OMG, a shoutout in your inaugural issue?? I'm honored and getting all the feels. I'm glad you jumped in over here and I'm looking forward to what you make of the newsletter medium.
Nice to finally read this and I’m interested to see what’s to come. I checked ello and was… yeah. Damn. Can confirm the post count. I need to read more anyway so keep the words coming.
Hey there! Yeah, I would have days when I would try to post fifty times. Only made it once, I think? But that and just shit-posting your life away for six years adds up 😄
Do you talk as easy as your writing flows? I'm amazed. I get incoherent at high speeed because I get into my personal content too quickly and leave the conversation's context behind. I'm blessed (do you know that's a two-way word?) with an abundance of grand daughters, several of whom are into the rough seas you've alluded to passing through in your "inaugural" newsletter post, and we've been in the waters with them). The oldest has come out on the trans side, and they are part of our life. But here’s the Substack problem: where is your paid subscriber button? I got in as a free subscriber, and I've just canceled my $4.00 per month NYT's intro package deal, because the rate was going to zoom up way too high. So I've got that much in my hot little budget hand, so, I'd be happy to learn your secrets, if that's about your going rate. And since you've just subscribed to my chapter-a-week novel (all 151 chapters are actually written, but my spouse/editor is grooming my prose at about a week each chapter, which sets the pace), you'll be a paid reader! Well, I'll go back and see I can figure out how to become a paid subscriber, and I wanted an excuse to say thanks for subscribing to A Tale of Two Times.
Hey there, JBS! Thanks so much for buying-in! I'll do my best to make it worth your while. Let's see, yes, I talk quite easily and often, typically at great length, so I have to practice being quiet more than speaking. Like you said, it's easy to get sidetracked by personal content and lose the thread of the actual convo. So we're alike in that way. How old is your oldest granddaughter? I'm 45 and have no grandparents still living. I don't think they would understand or respect much about my gender, so in many ways, sadly, it's a blessing that they are not still around--which is such a weird and depressing thing to think, but. My transition has been slow and long, in large part due to family and my concern over how it would affect them. I'd be curious to hear more about how your family has responded, if that's something you'd like to share. If not, that's okay, too! Totally understand. Yes, I signed up for your newsletter because it sounds super interesting and frankly I love that you are doing this at your age. I wish more folks would! You're an inspiration to us all! I'm glad to be a paid reader, as it were, and will do my very best to help in anyway I can. Just holler, and I'll be there! Looking forward to getting to know you better!
Here's a little about the family gender wars in which peace can only come slowly. In my extended family, response to our trans grand sib, Sam (from Seraphina) has been mixed, as you might guess from what you said about your parents. Their parents at first were not at all receptive and they lived with us (across town) for awhile. Sam finally moved out of state and went through, a dark period, but help came from a straight cousin who shares their apartment, and they have finally gotten a job with a company with an inclusive work culture. Sam has many sibs, and the family environment (I see now) was very harsh for some of them. Their parents adopted a strict religious program, in part to deal with their own psychic wounds which were the source of the harshness. But of course it didn’t look that way at first, and, if me now at 81 could take my wisdom back to the tender age of 45, I might have been able to do some spiritual fix it work. Sorry, I couldn’t help but poke at your age (*-*). Did I use my pronouns right? I'm a greenhorn talking gender…
I couldn't say definitively but I certainly didn't notice anything unusual about the way you used pronouns. It's a delicate thing for many, and it does take some getting used to. I'm not particularly sensitive to it myself. Some of that comes from practice and some may be armor. It's sad to me that so many stories of transfolk involve harsh religion, particularly since most religions have a component of unconditional love at the heart of their doctrine. It makes you think—and I'm assuming these are your children, their spouses, or perhaps they're your in-laws, so I'll be kind here—they're not really practicing religion at all.
Yeah, that sentiment crosses my heart often, yet they may be doing the best they know how. And how hard is unconditional love! None of us are free from the struggle to separate light from darkness in our own hearts, daily. And you’re right, too, being snug in your religion is an excellent way not to practice it.
I just took a look at Mike Bristol’s page and met Ello which you’ve mentioned. It looks like he’s been writting for a long time! Thanks for the old guy tip; I’ll read some of his stuff and see if I can get any smarter…
OMG, a shoutout in your inaugural issue?? I'm honored and getting all the feels. I'm glad you jumped in over here and I'm looking forward to what you make of the newsletter medium.
