Road Cycling Aliens

It has always been a mystery to me why some people seem have such strong opinions about how other people look and then express their opinion, that nobody asked for.


So, I did get my hair cut. As I said in my previous post, I'm gonna work on a mullet and needed something as a base while I let that hair grow because of the undercut that I had before.
Now I have something like this but even shorter:



It did become shorter on the top and in the front than I thought but I like the cut itself. I can see how I can just sit and wait now and my hair always grows pretty fast or at least it feels like it. I did need a day to kinda get used to it and felt kind of insecure when I just left the salon and headed home. Plus...somehow that day I had been feeling anxious overall.

That is one of the reasons why I decided to walk a few stations. On my way a small group of young dudes (teenagers I guess) came towards me. It was a very narrow walkway and as I passed them - just minding my own business - one of them burped loudly. So, that was his comment. And I don't think I'm paranoid. It was one of those burps that don't happen accidentally and it was right beside me, totally on purpose. For context: I am born female and consider myself a woman but I am masculine presenting. I don't mind wether they think I am male or female, as long as people stay friendly and respectful.
I think the new hairstyle made me look even more masc but I was wearing a shirt with a flower pattern with shorts and shaved legs which probably is a mix that some people can't handle for some reason and gave me away as "neither nor". If that day I had dressed differently, maybe on first sight they would have assumed I am male and I would have been left alone.

I ignored them and pretended I didn't notice or care and moved on, but I'm still thinking about it. I know, could have been much worse. But it is on my mind and this morning in the shower I thought about how it reminds me of the past, sort of a throw back got triggered. Stuff like this happened to me in the past. Well, the most recent thing was only a few years back with some idiots in a train who were talking about me as "it" and as if I wasn't there, finding themselves very funny.
But everything else is further in the past. In a past in which I wasn't really presenting masculine yet. And people still found other things to bully me for or make fun of. That went from stupid jokes, over insults to physical attacks, the latter was when I was still going to school. Just because they found me "weird" or my hat was funny or whatever.

I had a phase when I dressed feminine and no "weird" or "too colorful" stuff to offend anyone with. That was the time I was left in peace. How sad.

I also remember a particular day in winter at a time where I was noticably female but I was wearing a very pink beanie with a pompom. That was the only thing "weird" about me and still some guy made fun of it during christmas market where 50% of the people wore santa hats. Completely acceptable.

Are people really that close-minded? Are they really this stupid and backwards? Can they really, really feel threatened by the fact that they don't know how to categorize a complete stranger on the street? Do they really feel an uncontrollable need to express their opinion about it and try to force an interaction? Do they try to "expose" the "weird" person and what do they gain from that? The only thing I can really think of is: they "expose" the "weird" person in front of their mates ("haha a freak") and get their approval ("oh yes, so weird. You are completely right and you're so funny for pointing it out"). I don't get it... but now that I rambled about it, I will try to let it go.

via GIPHY

This day is kind of meh. It's laundry day, so I didn't expect to do much studying. I was tired before noon already. Then I went out to throw in my vote (city and district votes here), recycle some bottles and do the groceries. Normally I like going out and doing groceries and stuff, but today I found it kind of stressful.

I took the city bike to be a little faster and the first upsetting thing happened when I just left the house: Some big van came speeding up behind me and passing me way to closely. Some car drivers really seem to get some kind of pleasure out of that because they don't like when cyclists are on "their" street. I would be on the bicycle lane if it wasn't bumpy as hell everywhere and on top of that the bicycle lane is blocked with parking cars. What do they expect me to do? Fly?!
Well, anyway, the fat van passed me to close and too fast just to stop right in front of my nose at the traffic light. Yeah, pretty pointless.

Whatever. Got this done and that and went shopping. Think of this what you may but I am one of the few and rare people who still wear a facemask in most public places. Like in the supermarket. This one is tiny with very little space, so I wear a mask. I just think better safe than sorry, can't harm at least, right?
Then first thing when I walk in, two middle aged - or a little beyond - guys (yeah, white guys) come in after me and saying stuff like "Oh, covid!" and "There's quarantine here!"
Worst of all: they were wearing shirts of an aid agency. A Catholic one! 🤡 Must be nice to be cared for by these dudes, huh? Really, why can't people just shut their mouths if they got nothing nice or useful to say? Nobody wants to hear their crap.

Okay... rant over.

At least I also got some dinner inspiration while I was there and I thought I'm finally gonna tackle the onion pickling! Because I saw this recipe on YouTube the other day... or week... and really wanted to try it :) ⬇️

 

 

I also bought sinful cinamon mini rolls and ate them together with my wife 😏
But right after that I made the pickled onions :-) They smell so good already, oh my! I'll add some to the dinner. I am planning to make some Soba today with crispy fried fish, little mushrooms and spring onions on the side! Probably with a bit of salad too.
Preparing the onions was nice and relaxing.

After that I could still have studied for like an hour and a half but I thought to myself "You know what? To hell with it today" and decided to do something less draining. I can catch up another day.
So instead of studying I customized this journal just a little more with a tiny bit of CSS and changing some colours as well. I also wanted change some stuff in my website over at Neocities but I didn't get far. I looked around on Glitter Graphics and changed the background(s) on my website and also linked this journal.