My Two Lives

Star-spangled shirts and bags are here!

June 27, 2025

Last week, I wrote that I would be releasing some star-spangled items for the 4th of July, and I’ve created some patriotic shirts and bags to celebrate our nation’s 249th birthday. I meant to publish this earlier this week, but a heat wave in Boston forced me to spend some time away from my computer.

Unisex Stars & Stripes T-Shirt

The Unisex Stars & Stripes tee is a white T-shirt with a field of stars on the right sleeve and red and white stripes on the left sleeve. Show your love for your country and your love for those the government doesn’t always love.

Americana Tote Bag

This tote is not only roomy, but it’s also a great way to show that you love America, as well as those often hated by those who love to wrap themselves in the flag.

The Black Trans Lives Matter and Palestinian products are benefit items

I don’t want to make any money off of other people’s suffering. The proceeds of every product with the Black Trans Lives Matter design benefit the Marsha P. Johnson Institute. It was harder trying to find a charity for the designs supporting Palestinian civilians was harder, but I selected a Chuffed campaign that benefits the children of Kahn Younis, Gaza, to get the proceeds of every product that features a Palestinian flag.

Don’t wait too long to place your order

You can get 20% off your entire order from 26-30 June but don’t wait too long. As of today (Friday, 27 June), if you want something with regular shipping, it will arrive after the 4th of July. The best way to guarantee that you’ll get your order before the 4th of July you’ll need to get express shipping.

Spreadshirt has a page with shipping time and cost information that is constantly updated with the current information for where your order will be delivered.

These star-spangled items are only available for a limited time

I rarely opt for waving the flag due to how the far right has weaponized Patriotism. With all the laws being put through against people who are different from them, I think it’s important for us to show that we love our country, too. But these star-spangled products will only be available until Sunday, 6 July, and I can’t promise that they’ll be available again next year.

Check out all of the products in the My Two Lives Spreadshirt shop.

My four LGBTQ+ Pride designs that have been updated for 2025: Legislate, a new version of the Legislate design with the Transgender pride flag, Viva La Queer, and Black Trans Lives Matter

My Pride merch has been updated

June 20, 2025

The LGBTQ+ Pride merch has been updated in my online store. I missed some of the Pride celebrations, but Pride is really all year long, so I don’t feel like I’m too late to release the products. Since the Supreme Court handed down its ruling against trans people in Tennessee, it’s more important than ever to stand up for trans people.

I’ve pared back on how many things I sell

As I was updating the store with new designs, I realized I had way too many different items to choose from. Some designs had 70 different items, but now there are under 30 items for each design. I’ve added cuddle animals to most designs, although the teddy bears are out of stock at the moment.

I’ve also created bumper stickers for some of my designs, and those particular versions of the designs are only available as stickers and bumper stickers.

New Legislate merch

I updated the Legislate design for this year’s Pride Month. This is a design that can be worn year-round in the wake of the Supreme Court decision. I’ve also added a second version that has the Transgender Pride flag.

Updated Viva La Queer and Black Trans Lives Matter designs

I’ve come to realize that the text on my Viva La Queer and Black Trans Lives Matter designs may be hard to read on the Pride flags. I’ve changed the designs to have white text, and you can get them on a wide variety of products. As always, all proceeds from the Black Trans Lives Matter products will go to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute.

There’s also a brand new design in the shop

Back during the COVID lockdown, I saw a picture of a woman wearing a shirt that questioned their choice to not protect themselves (and others) by wearing a mask versus owning a gun. I’ve been wanting to make a T-shirt with that on it, and I’ve finally made the Mask Gun design. I know there are several versions you can buy online, but mine stays close to the original design I saw. I also have it on some non-apparel items.

Is there a different product you’d like me to sell

Spreadshirt, my merchandise partner, has beaucoup products available. It was hard to pick just what items my designs go on, but I don’t want to overwhelm you with choices. If there’s something you want to buy something on, drop me a note and I’ll see what I can do. I can’t sell something they don’t offer, but if something is available, I’ll add it to my product selection.

Can you catch the sales?

Spreadshirt has sales going on all the time. As I write this, you can get 10% off on 3 or more products through the end of the month. The best way to is there’s this sale on is to check the banner at the top of every page of the store.

