Today I paid for my haircut in #Bitcoin. Fucking awesome.
I’ve been going to the same person for about 15 years now, which is wild to think about. She knows exactly how I like my hair, so I don’t even have to say anything anymore.
There’s something comforting about that kind of consistency. But what I really appreciate about her is that she’s a genuinely wise, open-minded person. She’s well-traveled, with stories from Africa, South America, and beyond. And she’s always tuned in - aware of the world, curious, thoughtful.
Every time I sit in her chair, we end up talking about what’s going on in the world. Last time, I mentioned Bitcoin. I explained a bit about what it is, how it works, and why I think it matters. She was naturally curious - the kind of person who embraces new ideas. I told her about Strike and how easy it would be for her to accept Bitcoin payments. She said she’d look into it...
And sure enough, when I saw her today, she had downloaded @strike . So I paid for my haircut in Bitcoin. It was such a cool, novel moment - and a reminder of how powerful it can be to share what we know, and help people take small steps into this world. That kind of openness is what we need more of.
But what makes this even more special is what she’s doing next.
She told me she’s heading to Mozambique for three months to teach at Liberty Project Africa - a training center that helps girls who’ve survived trafficking and exploitation. Through vocational and cosmetology training, these young women are given the tools to build a future with real hope and opportunity.
She’s trying to collect donations for salon essentials to help stock their new classroom and salon space. And now that she’s set up with Strike, I want to help direct donations to her Lightning wallet - both to support this powerful work and to encourage her even more to see how Bitcoin can be a tool for good.
If you want to donate, you can send directly to her Strike wallet address: acirs99@strike.me
It would be very cool if you could. I'd like to surprise her with it! I will also be sending what ever this note generates as well for the fund. Thank you!
attn: @jack mallers
#grownostr #asknostr
I wasn't too familiar with David before Ahmed asked, but I knew him from the Talking Heads, so obviously I said yes. Then came the logistics of actually making it happen - scheduling everything around and figuring out if I could pull off the trip from South Carolina all the way up to Manhattan.
The Journey North:
The drive involved coordinating between Airbnbs and making strategic stops along the way. I stayed at my dad's house for a few days in Charlotte, which I tend to do whenever I travel north. It's always a good stop to see my dad since I don't get to see him very often. From there, I scheduled a couple Airbnbs in Jersey City, where I was able to see my friend Raf - always nice to catch up with him and drop off some rolls of film (watch our interview together here). The next day I got another Airbnb in a different city, then drove the following morning to a parking garage in Manhattan that was a block or two from Ahmed's studio.
Sunday Afternoon Studios:
The studio is called Sunday Afternoon Studios, and of course I was the first one there - I'm always early to things. I find it better to be early than late, and it's never a problem for me because I usually just end up walking around, taking pictures, and being able to relax without worrying about rushing to get somewhere.
When I told my dad about how this shoot was going to happen, he said, "Make sure to get a picture of him on his bike" - apparently David rides his bike around the city quite often. I kept that in mind, and when David came in, sure enough, he came up the elevator with his bike. I thought of my dad and took a quick picture and sent it to him. He appreciated that, so that was cool.
The Shoot:
The shoot took a few hours, starting at 10 AM and wrapping up around 4:30 PM with cleanup. It was a gread day - I had a lot of fun and was able to learn more on lighting methods and setting up things I'd never worked with before in a professional environment. But I was also doing some documentary work with my Leica M262, so that's what these photos were taken with.
David's outfit, by the way, was extremely heavy - must've been at least 50 pounds or something like that. When I had to put it back in the box to ship it back to wherever it came from, I really noticed how heavy this thing actually was. It was made out of plastic tubing and zip ties and bungee cords and stuff. Actually really cool design work.
