The 12th episode of the 4th season of Young Sheldon, a sitcom about the brilliant prodigy of physics, finds the hotshots of science teaming up with the unlikely, not-a-scientific-bone-in-her-Texan-body Meemaw (Sheldon's maternal grandmother) for her crochet skills : to create a porous sleeve to suspend a sphere in a buffer solution. Of course even as a physicist I have no idea which exact experiment this is, but that's an exploration for another day. We often think of science as this detached set of observations and rules floating around in a vacuum but that's not the case. Science is regular. It's a set of regular, everyday phenomenon, observations and conclusions derived thereon.

Archaeologists theorize that early humans across Asia and Europe would sew fur and skin clothing with needles made of antlers and threads made of animal sinew. An art with such humble beginnings has found its way into every moment of our lives. Thirty seven thousand years after the first human sewed themselves a piece of clothing to fight off hyperthermia on a cold winter night in Europe, another performed a simple suture on an open gash on a human shoulder in Egypt, saving another life. Humanity has since trekked a long way to develop a wide variety of stitches – for a wide varity of applications. Clothing and surgery are probably the biggest industries that uses the skill of sewing but related industries like taxidermy, book binding, fashion accessories, soft toys, beddings, upholstery also use some particular sewing methods. Whether it is a continuous stitch, discontinuous or a combination of two, all of the places they belong in, all the pieces of flesh or fabric they hold together is determined by one simple thing: tensile strength.

The “pulling force” that each stitch applies on the stitched medium and the thread needs to find the perfect balance. Tight stitches will lead to puckers – a bane we've moulded into a boon and created the perfectly easy way to create texture in fabrics. Embrace the pucker further and you end up with ruffles! How ingenious! Stitches when too loose will barely hold your fabrics together. Yet again, we found a way to make lemonade out of the metaphorical sewing lemons and invented the basting stitch! Finding the perfect tension while hand sewing is like the story of Goldilocks- it takes time, practice and observation to find the tension that’s just right. The main way to regulate the tension in your thread is to observe the way it feels when you pull on it by pressing your thumb of the fabric+thread junction. Another way of regulating the tension is to find the right length of thread. I find waxed thread that just reaches above my shoulder to be the perfect length for book binding, unwaxed polyester thread that reaches just till my shoulders to be the right length for hemming and joining stitches, embroidery thread that reached right beyond my forearm to be the right length for embroidery. A simple continuous stitch can hold a teddy bear from spilling it's stuffing and a human from spilling their guts. Many would call this a morbid juxtaposition but I find beauty in it. Sewing is often overlooked as an art form, or maybe it is overtook by its prettier sibling, crocheting in recent years. The true skill in sewing is to learn to make “tension” obey your instructions.

The two most basic stitches to play around with (specially if you're learning to sew by hand for the first time in your life) are : * Straight stitch / run stitch – lay your material down. Use your needle as though it were a dolphin jumping in and out of the waves of the ocean, only your fabric is the ocean. You will soon recognise that this is not the best way to stitch fabrics that unravel at the ends. That's when you experiment with different hems (Check out French hems). * Back stitch – again, lay your material down. Use your needle dolphin to go into the fabric and come up for air. Once you're up, backflip to the exact middle of your last dive and come up for air again. And there you have it, a continuous stitch that is a little more secure.

(Tell you a secret, back stitches are one of the strongest hand sewn stitches to exist! It doesn't unravel easily and is easy to repair.)

There's a lot more to sewing than meets the eye. Once you know how to sew you'll have to learn posture and lighting to work in. If you're taking up sewing as a hobby, remember it is an art and it deserves your respect.

They are everywhere. They are overwhelming. They are inclusive. They occupy all the place in the world, yet, when we try to take over a single iota of space, they brand us as groomers, political ideologists or whatever the latest buzzword of the day is. Why do they have to be everywhere, in such high numbers, all the time? How come they get to live such easy lives, not having to be plagued by any idea of the very fact that they were born as they were meant to be, and that their identity correlated exactly to what society tells them to be? If we are indeed so free, why the hell is there no space for us, a space where we don't need to hide from eyes that look us up and down, staring into our fucking souls, a space where you are called slurs in hushed conversations. Why? Why do politicians ask for our heads when we just ask for our identity? Why do we have to give so many explanations just for our existence? Everything sucks here and I fucking hate it.

