Julia Blystone

Got a little emotional this week corememory.com/p/can-californ…

Very exciting to see advocacy groups getting behind the East Solano Plan. I was sold even before I read the entire thing, but I'm always into normalizing the process of careful, iterative, and continuous construction of beautiful places for people to exist. I believe Solano will be a blueprint for better-informed infill development and redevelopment of all of California's cities. My city has about 3500 structures and a current mean replacement time of 300+ years. This is unsustainable, as most of the 1950s era homes will be rebuilt in the next couple of decades, hopefully informed by Solano's successful example.

"It is a win for the Bay Area, it is a win for California, and it is a win for America because the innovation engine here is special." Jan Sramek shared an exclusive glimpse of California Forever at #BloombergTech

"The governance is democracy, correct?" @KaraSwisher had some questions for California Forever CEO Jan Sramek about his company's plans for a new community in Solano County. Listen to the full interview on our latest episode.

@ptr This, and you, are beautiful!❤️ Thank you for sharing your story, Tess🤗

It has been a busy few months! Somehow, I find myself with one more bit of news: I am transgender, and I'm in the middle of a gender transition. 🏳️‍⚧️ I am changing my name to Tess (she/her). I am out at home and at work and now you know, too. That's the gist. If the story interests you, more below. [If you are having a 🤯 moment, that's totally normal! I'll wait. :)] Alright so... this is news for most people in my life, but it isn't for me. It's something I have struggled with deeply for over 25 years, mostly in denial of what it was and what it meant. As a kid I struggled with shyness and social anxiety. I learned to hide parts of me and fake others so I could fit in. Not just thoughts about gender, but also things like being a nerd, anything I worried made me weird or strange or unlovable. It's a kind of mask that I wore, consciously at first, but increasingly invisible even to me. As I approached 40 last year, I found myself gaining the bravery to interrogate these feelings, educate myself about them, and take steps to be happier, calmer, and more present for the people who matter most in my life, starting with my amazing wife and wonderful kids. I don't know exactly what untangled this web of thoughts for me. My best guess is I got to a point in my life where I could breathe and reflect and for the first time ever, worry less about achieving in the eyes of others. I have gained a lot of strength over the last many months. In spite of all that, the truth is that writing this, and posting it here, is an incredibly scary thing. I've come to see my professional network as a kind of consolation prize for suppressing parts of me I thought the world might judge, things that would prevent me from achieving a career I was proud of or building a family I could love and care for. The thing with consolation prizes is they mean you didn't get what you were hoping for, and I realize now that the thing I missed out on was being myself, openly and without fear, or at least with courage and bravery. In the back of my mind in nearly every social interaction in my life has been this lurking question, "What if they knew?" Would they still like me? Respect me? Want to work with or for me? I hid from the answers to those questions. That path served me for a time, but the healthier path, the one I am choosing, is to say: Be who you are. Let people come into or out of your life of their own accord. These days I don't have to ask "What if they knew?" anymore around the house or at work or with my friends, and by telling you all, I don't have to ask that here, either. It's a special kind of peace I never thought possible. It's going to be hard to believe this, but I promise, it's true: while the news sounds huge and life defining, it's quite the opposite. I carried this inside me and I'm finally setting it down. Yes I look different, and that will play out more over time. Yes I am changing my name. But the thoughts were always there, the secret strain on my life was always there. I'm free of that, now, and with that comes a lightness that far exceeds the awkwardness you might imagine I feel. Truly, and I mean this: things are easier for me now. As complex as this whole thing seems from the outside, it is deeply, profoundly simplifying on the inside. I am at peace. Thanks for listening. If you made it this far, I'm flattered. I write all of this partly for catharsis, but it serves another more important role. Product Management, and especially product leadership, has near zero trans representation. At times I wonder if seeing others like me live openly would have helped me when I was suffering. Perhaps I would have figured myself out a bit sooner. Regardless, I feel compelled to speak up and out and to be that representation for others. Living openly and showing people like me that it is going to be okay helps me forgive myself for many years of confusion, fear, and shame. And if this note resonates with you in any way and you want to talk about it, my DMs are open anytime. Hang in there; it gets better. 💜

I spent the last few weeks studying plans for the new city between SF & Sacramento proposed by @CAForever As a California native, I've never been more captivated by a vision for my home state in my lifetime Here's a series documeting what I've learned: devonzuegel.com/post/the-new-c…

@emilychangtv Congratulations! And thank you for everything you've done.

1) After 12 years sitting in the Bloomberg Technology anchor chair, I’m starting a new chapter -- and I’m so excited to finally share it with all of you….

@aunder @amtrekker To be clear, it is not the milk but the FROTHING that pains me

@amtrekker I did not know we have this in common. Alerting @j_blystone

I thought I was an Earl Grey with a little bit of cream fan, but I'm starting to think maybe I'm just a hot milk water fan?

@GIEDIIPRIME #MINO

Next adventure: @nearby with the amazing @aunder - can't wait! ✨

Closing the book on 6+ years @slackhq. It has been the most extraordinary privilege to be here — the work I got to do and the friends I made along the way. Profoundly grateful to @stewart and @iamcal for the opportunity and to @wennmachers for opening the door for me. ❤️

My dad interviewing Cookie Monster for the AP (NYC 1971)

I interviewed former #slack & #twitter executive @aunder on her journey as a first time founder & how she met and hired her first employee through Twitter DM. Her new startup @LocalLaboratory aims to save small retailers in the #oakland area. businessinsider.com/how-april-unde…

My son Sean has had 10+ seizures in the past couple of weeks. We're struggling to get to a good dosage of meds. I'm so angry & so sad. I'm supposed to be his protector... If anyone with cerebral palsy & epilepsy sees this tweet please let me know what's working for you. RT plz

@aunder ❤️❤️❤️

This is my PR partner @j_blystone, who for the past 3.5 years has taught me everything I know about doing press, cheered me on from the front row, saved me from walking onstage with undergarments showing & even blood on my leg. And I need someone looking out for me still! 💖

Richard Blystone: the poet laureate of network news @CNNI cnn.it/2qHpbuA

US Coast Guard reports large island spotted in mid-Atlantic, spinning slowly and listing dangerously to starboard.

The New York Times liveblogged last night’s GOP debate directly from Slack nie.mn/1eY1cit via @NiemanLab