They been arresting natives for being brown in public. Not new.

But dammit when shit’s real, it’s real.

Yeah, that’s hard for me to imagine because I’ve never seen it up close. I have friends who legitimately live it out, and I love them for it.

i know it feels doomerish but it's the opposite: we have to acknowledge reality to fix it

PDQ Bach tends to have that effect on people.

GenAI approximates skill. It lands on some highly uncreative idea that someone who has limited knowledge finds brilliant, as if Athena had suddenly sprung fully formed from their foreheads.

Oooh — that’s it, innit? They feel as if *they* are magicking brilliance because somehow *they* Created.

Wonder how it is that the roof’s thickness is the cause of perpetual twilight, not the lack of windows? Roofs arent typically intended to let in light, unless there’s skylights.

Somehow reminds me of Pilgrim’s Progress: “Here’s a character called Virtue. Whatever will she be like?”

Daycare kept us sane and alive and for years it was the only reason I survived. But it costs easily as much as an average mortgage payment most places, for two kids. Imagine being able to have that much free income, because a family member got your back?

…who helped for a time. My sister is an amazing aunt and a huge help, it’s just different. And she also lives in a different state.

Other supports don’t seem to last long term. Maybe it’s my inability to trust or bond, maybe it’s just how it is.

Paying the bills, keeping the kids alive, and food on the table were my job. My ex made quite a lot of money sometimes and plenty of debt most times.

My mom’s death wiped out the one dependable support the girls and I had, and she didn’t even live in the same state. There’ve been a few others…

I’ve never lived close to family since I had children, never had an actual committed parenting partner. My kids see more of their father since we divorced than they did before. Can’t say he’s a better father really, just a bit more committed.

My Mom was the one who still saw me, still knew me. My sister does too, but I find myself hiding from her. I don’t know if I’m trying to protect her or me.

I’ve grown, I’ve learned, I’ve become. I’ve moved on in most ways.

But almost no one truly knows me anymore, and it’s a soul-crushing space.

That’s not all of it though, if I’m being honest. I lost everything when I left the church world I grew up in 10 years ago — long term friends, the career I poured my entire soul into, mentors. Eventually my husband.