Everything will be alright.

Not a day goes by, when I don't feel alien in this skin that is supposed to be mine. This skin doesn't belong in places set by those in power. This skin has to prove its purpose and capabilities to simply exist. The moment you acknowledge it, you condemn yourself to a life of tyranny and suffering.

Everything will be alright.

Your identity becomes such a pretense, you cannot realise where it started, you cannot understand what is real. Questioning becomes so frequent you question your entire existence when you breathe freely for a single second. How can you live with someone else, when you can't live with yourself? Were you ever meant to belong anywhere?

Everything will be alright.

I have heard myself asking “am I temporary to everyone; permanent to myself or permanent to everyone; temporary to myself” Motionless, you feel the rot curling up on your skin, desperate to break free. The world is moving so fucking fast, people are changing so goddamn fast, things are exchanging so terribly fast “there's not enough time, or I'm just wasting my time”, you shout into winds, that will lead where you want to go.

Everything will be alright.

You may not consider yourself to be very good or directionless in your pursuit, but its okay, youre still learning. Trained to be a hardened old soul, your heart is still a cherubin, untouched, and it dares to dream. You are seen, you are loved. Yes, they hurl abuses of confusion and faux disgust, but they never could see the beauty you were able to see in yourself. You've got the whole world in your pocket, child.

Everything will be alright.

First of all, what do you mean by community blog?

A blog which is community-owned (right now, just me) and operated. Non-Profit. Exists purely for the sake of providing a safe space to write for the community.

What Community?

The Queer community. Focusing on the trans experience of their world.

How do you know who is queer?

I don’t. That’s why the blog will always stay invite-based. I invited queer people I know. Next, users get to decide who they let in. You will be inviting people in. I trust your judgement.

Do the members need to maintain a tone or something?

Nope. Unless you put in your legal name, who will know it is you? Use that anonymity wisely. Maybe make seventeen blogs for all seventeen of your personalities with different languages, dialects, and word associations. The sky is the limit. I always wanted to start a mysterious blog where I’ll talk only in binary and Morse code. Maybe I’ll do that now once I’m free.

What is your vision for the blog?

None. The community members get to decide that. I am a facilitator. I had the know-how, so I did it. I needed a blog for myself, so I decided, why not make it available for others? You are the writer, dream up a vision and make other writers agree with you.

What about hosting costs?

It’s currently about INR 3500 to host all services minus the human labour cost. This specific blog is hosted on a 2 CPU + 2 GB RAM system, with 60 GB of storage. We have 1000 GB of Bandwidth for data. I host this blog on Digital Ocean, and I pay for extra protection. The cost is expected to go up when the blog needs more storage. I also intend to host an image-sharing service later if there is a demand. That will drive up the cost as well.

How will you pay for it?

So far, I am paying for it out of my pocket. But I have some ideas. I am also publishing books, and profits from that will be diverted to maintain the blog. I also intend to sell merchandise to recoup some of the costs as well. And beyond that, I am collecting subscriptions and donations via https://wree.quest. I have another website, which can be accessed at https://daxayoni.com, that exists to aggregate all my official publications. However, https://daxayoni.com/ will never post any article from https://daxayoni.blog.

How about the writers?

Glad you asked. You should be able to edit the styling of the blog and add custom headers and footers that stay the same in all your posts. Add your UPI address or QR code so people are able to support you directly. You can also set up Patreon or buy me a coffee to collect donations as well.

All the blogs also have web monetisation enabled. Web monetisation ensures that every time someone visits your blog, you get paid a small amount of money. It’s in its early days, so not a lot of users, but this is being proposed as a web standard. Once that happens, you can get paid without ads. You can be an early adopter with us to ensure your right to get paid for your honest work. We are also not Google searchable or trackable, and we also have no trackers beyond as stated in the privacy policy. We also can’t see anything about a user except their username, the physical space their content is consuming, and their public blogs. That’s it.

