(This is a repost of something I originally wrote for the Fediverse. original)

Running a new Fediverse instance is pretty wild, right? You own a social media site! You own it! You can invite your friends away from poorly-run corporate sites and try to give them an experience that's warmer, that's more fun, that isn't clogged with ads. It can be a pretty excellent feeling – and I know! I ran an instance for five years, and I loved so much about it.

There were parts I didn't love. Let's – [shakes head] let's talk about them for a second, because they're coming. There's always something out there, ready to pop a tire on the shiny new car you and your friends are packed inside, and I – we – want you to know how to fix a flat. We all benefit when you're aware of these things and know how to handle them.

Oh, I'm probably gonna swear. Fortify y'self. 🤷

I check out the news every other day or so. It's good to know what's happening.

Welp, lately it's been failing businesses; non-US nations paying a bunch of money to influence US government, so they can continue being our friends while being utter shits to their own people and neighboring nations; destruction as infrastructure crumbles and extreme weather systems continue getting worse.

Ever played Chrononauts? It's a card game where one uses their cards to change Linchpin events on a timeline, making a few events after just not happen (Paradox). Players then attempt to Patch the Paradoxes with alternate versions of events (or flip the Linchpins back to save the "original" timeline.)

Every now and then, I like to discuss pro wrestling with the folks on Reddit's "SquaredCircle" community. This morning, in a discussion about a big match scheduled for Friday's show, "Rampage", featuring a visiting competitor from a Japanese promotion, I read this comment:

So, let me get this straight: People complain all the time about Rampage not getting big matches, and when we finally get a big match people complain that it shouldn't be on Rampage?
IWC is weird.

Viewed alone? Yes, those are contradictory ideas.

I first attempted NaNoWriMo in 2004. It was the last time I would do so.

I have yet to discuss it here, but I read a lot of fiction.

Nope, sorry; that didn't come out correctly:

I read a LOT of fiction.

Short stories. Novellas. Novels. Ten-volume, epic arcs I return to every three or four years, once my memory softens the details. (I have two of those arcs on my list of faves! And they got official sequels! 😀)