I have a big family and cannot understand thinking everyone else in the world needs to do the same thing to make me feel ok about it. Like, how insecure do you have to be to need that? Can’t you just do what you want to because it’s your preference without needing it to be the only ‘right’ way? Just because something is good for me doesn’t mean it’s good for everyone, and it’s a good thing, too. I figured the only reason I even can have many is because others have none.

That’s not as profoundly bad as I was, nor my nearsighted child, and I had a work colleague with -12 who got her vision corrected with Lasik.

I had the Lasik in my 20s for a -6 prescription and got, not perfect, but good enough vision to only need thin, light glasses.

When I was profoundly nearsighted I got really good correction with contacts, hard contacts gave me supernaturally good vision, but glasses never did. Even now I can’t get perfect vision with glasses, it’s just good enough.

You are farsighted? Two older ladies at my work had to get cataract surgery and in the process, their vision was corrected. Do get a second opinion, but it is true that you may not be able to see perfectly through glasses, I never could. Well enough to work, to read, and to not get headaches from squinting all the time, though, I don’t feel disabled by my sight.

One year on my birthday, years ago, my mom gave me a gift in a jewelry box. I was inwardly groaning, but when I opened it, it was memory for my computer. Which was a thoughtful gift, and a funny way to package it.

Way ahead of her time I guess.

I really do not like homework for little kids, they are in school 8 hours, that’s time for a study hall and recess, they aren’t going to forget how to read overnight, and don’t have enough free time as it stands now. So much of what little kids need is time to develop, not just academic instruction.

From 12 yo or so, sure, but school should be fewer hours then, like college, classes for lecture and questions, and work done outside class. 2 of mine had high schools that worked like that, with a long study hall period because school district mandates on campus time, and those two were the most successful in college, and so far also in career.

I say this as a person with plenty of years. When the president is so ancient he is shitting himself at meetings, and congresspeople are dying in office - of old age- this has become a gerontocracy of the worst sort. One would hope that as people get older they have more experience, more perspective.

At this point I would very strongly prefer that people younger than me be in office and I’m not even 60 yet. We need people with more stake in the future. 40-60 then out, retire for the sake of the country. Write a book or something.

I agree. It doesn’t help me that people who work in my town can’t live in my town. It doesn’t help me when taxes go up on my house. I have the same house if prices crash lower than we bought. I have the same house if prices go up.

In fact - if prices bottom out and we can keep our jobs, maybe I have a better house because maybe we can afford to do some reno that is too expensive right now because housing is so expensive.

“Didn’t work so hard” WTF? Did Trump work hard? There seems almost no correlation between who works hard and who has money. Some who work hard have money, some don’t. Some who never worked at all have money, some don’t.

Oh my ex wanted me to cut his hair, but just pulled it over one shoulder and said cut it off. He wanted to see it cut, understand? No, neither did i. I said “no, it will be slanty because it’s all pulled to one side, let me cut it into a haircut.” He said no, it will be fine, just cut it. “It will be slanty!” He was getting mad, JUST CUT IT! Finally he just took scissors and cut it how he wanted. “Oh no, it’s all slanty!”

3rd grade teacher killed himself.

6th grade, no teacher for half the year.

I didn’t like any year in school, and honestly wake up every day happy not to have to go to school.

Time is a luxury. Even on a small scale - I bike or walk to work most days, because I have the luxury of waking up when I wake up, having a morning and a slow human powered commute. That is privilege, yes? So many have to drive an hour or even more.

If I had the time to walk to somewhere far, I would take it.

I guess on the upside, a faster life means more stuff done in each life?

Well yes, of course putting motor oil or something completely unrelated to cosmetics is not going to be safe. I don’t use mosquito repellent on skin.

But makeup, foundation, does put a physical block between skin and sun, like a mineral sunscreen does. I was responding to the claim that it ages your skin. Most of them are emollient and protective, not drying and damaging.

