dandelion

fuck, I really need to stop going to this community - I don't have enough content to keep posting 😭

I'm getting phone calls from my health insurance company, first from a "registered nurse" with no information in the voicemail other than a call-back number (seems like it could be a scam, but I need to verify the number, so far people are saying the number is legit), and now I have a second phone call where the voicemail mentions they are calling from the insurance company's "concierge program".

Mostly I want to know if I can ignore these calls without consequence, or if I have to return them, and if so what should I expect?

I accidentally clicked on /c/196 and now I have to post, uh - here's something Wednesday related

Maybe this is really silly or useless, but I was having another one of those moments looking in the mirror, analyzing my face and unable to see myself, but I discovered if I blur my vision slightly and let my field of vision become a bit more "big picture", my brain correctly genders me. Maybe this is true for others?

Sometimes I recognize how arbitrary my perception of gender is (with myself and others), and maybe it's just pragmatic to mess with your own perception when feeling down about how you look and not being able to see yourself.

I feel a bit insecure sharing this, it feels like an anti-tip to me, like saying, "are you feeling ugly? close your eyes!" - but I only share it because I actually did feel some happiness from it and it interrupted a moment of dysphoric obsessing. Can't be that bad to have a coping mechanism to do that, right?

Learned of Macy Rodman from s01e01 of Fantasmas, her voice tripped my trans radar.

Her musical and artistic style is a bit rough around the edges for my tastes, but I thought this song was too on the nose not to share 😄

does a book count as a meme? 🤔

Delicious dipped in gravy and served with cranberry relish or something tart to offset the richness.

Insides have: roast, stuffing, mashed potatoes.

I mixed water into vital wheat gluten and nutritional yeast with some spices to make a "quick" seitan. JoYo suggested pinching off pieces and frying it, but I wasn't sure how that would work or how big the pieces should be, now I realize maybe like bacon-bit sized or slightly larger?

Instead I flattened the whole dough and then fried it, making something akin to schnitzel. The problem then was that the center was uncooked while the outside was thoroughly cooked from frying. I put it in an oven at 300F for 30 minutes and it didn't seem cooked, so I put it in 350F for another 30 minutes and left it in there, and it was probably done at that point but leaving it in the warm oven it dehydrated.

So then I put it in a broth and boiled it so it would be juicy.

The texture was like I expected, seitan that hasn't been properly kneaded and pulled into long fibrous strands and allowed to sit overnight to fully develop the gluten tends to be spongey, and that's exactly how it was. The flavor wasn't too bad, and I didn't mind the texture either. I'll keep working on it, next time I'll try pinching small pieces and frying as originally instructed. 😊

Thanks JoYo for the inspiration!

Bonus picture before the meat and lettuce went on:

Ingredients:

• sourdough white sandwich bread I baked at home
• watermelon rind pickles I lacto-fermented
• tomato
• lettuce
• vegenaise
• avocado
• Beehive lunch meat
• violife cheez

I socially transitioned before I started hormones, and when I went out in public wearing women's clothes, people would look at me frequently, and some people would stare at me. It was obvious I didn't pass from these kinds of responses, but I also got somewhat used to that treatment.

Over time, with hormone therapy, I get fewer and fewer instances of this. I haven't been stared at in a long time, and I think people look at me less.

At one point I would describe my experience as being a "woman shaped object" - in people's peripheral vision I looked like a normal woman, but if someone interacted with me they could tell I was trans.

I went out yesterday and got my nails done, went shopping, went out for dinner, etc. and interactions with people made me think they couldn't tell I was trans, but I just don't know whether they can actually tell or not.

While waiting in line to buy some clothes, a woman wanted to chat about how long the line was taking, and she interacted with me as though I were a normal woman - there wasn't a hint of stigma, curiosity, etc.

Anyway - this just makes me wonder: what are others' experiences with passing and not-passing, what are little clues that you aren't passing or when you are?

I assume you just can't actually tell when people are being polite vs not knowing, but maybe there are little hints.

Thanks!

Link to poll: https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2024/10/23/voters-prefer-candidates-who-are-supportive-of-transgender-rights-think-recent-political-ads-have-gotten-mean-spirited-and-out-of-hand

When voters are asked whether they are more inclined to support a candidate who backs transgender rights or one who opposes them, voters overwhelmingly choose the candidate in favor of transgender rights, by a margin of 21 points. This trend holds true among Independents, with a 19-point preference. Even 22% of Republicans indicate they are more likely to support a candidate who favors trans rights—a significantly higher percentage than the share of Democrats who would back a candidate opposing them.

Furthermore, voters showed frustration with the wave of anti-trans advertisements. When asked if they thought political attack ads against the transgender community have gotten mean spirited and out of hand, far more voters agree than disagree (+28 points). This finding holds true for independents (+23 points) as well, with even 31% of Republicans finding that there were too many political attack ads.