? Sure! Did it feel as good as bullying a white belt? Hell no. They were a tad nonplussed about it; I’m sure the laugh didn’t help. But I found success trying something new after a good 3 or 4 rounds, a good 3 weeks of trial and error. Now I can’t wait to systematize and become familiar with the beautiful move.

a few things on my end:

-got hyperfixation-level back into tabletop worldbuilding and feel like i’m mostly sorting out some of the main pain points of my setting! (namely, how to fit humanoid fantasy races in a way that doesn’t feel cringe) i may be at the beginning of a hyperfixate-overcommit-burnout process, but i’m enjoying the hyperfixation portion while it lasts. and thanks to my organizing friends and my gf i might actually be getting a game group together for the first time since last decade!

-speaking of which, having a community of comrades/friends and the work we do together helps to keep me grounded and connected to humanity. and while we’re still figuring out what exactly a safe and stable relationship looks like to us, ditto for having a loving partner and the kindness and gentleness and acceptance we work to extend to each other.

-the sheer numbers at the Minneapolis quasi-general strike put a little hope in me. while the demonic hogs in ICE killing our people makes my blood boil and makes me weep, a showcase of the potential of people power & labor power like that makes me hope it’s only the beginning of a new fighting labor movement.

What the fuck is happening to me? My life is suddenly very busy, frantic, even. Things are happening. A year ago I thought I’d be rebuilding my life from scratch, eking out some kind of meager existence, and I’m just not. I say “what the fuck” a lot these days. It’s always with love in my heart. It’s always because I got good, unexpected news. I’ve been taking solid Ls for 5 years and my luck has turned around.

I must be vague, but everything is beautiful. The best days of my life have all been in the last six months. I’m old. I’m finally getting my shit together. It rules.