🎄🌟HopeForTheHolidays💕🌈
@holdingouthope.bsky.social
50yo GenX ♂️ Married with two grown up kids.
Tech nerd 🤓 (ex-Cisco, Linux, IoT, 3D Printing, Home Automation, and more)
Likes to wear 👗things
Outdoorsy - ⛺️⛵️
Self-medicates with ☕️
Seeking the "me" behind the masks.
Toronto
Tech nerd 🤓 (ex-Cisco, Linux, IoT, 3D Printing, Home Automation, and more)
Likes to wear 👗things
Outdoorsy - ⛺️⛵️
Self-medicates with ☕️
Seeking the "me" behind the masks.
Toronto
"That can happen. When someone feels like they *have* to be strong, and then the strength fails them? A lof of times, they crumble all at once. The brick wall in the hurricane versus the tree that bends and gives in the wind". -- WITT Ch. 13
December 24, 2025 at 2:08 PM
"That can happen. When someone feels like they *have* to be strong, and then the strength fails them? A lof of times, they crumble all at once. The brick wall in the hurricane versus the tree that bends and gives in the wind". -- WITT Ch. 13
Reposted by 🎄🌟HopeForTheHolidays💕🌈
This brilliant. I've experimented with making similar simulators before, but this from Giving What We Can is so well executed and needed right now... some perspective, and just how lucky we (some of us) are. #charity #wealth #redistribution #fairness #equity #equality
Birth Lottery
If you were reborn today, where would you land? And how would that change your life?
www.givingwhatwecan.org
December 23, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Not that anyone who needs to will see this, but...
Immigrants, trans-people, and other minorities are not the reason why you don't have a happy life.
Using them as your punching bag hurts everyone.
It doesn't solve the problems you have.
It sows division.
It actually makes your life worse.
Immigrants, trans-people, and other minorities are not the reason why you don't have a happy life.
Using them as your punching bag hurts everyone.
It doesn't solve the problems you have.
It sows division.
It actually makes your life worse.
December 23, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Not that anyone who needs to will see this, but...
Immigrants, trans-people, and other minorities are not the reason why you don't have a happy life.
Using them as your punching bag hurts everyone.
It doesn't solve the problems you have.
It sows division.
It actually makes your life worse.
Immigrants, trans-people, and other minorities are not the reason why you don't have a happy life.
Using them as your punching bag hurts everyone.
It doesn't solve the problems you have.
It sows division.
It actually makes your life worse.
Started reading WITT, on a recommendation. So far, really enjoying it (thought it's interrupted my reading of Dorley).
Even though I've been leaning into this more, I still don't really feel like I'm a woman inside. Not sure if that will ever change, but I'm keeping an open mind to everything.
Even though I've been leaning into this more, I still don't really feel like I'm a woman inside. Not sure if that will ever change, but I'm keeping an open mind to everything.
December 23, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Started reading WITT, on a recommendation. So far, really enjoying it (thought it's interrupted my reading of Dorley).
Even though I've been leaning into this more, I still don't really feel like I'm a woman inside. Not sure if that will ever change, but I'm keeping an open mind to everything.
Even though I've been leaning into this more, I still don't really feel like I'm a woman inside. Not sure if that will ever change, but I'm keeping an open mind to everything.
Today, one of our consultants sent me a document that contained some answers to a couple technical issues that a customer has been encountering.
Anyone who has spent more than a few hours using an LLM can identify its work just by the way it "talks". Do NOT copy/paste LLM answers as your own work!
Anyone who has spent more than a few hours using an LLM can identify its work just by the way it "talks". Do NOT copy/paste LLM answers as your own work!
December 22, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Today, one of our consultants sent me a document that contained some answers to a couple technical issues that a customer has been encountering.
Anyone who has spent more than a few hours using an LLM can identify its work just by the way it "talks". Do NOT copy/paste LLM answers as your own work!
Anyone who has spent more than a few hours using an LLM can identify its work just by the way it "talks". Do NOT copy/paste LLM answers as your own work!
We've gone to the Ross Petty panto with the boys for years. They may be young adults now, and Ross may have "retired", but the Canadian Stage Company keeps the show on.
Looking forward to todays performance, and our traditional dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory
torontonicity.com/2025/11/30/c...
Looking forward to todays performance, and our traditional dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory
torontonicity.com/2025/11/30/c...
Canadian Stage's Robin Hood: A Must-See Family Musical: REVIEW
Robin Hood: A Very Merry Christmas Musical opened at The Elgin Winter Garden Theatre in Toronto on November 29, 2025. Read my review.
torontonicity.com
December 20, 2025 at 6:04 PM
We've gone to the Ross Petty panto with the boys for years. They may be young adults now, and Ross may have "retired", but the Canadian Stage Company keeps the show on.
