raymondj
@raymondj.bsky.social
scientist. painter. musician. writer.
queer, trans, southern
ATL to CHI to WNC
purplefluorite.bandcamp.com
queer, trans, southern
ATL to CHI to WNC
purplefluorite.bandcamp.com
my paintings got roasted AGAIN at art critique circle for my yellows!! i cannot be tamed
December 3, 2025 at 3:34 AM
my paintings got roasted AGAIN at art critique circle for my yellows!! i cannot be tamed
oh don’t mind me, just attaching a pick-up mic to the ticking clock on the wall and running it through my effects pedalboard. like a normal person on a Saturday night.
November 30, 2025 at 1:57 AM
oh don’t mind me, just attaching a pick-up mic to the ticking clock on the wall and running it through my effects pedalboard. like a normal person on a Saturday night.
qigong + meditation is a classic for a reason
On saturdays the first hour of the day should be spent flailing your limbs about wildly, followed immediately by an hour of stillness and silent contemplation
November 29, 2025 at 1:35 PM
qigong + meditation is a classic for a reason
Reposted by raymondj
this meeting could have been a blessed silence
November 18, 2025 at 12:48 PM
this meeting could have been a blessed silence
i quit every writing job/gig/volunteer commitment that i’d accumulated over a decade+ so that i could reclaim writing as a creative process.
then decided to take up painting instead 🤷🏻♀️
then decided to take up painting instead 🤷🏻♀️
November 17, 2025 at 2:53 PM
i quit every writing job/gig/volunteer commitment that i’d accumulated over a decade+ so that i could reclaim writing as a creative process.
then decided to take up painting instead 🤷🏻♀️
then decided to take up painting instead 🤷🏻♀️
i’m reading Stories Are Violence by Annalee Newitz and loving it so far, but also it’s not helping my general headspace of the past few years that i may Never Write Again?? prob need to keep reading and continue to process these feelings, since obvs Newitz is still writing plenty themselves lol
November 17, 2025 at 2:47 PM
i’m reading Stories Are Violence by Annalee Newitz and loving it so far, but also it’s not helping my general headspace of the past few years that i may Never Write Again?? prob need to keep reading and continue to process these feelings, since obvs Newitz is still writing plenty themselves lol
sometimes i feel bad for spending money on books when i have so many unread ones already, but then i see a photo on my phone from seven years ago and I’m literally wearing the exact same shirt today, so maybe my budget spending evens out
November 17, 2025 at 3:03 AM
sometimes i feel bad for spending money on books when i have so many unread ones already, but then i see a photo on my phone from seven years ago and I’m literally wearing the exact same shirt today, so maybe my budget spending evens out
i started this habit as a DJ and then it became an everyday life tip
DJ PRO TIP: put a snack bar in your headphone bag
November 15, 2025 at 1:39 PM
i started this habit as a DJ and then it became an everyday life tip
my oil paintings by @davidbrace2.bsky.social arrived from Canada over the weekend!!
they are even more beautiful and impressive in person, can’t wait to gift the beetle one to my insect-loving friend. literally my first time ever commissioning art and money well spent.
they are even more beautiful and impressive in person, can’t wait to gift the beetle one to my insect-loving friend. literally my first time ever commissioning art and money well spent.
November 10, 2025 at 10:22 PM
my oil paintings by @davidbrace2.bsky.social arrived from Canada over the weekend!!
they are even more beautiful and impressive in person, can’t wait to gift the beetle one to my insect-loving friend. literally my first time ever commissioning art and money well spent.
they are even more beautiful and impressive in person, can’t wait to gift the beetle one to my insect-loving friend. literally my first time ever commissioning art and money well spent.
Reposted by raymondj
just have to get through today then tomorrow then next week then every week
November 7, 2025 at 7:07 PM
just have to get through today then tomorrow then next week then every week
Reposted by raymondj
The #1 song 40 years ago today on the Billboard Hot 100...
"Part-Time Lover" by Stevie Wonder
*Luther Vandross on background vocals & adlibs 🔥
"Part-Time Lover" by Stevie Wonder
*Luther Vandross on background vocals & adlibs 🔥
November 2, 2025 at 3:24 PM
The #1 song 40 years ago today on the Billboard Hot 100...
