autotelica

autotelica t1_jc0976v wrote

Reply to Worst Shamrock the Block ever by GardenOrca

Went to the Bowtie yesterday. The guy standing in front of me in the concessions line had bought a ticket just so he could use the restroom--citing the long port-o-potty lines. He offered me the ticket he bought.

When I came out a couple of hours later, they were a bunch of people who were buying tickets at the kiosk. They were all doing their own version of the pee pee dance. I overheard one of them laughingly saying into a cell phone "Yeah, we're up here buying tickets! There ain't nowhere else for us to pee!"

I got on my bike and headed down that side street that Aldi's faces. I saw people peeing behind some dumpsters. There was a river of pee streaming out from underneath it. It was crazy and nasty.

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autotelica t1_j3lgkfy wrote

Reply to comment by ShoestringTherapy in As alcohol-related liver disease rises in the U.S., a clinic takes a new approach to treatment by grungegoth

I don't really like the taste of alcohol, so when I go out with friends for happy hour, I usually nurse one cocktail to their two or three beers. I am lucky that this doesn't bother them and that no one in the group is trying get wasted.

But when I know the situation is a "let's get wasted!" one, I just can't with that. I am at that stage in my life where I don't care if this means I don't have a lot of friends. The way I see it, if a person doesn't want to be my friend unless I get wasted with them, they don't really want to get to know me as a person. They just want a drinking partner. I would rather be lonely than be that.

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autotelica t1_j3jrm5p wrote

Reply to As alcohol-related liver disease rises in the U.S., a clinic takes a new approach to treatment by grungegoth

I wonder if anxiety is increasing among young people and whether this explains the uptick in alcohol-related liver disease. People self-medicate more when they are anxious, so there's that. But anxiety can also make people take risks out of fear.

"If I don't go to happy hour, I won't be seen as a team player and I won't get that promotion and thus I'll be some kind of a loser."

"If I don't do shots like the rest of the gang, they won't invite me to hang out with them and I won't have friends and thus I'll be some kind of a loser."

"If I don't do some pre-gaming before our dinner date, I'll be a nervous wreck the whole time and he/she'll think I'm a weirdo and they won't want to go out with me and thus I'll be some kind of loser."

I don't know if anxiety has increased, but I wouldn't be surprised if it has.

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autotelica t1_j2fvbuo wrote

Reply to LPT Stop watching the news. by themodernsophist

The news doesn't make me unhappy. Most of it is just mindless chatter. However, I still watch the local 6 o'clock news and the national evening news. Just so that I'm not caught by surprise by the weather (like killer snow storms) and other important information. Like road closures and government policy changes.

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autotelica t1_j28vyge wrote

Reply to comment by delsys32 in Man Arrested in Miami for Role in January 6 Insurrection at U.S. Capitol by -Ima-Phat-Cookie-Ho-

I walked into Kroger yesterday and noticed the security feed of the entrance on the overhead monitor. There was me with my grocery cart and a green square hovering over my face, tracking with my movements. Don't know if the feed was being processed through a facial recognition database, but it totally could be, right? It kind of creeped me out. My first thought was, "I hope my twin sister hasn't committed any felonies I don't know about!"

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autotelica t1_j1i2cep wrote

Reply to comment by [deleted] in At least 9 dead as massive winter storm leaves more than a million without power and bitter cold across much of US | CNN by bobybobobo

I do not have a fireplace, a heating oil tank, or a propane heater for my house. And thank goodness for that, because these things would all be wasted on me. My power hasn't gone out for longer than 15 minutes in the 7 years I have lived here.

If my power went out right now, I would just pull out my old kerosene heater and go get some kerosene. And crack a window.

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autotelica t1_j06bftn wrote

Reply to comment by AlreadyShrugging in Will restricting convenience stores make Richmond safer? Policing expert says no. by ety3rd

It is sad.

My parents are upper middle class Boomers. Retired professionals with advanced degrees and everything. And also deeply religious. I believe both are addicted to gambling. Their favorite semi-monthly treat is to dump tons of money into a casino. They rotate through three or four different ones.

Sometimes I will be talking to my mother on the phone and in the background I will hear beeping noises. I know that means one of two things. The two of them are at a casino playing slots. Or she is at the gas station up the road from their suburban subdivision full of McMansions, playing the machine there. I have learned to keep mouth shut and not ask where she is. I tell myself that we all have our vices so who am I to judge.

So...it isn't just poor and working-class people wasting money on these things. It also (supposedly) well-to-do people. If my parents weren't addicts, they wouldn't have to borrow money from their kids. To be fair, they are awesome in that they always pay us back when their pension checks come in. But it is still sad to me.

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autotelica t1_iy10p41 wrote

Reply to comment by Telkhine_ in LPT: Dear novice hobbyists, not only is it okay to copy* from the more experienced, it is encouraged. It is the most enjoyable way to learn while producing end results you can be proud of. by Telkhine_

Yes! I returned to it in my mid-20s when I was procrastinating writing my dissertation. The first song I taught myself to play was Madonna's Borderline. I did it by taking a midi file from the internet and used musical notation software to spit out a score of all the parts. Then I was able to cobble together an arrangement that captured the essence of the song without being too difficult for a newbie.

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autotelica t1_iy0qsnn wrote

Reply to LPT: Dear novice hobbyists, not only is it okay to copy* from the more experienced, it is encouraged. It is the most enjoyable way to learn while producing end results you can be proud of. by Telkhine_

In my experience, learning how to play a musical instrument tends to work better when you are learning to play songs that you really like. Which are probably NOT the nursery rhyme melodies that you learn in formal lessons. Honestly I think that I probably would have stuck with the private piano lessons I took when I was nine years old if I had started off learning to play simple arrangements of my favorite pop songs than the boring "baby" songs I was forced to practice on. To be fair, the boring baby songs did teach me the fundamentals. But they didn't keep the passion going.

I think adults who are exploring a musical instrument would do well to get started by learning chords or melodies from their favorite songs. Being able to play a recognizable tune is so encouraging, and you need all the encouragement you can get when you don't have someone like a parent or a teacher nagging at you to practice.

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autotelica OP t1_ixzvefl wrote

Reply to comment by PurpleSwitch in LPT: Instead of telling a self-conscious person that no one is ever negatively judging them, agree with them that people probably are thinking mean things about them. But tell them those people are jerks. Jerks aren't worth worrying over. by autotelica

This is really insightful.

Like I can get why people think they are just trying to help by saying stuff like "Of course you will get your dream job" or "Of course you'll find your Mr./Ms. Right". But that's just going to make the worrier feel like it really will be the worst thing in the world if they don't get their desired outcome. What they need to hear is a reminder that the worst case scenario isn't as bad as they think it is for reasons X, Y, or Z.

It's the difference between toxic positivity and optimism.

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