@StillIRise1963 @shuttersparks @DaNanner My mom was like that. Always did DIY stuff at home. Even fixing the car. I used to do a lot of cleaning stuff in my apartment until I got sick and had to have surgery. And after my brother moved in with me,I just don't have the energy to do it.

@IveyJanette I hope you feel better - not to clean, mind you! @shuttersparks @DaNanner

@StillIRise1963 @shuttersparks @DaNanner I have lupus,so that definitely saps energy. And I was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year,so I'm still trying to deal with that. I had a heart attack in 2020,a hysterectomy the year before,and went to the hospital multiple times last year for dehydration. It's a struggle,but I'm still here.

@IveyJanette That's a lot to go through. Of course you're tired. Take it easy on yourself and I'm happy you're here. @shuttersparks @DaNanner

@StillIRise1963 @IveyJanette @DaNanner That too! My mom (old school German) drilled that into me. And my grandmother. Cooking and sewing were required. She felt that you had to know those basics to qualify as a human being, male or female. Some might view that as kind of harsh, but that's how she and her mother were. I'm glad they were.

Retired engineer now a chef for ten years. And I love sewing. Go figure.

@shuttersparks @StillIRise1963 @DaNanner I should have paid more attention to what mom was doing with the DIY. Plus when she and grandma were cooking. When they passed, I struggled for a while. Ultimately learned it on my own.

@shuttersparks 🤣 Yep! I took a Singer sewing class when I was 12. I used to make my own clothes as a teen. I can also do any type of yarn work from needlepoint to knitting, crocheting, rug hooking, macrame, whatever. And, I learned how to cook and made dinner for my parents/sister beginning at 14 most week days and on the weekends. It was fun.@IveyJanette @DaNanner

@StillIRise1963 @shuttersparks @DaNanner I learned to crochet when I was 9,used to make clothes for my Barbies and hats and afghans. I took home ec in junior high before I got kicked out for fighting. Didn't really learn how to cook until I started working in restaurants. And after mom passed. I learned mostly from watching the Food Network and PBS.

@StillIRise1963 @IveyJanette @DaNanner Hah, yep. Crochet was the first thing she taught me in terms of "fiber arts". It's probably good training for a little kid, eye-to-hand, etc. Sure didn't hurt me. Then hand-stitching, starting with buttons, then hems, etc. By the time we got to the sewing machine I was excited to learn it. It was an old Singer. Then around 1964 she bought a new machine that could do zigzag and some fancy decorative stitches. I liked sewing but it was something I never told my schoolmates about.

@shuttersparks @StillIRise1963 @DaNanner My mom always sewed. So did my aunt. But it just wasn't interesting to me. I learned to crochet when mom put me in an after school charm club . I'm more into drawing,painting and writing though. And taught myself how to play several instruments after I turned 40.

@IveyJanette Nice. I wish I could draw, paint, or play instruments. @shuttersparks @DaNanner

@shuttersparks I think it's very cool you're now using these skills after doing something very different. And, yeah. Kids were harsh. We had rigid gender roles. @IveyJanette @DaNanner

@StillIRise1963 @shuttersparks @DaNanner We did. We were expected to be wives and mothers and not be in the workforce. And not much else. My mom was mostly a single parent and had to work,so I learned by example. I couldn't do the music back then because those rules kept women from playing horns,drums and guitars.

@StillIRise1963 @shuttersparks @IveyJanette @DaNanner this thread right here is one of the reasons I love mastodon.

@kv This is a good place. @shuttersparks @IveyJanette @DaNanner

@StillIRise1963 @kv @shuttersparks @DaNanner I spend more time here than on any of the other sites(X, Threads,Post, Spoutible and Counter Social). I don't have to deal with racist and sexist trolls as much. And no algorithms or ads. And I can crack jokes and (mostly) use language that won't get me censored.

@IveyJanette @StillIRise1963 @shuttersparks @DaNanner same, I think it's largely because birdsite, threads, etc is just folks talking at you, but here you get to exchange dialogue and meet good people. I'm also glad that this is a safer space. Feels like a sane corner of the internet.

@kv @StillIRise1963 @shuttersparks @DaNanner Yes. I've already met great people here. Some came from the bird site. It's international and multicultural. And many different interests. No one trying to be an influencer.

@IveyJanette That's the other thing I'm happy about. No influencers. It's just ridiculous. @kv @shuttersparks @DaNanner

@StillIRise1963 @kv @shuttersparks @DaNanner On the bird site,my profile says I'm a "social media influencer" because of having a lot of followers beyond Albuquerque,Los Angeles and San Francisco. Plus my zingers. I'm not trying to get a brand deal or commercials.

@IveyJanette @StillIRise1963 @shuttersparks @DaNanner I love a good zinger.

@kv @StillIRise1963 @shuttersparks @DaNanner Trump and the incessant media coverage are a frequent target of my barbs. Ditto racist politicians, gentrification and bad sports teams.

@kv I agree. @IveyJanette @shuttersparks @DaNanner

@IveyJanette This platform makes the most sense to me. I'm never going to be on a privately owned platform again. And, the algorithms are brainwashing. I'm staying away. @kv @shuttersparks @DaNanner

@StillIRise1963 @kv @shuttersparks @DaNanner Especially the ones that force right-wing politics and misogynoir on you. I'm here and on YouTube most of the time.

@IveyJanette Don't know why, but I can't watch videos. @kv @shuttersparks @DaNanner

@StillIRise1963 @kv @shuttersparks @DaNanner I'm hooked on vanlife and Bushcraft camping videos. Livestreams of trains and jazz club concerts and jam sessions. And of course,acne and cyst extraction videos. I'm really hooked on those,I'll yell "GET THE SAC!" even if there's no sac. Those put me to sleep.

@IveyJanette omg. I can't watch anything medical. I can't handle it. @kv @shuttersparks @DaNanner

@StillIRise1963 @kv @shuttersparks @DaNanner I'm hooked on them. I still don't know why.

@IveyJanette So is my sister. I don't feel the need to know these things can even happen to a person. @kv @shuttersparks @DaNanner

@StillIRise1963 @IveyJanette @shuttersparks @DaNanner sometimes ignorance is a bliss. The human body is weird and weird stuff can happen to it. Spontaneously even! Don't need to be thinking about that stuff when I'm trying to sleep.

@kv Seriously. I also have an anxiety disorder, so I don't need to know everything! I might imagine I have it. @IveyJanette @shuttersparks @DaNanner

@StillIRise1963 @IveyJanette @shuttersparks @DaNanner are we the same person 😂. This is me also. I could go hypochondriac real quick.

@kv I come from a long line of hypochondriacs. I have to be very careful about the medical info I let it. 😂 @IveyJanette @shuttersparks @DaNanner

@StillIRise1963 @kv @shuttersparks @DaNanner I got hooked accidentally while searching YouTube for a procedure related to knee surgery.

@kv @StillIRise1963 @shuttersparks @DaNanner Yes. I never had this on the bird site. Or even on Spoutible or Counter Social.

@IveyJanette Me neither. @kv @shuttersparks @DaNanner

@StillIRise1963 @kv @shuttersparks @DaNanner And I still have just under 3000 followers on the bird site. I can riff on politics or culture without hearing it from some idiot.

@kv @StillIRise1963 @shuttersparks @IveyJanette @DaNanner so much agree. My wife and I were just reading this together as part of our "morning news" and talking about exactly that. (and thanks, @lkanies for boosting it!)