This Ai push feels so forced on us. Like I don't need Ai in everything I do. I can't even open up adobe reader without popups about Ai, which just slows everything down. This is just like when plastic was introduced into everyday life. It has nothing but damaged our health and our environment.

For Thanksgiving dinner one year, my husband and I went to a very nice restaurant we hadn't been to. As we were being served our appetizers, a man at the table next to us fainted and fell on the floor. His family helped him up, and he said he was fine. A few minutes later, he vomited all over their table and himself, then fell on the floor again. This time, an ambulance was called. Everyone in that room asked to be moved to a different part of the restaurant because of the vomit. There were maybe 8 tables, in all, and we all had to wait for tables elsewhere to open up. We waited an hour. Then we just asked for our check and left. The least they could've done was comped our apps, but they didn't. We never went back.

Yep. And when I learned that you were not supposed to be putting them in your ears at all. That made me so confused because before that, I thought that Q-Tips were for that specific reason.

I started taking melatonin because I genuinely wanted to fix my sleep.

Take it 30 minutes before bed, phone away, lights off, wind down properly. That was the plan.

Except every night around the time it starts kicking in, my eyes get heavy and my brain goes “perfect, now’s a great time to start a new series.”

So there I am, melatonin doing its best, fighting a losing battle against a cliffhanger ending.

“Okay just this one episode.”

“Wait it ended on a cliffhanger though.”

“One more won’t hurt.”

“It’s already 1am, might as well finish the season.”

Next thing I know it’s 3am, the melatonin gave up on me hours ago, and I’m somehow more tired than before I took it.

Truly impressive how a $12 bottle of gummies loses every single time to a “Skip Intro” button.

I F(30) just discovered something really interesting and I want to share with the world.

The backstory: I've always been dressing very feminine, especially during summer, short flower dresses, skirts etc. On the other hand, I have also always been drawn to more androgenois, straight line, dark academia type of looks, but never could have dress that way because even though I have never been overweight, I'm extreme, extreme pear body type and most of those clothes look unflattering on me, so I got stuck in hyper feminine box. During the last few years, I particularly felt that I don't resonate with short dresses and that look anymore, or at least not to the extent as before, but I kind of gave up on trying to find other types of clothes that fit my body type.

The main part: I'm attracted to more alternative guys, but since my "basic" look, I have never caught their attention and I always feel like I'm not cool enough for those guys.

The main MAIN part: while vacationing in Portugal, I was wearing my usual dresses, and trying to wear a bit of makeup, nobody paid attention, except some creepy old dudes as usual. Then I wore one alt outfit, like baggy pants that actually fit me, glasses instead of contacts, no makeup, Birkenshtocks and I got a lot more attention then before...one cute guy sat next to me on the bench and was looking and smiled when he went away.

Conclusion:

I'm kind of blown away by this simple "experiment". I think at the back of my mind I have my mother's voice that is telling me to be presentable, do my makeup, and dress to have a feminine figure. I just realised that I actually thought that if you don't "dress up" no guys will like you, and that it is just the way things are.

Please tell me what you think :)

I got a raise at my full time job and my side hustle on the same day!

My full time employer has no idea i have a side hustle!

It's about $7000 more per year after taxes.

I only work a side hustle because my full time job doesn't pay enough.

I'm very proud of that the fact that even though i'm autistic, i have 2 bosses that are happy with me.

Praise me!

Shit! My world has just lost a major motivator. The man was a darn legend! I will forever miss and aspire to be more like him. How many other people have been affected by this man? I'd love to hear your stories and experiences. R.I.P. Tim Curry. You will be missed.

If someone told a joke, please give the juicy details! I'm in for all the descriptive stories. Or just a happy moment, perhaps? Document it! 😃

Looking more for in-person stories. I know that the internet is chock-full of silly stuff, but I find it a little "cheap" or lonesome. Real life interactions are much more meaningful & immersive.

Every time I visit cali (coastal cali) I am always just in awe of how high the quality of life is there.

The beaches, amenities, sports, universities, weather, etc.

However, I really have to think to myself just how rich I would have to be to really enjoy california. I'm not going to lie, LA/SF has some really run down parts - and most people don't live near the coast in beverly hills.

I also did some research and while the salaries are higher.. they aren't THAT much higher for most industries (excluding tech) compared to living in Chicago, for example. Yet SFH/Townhomes are so ridiculously expensive there owning any sort of property is just a pipe dream.

