Hec, I just want to tell you that you are a positive inspiration to me when I think about expanding my notions of healthy gender presentation. Too few men of my acquaintance are comfortable in earrings.

Thank you, my friend. You make my world a healthier and more loving place.

Hec, I just want to tell you that you are a positive inspiration to me when I think about expanding my notions of healthy gender presentation. Too few men of my acquaintance are comfortable in earrings.

Thank you, my friend. You make my world a healthier and more loving place.

So, sweet, Karl! I'm actually about to go get a manicure with some obvious nail polish.

Just pushing that non-binary agenda in the everyday ways.

Aw, you guys...although I wouldn't really have ever expected to be part of this sort of conversation. Proving I'm really a woman and not a giant six-year-old has proven to be enough of a personal challenge. Although I'm embarrassed now how much of an issue being occasionally called "sir" after first going with the O'Connell cut in college was for me. Even if I was wearing pink at the time and wondered if I really had to whip the girls out to get points for having them(At least, I'm over it now. But I am, more or less.)

Cereal: Also, Hec, if Spike did it, how girly is that?

I'm giving up DoorDash for Lent, which should help me eat better as a bonus. I'm planning to donate half of what I usually spend on delivery each week to my church's fund that pays for grocery store gift cards for people who show up at the office and ask for help and put the other half in my "oh God what if Dylan doesn't find a new job in the next few months and/or what if the funding cuts get bad enough to take out my job" fund. (Since I work in one of the central offices for university-wide research administration I'm not at the same risk I'd be if I were, say, the grants manager for a group of PIs, but I'm a hell of a lot less confident than I was a few months ago that I can stay in my current department till I retire if I want to.)

I need to both find my expired passports and my birth certificate if I'm going to do anything about Real ID before the May deadline. So Project Organize Papers is underway.

It wouldn't surprise me if I put all three in A Safe Place Which I Have Forgotten.

sigh

Safe Places are overrated because they too often become Safe From Me places

My BIL is a menace to diets. He looked in the fridge and decided the mashed potatoes were too old and made lefse instead. After I’d eaten his second attempt at perfecting his ginger loaf with cream cheese frosting for breakfast

Safe Places are overrated because they too often become Safe From Me places

Yup yup yup.

Family venting time:

Aaaand right on cue, my SIL’s family in Russia are calling her and crying about “why are Geoff’s relatives being so anti-Russia” And how hurt they all are. And by anti-Russia they mean, “put up a stand with Ukraine frame” on Facebook.

What is kind of funny how I learned of all this. in the car with my sister yesterday and she’s furiously typing a text message.

“Fucking Geoff”, she says.

Me: why, what’s up?

H: I don’t even wanna tell you.

Me: [Thinks for a moment] Is this about Ukraine?

H: slow nod

Me: [beat] is this about my fucking Facebook frame?

He wants me to take it down because SIL and her family are so hurt and all. Which, fuck that. What am I calling all my friends and relations all over the world who are reacting to what’s happening in the US and crying and asking them not to be so mean? No, I’m furiously, nodding and agreeing, and hoping for eventual forgiveness.

That frame is set to expire in a few days and they can suck it until then. [Unless I extend it for pure spite.] I just can’t even believe after all this time. Gives an idea what the tone of things is in Russia I guess.

There is a lot to unpack there but I’m gonna just say go spite, choose spite

I have all of my Extendeds on mute(Not really about politics, really, though if they did it to me back, I bet it is.) No, I did that when we were most broke and they were all flaunty...on top of everything, I didn't need to feel like fucking Tiny Tim three times a week or whatever. I'm not missing anything, even though we were living better, and cracks in the facade and all that jazz. And my stupid cousin with the multiple kidney transplants who, like, enjoyed age nine so much that she...just decided to camp there does rouse herself to vote GOP now and again and it's better for my health that I don't think about that...too much more than this, right now.(and I can't really be mad at her...she never lived in reality and then she had a Health Crisis and *really* never had to. And we're both..you know, on the supplemental Hoping The 'Rents Don't Die plan, but, you know, only one of us really understands how informal that arrangement is--you'd think that might bring us together more, wouldn't you? There's actually kind of a lot of disability in my family, but if there's a message in that, I'm not sure anyone has it.) I am not upset with the Russian *people* just the Russian government, but if your SIL feels attacked personally, I'm sure that wouldn't help that much.