4th of July merch is coming

I don’t usually do patriotic merch because American Pride has been taken over by the political right. I hate what they’ve done to patriotism, so I tend to stay away from those themes. I’m about to change that for the 4th of July.

In the coming days, you can find some of my designs on star-spangled products. Those products will only be available through 6 July, so watch for the announcement that they’re available. You won’t be able to get them again until next year, and I’m not going to promise they’ll be back then.

More designs are in the works

I’ve taken down the Be Honest Everywhere designs for the time being, and I have some more designs in development. I’ll also be changing my product lineup as the seasons change.

I’ll announce the changes here, so you may want to watch the site. I’ll be adding a way to subscribe to get updates about the site, and when I get it set up, I’ll be announcing it here and on Bluesky.

Stay cool out there

We keep having new hottest summers on record, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see this summer break records. Stay as cool as you can, and make sure you stay hydrated. And with all the diseases going around, please consider making up. It will not only protect you, but it can also protect your loved ones.

And when you can, stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves. Make sure they know that they’re not alone out there, whether they have the wrong skin color, the wrong sexual preferences, are in the wrong body, or have the wrong faith. As we say back in the South, y’all means ALL.

Check out all the new LGBTQ+ Pride Merch in the My Two Lives Spreadshirt shop.

Designs in the My Two Lives Palestinian Civilians collection: Never again, Palestinian Lives Matter flag, and BLM Palestinian Lives Matter

Some MTL products now support a Palestine children’s charity

May 29, 2025

Last year, I began creating my Palestinian Civilians collection of products to support children in Palestine. Since there hadn’t been any sales yet, I hadn’t selected what charity to support with the sales. Thanks to someone on the ground in Gaza, I am able to announce which Palestine children’s charity is supported by your purchases.

A Chuffed campaign has been created to help the children of Kahn Younis, Gaza, and all the proceeds of my Palestinean Civilians collection of products will go to that campaign.

There are now 3 designs that help the children in Gaza

You can already find my BLM Palestinian Lives Matter and Palestinian Lives Matter flag designs in the My Two Lives Spreadhirt shop, and today I added my Never Again design. The new design says that genocide should never happen again for anybody with the flags of Israel and Palestine.

While the Never Again design is currently available on accessories (bags, hats, stickers, and more), the other two designs are also available on apparel. I’ll be expanding the product line for the Never Again design soon, so watch the store for when new items drop.

Why support the children of Gaza by buying my merch?

I needed a way to stand with the people of Palestine as their homes are being destroyed and humanitarian aid keeps getting blocked from the people who need it. Every penny that I earn from these products will go to the Palestine children’s charity to support the children in Gaza. Since I partnered with Spreadshirt, I know the products are of great quality. I also know that their customer service is excellent. I ordered a gift for someone but had it sent to the wrong address. Spreadshirt redid the order and sent it to the right address at no extra charge to me, and the person I sent it to loved it.

If you care about the children in Gaza, join me in helping them

If you want to help the children without making a purchase, you can give directly to the Chuffed campaign. Every little bit helps as children are dying without our help.

Shop the Palestinean Civilians collection in the My Two Lives Spreadshirt shop.

Screenshot of the Legislate products in the My Two Lives Spreashirt store.

The Legislate tee is here!

May 19, 2025

Two years ago, I created an LGBTQ+ Pride design for Nanci’s Naughties, my Second Life t-shirt store. It said, “You Can’t Legislate Us Out of Existence.” The Second Life tees weren’t good enough to sell, but I did make the design available in my real-life t-shirt store. The original version was dated for Pride 2023, and I didn’t get it updated in time for last year. The new Legislate tee is here!

The design is on 38 products in the My Two Lives Spreadshirt shop, including shirts, drinkware, totes, magnets, and buttons. There’s even a teddy bear, but it’s currently out of stock

Why buy my Spreadshirt products?

Spreadshirt shop products are printed to order and shipped as quickly as possible. There will be several promotions to help you save money as you get ready for Pride month.

The quality of the items is so good that I’ve also given some as gifts. If there’s a problem, the customer service is top-notch. I misordered one of the gifts. I contacted Spreadshirt to see how I could fix my error, they made the item and shipped it out at no charge.

