nicole @nicole@myna.social

Today’s Chicago dinner was a spicy minced pork pie that I carried out from Chiya-Chai. Oh my goddess, I could eat this every week.

Today’s Chicago fast-breaker is Bang Bang Pie and Biscuits. Very much a yum.

Today’s fast-breaker was lunch at Staropolska, a Polish restaurant recommended to me by a friend and fellow food tourist.

My eyes were bigger than my stomach: I barely conquered a single potato pancake before I fell over in defeat. The sour rye soup was fantastic as well.

Also, I really miss Chibi. Can’t wait for return snuggles on Saturday.

I feel like my face has been all manner of bloated, swollen, and inflamed since arriving in Chicago (lack of sleep; salty food; alcohol), but there have also been moments where I felt pretty good about how I’m presenting. Walking around Logan Square yesterday was one of them. (I really love this knit mesh buttoned top. It’s one of the few I’m comfortable wearing without also wearing jacket)

The scale in this morning’s airbnb, though …. 😂 I guess I _lived_ yesterday. 💕

Revival at Dove’s Luncheonette.

Forty-five birthday candles this year. I might regret how many decades it took for me to come out of the closet were it not for the fact that I never believed it could happen at all. 🎂

😇 Forever an opsimath. 😇

Trying to figure out the posing in this photo. Like, what was the photographer going for exactly?

Last week, when we launched Pocket 8 on iOS, I had the opportunity to wear a suit for the first time in a decade, and an EYE PATCH. (A tradition for Pocket releases; also, I have a stye).

Now I just want to wear this combo all of the time. 🥰

Went to a queer bar for the first time on Saturday. Ended up getting pushed off the dance floor by a couple who took offense to something about my presentation. 🤷‍♀️ After half an hour in the corner with the trash cans, a dude spit on me; I got the hell out.

It’s ❤️ to have friends for nights like these: I ended up calling one and having a good, solid two-hour talk that kept me from tipping into a depressive fugue.

Some snaps of SF street life from my walk; it sure put things in perspective. 😕

Pulling out my favorite threadbare doggy photo for my threadbare self.

@pauline and I, along with our friend Matt, were able to join the memorial services at Manzanar this year.

Manzanar is one of ten American concentration camps, where Japanese-Americans were held during WWII. The camp grounds are in California, near the Nevada border. At 4,000 feet, the atmosphere is thin, and the sun is blinding. Standing around, being cooked for hours on end, it was difficult not to imagine oneself on the surface of the moon: the terrain was as desolate as it was beautiful.

Finally caught up with @pauline

It’s been nine weeks since #FFS.

Depending on the day, and the swelling, I’ve looked like a dozen different people. Some of them were cute; some, I wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley; all of them: me.

I think I’m very Zoom-passable (until I open my mouth). The real-world is a very different, wildly mixed bag.

I’ll celebrate the Zoom win: that’s 95% of my presence.

I spent February sleeping off my FFS, and I’ve been glued to my desk all month trying to help my iOS engineers put their best feet forward.

Today, I brought some of my favorite colors to work with me.

Cameras lie. If I have a studio light and time, I can usually coax mine to lie in my favor. Of course, the splotchy-faced, blue-bearded selfie I sent out to close friends this morning is enough to make me doubt myself when I say that. Doubt. I’ll have mine with cookies, please.

Anyway, here’s a good lie my camera told me earlier this week.

💁‍♀️📷

I ordered a custom-sized Star Wars costume for a birthday party thing next in LA next Thursday, but I’m starting to doubt it will arrive on time, so I ordered a backup.

I’ll wear it if I have to, but I’d much prefer something I can stack layers under: the venue’s lake adjacent; it’s going to be cold

Plus, even with tights, that’s going to be a very short hemline on 6,1” me. Like, _mini_.