Looking forward to todays performance, and our traditional dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory
torontonicity.com/2025/11/30/c...
Looking forward to todays performance, and our traditional dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory
torontonicity.com/2025/11/30/c...
Just started watching 3 Body Problem. My favourite line so far: "The English really suck at beaches".
Yep. That pretty much describes my perspective when I went to Portsmouth when visiting my wife's family in England several years ago.
Yep. That pretty much describes my perspective when I went to Portsmouth when visiting my wife's family in England several years ago.
December 20, 2025 at 3:23 AM
Just started watching 3 Body Problem. My favourite line so far: "The English really suck at beaches".
Yep. That pretty much describes my perspective when I went to Portsmouth when visiting my wife's family in England several years ago.
Yep. That pretty much describes my perspective when I went to Portsmouth when visiting my wife's family in England several years ago.
Why did you follow me, random person with 14 followers, no posts, no comments, etc.?
December 19, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Why did you follow me, random person with 14 followers, no posts, no comments, etc.?
The thing I have learned recently, that still blows my mind, is depersonalization can be a sign of dysphoria. Also, that the euphoria I feel when engaging in things that make me feel feminine can also be a sign of dysphoria.
Wait... I don't have to actively *hate* my body to have dysphoira?
Wait... I don't have to actively *hate* my body to have dysphoira?
December 17, 2025 at 3:33 PM
The thing I have learned recently, that still blows my mind, is depersonalization can be a sign of dysphoria. Also, that the euphoria I feel when engaging in things that make me feel feminine can also be a sign of dysphoria.
Wait... I don't have to actively *hate* my body to have dysphoira?
Wait... I don't have to actively *hate* my body to have dysphoira?
This wins the internet for me today.
December 17, 2025 at 2:57 PM
This wins the internet for me today.
Reposted by 🎄🌟HopeForTheHolidays💕🌈
Some thoughts on Mozilla's trajectory and Waterfox's stance on AI in the browser 👇
www.waterfox.com/blog/no-ai-h...
www.waterfox.com/blog/no-ai-h...
No AI* Here - A Response to Mozilla's Next Chapter - Waterfox Blog
Mozilla's pivot to AI-first browsing raises fundamental questions about what a browser should be. While ML tools like local translation offer real utility, LLMs are opaque black boxes. Waterfox won't ...
www.waterfox.com
December 16, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Some thoughts on Mozilla's trajectory and Waterfox's stance on AI in the browser 👇
www.waterfox.com/blog/no-ai-h...
www.waterfox.com/blog/no-ai-h...
Doing my morning Zwift, listening to music. Power, by Little Mix had just taken on a completely new meaning for me.
December 16, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Doing my morning Zwift, listening to music. Power, by Little Mix had just taken on a completely new meaning for me.
As I come to terms with the fact that I have to figure out once and for all whether or not I am trans, I have this strong urge to hug my wife as often as possible.
I am so sad thinking that each one could be the last. 😢
I am so sad thinking that each one could be the last. 😢
December 16, 2025 at 1:39 PM
As I come to terms with the fact that I have to figure out once and for all whether or not I am trans, I have this strong urge to hug my wife as often as possible.
I am so sad thinking that each one could be the last. 😢
I am so sad thinking that each one could be the last. 😢
I've been trying to shape and massage my thoughts and feelings into something that works for "us".
Am I doing us both a disservice?
I've always believed that honestly was the best policy, but I have to be honest with myself, first, before I can be honest with others.
Am I doing us both a disservice?
I've always believed that honestly was the best policy, but I have to be honest with myself, first, before I can be honest with others.
December 16, 2025 at 12:54 PM
I've been trying to shape and massage my thoughts and feelings into something that works for "us".
Am I doing us both a disservice?
I've always believed that honestly was the best policy, but I have to be honest with myself, first, before I can be honest with others.
Am I doing us both a disservice?
I've always believed that honestly was the best policy, but I have to be honest with myself, first, before I can be honest with others.
My wife and I are in a bit of a catch 22....
1. We both know that if I discover that I'm a trans-woman, our marriage is over. We are both afraid of this outcome.
2. I do now know if I'm a trans-woman, or fluid, or if I just have an attraction/interest/fetish around femininity.
1. We both know that if I discover that I'm a trans-woman, our marriage is over. We are both afraid of this outcome.
2. I do now know if I'm a trans-woman, or fluid, or if I just have an attraction/interest/fetish around femininity.
December 15, 2025 at 5:23 PM
My wife and I are in a bit of a catch 22....