I’m updating my store to put some of my designs on more items. As I do, some of my Nanci’s Naughties designs will become available in the My Two Lives shop. It will take some time, but if you see a design you’d like on a different item, just let me know, and I’ll see what I can do.

I will try and get the updated Legislate design on tees in Second Life, but it will take some time as I still haven’t learned Blender. Since I’ve started wearing the Prima Busty mesh body, I won’t sell any new shirts until I can sell versions for the mesh body I wear.

Check out all of the new Legislate products in the My Two Lives Spreadshirt shop.

Preview of the new Pride Lanes Bowling Center website

The Pride Lanes website has moved the site to a new server

May 10, 2025

This month, the domain name for the Pride Lanes Bowling Center website came up for renewal. The site isn’t getting enough traffic to justify the expense of the domain name, so I moved the site to a new server as a subdomain of NancisNaughties.com, the domain for my Second Life store, Nanci’s Naughties.

I also discovered that I had never updated the site for the expanded Pride Lanes that opened in September 2024. The new website has been completely updated for the new space. There are now six lanes rather than four, a full concession stand, and not one but two bars for when you want a virtual adult beverage.

There is also a dance floor for when you just wanna dance. There are built-in dance animations or you can use your own. If the parcel music from WWOZ in New Orleans isn’t what you want to dance to, you can feel free to fire up any other music to dance to, although you won’t be able to replace the parcel media with it.

The arcade area originally had several games you could play, but most of them were removed due to the creator of the games using AI. I prefer using objects and gadgets created by real people, and I’m on the lookout for more games to put out at Pride Lanes.

Pride Lanes now has its own house bowling balls that you can get to use at Pride Lanes and other bowling centers that use the Bergson Bowing System. I have another ball design I’m working on, but it’s not ready to be shared yet.

You can find the brand new Pride Lanes Bowling Center website at pridelanes.nancisnaughties.com. Check out the new website and grab a taxi to Pride Lanes Bowling Center in Second Life. You may find it’s a great place for you and your friends to visit.

C’est fini!

April 15, 2025

Transbian Studio has been quite busy over the last few weeks. My parody song, PM Carney’s Song, has been completed and is now available on YouTube.

For those who haven’t heard, I’ve finally put together a home recording studio, which I’ve named Transbian Studio. The name describes the place pretty well since I’m a transbian (transgender lesbian) and it’s my project recording studio.

The genesis of the song

While not the first project at Transbian Studio, PM Carney’s Song is the first to be completed. As I said last week, after Dear Leader (POTUS) declared himself a king, my mind immediately went to King Herod’s Song (Try It And See). The end of the song from, Jesus Christ Superstar, has Herod tell Jesus,

You’re a joke, you’re not the Lord
You are nothing but a fraud!

Over the next couple of weeks, the lyrics took shape. Mark Carney, the new prime minister of Canada, ended up being the perfect person to sing them.

I considered getting a karaoke file to record and share with a few friends. However, I found that Karaoke Version offers professional backing tracks for purchase. They also have a non-commercial license that allows me to share the song here and on social media.

Recording the vocals

I worked in a professional recording studio in New Orleans, but that was back in the early 80s. As I recorded vocals in my home studio, a problem cropped up. I had to find the best way to record vocals in my home studio. After some trial and error, I got a vocal take I was happy with. While the final vocal track isn’t perfect, it uses no autotune or other digital trickery.

Next up

I still need to work on Somewhere Someone Cares, and I have another song that’s in the works. Now that I have Carney completed, I have a better feel for the workflow in the studio and will get back to laying down tracks for Somewhere.

The other song in the works is a repurposing of the music I wrote for another song. It was originally a Christian rock song, but since I’m no longer a churchgoer, I’m not comfortable with doing anything with the original lyrics. The melody for the intro and the hook wouldn’t let me go, so I’ve come up with a chorus for a song that will celebrate the LGBTQ+ community in the time that we find ourselves in. I’ll share more about that song as I get it ready to record.

I hope to get Somewhere finished and released by mid-May, but I had originally penciled in a release date of last May when I started putting together the studio. The song should be out no later than this summer, though. I need it finished so I can work on other songs that are</span> bouncing around in my brain.

