Thomas-C's recent activity
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Comment on I gave up meat and gained so much more | A tale of one person's life, culture, and growing up in ~life
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Comment on I gave up meat and gained so much more | A tale of one person's life, culture, and growing up in ~life
Thomas-C LinkEh, I'm a vegan too but I don't think I wrap up nearly as much of myself in the choice. It's a diet, it's just food. If you got a problem with how we get meat, it's an option, among others. Lots...Eh, I'm a vegan too but I don't think I wrap up nearly as much of myself in the choice. It's a diet, it's just food. If you got a problem with how we get meat, it's an option, among others. Lots of info these days on how to make all sorts of things, and folks like me are out there to give you a recipe or two if you want one. You can go into it as a big philosophical position/lifestyle if you like, but I'll be real with you a whole lot of those folks are exhausting to hang out with in my (limited) experience, and you're never gonna get to talk about much else with them.
If you want a steak I'll cook you a steak, because I'd rather we have a frictionless dining experience together. You're free to try what I'm having and see what you think. If you want to know why I always have rice and beans I'll tell you about it. You set the pace, in other words - that's me trying to extend a form of mutual respect for the fact the choices I made might not be important to you.
That's how I look at it. I keep up and maintain meat-based recipes for folks who eat it, because they've done me the kindness of trying to make me vegan food. Over time they've tried some of those and ended up working them into what they cook at home. Those meals are all little victories, so to speak, if you wanna look at it like that. I don't, because I'm not interested in winning, and at scale I think the primary problem is one of excess, not the act of consumption in and of itself. Even making that distinction is something I won't do if you're not asking about it. It's more important, in my view, to be demonstrating mutual respect, because that is the foundation upon which mutual understanding rests, and my responsibility in it is to understand not every moment will evolve into a meaningful change. Me going on about how great and wonderful my life has been since making a choice is just asking for you to think I'm saying I'm better than you, so I'm going to sidestep that shit and just offer you a taste of this meatless fajita. You can have the recipe if you like it.
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Comment on GPT-4o in ~tech
Thomas-C LinkThose demos sound entirely too close to a manager I loathed talking to lol, it's impressive to me it is good enough to make me think in that direction. This kind of functionality is what I was...Those demos sound entirely too close to a manager I loathed talking to lol, it's impressive to me it is good enough to make me think in that direction. This kind of functionality is what I was looking forward to, it's a huge step closer to having a computer I can just talk to for doing stuff. Moonshot hope is running such a model locally one day, so I can have a Star Trek computer without it depending on some outside service/connectivity. If I can get a Majel Barrett voice for it I'd be over the moon.
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Comment on I am worthless, I couldn't write a good article or draft to save my life in ~creative
Thomas-C LinkJust go. Write whatever is in your head right now and keep going. When your mind tells you anything - "this isn't right", "this sounds weird", etc - don't listen to that and just keep writing the...Just go. Write whatever is in your head right now and keep going. When your mind tells you anything - "this isn't right", "this sounds weird", etc - don't listen to that and just keep writing the words as they come to you. Doesn't matter if it's straight nonsense. It's not a piece of writing you'll be giving to anyone. There is no audience, so quit judging it like it's going to be that. Write freely, with as little constraint as you can manage, and don't stop for anything for about 10 minutes.
That's what I do to get out of a block moment. If I do that for about 10-ish minutes and it doesn't come together into anything I take a break, do something else, and try again later. Let your brain work underneath You, is the way I like to think about it. Its always stitching together information, stringing things together. So I let it rip for a bit and then wait for it to finish up some stitching, so to speak.
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Comment on How do I fix my (stupid) use of excessive punctuation? in ~humanities.languages
Thomas-C LinkPersonally I think you communicate well enough if this message means anything. I will offer a tip though as someone who also occasionally gets stuck on putting commas everywhere. Just go delete a...Personally I think you communicate well enough if this message means anything. I will offer a tip though as someone who also occasionally gets stuck on putting commas everywhere. Just go delete a few and force yourself to read it the new cadence, instead of the way it sounded in your head. If it doesn't come off much different, there you go, less commas. Doing that for a while might clue you in to when you really do want to have those commas, and then your approach has been honed in some small way.
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Comment on How are you dealing with inflation regarding everyday enjoyment? in ~life
Thomas-C LinkI've lived well in poverty, I feel, by taking on an approach of being completely uncompromising on specific things and cheap as hell on others. A good example is coffee. I drink coffee in the...I've lived well in poverty, I feel, by taking on an approach of being completely uncompromising on specific things and cheap as hell on others. A good example is coffee. I drink coffee in the morning, every morning. That needs to be good. I will buy a shittier version of something else to make sure I can get that good coffee, because getting an involuntary reminder shit sucks in the morning is an awful way to start the day. If it's not possible to do that then so be it, but at least in my experience it's been pretty rare I've been that cash strapped. If I have any advice, it's that you should pick out which specific things are the most enjoyable to you, and reallocate to make sure those are good and go cheap on the rest. I don't know your situation so of course, judge it yourself and decide whether it's doable, but this approach is what helped me not feel like shit while I was poor for years on end, and it was easy to adapt to an improved situation with rising costs.
