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I was introduced to the concept of decolonization in 2016, when I joined the #noDAPL movement for indigenous water rights. I was already pretty deep into both third wave feminism and early body positivity, so decolonization seemed like the logical next step - intersectional feminism identified the problem as a twisted patriarchal system fed by capitalism and religion as social control, decolonization proposed a perfectly do-able solution of personal accountability in returnin

If recent forays into my genealogy have taught me anything, it's that I'm descended from multiple continents worth of ancient royal lines, no matter which branch of the family tree you shake, both sides. Me? I'm a disabled Michigander with no money to my name. I have decided that location, time period, and circumstances be damned, I'm just as much of an ancient queen as my ancestresses, and I'm going to act like it. See, I studied archaeology in college, I know what the quali

I snapped this pic right before taking it down for my bath, hence the robe. I had tied it some six hours prior. No pins or rubber bands, just a couple of knots and some tucking. And I don't have an occipital ridge, it's hard for me to wear the circle kind of headbands without a hairstyle to hold it in place at the nape of my neck. Veiling in public started today. I took off my sleep bonnet and started to style my hair to go out to the grocery store, and then I was like "no, t

TW: diets and diet culture, including describing extreme dieting techniques of the 80's and 90's. I've been waking up really late recently, daylight savings time is not helping this, and I had an 11:30am appointment yesterday. A normal person would have plenty of time to pull themselves together, but I slept until nearly 10am, and it takes my stomach a couple more hours to wake up than the rest of my body, so I went to that appointment on water, coffee, and collagen powder. A

I've obviously had a lot of time to think about all of the things recently, and one thing that's been on my mind is how to keep my hair protected from the environment while I'm outside, especially for long amounts of time like camping trips. I typically used to put my hair into two cornrows, and just not touch it while I was in the woods if possible, and if not to just brush it out and re-braid it. This was also before I started wearing bonnets to bed, so I wasn't really awar

After hearing about my surprise overnight scar improvement , my grandma tried my scar combo this morning. Now, I'm not taking care of her wounds, so I'm being told that now that she's started on my daily collagen and electrolytes regimen, her wounds have healed, and she's working on scar management now. Turns out, she was dealing with scabbing that was refusing to come off, and that she thought she'd have to go to wound care to have removed for her. I'm told the minute my moi

TW: American Disability & Medicaid systems, medical neglect, discussions of surgery/post-op injury, and genocide. You know how I was denied Medicaid for 2026 because of a perfect storm of events that most people would simply write off as personal laziness ? Well, I'm writing this blog post to kill some time as I'm on hold with my County DHS to speak to someone about how to get the denial overturned. First of all, I had to hang up and call back to start on the automated menu f

And I mean that in the very southern "bless your heart" way. TW: American Disability & Medicaid systems, post-op recovery, chronic illness including seasonal migraines, neurodivergence, mental stress, discussion of distress, danger, and genocide. I just got denied Medicaid for 2026. Why? I didn't return the re-application form. Why wouldn't I do that promptly, it's not hard to return a form, right? I had a total hip joint replacement on January 5. I spent most of the month of

TW: weight gain and loss, plus clothing sizing, fatphobia, body dysmorphia. I took the nice weather and having some energy yesterday to try on some of the things in my closet that I haven't put on in awhile, to see if it even still fits. And the most surprising pieces do and don't fit! A little storytime about my size and clothing sizes over the years - at 18 years old, in 2000, I was a perfect Lane Bryant size 18. I could go into Lane Bryant and put anything in a size 18 on

Okay, this is a bit of a story: I have a set of "magic skirts," double-layer, reversible wrap skirts made with recycled silk sarees from India that I live in in the summer months, but move to the back of the closet in the snow and the cold. So, I didn't notice for awhile that Penelope had pulled down the purple one for Penelope's Purple Princess Palace in my closet. That's not Penelope in the picture. That's Hamish, my biggest, burliest, boy cat going I WANNA BE A PRINCESS TO

I'm going to dive pretty deep into the woo here, brace yourselves... But first, some Auntie Lore: I was born into a prominent Seventh-Day Adventist family. If you know anything about that sect of Christianity, it's very, very focused on the Book of Revelations, including hosting a week-long deep-dive into the book and Ellen G. White's "The Great Controversy" every October called the "Revelation Seminar" (which incidentally inspired David Koresh to start the Branch Davidian co

You wonder why I am the way I am? Let me tell you, using stars and planets... Sun & Mercury (retrograde) are both Gemini, 10th House. I have indeed built my career and reputation in various aspects of communication, everything from writing branded social media copy, to delivering personal messages from Spirit through one-on-one tarot card readings. I also credit this placement for how musically oriented I am, and my talent in social science. Moon is in Scorpio, 4th House. "Oh

It's 40 °F outside right now!! The giant snow overhang outside of my bedroom window is obviously melting. This is pretty common weather behavior in Michigan in February. You'll get a day or three where it can even get up to 60°F, a lot of the existing snow melts off, you start to feel that little budding of spring hope... and then a bomb cyclone hits an Atlantic clipper right over your county, and dumps another three feet of snow on you. And then we rinse and repeat this proc

How long should I be doing these recovery count-outs, anyway? Final post-op appointment is the 20th, so likely to week 7... which is pretty impressive, spine all took 12 weeks for full recovery. I would have assumed it would take about that long to heal bone around a titanium implant, but this is going lickety-split. I mean, January, as January tends to do, seemed to drag on forever, but as time spent on opioids also tends to do seemed to go by in a blink. I'm honestly kind o

Funny story... They used Dermabond to close spine surgery 4, and it gave me the worst rash. Like, itching at an 11, it was terrible. So, I had my doctor put Dermabond on my medical allergy list. I pointed this out before surgery, and right before I went under, in the OR, the surgeon's assistant told me that they usually use Dermabond to close the incision based on where it is, and could they spot-test the Dermabond before making the decision on how to close the incision? And

Just in case you were wondering about Elder Millennial culture, I can perform any of these at a moment's notice, and will do so enthusiastically.

TW: medical diets, food allergies. I tracked my food intake and how that breaks down nutritionally for the first time a few days ago, for a What I Eat In A Day blog post over on Auntie's Allergy-Free Eats . That used to be about the most toxic, controlling thing in the diet culture, making you account for every single thing that goes into your body every single day. Even if it wasn't on social media, it was usually shared with weight loss groups. I refused to participate unti

I know the trend is "Things I'm Not Buying," but this is a shorter list: Food. Gotta feed myself. Nutritional supplements. I enjoy being the most animated corpse I can be, and that takes nutrients. Hygiene, skincare, and hair care consumables. Which I don't use a lot of, and only buy one bottle of one kind at a time, two if there's a BOGO sale. Marijuana. Infrequent "little treats" in the form of inexpensive jewelry and perfume. Possibly a piece or two of secondhand clothing,

I have AuDHD and the very literal thinking that goes with it, and even I am confused by how many people are getting incredibly literal about hair growth, to the point where they're dismissing products and techniques that work because they're not for "hair growth" specifically, but for "length retention." Let's start with the basics. Hair grows from the scalp. To grow your hair, you need: Proper nutrition and hydration. Particularly note your iron levels, anemia will not only

TW: bullying Yes, I know, thank you. I'm going to tell you why I chose it. See, I was very badly bullied as a child. Why? Well, hindsight being 20/20 and all, it was because I was hella neurodivergent, and the neurotypical kids had no idea what to do with me... beyond make me the school scapegoat. And the first thing they did was get a hold of a derogatory nickname, and use it against me fiercely. I learned this game very early. I also watched closely when Gen Z joined the in