May the April showers not wash you down the road, and may the May flowers brighten your days without making your allergies flare up too badly.

Where’s the music, JM?

April 10, 2025

In January, I said that Transbian Studio was back in operation. It’s now April, and I haven’t posted any music. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been working on it.

I’ve set up Ardour and laid down some MIDI drums for Somewhere Someone Cares. But my folding keyboard got wonky while laying down more tracks. I tried to get it serviced before the warranty expired but could never find out where to bring it.

Momma needs new keys

My music needs a keyboard to record it. I ultimately gave up on repairing the old keyboard and bought a used M-Audio Keystation 49es MIDI controller. It’s my first proper MIDI keyboard with a touch-sensitive keyboard and pitch bend and modulation wheels. Musician’s Friend had it for a sweet price, and it’s just what I needed to create music. I already had a virtual Hammond B-3 organ, and I found a great virtual piano for recording piano tracks. But Somewhere Someone Cares needs a synth with a nice chimey piano sound. I discovered Dexed, an open-source virtual Yamaha DX7, along with hundreds of patches (sounds). I’m still going through the virtual cartridges to see what all the sounds are, but I’ve found several possibilities.

But first…

Photo of me recording vocal tracks for “PM Carney’s Song”

America’s chief executive officer decided to make himself a king, even though our Constitution clearly states that the founders rejected the possibility of having one. I’ve long been a fan of the musical Jesus Christ Superstar, and one of my favorite songs is King Herod’s Song (Try It And See). I saw huge possibilities for a parody dedicated to the politician I refer to as Dear Leader, and over a couple of weeks the lyrics took shape.

Next up was to figure out who would be singing it. British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was a possibility but he’s too far away. Canada’s Justin Trudeau was a thought, but he had already stepped down. When I saw Mark Carney make his first speech as prime minister, I knew who would be doing the singing. Besides being our northern neighbor, the US tariffs made Carney the perfect casting.

I considered grabbing a karaoke track of the song for a limited release, and I discovered a way to get a proper backing track with a non-commercial license that lets me post the finished song on social media.

It’s taken several takes to get a vocal track I can live with, and I may still do one more take to fix a couple of vocal issues. Once I have a final mix, I plan to post the song here and on Bluesky before the day I call Bunny Day. After singing my own music off and on since the 80s, I’ll finally have a song released publicly.

What about the cat pictures?

I apologize for dropping the ball on posting pictures of Chuck and his litter mates. Life through too many things on my plate and I wasn’t able to get back to them.

Chuck is now a ten-month-old big boi weighing in at 12 pounds. He’s outgrown his second harness, but I have a harness that fits him better for when I can let him enjoy the backyard. Now I’m just waiting for another warm enough day for us to spend some time outside.

Spring’s here!

The weather doesn’t always show it, but spring has arrived, and I have several things in various stages of creation to share with y’all. I’ll be updating the product list for my two Spreadshirt shops, and I’ll be updating my Legislation tee for Pride 2025. I’ll be posting updates on my real-life merch as soon as I have them.

A quick note about the Pride Lanes Bowling Center

Unfortunately, I’m taking the website for the Pride Lanes Bowling Center in Second Life offline. The center itself isn’t going anywhere, but the website doesn’t get enough traffic to justify the time and expense it takes to update the site (and the site itself is way overdue for an update). I haven’t decided where the content about the center will be going, but it will be going somewhere.

Have a happy spring, y’all. I know our country is getting downright hostile to folks who aren’t straight, white, and wealthy, but we’re not going to bury our heads in the sand and wait for the next election. Hang in there, and do what you can to stand up for your rights, healthcare, and economy.

Transbian Studio is back

January 15, 2025

When we last left Transbian Studio, the studio monitors had come in, but the studio’s been dark for almost half a year. That changed this week, and Transbian Studio is back with some great news.

Houston, we had a problem.

Not long after the studio monitors arrived, I learned there were some issues with how my laptop was funded. While there was nothing illegal, some details were overlooked. As a result, I had to surrender my System76 Darter Pro laptop. I’ve been assured it will be replaced, although not with the same class of machine.

