I have only ever seen one musician who could play the harmonica like a musical instrument. The guy from Sister Sparrow, Jackson Kincheloe. It was such a remarkable difference from the way I’d seen it played.

Most things. People underestimate the labor, time, complexity, obstacles that most jobs involve. We are wildly optimistic.

I like a small proportion of what I eat to be very very spicy. Not everything, and not every day. But sometimes it’s exactly what I want and some foods are so good that way. Lots of other flavors are sort of learned too - wine, bitter greens, there are foods I tried every year until I could like them (mango and raw tomatoes, and wines, also Swiss cheese) and I am glad I did develop a palate for them. Spicy I’ve always liked, only one of my kids was like that but all of them like it now.

I guess my hot take is that just because I like milk and/or sugar in coffee, doesn’t mean I don’t like coffee. Most people who like chocolate don’t like unsweetened baking chocolate and nobody is gatekeeping that like they do with coffee.

It’s funny I was just talking to my oldest, who said “I never feel more like a middle aged Karen than when I have to call the non emergency police line about something going on” and I said “I don’t know how I didn’t manage to raise you with a healthy fear of the police. I have called them once only.”

I remember what I called them about, too. The police helicopter was circling and circling and the baby (same one who is the woman in the comment above) kept crying because she couldn’t sleep, I called 911, asked for the non emergency #, called and asked what the heck was going on, told them if they were chasing someone they had lost them. They put me on hold then came back and said it was training! I told them it had been hours and my kid couldn’t sleep. It did end soon after (probably nothing to do with my call) and hopefully at least let them know it was problematic.

Such good recommendations so far. If you like comics, I will add:

Saga

Lucifer

And since I don’t see him mentioned here: anything by Ian McDonald is wonderful, and I like everything by Mike Carey too. Not swords & dragons but fantasy books.

Yes, we have community radio here, and I listen & also contribute a little $ each month.

ETA: there used to be one good commercial station too, alternative rock, but they got bought out by a bigger conglomerate and now are a Spanish station, and unfortunately not a Spanish alternative station, that would be awesome but no, just a pop station, a clone of the others we already had!

I never got to the point that jogging felt good. But eventually what happened was that I’d feel better for the rest of the day on a day I ran, than on a day I did not run.

Aerobic dance classes are enjoyable once my aerobic base develops but running is boring and a drag always.

Hers

I think I’m too old but my bi kids don’t care and the trans (boy now) one has a girlfriend and the mom wouldn’t let her stay over UNTIL she found out that the boyfriend was trans. Now she is allowed to stay over. I found that interesting.

Brave new world.

For me, non-binary partner would have to be both a male bodied person and one who enjoyed using their OEM equipment. As I am not bi. But beyond that - if they didn’t feel male or female, not sure I would care. It hasn’t come up so not sure.

No, not normal. If you enjoy it, something is wrong. If you just aren’t upset by it, but care, you might make a good emergency room doctor.

How do you feel if it’s someone you care about, or yourself?

I wouldn’t give mine away, and enjoyed parenting more than any other job, but swear to God with every one of them I said that a parent should be provided with about 5 tranquilizer darts for each child when they are born, for the handful of situations that put you in danger of doing something you will regret. With each one, for me there were about 5 times I wished I could just toss a dart and pow! Kid falls down asleep.

Not where I live. “Nice” in our office for men is a button-up tucked into actual pants, and good shoes. Maybe a sweater or blazer if it’s cold (not often here) Just looking put together. Some guys wear that everyday, others are more casual.

Women gave up formal office wear completely because that involves heels and pantyhose. For “Nice” we have a similar outfit as the guys, or a dress or skirt & top combo. Some women dress like that everyday in our office but just like with the men, most of us do not. I wear jeans and a good T-shirt or button-up or a light sweater.

I just mean I know logically they aren’t harmful but my mind cannot. I’m not scared of spiders or lizards or snakes but those overgrown roaches strike absolute terror into my heart since I was little. I am so sorry you experienced that. I’ve had them fly at me.

So few of them around now, and my logical & rational fear is that is a bad sign for the world. But it has been amazing to be able to work in the yard without the constant fear of picking up a brick or stone, they used to come out from under every single upturned stone.

Palmetto bugs.

I hate the noodly introspective jazz. But cannonball Adderley Mercy Mercy, and Kamasi Washington Cherokee, so good.

I am kinda like this - I don’t usually ask for things unless I NEED them. If it’s just a request that a no is fine for, feel like I need to make that clear. Like if my hands are full, “could you open the door” but if I have a hand free but am wrangling the dog, “do you think you could open the door, I can if you can’t, I just want Dog to sit while you go in and then while I go in” I do feel like I have to explain it’s not a demand.

Recess. I can’t nap, and am not hungry, but a break is always welcome.

Absolutely not. There is one TV and it is in the living room. We actually have two ‘living rooms’ (spaces that are not bathroom, bedroom, or kitchen) and if it was up to me the TV would be in the secondary one, farthest from kitchen and bedroom. I do sometimes like to watch TV but don’t want it in my face all the time, and think living room looks better without one. But everyone else wants it in the bigger living room, which also holds the kitchen.

I am from the US and went to England for school one year. In the lunch line here, if there is a choice, you ask for it and say thank you, like “Carrots and potatoes” then “thank you!”. But in England they said no, that is rude. It’s “carrots and potatoes, please.” Then “thank you” when you get them. Needed both just to be minimally polite.

I AM polite with my kids, I model it but don’t demand it really. They catch on fine. I have friends and relatives who made their kids “yes sir” and “yes ma’am” them. I don’t think that’s cool. I told my kids to ma’am and sir wait staff, cashiers and teachers but not family, it does seem almost cheeky, somehow, to be too polite with family.

My mom worked as a university professor, then advisor, and what she said about college was “it just shows a prospective employer that you can follow rules and commit to doing something for a few years and follow through on it. That’s why they want the degree. Also cuts down on applicants, fewer to sort through.”

So, from someone on the inside, she didn’t think the main reason was education, in terms of specific jobs. I know in accounting I don’t use so much of what I learned and that’s a pretty specific degree. Anyone with a mind for numbers & systems could be trained on the job to do what I do.