I’m shocked it was not Grady Judd (the sheriff). He is a piece of work.

The library lends e-books, I have had good luck with their selections. I try not to buy books and still end up with more of them than I want. Mostly because I like graphic novels on paper.

Ok I read this and did like it quite a bit but don’t think this author has ever met a living woman. The action was great and the characters mostly also, the men and vampires, but oh, painful to read the female characters. Always mothering, or falling apart, or providing a drink, administrative assistant.

Overall though - enjoyed it and thank you!

I think any story that has so much inner dialogue, thinking, tripping, and goes on for 6 volumes is impossible to communicate in the medium of film, but I loved these movies just because they were visually stunning, and the story kept my interest. I don’t think you will feel like your time was wasted, just accept the film is its own thing, and be entertained.

He’s an idiot but the line going up before a crash is what happens, right? Like the housing market - my shithole house bought for under $40k in the 90s was allegedly worth $300k in the housing bubble, then it crashed. So now someone is trying to sell it for more than half a million (improved) and, as a layperson that makes me expect a crash.

But not like he could prevent it, WTF? Possibly a real democratic agenda could blunt the effects though, a New Deal again. All the right would do is make it worse.

Maybe. I’m not in that age group and the women that age who I know do not express any desire to be approached randomly. But I think it’s always going to feel odd to be asked out by someone you don’t know, and maybe there’s a disconnect between who they might want to be doing the asking, and who is.

I will agree our society is missing both physical non-sexual connection (hugging, etc) and good conversation that might lead to connection, small talk is a skill not a talent. But the answer is NEVER to impose these things on an unwilling participant. So one of the skills that need to be taught is discernment or empathy - being aware of the people around you, reading the signals. Listening, not just talking in what you think is a generic respectful way.

Well then, what are we waiting for? Let’s go visit Alpha Centauri!

You sold me, I am getting a used copy of this book.

Location, location, Location. And a reasonable layout.

That is some crazyhouse decor, hopefully it doesn’t come furnished.

A Welchman?

4,000 square feet for $169K? For that price you could renovate the inside, and for a rectangular box it has some interesting angles going on.

That is pretty funny, actually. It’s such an old-timey insult. He is basically calling them spinsters. I can’t imagine this will catch on.

The Republican position is that race should not be a factor in hiring decisions

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! The party of cronyism and nepotism, the least diverse political party? Really?

I actually thought that too when I was little. That if you weren’t pregnant you were on your period. Not by the time I got mine though.

Who decides what is “real” though, if it’s not the person in the body? So someone says they are a boy, but the MRI says nope, you are wrong, you are a girl through and through.

What if I am a cis woman and have a mind that works more like a guy’s mind? But if I still am comfortable and happy in my woman’s body, who cares how my mind works? Nobody, that’s who. Why would trans people not get the same consideration?

I just don’t think it makes sense to use tech to invalidate someone’s experience, and it’s just not anyone’s business if someone wants a different body. My sister got big fake boobs, nobody said “well, you don’t have a body that matches the boobs” they just gave her what she asked for and paid for. Why can’t a man do that if he wants? Why does he have to prove he’s a woman first?

None of that makes sense to me.

I can’t imagine a school that would teach only 5 literature books, my kids did more than that EACH year and even the terrible incomplete education I got in K-12 here when we were the bottom of the barrel state in the bottom of the barrel nation in terms of education involved more than 5 books a year.

My kid who dislikes reading and wants to go into trades, even that kid has read more than 5 books voluntarily outside of school, and certainly more than 60 in the course of their education so far. I can’t imagine all of them being boring - I read some of them too, if my kids recommended them to me - Brodek’s Report was one I remember reading after my kid had to buy it for school, it was so good.

I just thought your " I read books, five of them at least" had to be a joke. If my kids here in the state of Florida have to do more, I can’t imagine any educational system requiring only a few.

5?

OK you have to be trolling.

Well, if you mean literally, a little boredom is good for the brain.

If you mean why should we strive to make kids have a good vocabulary, it’s so that they can communicate with others and be able to understand the world better.

If you mean why should we strive to make kids appreciate art, it’s because art is good for kids’ brains, for everyone’s brains.

If you just mean you can’t force all kids to be into the same things, yes, I agree. But all should learn math, reading at an adult level, comfortably, sciences, art of some sort, and physical education of some sort.

You aren’t better off just always doing what comes easy to you. Forcing your mind and body to do things that are difficult is what makes you stronger and smarter. The learning difficult books that you disdain so thoroughly will make it both easier and more fun to read, eventually, but also just trains your mind to handle language better.

Honestly I would like to try microdosing LSD, not mushrooms. Something that can be measured, and my youthful experience with these, the tripping is more comfortable/happy/open.

Also it’s the only drug I’d ever try again as far as recreational drugs go. Well, I tried cannabis but hated the high, so I guess not the only one but the only remaining one that I would like to try again. In particular the very, very minimal microdosing but might be willing to also trip. Since I am hella respectable now, too many degrees away from being able to get the drug, especially in a format I could divide up to microdose, not sure it will ever be possible. But other than the legal considerations leading to lack of access nothing else makes me not want to - other drugs I think physically unhealthy or bad for your cognition as you age, or too addictive. I don’t have those concerns about LSD. I think, like coffee it’s more likely to protect your thinking in the long run, and certainly almost nobody wants to trip often.

I got a new laptop at work and everything, every file I worked in, was creating a second copy of itself on OneDrive. It was so annoying and took awhile but I found instructions on deleting the duplicates.

It took all the files off my local machine and left the ones on OneDrive.

Aaaargh!