+1. My dog got me through the loneliness after a breakup. Not sure how I would have managed to cope without him.

Well, pumpkins, looks like it’s the age-old dilemma. Style… or substance.

I’m glad you’re enjoying it. I personally felt that the book really fell off in the last 1/3. It’s like the author really wanted to wrap up and was against a deadline so just started shoving things in and going “Eh, whatever, good enough.” I thought the ending was especially painful to read.

I watched the three Spider-Man movies from the 2000s for the first time. They were pretty decent, and now I understand all the memes.

Ah, a fellow pineapple-on-pizza enjoyer. I like the way you think.

That looks super satisfying and filling. What kind of peppers did you use to make it spicy?

Those would be amazing on pizza.

Oblivion tonight, boardgames with my old college buddies Saturday, Resonite Creatorjam in VR on Sunday. Should be a blast all around!

A fast food employee said “Thank you, have a nice day.” and it made me feel good. Haven’t heard those words since moving to an urban area four years ago.

That’s some damn good looking spaghetti. How was it?

I’m fine with being a coward - I’ve had to be brave my whole life, it’s some for someone else to fight. I’ve earned my peace.

Outside of work I can probably deep focus for 1 to 2 hours per day. Working a full-time job and taking care of a home is simply too exhausting for me to focus longer than that.

I do want to caution that hobbies and passions shouldn’t make you feel rundown. It’s great to have a goal, but make sure you’re taking care of yourself and having fun along the way.

Nah I’m good. I’m watching how things play out, and if it gets that bad I’ll just rebuild my life in another country. Already got approved for Express Entry into Canada.

Well, by your own words the alternative is death. So if you truly believe that you won’t survive this administration then yeah, hop across the border as a tourist and just don’t leave.

Uhaul -> Canada

You may just want the leave the country at this point my dude

That looks so delicious and satisfying

Not gonna lie, I’ve been really leaning into sugar to kill my cravings. A milkshake or cookies daily. I know it’s not healthy for me, but I’ll take any help I can get to stay sober at this point.

I used to blackout drink every night for similar reasons. It took a while but I developed the stupidest coping mechanism, but it works - When I’m in bed and start ruminating, I stop myself and visualize “swiping left” on the thought as if on a dating site, throwing the memory away. Then I visualize a fun fantasy adventure, like putting myself into the shoes of a character in a book I’m reading or a game I’m playing. It takes a lot of effort to focus on, and the bad memories try to come back but I just repeatedly toss them aside and focus on my epic quest. I manage to fall asleep within 30 min with this strategy.

I know this is really stupid and probably only works because I’m such a visual thinker, but figured I’d share in case anyone finds it helpful.

Waiting in lines is absolute torture for my anxiety. I sweat through my shirt and nearly faint regularly. It makes going to the grocery store really difficult, and it’s frustrating that I’ll never be able to go to theme parks.