Misty

Watching Waterworld. I've known about it, but I've never seen it.

The no-fuss headscarves made of jersey fabrics are fabulous unless you move around. They're great for conference calls and videos, but when I was out walking, moving my head from left to right, and stooping down, wouldn't you know — it came undone. Over the last year of fiddling with scarves, veils, the under cap, pins, no pins, and magnets, I've concluded there's one way a headscarf works for me: tied in the back at the base of my neck, thrown around my neck and pinned over the back of my head on the opposite ear. I spent a good 10 minutes fighting with the pins this morning, too. Those straight pins? They fall right out! Every time. I do not know what you guys are doing differently in the videos than I am. I've spent a year, on and off, trying to get used to it, figuring it out, and watching tutorials. I figured it out real quick when I went outside. Then again, I'm not coordinated enough to French braid my hair either. I never have been. Since I could not learn how to do that no matter how often I've tried over the years, I'm betting there's a high chance I won't be able to style my headscarf like others. I can't have things squeezed tightly around my skull, like an under cap, the no-fuss jersey rectangle scarf that must sit that way to be flush on the face, or fabric wrapped tightly around my neck. It doesn't work for me. It triggers a low-level heightened awareness, my flight-or-fight response. In that state, I cannot concentrate on the professional tasks in front of me. There is no "getting used to it." I don't have to "get used to it." I'm not 11 and trying to adjust to a training bra. I'm allowed to be comfortable, feel safe, and not hate how I look all at once. Yesterday, I tripped over my pant leg again when speeding up the pace (another big pit bull on a tiny rope) but didn't fall. These long, baggy pants do not work in #tactical situations. I am not trained to maneuver in them like some do in martial arts. I have yet to tell you about all the times I've tripped over the bottom edges. They're so big that I have to hike up the waistband to sit at the base of my ribs to avoid tripping over them, which is uncomfortable. Don't get me wrong. I often enjoy them in the house, when walking outside, or running errands. They can be quite elegant, but the difficulty arises when I have to make fast work on my feet. It's often unexpected. In those moments, I trip. I've gotten good at not falling, but those few seconds of recovery can cost me several feet of distance, depending on the situation. Throughout my life, I've often found I have more peace when prioritizing functionality for the scenarios I can find myself in. I'm not 100 percent sure what this means for my wardrobe in the future, but there's a high chance it will not please Muslim X. I dragged out some pants from 2 to 3 years ago. I had a different body then. I still fit into some pants and immediately started feeling calmer with the snug denim where it belonged. I felt more like myself, which was telling. This means outside of the occasional comfort of lounging in these giant pants or feeling #elegant, I am not myself in them. My #functionality is hampered. I'm not spending any more money experimenting with different styles or things that don't fit or work right.

Today is the day. It's time to wear my headscarf full-time as part of #hijab. I stepped out in front of neighbors and strangers this morning. I'm sure my adrenaline is still racing, but the chores are done and hopefully, I can spend the day #proofreading.

Once you understand healthy boundaries and how to word your experiences and feelings, you often do not have to explain further or defend yourself. What you said stands on its own. A person's reaction to it is a separate issue and does not detract from the truth.

I was able to read a 1/2 page of Quran on my own this morning in Arabic. Not perfectly. A couple of places I got tripped up, and it was still choppy, but it went much faster than last week when I was struggling with one line at a time. Grateful.

I liked your post on Twitter and then followed you on Nostr.

Back in the '80s, when Gorbachev was in power, I had pen pals in Russia. It was called USSR then. It took six months to get letters there and back. And all the mail was read. All of it. We were teenagers then and had to be careful of what we said. I wasn't allowed to send anything that remotely resembled wealth because my pen pal wouldn't get it. The screeners would take it. Communism eventually fell. #Letter writing is only free when the contents are not read and inspected. Letter writing is one of my most favorite things in the world to do. I remember all their names, their pictures, the "How to teach yourself Russian" book I bought to help me learn, the airmail envelopes, and the ruble with Stalin's face on it. Letter writing is beautiful. I'm so grateful I got to have that experience with people on the other side of the world. It was before the internet.

After my long walk this morning, I decided to go to the #cafe I used to sit and work from. Seeing the staff again was great. They gave me the back booth by the kitchen. I brought my English-interpreted Quran and my transcripts. Had #coffee. No ice cream. It was good to get out of the house. When I got back, I got to help track down information for another group project I get to contribute to. Got everything sorted between Beehiiv and Stripe. Learned more about Bitcoin. Did more proofreading. Soon there will be another walk. Then maybe I can catch up on social media stuff. I will not attempt to fix the plumbing on my own.

Regardless of location, background, education, creed, religion, mindset, or hopes, most people are tired of being told what they can say, when, and how to say it. The harsher the government laws, the quieter the voices become, but they're still there whispering to trusted friends and family. The #truth of being fed up rings true. Truth is not extinguished because of arrests, censorship laws, forced platform modifications, or seizures. No. Truth is truth. Truth is verifiable. Truth is complete. Truth lives. Truth finds its way through #freedom. Humans have always found ways around their government's speech laws and those who swallow and regurgitate government propaganda. People will continue to do so because of our modern-day technology and, more importantly, #decentralized and cryptographically signed messages over peer-to-peer protocols. You can squelch a platform's reach and place legal gag orders over a person's freedom of speech, but you cannot stop decentralized platforms. Not completely.

I just got kicked out of a #Discord server for explaining I don't work with people exhibiting consistently abusive behavior in the workplace let alone as a v#olunteer. When I drew my line in the sand, professionally of course, I got immediately booted. 😂 🥱Predictable from people with those types of personalities. Back to my projects!

Enter social media with purpose. Being mentally pulled in 15 different ways in less than 30 seconds starts to steal your energy and can impact your breathing. I don't want that anymore. If I start to feel negative in any way, I switch off now. Immediately. Social media was not mean to be this way. If it's to be entertained, only do it if you're having a good time. If you're there to learn, only be there to consume the videos that help you solve the problem. If you're there to engage and help others, only do that. Set a time limit. If you're there to mindlessly scroll, only do that as long as you aren't feeling negative. The moment you do, stop and spend your energy elsewhere. #socialmedia #positivity #purpose

What happens to the zaps? If a person's wallet/node isn't up and someone sends zaps but the other person can't receive them (becuase their stuff is down), what happens to the zaps a person sent? Are they stuck in some inbetween cyber-limbo? Or do they get a failed transaction notification? Example: Yesterday, I asked folks not to zap that article I posted. Today, I see Highlighter shows 24k zaps. Is that attempted zaps or did those zaps go somewhere? Will people get them back eventually because they didn't get my wallet/node?

The sun was hot this morning even when it wasn't. The bug guy didn't come yesterday again, and I can't get into my mailbox anymore. I'll stay on top of management so they do not forget.

Earlier today I submitted several #Bitcoin questions to a network I belong to. After all my research, I still have some basic questions. Accounting for timezone differences, if the questions are not answered within 24 hours, I will post them here. -- I'm posting this from #Obsidian. I can't tell you how much I love this. I use Obsidian as my prime notetaking, writing, markdown editor, and more. This is going to help me publish past written works here and publish other ideas much faster. I'm also not distracted by the UIs.

Second post from Obsidian. I had to reboot Obsidian to reconnect to the relays. Not complaining.