1. We both know that if I discover that I'm a trans-woman, our marriage is over. We are both afraid of this outcome.
2. I do now know if I'm a trans-woman, or fluid, or if I just have an attraction/interest/fetish around femininity.
1. We both know that if I discover that I'm a trans-woman, our marriage is over. We are both afraid of this outcome.
2. I do now know if I'm a trans-woman, or fluid, or if I just have an attraction/interest/fetish around femininity.
Sigh... My brain is too preoccupied with the outcome of yesterday's couples therapy session to let me focus on work.
Feeling very 'lost' right now. My problem solving brain does not like having important un-solveable problems roaming around freely.
Feeling very 'lost' right now. My problem solving brain does not like having important un-solveable problems roaming around freely.
December 15, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Sigh... My brain is too preoccupied with the outcome of yesterday's couples therapy session to let me focus on work.
Feeling very 'lost' right now. My problem solving brain does not like having important un-solveable problems roaming around freely.
Feeling very 'lost' right now. My problem solving brain does not like having important un-solveable problems roaming around freely.
The hardest thing, lately, has not been my internal demons. It's been working through what all of my questioning means to my relationship with my wife.
This has been exhausting for her, and for me, in a way, because I care so deeply about her, and our future.
This has been exhausting for her, and for me, in a way, because I care so deeply about her, and our future.
December 15, 2025 at 3:27 PM
The hardest thing, lately, has not been my internal demons. It's been working through what all of my questioning means to my relationship with my wife.
This has been exhausting for her, and for me, in a way, because I care so deeply about her, and our future.
This has been exhausting for her, and for me, in a way, because I care so deeply about her, and our future.
This morning it occurred to me that one of the reasons why I have always been a 'stick in the mud' (dancing, parties, etc.) might be because I have always been so busy making sure nobody sees through the masks I've built.
It takes a lot of energy to vigilantly present the way you think you need to.
It takes a lot of energy to vigilantly present the way you think you need to.
December 15, 2025 at 2:50 PM
This morning it occurred to me that one of the reasons why I have always been a 'stick in the mud' (dancing, parties, etc.) might be because I have always been so busy making sure nobody sees through the masks I've built.
It takes a lot of energy to vigilantly present the way you think you need to.
It takes a lot of energy to vigilantly present the way you think you need to.
Ngl... I'm pretty irritated that it's Monday.
December 15, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Ngl... I'm pretty irritated that it's Monday.
Recently started reading Sisters of Dorley, since it keeps popping up in posts.
Just made it to Ch. 4. It's an interesting read, so far, and I'm curious where it goes.
Just made it to Ch. 4. It's an interesting read, so far, and I'm curious where it goes.
December 14, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Recently started reading Sisters of Dorley, since it keeps popping up in posts.
Just made it to Ch. 4. It's an interesting read, so far, and I'm curious where it goes.
Just made it to Ch. 4. It's an interesting read, so far, and I'm curious where it goes.
I'm trying to figure out how to start changing my look to be less "man who has basic fashion sense" to "person who has some interest in looking good, in a gender flexible way"
Maybe not exactly that, but those are the best words I can find at the moment.
Maybe not exactly that, but those are the best words I can find at the moment.
December 13, 2025 at 1:10 PM
I'm trying to figure out how to start changing my look to be less "man who has basic fashion sense" to "person who has some interest in looking good, in a gender flexible way"
Maybe not exactly that, but those are the best words I can find at the moment.
Maybe not exactly that, but those are the best words I can find at the moment.
This hot tub is, quite possibly, the best money I've ever spent.
After 5 hours of driving, this is glorious
After 5 hours of driving, this is glorious
December 13, 2025 at 2:03 AM
This hot tub is, quite possibly, the best money I've ever spent.
After 5 hours of driving, this is glorious
After 5 hours of driving, this is glorious
Who am I?
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Who am I?
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I'm Jean Valjean! 🎶
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Who am I?
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I'm Jean Valjean! 🎶
December 12, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Who am I?
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Who am I?
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I'm Jean Valjean! 🎶
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Who am I?
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I'm Jean Valjean! 🎶
I apologize if I'm part of anyone's dopamine imbalance...
pca.st/episode/212b...
pca.st/episode/212b...
The Paradox of Pleasure
pca.st
December 11, 2025 at 10:19 PM
I apologize if I'm part of anyone's dopamine imbalance...
pca.st/episode/212b...
pca.st/episode/212b...