I’ve been a lot more interventive than my husband with skincare, he’s mostly just kept his clean and sunscreen for outside. I do night cream of some sort since I was 25, now it’s , tretinoin at night, estrogen cream in the morning, mineral sunscreen every day. Yes a little foundation for work. Body lotion after shower. My skin looks so much healthier than his, and no way is it genetic, my mom had bad skin, delicate and quick to age. I truly don’t think “natural aging” is the best way to handle skincare. I do agree that you can’t put something on your skin and think it does not affect the rest of you, though.

Sadly I lost it, could not wear it in public back then, it had the circles of hell on the front and profanity on the back Fudge Packing Crack Smoking Satan Worshipping Mother Fuckers. White with pink print.

And yes if I had ANY idea they would get so big I would have asked them to sign it and kept it, I cut it up a little and wore it to shows and don’t remember what happened to it. Really this was like 35 years ago! Maybe more. The club was the Masquerade in Ybor City in Tampa, back when it wasn’t all bars and was still kinda rough.

I used foundation as sunscreen for years and it did, as far as I can tell, a pretty good job of it. I was allergic to the chemical ones available here. The mineral ones were like clown paint. Eventually the mineral sunscreens got better, that’s what I use now. But no I don’t think “makeup” generally ages your skin. Anything that puts a layer between your skin and the sun and car exhaust, probably more helpful than harmful.

Nong Shim Spicy flavor are our ramen and I love some Very Hot sauce, sure. Do I want everything to be spicy? No.

When we get takeout Indian food, I ask for Channa Masala as spicy as they’d make it for their grandma, like ever so very spicy, more than anyone else in my house enjoys. Everything else I ask for mild (unless it’s that Vindaloo Chicken, that ought not be mild) and enjoy it all.

Most food I would say I do not make so spicy, maybe 10% of what I cook, but, that 10% I have to make not as spicy as I want so that everyone else can enjoy.

I saw them here, before they got famous. They did a big tour in a white van, played a bar here with a crowd of about 30 people! Bought the last shirt from the hands of Kurt, I had absolutely no idea they would get famous, they were so far from anything getting played on the radio. I only knew about them because my brother’s friend gave me a tape with them, Mudhoney, Tad.

Swear to God I cannot predict to save my life but live a few years in the future. You could have knocked me down with a feather when they got famous, and I think they were just as surprised.

I agree with you. They were good but not great.

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I had trouble till (hormonal) IUD, would never discount the side effects of most birth control available to women - copper IUD nearly killed me with hemorrhage, and pills raised my blood pressure, anything that went inside me (diaphragm, etc) either gave me yeast infection or bladder infection, so many of the methods seem designed to punish women for wanting sex without pregnancy.

But I’d think guys would love condoms because it’s the only reversible birth control they can control themselves.

Yeah I am often so shocked that people think the modern world is dangerous. Like, I guess, but crime where I live has dropped precipitously since I was a kid here, especially violent crime, so I always want to laugh when someone talks about a ‘rough neighborhood’ or worries I am walking somewhere. Crime has been dropping for the last 50 years!

The most dangerous place to go is the past.

I get a quarterly magazine from the Bruderhof, I would consider that cult Real Christians. They live in community, don’t own things individually, are pacifists, and seem overall to be actual Christians, in the way I understand Christianity.

We have crab cakes, some snacks you heat in the oven (jalapeno poppers and bean empanadas), tinned fish like sardines and similar, and cheese and crackers. And a “champagne” the Cava Raventos Blanc Blanc de blancs which is the best bubbly white wine I have ever had and not even expensive.

New Year’s Day is black eyed peas, collard greens, and potatoes. Yum.

Not good at receiving criticism in the moment, kind of defensive. I can hear it but cannot immediately say “yeah you are right”, it feels more like insult than help. Some of this is leftover hangups from my ex, who was quite cutting, mean about it. But some just my own immature tendencies. I have pretty much learned not to react and wait until I can think about it more objectively.