I mean, you brought me to the dance! 💃💃
Heeeyy!
Nice to finally read this and I’m interested to see what’s to come. I checked ello and was… yeah. Damn. Can confirm the post count. I need to read more anyway so keep the words coming.
Hey there! Yeah, I would have days when I would try to post fifty times. Only made it once, I think? But that and just shit-posting your life away for six years adds up 😄
Do you talk as easy as your writing flows? I'm amazed. I get incoherent at high speeed because I get into my personal content too quickly and leave the conversation's context behind. I'm blessed (do you know that's a two-way word?) with an abundance of grand daughters, several of whom are into the rough seas you've alluded to passing through in your "inaugural" newsletter post, and we've been in the waters with them). The oldest has come out on the trans side, and they are part of our life. But here’s the Substack problem: where is your paid subscriber button? I got in as a free subscriber, and I've just canceled my $4.00 per month NYT's intro package deal, because the rate was going to zoom up way too high. So I've got that much in my hot little budget hand, so, I'd be happy to learn your secrets, if that's about your going rate. And since you've just subscribed to my chapter-a-week novel (all 151 chapters are actually written, but my spouse/editor is grooming my prose at about a week each chapter, which sets the pace), you'll be a paid reader! Well, I'll go back and see I can figure out how to become a paid subscriber, and I wanted an excuse to say thanks for subscribing to A Tale of Two Times.
Hey there, JBS! Thanks so much for buying-in! I'll do my best to make it worth your while. Let's see, yes, I talk quite easily and often, typically at great length, so I have to practice being quiet more than speaking. Like you said, it's easy to get sidetracked by personal content and lose the thread of the actual convo. So we're alike in that way. How old is your oldest granddaughter? I'm 45 and have no grandparents still living. I don't think they would understand or respect much about my gender, so in many ways, sadly, it's a blessing that they are not still around--which is such a weird and depressing thing to think, but. My transition has been slow and long, in large part due to family and my concern over how it would affect them. I'd be curious to hear more about how your family has responded, if that's something you'd like to share. If not, that's okay, too! Totally understand. Yes, I signed up for your newsletter because it sounds super interesting and frankly I love that you are doing this at your age. I wish more folks would! You're an inspiration to us all! I'm glad to be a paid reader, as it were, and will do my very best to help in anyway I can. Just holler, and I'll be there! Looking forward to getting to know you better!
Here's a little about the family gender wars in which peace can only come slowly. In my extended family, response to our trans grand sib, Sam (from Seraphina) has been mixed, as you might guess from what you said about your parents. Their parents at first were not at all receptive and they lived with us (across town) for awhile. Sam finally moved out of state and went through, a dark period, but help came from a straight cousin who shares their apartment, and they have finally gotten a job with a company with an inclusive work culture. Sam has many sibs, and the family environment (I see now) was very harsh for some of them. Their parents adopted a strict religious program, in part to deal with their own psychic wounds which were the source of the harshness. But of course it didn’t look that way at first, and, if me now at 81 could take my wisdom back to the tender age of 45, I might have been able to do some spiritual fix it work. Sorry, I couldn’t help but poke at your age (*-*). Did I use my pronouns right? I'm a greenhorn talking gender…
I couldn't say definitively but I certainly didn't notice anything unusual about the way you used pronouns. It's a delicate thing for many, and it does take some getting used to. I'm not particularly sensitive to it myself. Some of that comes from practice and some may be armor. It's sad to me that so many stories of transfolk involve harsh religion, particularly since most religions have a component of unconditional love at the heart of their doctrine. It makes you think—and I'm assuming these are your children, their spouses, or perhaps they're your in-laws, so I'll be kind here—they're not really practicing religion at all.
Yeah, that sentiment crosses my heart often, yet they may be doing the best they know how. And how hard is unconditional love! None of us are free from the struggle to separate light from darkness in our own hearts, daily. And you’re right, too, being snug in your religion is an excellent way not to practice it.
Incidentally, I do have another writer friend in his 80s--Mike Bristol, who you can check out here: https://ello.co/mikebristol
I just took a look at Mike Bristol’s page and met Ello which you’ve mentioned. It looks like he’s been writting for a long time! Thanks for the old guy tip; I’ll read some of his stuff and see if I can get any smarter…
Ello is the nicest social media out there, incidentally, and by far the most arts focused.