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Comment on Project Zomboid - What compares for gameplay? in ~games
Thomas-C LinkYou might enjoy Kenshi. I enjoy how it can be played in a few different ways, as a solo survivalist sort of experience up through building a town if you want to. It's really difficult and demands...You might enjoy Kenshi. I enjoy how it can be played in a few different ways, as a solo survivalist sort of experience up through building a town if you want to. It's really difficult and demands some time on the front end but as things improve and the options all show up you get a really wide range of things to do. There's also been a pretty robust modding scene, so you can find a lot to expand what's there/add new stuff and a lot of it works really well.
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
Thomas-C LinkI've been reading "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards as I wait for a reMarkable 2 to get to me. I really enjoy the angle it takes, trying to understand creativity in a more...I've been reading "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards as I wait for a reMarkable 2 to get to me. I really enjoy the angle it takes, trying to understand creativity in a more analytical way and translate creativity to that analytical mindset. Analytical shit is practically all I ever did; academically I studied philosophy, then neuroscience, then family systems/therapy, and especially thanks to the philosophy always hewed very close to an analytical way of approaching things, picking concepts apart and trying to figure out their full meaning. That...isn't really how it goes when I try to draw, so I wanted to see what I could do to improve and better render what I'm imagining.
There's also some stuff that I feel just doesn't come across the way I want when I try to put it into words. Even when I can find very precise terms, there's an emotional part of it that doesn't come out, that I think images might be able to deliver. I find too, with a lot of folks I know I can't actually get across some of the points I wish to make because they get caught up on the language/arguing specifics with me before I can finish. It's annoying because sometimes the specifics aren't important, and sometimes too the point is complex enough that getting interrupted means I can't recall it completely. Sometimes I don't want to do an argument, I want to do a statement, and I think images are probably gonna be the better way.
I've never taken classes, I've just hung around artists a lot. When I try to tell them about some of these things, pretty much without exception they would tell me they need to be drawings, too. So hopefully I can make that happen. The book does an excellent job of framing things in ways I'm accustomed to, describing things in a kind of detail that just works for me. I remember it better. The tablet gets to me tomorrow so I'm really excited to get started.
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Comment on Making tough decisions: what’s your go-to approach? in ~talk
Thomas-C Link ParentI definitely think a few steps through too, as an insurance policy I guess. Sometimes too, if the stakes aren't high and the outcomes fairly similar, I'll just sort of go with whatever hits my...I definitely think a few steps through too, as an insurance policy I guess. Sometimes too, if the stakes aren't high and the outcomes fairly similar, I'll just sort of go with whatever hits my mind first after thinking of something else for a second. There's usually something simple that needs doing so I'll go do something and then decide, or start a bit slow on a particular decision so I can change course. I try to keep an awareness of time with it too, like if a decision isn't immediately necessary sometimes I will just delay a bit and do something else, to try to make sure my judgment is clear. At least in my own slice of things it's rare that much of anything needs to happen right now, so I try to give myself some time/space to make sure I'm thinking things through, that I'm not missing something.
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Comment on Making tough decisions: what’s your go-to approach? in ~talk
Thomas-C LinkAssuming it's a decision I'm not pressured to make this instant, as best I can I try to orient around outcomes. As in, do I accept what I think will likely be the case, if I do the thing? If the...Assuming it's a decision I'm not pressured to make this instant, as best I can I try to orient around outcomes. As in, do I accept what I think will likely be the case, if I do the thing? If the answer is yes then I've got a possible way to go. I'll then consider stuff like what aligns with my principles, what's materially easier, etc. If the answer is no, I try to reason out why. So that I can clarify for myself what's important about this decision, what I want to avoid/what priorities I wish to uphold/etc.
If there is pressure, that analysis still happens but is deliberately kept pretty short. Can't think too far ahead because shit's gotta get done. And if I just can't put anything together, it comes down to what way forward doesn't immediately violate my principles/is actually doable and I do that. I focus then on dealing with what comes and move on from the decision itself. Sometimes you just gotta go with something and figure out how to make up for it along the way.
