@mishellbaker@wandering.shop
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mishellbaker

@mishellbaker@wandering.shop

World Fantasy, Nebula, Tiptree finalist repped by Russ Galen. Curator of happiness. Gamer, parent, computer science student, language nerd, cancer brat. Whatever pronouns feel right to you.

My header shows my urban fantasy trilogy - BORDERLINE, PHANTOM PAINS, and IMPOSTOR SYNDROME, against a downtown L.A. backdrop. My profile pic shows an androgynous middle aged white person with buzzed hair, smiling warmly but perhaps a little shyly.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

mishellbaker, to random
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Why did no one tell me it was NATIONAL CHEESE DAY???

🧀

mishellbaker, to random
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Having one of those weeks where everything I touch turns to gold. But in a good way, not in a "well crap, now everything I own weighs two tons" way.

mishellbaker, to random
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I know every mom thinks their kids are special. But some of those moms are 100% right and I am one of them.

mishellbaker, to random
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GOSH. My older daughter's middle school "culmination" (graduation) presentation was so good it made one of her teachers CRY???

Does she get extra points for that?

mishellbaker, to random
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I wish everyone a very happy and (if you want) productive Monday.

mishellbaker, to random
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It's been interesting watching the absolute chaos of my attempted planter boxes. Things thriving I thought would die. Things dying I was sure would thrive. So many mushrooms popping up. ?????

mishellbaker,
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In particular I am baffled by two indoor-started seedlings that were mostly dead when I transplanted them but I couldn't bear to just throw them away, and here they are defiantly alive and getting bigger a month later. Weird-shaped, but alive and growing.

mishellbaker,
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And the mushrooms! Soil from two different sources, but same mushrooms popping up all over it despite my watering only when the plants start looking visibly dry.

????

mishellbaker, to random
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My Little Pony is my binge watch of choice during this chemo cycle and I had forgotten how much this silly little song means to me, especially the moment at 1:35 which is so brief but was such an epiphany gut-punch to me the first time I saw it. That moment of vulnerability in the middle of an otherwise relentlessly perky song, and most especially the way she resolved it.

It me, trying to find enough happy in myself, even on dark days, to lift up my friends too.

https://youtu.be/lQKaAlMNvm8?si=QRkpUQiZ5R4N86AP

mishellbaker,
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@Lironah That's such a good one!

mishellbaker,
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@drcpunk I am one of those wild and crazy people who got introduced to the show because I had small daughters 😂

mishellbaker, to random
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The "pursuit" of happiness isn't about chasing things you're sure will make you happier. It's less a pursuit, really, at all, than it is the recognition of potential sources of happiness that are already in your grasp.

mishellbaker, to random
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mishellbaker, to random
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The quality I admire most in humans is integrity, because without that the other qualities don't matter too much. What do I mean by integrity?

Your beliefs about equity/inclusion are the same whether you are the under- or over-represented group in the current context.

Your beliefs about free competition/consumer-driven economics w/o government interference are the same whether your industry is currently competing well or not.

Etc.

mishellbaker,
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And on a more personal level, a person with integrity says, thinks, and acts in concert. Does not compartmentalize or live a double life. Is always who they are, regardless of the context.

Without that, I don't really know how to evaluate someone's character at all.

mishellbaker, to random
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I don't show you flowers and galaxies and amazing human inventions to distract you from the bad things. I show you flowers and galaxies and amazing human inventions to remind you that alongside the bad things are good things that continue to exist. There is nothing stopping you from being aware of ALL of it.

mishellbaker, to random
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A note for anyone coming to the who really wants to see me: I will likely not be well enough to walk around in a huge crowd of people etc, but anyone who wants to see me badly enough to get a Lyft to Mid City L.A. is more than welcome, just give me some warning. Email me and I can get you my address. DM me for email if you don't know it.

mishellbaker, to random
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I am that rare, twisted, defective individual who prefers cake to pie.

But it has to be GOOD cake. Cheap bad cake is worse than pie. Worse than termites, actually.

mishellbaker,
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@Lironah Mmmmmmmmmmmm. And strangely, many pie lovers hate it.

mishellbaker, to random
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Just found this from several years ago. It's no wonder this guy and I have been besties for thirty years.

mishellbaker, to random
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I'm thinking of writing a book about how a deep understanding of mortality leads to better living. When it's finished, I want to get the word out as widely as I can. I know I still know people who have fairly large platforms, but I'm not going to pester anyone individually.

If you happen to see this message, you have wider reach than I do, and you'd be willing to help me boost the signal when I'm finished writing my little "life manual," please get in touch.

mishellbaker,
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It will be a lot like my many rambles online over the years, but in addition to philosophical stuff it will also contain practical advice on self-care hierarchy (how to "bootstrap" yourself from rock bottom starting with easy tasks that give you the energy to do the harder tasks).

Basically I want to make a little manual people can carry around to help them get the most of life and also help them understand and feel at peace with their eventual death (these two things are linked).

mishellbaker,
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@curtiscchen Thank you so much! <3

mishellbaker, to random
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The greatest lesson I ever taught myself - a lesson that allowed me to become more patient, kind, compassionate, and selfless - was to demand that my own boundaries were respected and that I be given space to be myself and pursue basic happiness.

It seems counterintuitive, but by respecting yourself and demanding your boundaries be respected and your needs met, you can heal yourself enough to stop resenting others' happiness, stop thinking "me first," stop living in selfish desperation.

thomasfuchs, to astrophotography
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This is as sharp as it gets with my tiny telescope

🔭 #astrophotography

mishellbaker,
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@thomasfuchs Gorgeous.

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