it's frustrating that it's come to this, but this might be the closest thing i can get to actionable evidence in a situation where a landlord smokes inside with the doors closed and the blinds drawn, and then lies about it when confronted about it.

i think these are the first pictures of me that i've published anywhere since about 2017. these are my 40 year-old, very skinny, totally unfake and makeupless lips:

do you see the red rash around my lips?

what's happening there is called contact dermatitis, and is essentially an allergic reaction to second-hand smoke. and, i know that because i went through it for much of my early childhood over and over. i used to have to go to school looking like that every day, due to my mother's smoking habits. it's in exactly the same spot (when i was a kid, it was often more widespread) and is exactly the same rash, triggered by exactly the same process.

for whatever reason, it doesn't happen when i smoke outside - it's exclusively a reaction to second-hand smoke.

so, i can complain about migraines, and i can hack and wheeze. and i can get overwhelmed by the stench and puke, but so long as he just lies about it, there's nothing i can really do.

if i break out into a rash, though, i can present that as evidence - and, then, everything else becomes actionable, too.

obviously, i don't like the rash. but, it might be a blessing in disguise in a case where i've been trying to generate evidence for, literally, years, and can't.