Did this take a while because I got sick and threw off my rhythm several times while working on it? Perhaps.
But it was a lot of fun, I tried a cool new shading style for it. (It was very tedious and I realized about halfway through I probably should've just tried to make a brush for it but it was worth the effort I think)
Thank you to @d-catzartwork @d-catz for letting me color their lovely inks once again! ♥︎ You did a fantastic job D, sorry it took so long lol
So. Storytime for guerilla gardeners and solarpunk enthusiasts. This story comes to me 3rd hand but I believe the basic shape of it is true, even if details may be off.
So there’s this guy who lives in my parents’ town. Wanted to have a pocket farm but lives on an urban lot in a small city instead because y’know jobs and stuff. He could definitely get a few raised beds in the backyard but nothing all that impressive and the front yard is on a very busy road with the expectation that it’ll look reasonably traditional (plus planting food by busy roads isn’t always a good idea).
However
After he’s lived there for a while, he realizes his neighbors are all older people who maybe have more challenges taking care of their yards than they used to. So he goes to his next door neighbor and offers a deal: I’ll mow and maintain your front yard for free if you let me knock down the fences between our backyards and plant them both with food. And you’ll get a cut of the produce.
Presumably the neighbor already knew and trusted this guy because he said yes. So he starts mowing and maintaining his and his neighbor’s front yards and planting food in their now-shared backyards. After a season or two this goes well enough that the next neighbor down the street asks if he can be in on this too.
So now there’s 3 front yards to mow and three backyards full of produce. And it keeps going from there. Dude gets a rider lawnmower and does everyone’s front yards, and meanwhile he’s maintaining an entire block’s worth of produce in the back. His yields got so high that he was able to start offering boxes of produce outside of the block’s residents too. This is how I heard of him: my parents’ next door neighbors were picking up a regular box of produce from him.
I love a couple of things about this story:
Offering to maintain people’s front yards for them allows baby boomers to feed their thirst for keeping up appearances while still getting food production into the neighborhood
As homeowners age offering services like this is legitimately good community building
BLOCK-LONG POCKET FARM
These exact circumstances might not be replicable everywhere, but I love thinking about how these principles could be applied.
[ID: A series of numbered images with multiple speech bubbles, all text written in dyslexia font. The graphics are simple hearts and speech bubbles.
“How to do better at Getting New Pronouns Right. No more “oh I’m trying but its just really hard”
1. When you slip up, correct yourself briefly and move on “When I first met Lilly she was - I mean Aidan, he was literally doing a handstand on a skateboard”
2. When someone corrects you, say “thank you” and just move on swiftly “I hadn’t even finished yet and he already-” “they” “right thanks! they had already gotten 8 ready !?!”
3. Get in the habit of interrupting people with a quick correction yes every time “What is she doing? That looks -” “He.” “Oh yeah. Whatever he’s doing looks weird” It sets a good precendent, lifts some of the burden off trans people, and makes it easier to catch yourself
4. For everytime you get it wrong, do it right 3 times like saying 3 compliments (it doesn’t have to be aloud) “I should do pick up Jackson- Oh shoot! Jax Their name is Jax; They have been exceptionally patient with me today; and they are wearing lovely earrings”
5. Consider meeting with someone to practice. Go for coffee with a mutual friend and correct each you get it. “So her pronouns are they/them- wait their pronouns” “We really need to practice, so we can get this right for them” “Totally!”
6. Don’t make anyone feel like a burden for having pronouns you’re struggling with do not say “oh it’s just really hard” “Thank you for sharing your authentic self with me, l’m learning and I really apperciate it”
7. Don’t make them alleviate your guilt If you get it wrong do not apologise profusely, because that puts the other person in the position of having to say it’s ok, and putting their own feelings aside to make you feel better / stop apologising Express your love and learn.]
As more and more people are being forced to switch to Windows 11, Microsoft's most AI-malware-ridden OS yet, I've been putting together articles and links for how to undo the damage and save your battery, your RAM, your disk space, your privacy, and your sanity from this bullshit.
FIRST:
The easiest way to get rid of the majority of the bullshit that Windows is forcing on us, as of October 2025, is this one-stop-one-click debloat solution from a modern day hero:
A simple, lightweight PowerShell script to remove pre-installed apps, disable telemetry, as well as perform various other changes to customi
It's very easy, even if you're not tech savvy or get scared of pop up windows saying "ARE YOU SURE?" Yes, you are sure, I promise. This program takes maybe two minutes and will save you SO MUCH pain, time, and money (and exploitation).
Now that you've done that, here's the cleanup, to catch the little shit that the debloat might have missed (most of this will already be done by debloat, but hey, it's good to double check).
Microsoft wants to put AI everywhere on your PC, but you can take back control.
Even just reading about some of these features makes me angry. Fucking Copilot and "Discover" AI scrapers are in Notepad. NOTEPAD. And then there's this uncanny valley garbage:
No uncanny valley video calls for me, thanks! (Also, what else is it doing while it scans your face and listens to your calls? What else, microsoft? Because there was a lot of memory being assigned to this program for a simple "smooths your skin" add on).
Tired of Microsoft pushing ads throughout Windows 11? Here are the settings you can tweak to turn them off and reclaim some privacy.
The truly insane number of places they have stuck ads on your own home computer is sickening. Become Unmarketable.
Bonus:
Some background programs you probably don't need that are taking up space and how to remove them (Microsoft forums, 2024)
Your Samsung Galaxy Phone comes with 22 apps you don't need (Android Police, 2025)
How to disable the AI in firefox (still the only browser that lets you do this permanently) (Windows Report, 2025)
