tether @tether@cybre.space

for a lot of reasons, both personal and practical, i don't think i can effectively run a public mastodon instance any more, and i need to retire cybre.space. i want to do this responsibly and make sure everyone has a chance to migrate and export properly, so here is the plan for the instance retirement (feel free to share this link around): https://cybre.space/~chr/cybre-space-eol

due to ongoing moderation load issues and understaffing, between now and 1 november, the instance may be undermoderated. for other instances, if this poses an issue for you, i encourage you to use federation tools at your discretion. i would only ask that you be clear and public about your decisions so that cybre.space users can figure out where they will be able to migrate their accounts.

thank you

Because finding clothes of any sort is... Well, it feels impossible? Unless I want to waste money on buying clothes online. Since they never fit but are too much of a pain to return.

I wanted to start figuring out how to sew my own. And I feel like there's just not enough resources for fat people to learn how to design patterns for our bodies?

Like, I already can't wear straight sizes. And a lot of sewing patterns stop below my size. And I have no idea how to grade beyond that or to make something that accommodates a body that is not anywhere near a 'straight' size.

So I guess if you have resources for anything like this? Like, good ones. Not just the socially acceptable "curvy" (e.g., has boobs but is otherwise straight sized) but like actual fat body sizes. Would love it.

Wolfie me feels the need to have more disabled therian/otherkins fedi friends.

Boost is really appreciated please

♲ @vtel57@diasp.org:

What's the strangest thing you've ever found in a book?

Here's my story...

About 20 years ago or so, I was at a Salvation Army auction one morning. They were selling of tons (literally) of junk they'd had donated to them over the last few years or so; stuff that wasn't easily sold in their actual stores. A lot of it was good stuff, too.

One thing that immediately caught my eye was a pallet (6' high, 4' wide X 4' wide) of nothing but boxed up hardcover books. I looked through some of the books in the top boxes and realized that there were some very old, and often valuable, books in this boxes. I decided I'd bid on it a bit and see where it goes.

The auctioneer kept bringing up lot after lot, but not the pallet of books. I was getting impatient by the time the morning wore on. Finally, when he'd pretty much sold everything that was in the yard back there that morning, he brought up the pallet of books. There was only a small crowd of folks left by then (about 20 or so). He described the contents of the pallet briefly by saying, "Here you go, folks... a bunch of books".

He looked around at the faces in the crowd and said, "I'm opening the bidding at one dollar." I about shit myself. I bid the $1 immediately to get things rolling. Well, after I bid, he looked around and said, "Once, twice, sold that man there for $1." I just laughed... and wondered how the Hell I was going to get this pallet home and what I was going to do with all those books.

When I asked the auctioneer afterwards why he'd let it go so cheaply, he said, "Did you see anyone trampling you to get in a bid?" I said no, I didn't. His reply, with a smirk on his face, was, "Gotta' know your audience in this job."

Well, needless to say, I got the books home and spent a few years going through them and selling some, giving some away, etc. However, that's not the point of this story. The point was finding things in books. So, with that in mind...

There were quite a few books in this collection that had the name of a fellow in them. His name was Charles Lounsbury. He was evidently a well-educated man; many of his books were text books from Cornell University. Anyway, whilst thumbing through one of them one day, a small business card fell out into my lap. It was a dentist's appointment card for Mr. Lounsbury. It also had his address and phone number on it.

Just for grins and giggles, I called the number on the card. An older-sounding man answered on the first ring. I said "Hello" and gave my name. I then asked the fellow if he was Charles Lounsbury. He said he was indeed. I told him about all the books I'd bought and how I had found this dentist appointment card in one of them. He was BLOWN AWAY immediately upon hearing about the books.

He told me that his sister had possession of his personal library at the time of her death, but he had not spoken with her in many years. When she died, it seems that someone cleaning out her house had donated all her possessions, including Charles' books, to the Salvation Army. Mr Lounsbury was very interested in possibly seeing his books again. He was wanting to leave some of them to his grandchildren upon his demise.

I made a date for him to drive from Sarasota, FL up to my home in Tampa and take whichever of his books he wanted back. The following Saturday he showed up. He was absolutely amazed to find all his books in the middle of my living room (huge stack of books, here's a sampling):



Anyway, he picked out 10 of 15 of his prized books and asked if he could take them. I, of course, said yes... for sure. After that we sat and had some coffee and he told me his life story. It was a wonderful afternoon! Charles and I became pretty good friends after that for about 10 or so years, until his death at age 88.

It's amazing, sometimes, the things you find in books. :)

*This posting previously published on my blog:

Nocturnal Slacker v2.0 | Letters to the void…

"In a landmark series of calculations, physicists have proved that black holes can shed information, which seems impossible by definition. The work appears to resolve a paradox that Stephen Hawking first described five decades ago."

https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-most-famous-paradox-in-physics-nears-its-end-20201029/

https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1553815311513559040

"The legendary Nichelle Nichols has died at 89.

Her son Kyle announced the news of her passing.

Nichols was a trailblazer.

She was one of the first Black actors to play a major role on a television series and the type of role she had on Star Trek was groundbreaking."

As long as someone's name is remembered, they're not truly gone.

And let me tell you, she *will* be remembered.

noch wer in berlin grade interessiert an einem #balkonkraftwerk? Will 2 Solarpanels kaufen, aber geht erst ab 5 Stück, könnten uns zusammentun … #plsrt

Krasse Geschichte. Die Abtreibungspille #Mifepriston kann auch, pauschal wöchentlich oder gar nur monatlich genommen, eine hormonfreie Verhütungspille sein, »More amazingly, it also has the potential to treat endometriosis and fibroids and maybe even prevent breast cancer.« Und all das mit bisher keinen signifikanten Nebenwirkungen.

The ‘abortion pill’ could also be birth control — and activists are trying to prove it

https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/23/23274621/mifepristone-abortion-pill-contraception-use-research-history-funding

the practical difference in one's life between $100,000 and $100,000,000,000 is smaller than between $100,000 and $10,000

the rich wouldn't lose much from wealth redistribution, the poor would gain a lot