Things Change, Things Stay the Same
A lot has happened. In the last month, few months, and in the last year or so since I wrote a blog post! I’ll put some important updates first, and then continue with thoughts and ramblings after.
I still require a rapid covid test before in person sessions. I had been requiring Lucira brand tests for better accuracy at the start of 2025, but they’re no longer available. I may try to implement PCR testing, but the logistics are difficult.
My studio is still in uptown Minneapolis. And I’m getting a second space, in the same building! This expands options and space for all sorts of play. I’m still deciding on what themes and furniture will go where, but the secondary space will likely be available in June. I will also be making one or both studio spaces available to rent for other adult workers.
I no longer shop with Amazon AT ALL or Target. Target has been harder to transition away from, for everything from toiletries to groceries to studio supplies, but I believe I’ll be sourcing most studio supplies from hardware and medical supply stores.
Traveling for sessions is likely on hold indefinitely.
While the political and economic landscape of the USA and the world shifts around us, my life continues on. My health has been… ok. I’m still chronically ill (no surprise, considering the chronic part), but symptom management is steady now and overall I’m able to schedule all my appointments with the appropriate doctors. I did get covid for the FIFTH time last fall, from what was an asymptomatic and/or false negative rapid test transmission around my birthday, and it did knock me on my ass for a few months, but I think I’m sort of back to my normal. However, I can’t keep risking repeated infections and possibly worsening my already present health issues or adding new ones, so I’m being even more covid cautious. It’s not fun and it sucks, but my health is always my priority.
I’m thinking really hard about putting my money where my mouth is, which is why I no longer use Amazon. And after Target decided to preemptively pull DEI, I decided to pull my money out of there. DEI in business isn’t the start or end of business, and in general I don’t think that corporations are benevolent, but it felt like such a pointedly dick move in a time of rising xenophobia and homophobia. It’s possible I wouldn’t care so much if Target wasn’t such a “local” part of Minnesota, or if they hadn’t scaled back their Pride collection to a nominal, abysmal money grab from the gays in 2024, or especially if Target wasn’t involved in a giant surveillance program that specifically targeted Black people, but here we are. I’d already pretty much stopped using Walmart except here or there, or when in the more rural areas I come from, but I will continue to not shop there. I’m focusing on small businesses and local businesses. I’ve always been fairly conservative with my own finances, but when I do spend “fun money”, I want it to be more in line with my own values, like fair labor practices, sustainability and/or lower environmental impacts, supporting arts and artists, and so on.
Another thing I’m thinking about is where I spend my time and attention. Specifically, what media, social media, and other things take my focus? Is my attention all algorithmically funneled? I’m trying to switch to more long form essays and reading again, as opposed to scrolling instagram or twitter (I essentially no longer use twitter; I don’t scroll it, I rarely tweet outside of auto tweets, and I only occasionally check my mentions). I stopped using tiktok completely after it was outlawed and then granted clemency from Trump. Even blue sky, which offers what they call “algorithmic choice” along with a chronological feed, can be a time suck or a not-so-healthy echo chamber. I thought substack would be better, but it’s a mixed bag. Which does NOT mean I never sit and watch a bunch of silly videos on Instagram, because I am only human and humans really love a little makeup tutorial video or 60 second comedy skit now and then. But I am trying to be more mindful of how and when I sit and zone out, as well as saving time and energy for reading and supporting things that truly interest me.
Stay tuned, as I plan to make a semi-regular series of posts about what I’m reading and watching, including the porn, since a lot of it is porn. What can I say? I love pornography. It’s part of why I make it! And I truly believe that porn is one of our purest expressions of self and imagination, from the disgusting to the outlandish to the wholesome. Maybe I’ll write more on that sometime, too.
