2026-03-17 23:00:00
Every now and then, Noyb (European Center for Digital Rights) highlights some of their volunteers for their GDPRhub project. Now I got my entry :)
Check it out on Mastodon and LinkedIn.
Fittingly, one of my translated and summarized decisions finally made it into the weekly newsletter last Thursday!
Also, they give you some goodies when you reach some of the volunteer milestones they have. I received mine :)
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Published
2026-03-17 00:20:32
I launched my first blog over 20 years ago. It was in Swedish and powered by Movable Type.
Since then, I’ve had many different blogs. Both in Swedish and English, covering topics from gadgets to mindfulness, and on a variety of platforms.
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, Blogs are alive, I’ve been terrible at keeping them alive. I’ve built them up and torn them down (with a couple of exceptions, which were sold).
So yeah, at least I’ve been consistent...
But there’s another habit, a positive one, that’s been a constant sidekick over the years. No matter the content or language: posting regularly.
It’s never been a strict routine or a strategy. It’s just been a part of daily life, like going to the gym. And just like working out, writing blog posts gets a lot easier if you do it regularly.
It becomes natural, even though there are ups and downs, like everything in life. It becomes easier and more joyful. It becomes part of life.
In the end, it’s not so much about blogging. It’s about living.
2026-03-16 18:09:10
You will probably want to read re: chunk of coal's re: Your Score, Please to understand what I am on about.
...
Stares confused at screen for several seconds
Sorry what? People use the discovery feed and the trending page? What am I on about of course they do. But I don't. I think I have opened the trending page about 3 times this year - and the recent posts page even less. I discover most of the blogs I read from hyperlinks from others blogs, things like my human room. And also a big one is my analytics page; Here, ill make a list of every person that has linked to my blog in one of their posts(excluding the bearblog carnival).
That list is actually a lot shorter than I thought it was - But my point remains, because I read all of these guys posts.
Is that not the philosophy of personal blogging? I am sure I have read a post on bearblog at some point that the essence of this hobby is community.
Bearblog, the service, is a tool. A tool we get to choose how to use. I choose to click 'dashboard' and then 'thoughts of a guy named mason' everytime I open the home page. How do you use the tool?
2026-03-16 16:22:00
I found Queering the Map on December 18 2025 when I was in a dark place
What got me immediately was seeing the traces of other people's lives in places I knew. It made me think about how other people had actually lived
They had gone out, experimented, kissed people, come out, taken risks, made mistakes and figured things out. All in places which had mostly just felt like background to me. I kept comparing that to my own life and thinking about what I had missed
Reading it made me feel envy, grief and loneliness
Mostly grief, if I'm being honest
Queering the Map is an anonymous site where people pin queer memories and experiences to places on a map. It started in 2017 as a way of archiving queer experience in physical space and by this point it sadly seems to have stopped being updated
The anonymity matters, a lot of the posts are short and honest. Sometimes there are several posts around one place talking to each other across time
I was searching places that meant something to me
A big thing that stood out was the difference between my current city and my family's homeland. Here a lot of the posts felt open and positive but back there things were much more scary and negative
The harder realization was that I am still living by the social norms of my parents home country even though I do not live there. I still treat those rules as if they have power over me
There is a selfish part of me that wants to be fully out and open about being non-binary, transfemme and pansexual. There is also another part of me that cannot face the pain it would cause if my family found out
I did try to leave posts on the site but I don't fully trust they'll ever show up so I've done my best to note down what I wanted to share in no particular order
I wasn't even dressed femme, but a nurse asked if I had a preferred name. It made me feel like I might be accepted even if I can't pass
Because of my family here, I can't come out. I love them too much to hurt them by coming out
I agonised over whether to post this as it is a very small, tight-knit village but writing it was the first time I properly understood how much my anxiety around family affects the rest of my life
Came out to a friend as Bi/Pan for the first time, partly to seem cool and partly because I was being honest with myself. They didn't even remember it and we've since lost touch
My first bra fitting. My breasts were barely there and my face was red like a lobster after getting laser, but I still felt accepted
The first time I came out as trans. It didn't go especially well, but I'm still glad I did it
The first time I dressed femme with friends. One of them took a photo of me and it was the first time I felt like I could really see myself
The first time I dressed femme in my city. I changed in the station toilet and put on makeup there
I regret not getting to be young and messy while figuring things out. Not getting to experiment. Not getting to fail. Not getting to have bad makeup, awkward experiences, confusing feelings and to let that all end up as happy memories of my youth
When you're younger, there is more room to grow. Now it feels like I'm already supposed to be a fully developed person
Yet I'm stuck here still learning makeup, women's fashion and how to be comfortable
I grieve not just failing to transition sooner but also not getting to be curious, to be wanted or known as the real me or being messy while it still felt normal to be messy
That was what hurt about Queering the Map, the posts weren't about dramatic turning points. They were about people living out possibilities I had, but never took. That broke me
Queering the Map didn't comfort me
It showed me just how many lives had already happened in places I knew. It showed me how much fear still shapes mine, how much of my life I still measure against what my family might think, what I should have done sooner, who I might have been if I had started earlier and let myself want more
I can't get that time back
2026-03-16 14:02:00
I've been researching how to do that whole V-tuber animated character modeling thing. Given most of my work is done in vector format in Illustrator I think I can get a decent animation from the process. But first I needed something to animate so I took Yuki, the mascot I made for my Noodlist website and went back into Illustrator to draw the rest of him.
The original you can see in earlier posts and on the website. Most of his body is covered up by the noodle cup. At one point I had a tail on him but it was too distracting so I took it off, etc.
But tonight I spent a good three hours with the pen tool drawing up the rest of his body. The goal was to do it in a way that was somewhat symmetrical so that the live2d software could do its keyframe magic better.
Anyway, here is Yuki with the rest of his arms and legs and tail. I also drew up an open mouth and closed eyes. I think I need a halfway shut version for the animation and a not 100% open mouth as well. Maybe tomorrow I'll get around to it.
Also for fun, here is what all the paths look like in Illustrator with everything turned off lol.
2026-03-16 12:24:00
I spent my whole weekend at the hospital and running errands.
On Saturday, my best friend who is like a sister to me had a seizure for the first time. It is currently attributed to an acute ischemic stroke. She is 29 years old.
She seems to be bouncing back pretty quickly and shows zero signs of stroke, only recovery symptoms from the seizure. That's why this is doubly shocking.
For years she has driven me around a lot. She has always felt bad because I don't have a car and begrudgingly tolerate mediocre public transit. She worries about my safety.
The situation has flipped. Now she is not allowed to drive for six months. Soon I will have to start driving her car to take her places and run errands for the foreseeable future.
I'm so glad she's (seemingly) okay right now. I'm still terrified though. I don't know what else to say. I love her so much.