"Part-Time Lover" by Stevie Wonder
*Luther Vandross on background vocals & adlibs 🔥
"Part-Time Lover" by Stevie Wonder
*Luther Vandross on background vocals & adlibs 🔥
i was wrong it says:
“Trick ‘o or Eat”
“Trick ‘o or Eat”
the Halloween jigsaw puzzle in the break room at work was made from AI slop. it says “Trick ‘o o Treat” and many jack-o’-lanterns in the scene have multiple mouths.
i might file a hostile work environment claim
i might file a hostile work environment claim
October 30, 2025 at 2:54 PM
i was wrong it says:
“Trick ‘o or Eat”
“Trick ‘o or Eat”
the Halloween jigsaw puzzle in the break room at work was made from AI slop. it says “Trick ‘o o Treat” and many jack-o’-lanterns in the scene have multiple mouths.
i might file a hostile work environment claim
i might file a hostile work environment claim
October 30, 2025 at 1:29 AM
the Halloween jigsaw puzzle in the break room at work was made from AI slop. it says “Trick ‘o o Treat” and many jack-o’-lanterns in the scene have multiple mouths.
i might file a hostile work environment claim
i might file a hostile work environment claim
the clerk at the grocery store started talking to me about the band Panchiko, so now I’m listening to D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L while reading cookie dough recipes and letting butter soften
October 29, 2025 at 11:24 PM
the clerk at the grocery store started talking to me about the band Panchiko, so now I’m listening to D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L while reading cookie dough recipes and letting butter soften
when i eat my favorite breakfast sandwich from my favorite bakery near work, i often have a moment of gratitude for being alive at this point in time and space such that i get to experience it.
October 29, 2025 at 3:13 PM
when i eat my favorite breakfast sandwich from my favorite bakery near work, i often have a moment of gratitude for being alive at this point in time and space such that i get to experience it.
Reposted by raymondj
Deeply moved to see that everyone is still right about everything
October 28, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Deeply moved to see that everyone is still right about everything
i have the house to myself all week so i’m doing exciting things like “playing Max Richter music while sleeping”
October 28, 2025 at 3:13 AM
i have the house to myself all week so i’m doing exciting things like “playing Max Richter music while sleeping”
Reposted by raymondj
"In a system where your income depends on performing as yourself regularly, at scale and on schedule, the temptation to shape yourself to what’s rewarded is impossible to resist"
I did not enjoy writing this; it can't even serve as an ad for my newsletter, which I've suspended due to an overbilling situation that has me almost regretting leaving Substack. But, you know, it's evidence for the piece I just didn't get to include.
talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/patro...
talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/patro...
Patron-Supported Journalism Can’t Be the Future of News
Writing about the failure of patron-supported journalism is itself a kind of...
talkingpointsmemo.com
October 27, 2025 at 2:18 PM
"In a system where your income depends on performing as yourself regularly, at scale and on schedule, the temptation to shape yourself to what’s rewarded is impossible to resist"
flirting with the masc worker doing a sexy lean on the OSHA poster
October 25, 2025 at 2:13 PM
flirting with the masc worker doing a sexy lean on the OSHA poster
….to ME 😍
October 22, 2025 at 7:40 PM
….to ME 😍
sitting in a dermatologist’s exam room alone while You Can Call Me Al plays quietly
October 22, 2025 at 3:26 PM
sitting in a dermatologist’s exam room alone while You Can Call Me Al plays quietly
“Creation, like existence, is communication and communion: continuous reception and transmission, more circle than line.”
For months I've been thinking about what precise anxieties and insecurities hide in questions like "how can I write at a time like this?" and tried to untangle them by parsing separate (though interrelated) acts: making, sharing, and selling meantforyou.beehiiv.com/p/deconstruc...
Deconstructing Creative Angst
Making • Sharing • Selling • Freedom
meantforyou.beehiiv.com
October 21, 2025 at 2:08 AM
“Creation, like existence, is communication and communion: continuous reception and transmission, more circle than line.”
Reposted by raymondj
The documentary I made with Miss Major 10 years ago is on Vimeo on Demand. If you want to spend some time with her on screen tonight and learn some abolitionist trans history while you're at it, it's free to rent with the code "shinebright" vimeo.com/ondemand/major
Watch MAJOR! Online | Vimeo On Demand
The award-winning documentary "MAJOR!" follows the life and campaigns of Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a Black transgender elder who has been fighting for…
vimeo.com
October 14, 2025 at 1:08 AM
The documentary I made with Miss Major 10 years ago is on Vimeo on Demand. If you want to spend some time with her on screen tonight and learn some abolitionist trans history while you're at it, it's free to rent with the code "shinebright" vimeo.com/ondemand/major