As a result, I have to admit that I haven’t worked on my music much lately. It’s hard to keep motivated to work on music when you don’t know when you can start laying down tracks for original songs again. Especially when you don’t plan on performing the songs live.

We’re back!

I had packed away the speakers and interface for the studio to prevent them from sitting unused on my desk. However, I realized that keeping them on my desk would serve as a better motivation to work on my songs. It turns out I was correct.

Last year, I started creating tracks using the Hydrogen drum machine and the Rosegarden digital audio workstation (DAW). After getting my new laptop, I decided to start fresh with the Ardour DAW. One important step was to connect my Carry-On Folding Piano 49 so that I could play the drum tracks on it. I wanted to use MIDI to trigger a sampled drum kit instead of programming the tracks with a mouse. This required learning some new configuration techniques.

Yesterday, I created a new project in Ardour and set up a MIDI track using the DrumGizmo Crocell drum kit. It took me some time to get everything configured, but I successfully recorded a drum track using my piano. I successfully created a 15-bar sequence using kick, hi-hat, and snare sounds. I need to tighten up a few parts and correct some wrong notes, but overall, it’s a decent first attempt at creating a MIDI drum track with a keyboard.

Say hello to my little friend.

I would like to introduce version 2 of Transbian Studio. While it’s not a fast system, and I’m uncertain how it will handle playing multiple MIDI tracks simultaneously, along with guitar and vocal tracks, it feels wonderful to be able to create music again. Even though the process is slower than a giant tortoise, I’m hopeful that I might have some shareable mixes ready by the time I qualify for Medicare in about three months.

Please excuse the cluttered desk. It’s my main work area, so there’s a mix of almost everything on it. As Albert Einstein supposedly said, a cluttered desk is a clear sign of a [supposedly] brilliant mind.

I’m back on social media

January 13, 2025

I was given the boot by a social media platform (which I won’t name) a couple of years ago for my support of the civilians in Palestine. Since then, I’ve been off social media other than YouTube, which I honestly don’t consider to be social media like the other platforms. I’m on Discord, but that’s for my doings on Second Life.

I left Facebook and Instagram several years ago when I got sick of all the hate. That was before Cambridge Analytica attempted to influence the 2012 and 2014 U.S. federal elections. Facebook should have been penalized severely for permitting it to occur on their platforms. I had been on Twitter until the day the board agreed to sell to someone who seems to want to run governments but has zaro interest in ever putting his name on a ballot.

Hello, Bluesky

I had heard of Bluesky, but it was co-founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, who has a reputation for being a jerk. I’ve seen a lot of folks on Second Life had moved to Bluesky, and I decided it was time to consider joining myself. It turns out Jack left Bluesky last year, saying people should stay on X, which to me proves what an arsehole he is.

Since Jack left, I joined Bluesky and have already found several people I knew from the bird site before it turned into a right-wing nightmare. There are also a lot of Second Life folks over there. LGBTQ+ individuals are warmly welcomed on Bluesky, which is one of the best aspects of the platform. If you truly care about the people affected by the wildfires in the LA area, you’ll discover that there are others who share that concern. This includes those who oppose the idea that federal aid, if it is provided, should be contingent on the state agreeing to the GOP’s harmful policies.

If you’re searching for a good social media platform, consider giving Bluesky a try. There is no algorithm determining what you see, and while haters may not be removed immediately, they quickly understand they are unwelcome in the realm of the blue butterfly.

If you join Bluesky, or are already there, look me up. I’m @jmhardin.bsky.social.

Chuck on the back porch, checking out the white stuff we call "snow."

Chuck, meet snow

January 4, 2025

Last January, my upstairs neighbor’s cat, Babe, experienced snow for the first time and wanted nothing to do with it. Last month, we got some nice snow in Boston, and I introduced Babe’s son Chuck to the white stuff. His reaction was completely different.

I shot a half-hour of Chuck enjoying his time in the snow-covered backyard, and I need to edit it down. I plan to create a comparison video of the two cats’ reactions to the snow and a longer video featuring Snowy Chuck. Until I can get those edited and on YouTube, here’s a short clip of Chuck’s initial reaction when he got into the backyard.

The music is Dave “Baby” Cortez’s cover of Bent Fabric’s song “Alley Cat.”