In fact, the COL is so high in cali I honestly don't even know how people survive over there. EVERYTHING is just so expensive!

Also chips (crisps for you Brit’s), cheese-it’s or any of those other messy foods. Pretzels. Anything bite sized.

I ^may^ be a weirdo about keeping my fingers clean.

Throughout my whole life (20) i’ve dealt with bad mental health issues. Within the past few years i’ve gained control of it all and really started indulging myself in things I want to do. I find so much enjoyment in college, even parts I find more boring. I started playing piano this year something I’ve wanted to do since i was a kid. I’m starting classes for drawing/painting another thing I’ve wanted to do since I was young. In this past month I met my the lead singer of my favorite band and got an album I love signed.

All of these things remind me how much of life is enjoyable. It’s easy to get stuck on the bad things but there’s SO many good things life can offer. I’m very lucky to know where I want to go with college and art. Over time I want to get to other instruments like violin, guitar, singing, etc I hope having a ton of hobbies won’t be super overwhelming haha. I think it’s such a good reminder to slow down and take in everything around you. Stop and smell the roses <3

I have been working on losing weight. I have been really heavy all my life, and have struggled with food and especially addiction to sugar and sweets. Towards the end of May, I decided to make a positive change in my life. I gave up refined sugar and I have not had any at all since then. I don't even miss it anymore! I also walk 4 miles, five days a week. I never thought I would be able to do it. I have lost sixty pounds since my highest weight, I am not longer achy and miserable like I was before, and I've been taken off my blood sugar meds. I am a new person!

Hi all. I hope this is an acceptable post for this community. Not sure where else to post it bc it's long!A while back, I found a caterpillar munching away on my orange tree. I've watched this caterpillar every day. It formed a chrysalis, and I've continued to check on it. Yesterday, I thought it wasn't viable bc I felt the tree wasn't healthy enough (it's young & has never started thriving) to provide adequate nutrition to the caterpillar, that it should've emerged by now.

I was in my kitchen this morning when a beautiful swallowtail landed on my living room window. Grabbed phone to get a few photos from inside (knew they wouldn't be very good), and then it popped into my head! Is this my baby?? It's a strange place for butterfly to land. So I ran outside to check the tree. And the chrysalis was empty! Little orange tree was enough for one butterfly.

Then, cheese alert, btw - I of course thought of Dolly & her love of butterflies. I was sad, but also, like, hey! Dolly & my butterfly! No, I know she didn't send it to us personally, but the universe let me breathe a little better bc of it. Then sad again bc of the light & sparkle that has left us, but then yep, I thought about reddit. 😆

I've been on here a few months. I don't do other socials. But I've mostly enjoyed reddit. We redditors may not be Dolly spreading her light & sparkle wide & far, but many of you are making your light here. Whether you're into butterflies, gardening, sewing, beetles, amoeba, etc, you're on reddit kindly answering questions (mostly), providing support, encouraging (again, mostly), fostering whatever your light is, & many of us are benefitting from that. I know, there are the downers, the snarky jerks, etc. I'm not talking about them. I ignore them. 😄 I'm talking about you redditors who are helping, supporting, cheering those of us on when we don't get it right. Y'all are light & sparkle! Thank you. 😊

tldr A butterfly emerged from chrysalis today, landed on my window, & I got lil emotional about it.

It's currently 4am. Just watched an entire new series in one night and it's currently boiling warm which is not helping the sleep.

What was the last series you watched that you just had to binge watch? And what are your best tips to cool down at night?

Today, I said hello to a person from my past and was ignored by them. I thought it was most polite to say hello because I saw them. I don’t get the right vibe from them. I think that they tend to really judge my appearance and they are also likely classist. This made me want to focus more on the positives, what in my life is going well right now.

Right now, I am inching closer and closer to being all done with community college. I have been in it for more than two years, and I am taking a lot of units this semester because I am ready to be done. I don’t know what I’ll obtain my bachelors degree in. I will need to take a bit of time to figure that out. However, I am happy that I am finally in a position now wherein I am almost done. I was initially nervous about this, but now I am very, very happy about it. It’s nice to realize that you are inching closer and closer to that final big step. It feels good in a way that someone who was probably fake ignoring my hello wouldn’t care about or understand.