That’s it?

That’s it. If you wanna know more, you can always reach out to me. My socials are available at https://wree.quest

It's one of those dumb August nights again Not a wind in the sky, and the power's out I thought about you again today It isnt something you do. Is your memory of mine just a wisp of smoke? Sweet as the honey I taste, but overshadowed nonetheless? I am your cigarette butt You kiss me like your life depends on it Every breath Every kiss is one It delights you, it refreshes you As i burn Burn bright at your lips But when i can burn no more You throw my ashes away I truly am your spectator in the lowlights I know you love me, whatever that confounded idea of love you have in your mind I hate you for making me love you so deeply. I hate you for leaving me here with these people who won't let me sleep any more. If I could just close my eyes the world would disappear and I could stop hurting. I want to sleep. Make those people down stairs leave me alone and let me sleep. They gave me drugs to sleep once when I first knew, and in disbelief called them liars. They gave me more drugs to keep me calm and awake as I faced your body And saw it engulfed by flames and ashes spilled from fingers to the winds on this mountain we both once called home, in more innocent times.

There are no drugs now to numb the pain Sleep which beckons me deeper into oblivion has been withdrawn by constant company and chatter that goes on around me. I do not truly hear it, or understand it as I sit and stare at the macabre forced smiles. Their smiles and consoling words, like blades some blades are funny some cause history And history is every second in time. but the others, they have this tendency they lurk in the shadows a phantom of a shadow you don't know if you have them or if you need them or that it is a part of you. Where are you I wonder, will you still come for me? I would go happily just now, Even though the vital and living hands of so many try to hold me to this place, I would fly to you my love just to feel your embrace. I have read too much poetry of late. Perhaps I should share with you... Maybe you would find me there Just like we used to.

Heading 1 will always be counted as the title.

That being said, use the syntax mentioned below as the first sentence of a new post:

# Title of your post goes here

your body or other headings go here... 

The title of this post uses the following syntax:

# How to add **Titles** to your posts

Remember that it has to be the first sentence of the blog to be counted as the Title of the post.

If you want to know more about how to format your posts, you can read our markdown formatting guidelines by clicking this link here.

I'm sorry I haven't created a den in the aisle of that la la land in your mind It is hard for me to tend to your tense pretense of the boujee of your kind I cannot smile and nod when you set yourself up with the premise for my punchline

by Mariyam Saigal

Convince me with a song To long for what you want me to long Sell me myself Everybody take your pound of flesh

Convince me with a song To hope for what you want me to hope for Buy me my time Everybody go ahead and dine

Convince me with a song To wait for what you want me to wait for Love me more than myself Nobody waits this long for help

by Mariyam Saigal

feels like crossing paths with a troll under the shade of a post that generalizes my gender's position in the world as nothing but a tool You say the main purpose of a woman's life is to have children and wish you were aborted You'd rather give benefit of doubt to Andrew Tate than to all the women he hurt You'd rather believe Eve was “made” for Adam than believe they are one being seperated by loneliness

When the padestel we built for people isn't strong enough to hold their humanity and they fall We must not strangle them with the garland of fantasy, frame them, hang them with the accusation of not being “woman enough”

Protyaborton; A tale of change, transition, reclamation and homecoming

তোমার নামে আমার যত উল্লাস তোমার নামে আমার হাথেখরি তোমার নামে আমার গালাগাল দেওয়া তোমার নামে আমার চিৎকার করে হুংকার দেওয়া তোমার নামে আমার মা এর কাছে কান্না তোমার নামে আমার ভয় পাওয়া বেদনা |

তোমার নামে আমার জন্ম তোমার নামে আমার মৃত্যু আমার ভালবাসা, আমার উচ্ছনে যাওয়া স্মৃতি আমার পড়ে যাওয়া, আমার উঠে দাড়ানো আমার বাড়ি তোমার কাছে, আমার বাড়ি তোমার নামে আমার ফেরত হওয়া তুমি |

