I appreciate that Nostr is a social media protocol that I can enjoy but not be addicted to. X is a huge time suck. It's not really about civil discourse. It's about one-upping each other in our reactions to things that enrage, divise, or provoke us. Because that's addicting.

I bought $100 of #Bitcoin using #Monero around three weeks ago. That Bitcoin is $92 now, and the Monero is $106. This is an ongoing comparison experiment to see how the value fluctuates. I know such a narrow snapshot is not even close to being a fair indication that leads to an overall conclusion, but still. With its built-in #privacy, I'm happy with being all in with Monero. The privacy is worth more to me than numbers, because I don't trust the direction of our increasingly technocratic, big-brother society. Not that any crypto will save the world (that's Jesus' job), but having Monero can certainly be helpful with regard to privacy. The same can be said for encrypted messaging (e.g., #SimpleX, #Session, #Signal, #PGP, OMEMO, et al): not the solution, but helpful.

At a community play a couple nights ago, a quite elderly man was holding the door of the restroom while a couple of us were entering. We thanked him politely. I had gone in quickly only to grab a few sheets of toilet paper because I had no Kleenex with me. The old, frail, kind man was still at the doorway slowly on his way out, engaging in small talk while a stream of people were coming in and out. As some of us were leaving, he held out his hand. "Where's my tip, you cheapskates?" We chuckled at his joke. As I slipped past him to get to the show, he said, "Bend over and I'll give ya a tip." I wasn't expecting that. There's something about vulgar humor that's not funny coming from an older person. I guess it's because I expect older people to be on their best behavior since they are closer to the grave.