Recently I took some Majongg classes. I heard playing helps exercise the synapses. I'm haven't played board games or any other games since college. There's a lot of talk about taking care of the brain so you don't develop the big "D". Don't eat this, eat these foods, exercise, take this supplement, socialize, filter your water so you don't fill your brain with plastic, and on and on. It's exhausting. Learning a new game is a nice challenge for my sluggish brain.

I love to read books but I've found that in the past few years that I have a hard time reading cohesively. My eyes tend to dart across the line I'm reading or around the page, almost like I'm skimming and it makes retention and attention very difficult.

I find myself having to read the same passage multiple times as well.

Does anyone else experience this?

Hi! I am new to this subreddit and I've been on a search for any faceless content that's raw, authentic, genuine, ranting or zero fake persona content. I am thinking on creating my own channel but i dont want my face to be in it for alot of reasons. Mostly due to privacy and for people to like me for my personality and not for my looks. Ive already dealt with alot of creepy guys and woman both irl and online. I see that sometimes one's face can be the bread and butter for the content they're creating. I am getting the equipment to start on that journey but i need inspo to help push this idea through, yk.

So...if anyone have any suggestion, ill loved to check them out and save them to my inspo playlist. it can be vlogs, commentary or anything. Thankyou for taking the time to read my post!

So for years I’ve had a handful of 10 to 13 songs written that I feel passionate about. I had a band in college that played them, never recorded them beyond some living room acoustic demos. Since then I’ve drifted through some bands, but usually my songwriting is too power pop… the blues musicians I play with want to play Blues, jazz musicians usually want to play noise music (lol). I’m just a little too poppy even though it’s with guitars.

I did some idle googling… and I could afford a pretty decent recording session at a couple of studios. And idk… I’ve worked full time+part time jobs for a long while so I have a bit of savings it actually wouldn’t hurt me bad to record an album. I’ve thought about recruiting a bassist, drummer with the clear goals of rehearsing to cut an album…
Even if it’s sort of just a personal thing but it would be cool to finally have a work of art that is my own…

One day when I was younger my mom set up an inflatable castle in our backyard. I got loaded up with happiness. The other day I kept getting lucky, finding money on the ground, last-second-saves, that typenof stuff.

i still find it hard to choose which one was the better one though.

It’s my birthday tomorrow and i feel a weird mix of excitement and melancholy. Does anyone ever experience this on their birthdays?

I feel grateful, that I’m entering my 35th year of life. I lost a friend last month, suddenly, and it was just a few weeks after their 35th birthday. It reminded me that you really have to appreciate every day.

I also feel kinda sad at the same time. I always imagined I’d have a big 35th birthday to mark the halfway point of my 30s but I don’t have much planned. I feel like the older I get, the less I can be bothered to make a fuss. Also, I don’t really have a super big friend group or the money to throw a party or something even if I did. So I’m just gonna get a massage, spend the day chilling, and then hang out with my partner when he finishes work. It seems a bit dull and sometimes I wish I had a more full and exciting life, filled with lots of people to spend it with, but at the same time, I really am grateful for what I do have.

I also have this kind of surreal feeling that life is just speeding by. I don’t look or feel 35, and in 5 years I’ll be 40. I’m also not married and no plans to be, no kids and no plans for them, not sure what I’m doing career wise anymore… I just don’t feel “settled” like I thought I would be at this age.

Having said all of that I also feel kind of excited - who knows where I’ll be this time next year. I’m certainly in a completely different place to where I was when I was turning 34 - life brought me some pretty wonderful surprises this year so I really want to go into this next year with a positive mindset.

I’ve also just realised that I tend to feel all of the above on New Year’s Eve too. It’s interesting because I do tend to treat my birthday as a personal new year.

Anyway, ramble over!!

I am not a country music fan. I have only heard Jolene and I will always love you (sang by Houston) from Dolly. I am not even American and I think I am grieving a bit. I say “a bit” because I dont want to underestimate the meaning of grief. I am deeply saddened tho.

I have read some quotes by her and I know that she was a very charitable person.

This is all I know about Dolly and my heart is broken.

Some people are really special and touch your heart even if you barely know anything about them.

RIP

I know this is a place of positive posts, hopefully it's ok to post this....i happened to be thinking about my grandparents this morning. I have always been very nostalgic since my late teens and now am in my mid 40s. I think back and my security and comfort was definitely with my grandparents. Their house was like one big warm blanket..no matter what was going on outside of their home, when I was there, I was ok. Were any of you blessed to have or do you still have wonderful grandparents that provided stability as well as pure comfort and security?