তুমি হলে আমার কাঠগড়ায় দাড়ানো তুমি আমার না ঝুঁকে দাড়ানো তুমি আমার রক্তাক্ত শরীরের মিথ্যে তুমি আমার প্রেমের আদরের কাহিনী তুমি আমার বুকের পাথর তুমি আমার জলসার ছবি।

তুমি মাইকেল এর মধুসূদন হয়ে বাড়ি ফেরত তুমি সত্যজিৎ এর চা এর কাপ তুমি টেরেসার নীল শাড়ি তুমি দীঘার সমুদ্রের ভীড় তুমি কবির প্রথম প্রেম

তুমি তো মা, তুমি আমার ট্রান্সিশন তুমি আমার রক্ষাকবচ তুমি আমার তলোয়ার তুমি আমার লাল আকাশের নিচে ছুটে বেড়ানোর লাইসেন্স, তুমি আমার লাল রক্তের ভাষা।

তুমি আমার রক্ত, তুমি আমার কান্নার কবিতা। তুমি আমার বন্ধুর ডাক, তুমি আমার মৃত্যুর গান, তুমি আমার আকাঙ্ক্ষা, তুমি আমার সময়ের ঘড়ি। আমি তোমার কাছেই ফিরি, তুমিই আমার মা।

This blog is supposed to be a pure writing experience. I am using writefreely for the exact same reason. Writefreely supports markdown. Markdown is a lightweight markup language that was created by John Gruber and Aaron Swartz in 2004. Its primary objective is to provide a simple and human-readable syntax to format text without the need for complex HTML or formatting tools. Markdown files can be easily converted to other formats, such as HTML, making it ideal for writing content that will be published online or in various documents.

Do you know you can use markdown in the WhatsApp chat, to make text bold, italic, strikethrough, or monospace?

How to use Markdown?

Markdown is human-readable. Which means, you just need to use symbols that we regularly use in our daily digital conversations, but not necessarily while writing ideas. You can use other text editors or note apps before writing on here, to practice.

We can see how it works below:

Headings

You can create six variations of headings using the Pound (#) symbol. You need to use it once before the sentence followed by a space. The number of Pounds determine their hierarchy. For example:

# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3
#### Heading 4
##### Heading 5
###### Heading 6

The above command will render like the following:

Heading 1

Heading 2

Heading 3

Heading 4

Heading 5

Heading 6

Emphasis

To create bold, italic, or strikethrough text, you need to use three symbols. Asterisks (*), Underscores (_), and Tilde (~). Using a single asterisk or underscore makes the text italics, whereas using double asterisks or underscores makes the text bold. For example:

*This is in Italics*
_This is also in Italics_
**This is in Bold**
__This is also in Bold__
_This is in **Bold** and Italics_

The above will be rendered as:

This is in Italics This is also in Italics This is in Bold This is also in Bold This is in Bold and Italics

To use strikethrough, you need to use two Tildes

~~This is Strikethrough~~

As usual, it will render as: This is Strikethrough

Note that if you do not close the emphasising like a bracket, the style will continue.

Lists

We have a few options to create different kinds of Lists. For Ordered lists, you can use Numbers followed by a period like so:

1. Item 1
2. Item 2
3. Item 3
4. Item 4

For an Unordered list, you can use single Asterisk (*), single Hyphen (–), or a single Plus (+) sign followed by a space to create unordered lists. You can see example below:

• List number 1
• List number 2
• List Number 3

To create a nested list, you use indentation by pressing the tab key in the next line where you need to nest the item. Other syntaxes follow as usual. An example is as follows:

1. Top Item 1
   1. Nested Item 1
      1. Sub-Nested Item 1
         • Sub-Sub-Nested Item 1
         • Sub-Sub-Nested Item 2
         • Sub-Sub-Nested Item 3
      2. Sub-Nested Item 2
      3. Sub Nested Item 3
   2. Nested Item 2
      • Sub-Nested Item 4
      • Sub-Nested Item 5
2. Top Item 2
3. Top Item 3

You can keep them nested as much as you want.

Links

To be honest there are three kinds of links we will be dealing with, and two ways of showcasing them. Any text links can be put as a link as long as they're accompanied with the 'https://'. They will render as clickable links. We encourage this as it shows the complete link, making it transparent.

https://daxayoni.blog is an example.

However if you want to hide the link behind clickable custom text, then the syntax is,

This is a [Custom Link Text](https://daxayoni.blog)

Which will render as:

This is a Custom Link Text

As this is a writing platform, we do not allow Image and Video uploads. However using the link feature you can embed Images and Videos using the link syntax.

for an image, You need to use the link syntax followed by an Exclamation mark (!). The syntax is as followed:

![Image of a cycle](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1689085383708-8d62ccea8035)

Which will render as

Another example could be:

![Alt Text](https://i.imgur.com/nnmcBLe.jpeg)

The Alt-Text here exists as an accessible feature. In case the images do not load, or a blind person is navigating the website, they have a context of what is being shown.

To use images, you need to upload your images on imgur or imgbb or unsplash or similar photo hosting services that allow you to open your images separately on a new tab. You need to copy the link address to the separate image tab to use the image. Markdown images are rendered directly from the file, so you need to put in the correct address in the link. Otherwise the images will not render. We know this is an issue. We will implement a separate image sharing service in the near future if everything goes okay.

Videos are added as an embed link. You can't really add them as a regular link and it uses html. You can embed any video from YouTube as long as they are public. Here is a video about the Fediverse:

In YouTube you can click on the share button and copy the embed link and just paste it as html code just like the example below.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pX_agVMr2r0" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Quotes

Quotes or most commonly known as blockquotes can be created by using the greater than (>) symbol with followed by a space.

> This is a block quote

This is a block quote

Press Enter twice to get out of the block quote editor. You can also nest quotes within quotes.

Code Blocks

To showcase codes or functions, we use the backtick (`) symbol. To showcase an inline code, we use triple backticks. These are also open ended like the emphatic syntax, so you need to close them. Example is as follows:

` ` ` This is a code block ` ` `

Which will be rendered as follows:

this is a code block

I have been using code blocks to showcase markdown syntaxes this whole time. Except the code block example itself. I nullified the syntax effect by adding a Forward Slash (\) before each of the backticks.

Tables

You can create tables by using vertical bars (|) to separate columns and hyphens (–) for the header row. For example:

| Name     | Number | Details  |
|----------|-----|-------------|
| AAAA     | 30  | Poet        |
| BBBBB    | 25  | Designer    |
| CCCCC    | 10  | Writer      |

Name	Number	Details
AAAA	30	Poet
BBBBB	25	Designer
CCCCC	10	Writer

You can also align the tables with the colons (:) as shown below

| Left Alignment | Center Alignment | Right Alignment |
|:---------------|:----------------:|----------------:|
| AAAA           | 30               | Poet            |
| BBBBB          | 25               | Designer        |
| CCCCC          | 10               | Writer          |

Left Alignment	Center Alignment	Right Alignment
AAAA	30	Poet
BBBBB	25	Designer
CCCCC	10	Writer

Footnotes

Footnotes let you add additional information or references. To create a footnote, use square brackets with a caret (^) and a unique identifier, then place the content at the bottom of the document using the same identifier inside square brackets. Here's an example:

Here is some text with a footnote[^1].

[^1]: This is the footnote content.

Here is some text with a footnote[^1].

[^1]: This is the footnote content.

You can also add links in the footnotes like below:

Here is a footnote with a link[^1].

[^1]: This is the footnote content with a [link](https://www.daxayoni.com).

Here is a footnote with a link[^1].

[^1]: This is the footnote content with a link.

Conclusion

For regular writing you would not need more than a few syntaxes. The blog is designed for a distraction free writing experience. Formatting follows the same principle. By being able to format text while typing without using any specialized menu will make some of your writing experience better and minimal. I can't wait to see what sort of things you’ll write.