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Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative
Thomas-C LinkMost recently, it was a decorating project. In moving to take care of my grandmother, I basically gave away/sold everything I had accrued. All of my furniture, all of my books, everything I could...Most recently, it was a decorating project. In moving to take care of my grandmother, I basically gave away/sold everything I had accrued. All of my furniture, all of my books, everything I could not fit in a four-door either got given away, sold, or pitched. There's two reasons for that. First was that I wanted to. I grew to greatly dislike a lot of that stuff because of what it represented to me, a ball of crap to keep track of/move around, cobbled together out of gifts and deals and whatnot. Second, my grandmother's house is stuffed with furniture already - there is no space for another bed, another couch, another desk (and my desk was enormous), and none of that stuff works with the aesthetics she has going on. So, since I've gotten here I've been puzzling over how to make a real comfy space, a space I could exist in all the time.
Anyway, this is what I was able to accomplish, rearranging what furniture was there and getting what accessories I wanted/needed. Tried to show both natural light and artificial. I like lights. I don't care if it looks childish or silly, I like my RGB and string lights and all that kind of shit. Tree thing was seven dollars, couldn't resist. The bulbs are set at purple atm but can be any color, string lights are white because that's all I could find. I think it works out ok. I would like to replace the bed cover, but that was the only one which was both, the right size and comfy to me, so I probably won't. Searching around upstairs, I found all sorts of busts and flowers and decorative things, so I tried to achieve an eclectic mix of what little I still have and what was already there. Took a lot of work too; this room was stuffed. Multiple recliner chairs, a loveseat, little tables and the bed, and it was all quite dainty as you can probably imagine. Room was already purple too, because this used to be my grandmother's upstairs bedroom (she's since moved downstairs, and painted that room purple too).
Finding out you can see the moon go across the sky from my desk window was icing on the cake. From about dusk until 10:30, it slowly goes across the sky, until the roof obscures it. My room faces the back of the property, so there's lots of green trees and you can hear the birds in the morning. If you leave the blinds open, the sun will brighten the room gradually, so you can just wake up as the day starts (no alarm clock!). I've never felt as comfortable as I do in this space, it's amazing and getting this done over the weekend felt like a pretty nice accomplishment.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Thomas-C LinkI kept up with Diablo II, and thanks to the gradual fraying of reality's threads had a wildly fun experience. I've been working on a character, Grognak, a Barbarian. I set out to play and not use...I kept up with Diablo II, and thanks to the gradual fraying of reality's threads had a wildly fun experience. I've been working on a character, Grognak, a Barbarian. I set out to play and not use any guide material/build information. It's been more than a decade since I played D2 with any regularity, I wanted that new experience again.
The way D2 is structured, the three difficulties are a single large progression. I won't bore you with details of that, but it means each difficulty pushes you into a new way of playing, because the rules get tighter/it gets harder and that means having to tune your character accordingly. The fun part came when I started screwing around with Suno, and inadvertently created Grognak's Theme Song. Theme song in hand, and a few lucky drops later, the build is consistently wrecking shit and making progress.
In D2 you get pretty attached to a fun character, so getting the Saturday morning cartoon theme song for mine made it feel pretty special. My build is successful too, thus far at least, because I've made it to Hell mode and have been running terror zones a bit to improve. Leap attack into Frenzy into Double Swing, "A machinegun of swords" I like to call it. With big crowds, dude hits so fast he can keep a squad at bay, stunning each monster and slapping the next one almost in the same moment. I'm nearly at six attacks per second with some room for further speed boosting, and I've really not touched much gear manipulation, so I'm excited to see how much further I can take this character. Hell is no joke; by that point in the game, it is trying to test you, poke at every little inadequacy and force you to adapt. I particularly appreciate that in D2 because it feels like the natural next step after what came before. Nightmare was mostly breezy, and I've been running terror zones to pick up some better gear.
The song cracks me up every time I hear it, and I ended up making quite a lot on Suno just to see how far I could bend stuff (I uploaded some examples if folks are curious).
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Comment on Have you had a life-altering change in who you are? in ~talk
Thomas-C (edited )LinkProbably fair to say life has been punctuated by these experiences when I think about it. I'll share one from a long time ago, an experience that both changed me in the moment and resounded...- Exemplary
Probably fair to say life has been punctuated by these experiences when I think about it. I'll share one from a long time ago, an experience that both changed me in the moment and resounded through what I did for years and years.
When I hit senior year of high school I went through a really dumb/bad breakup, and my group of friends disintegrated. Up until that point, I'd occupied an odd social position, of being both a very good student and an extremely reckless person. In high school at least, recklessness got you plenty of clout, so I was not an unpopular guy. I could float between different groups, had friends kinda everywhere, and could get away with nearly anything because how could the kid with good grades do that lol. It meant a lot of folks knew who I was, and me becoming single meant a whole lot of new attention. I was in the band (I played a saxophone) and one day I noticed a flute player looking at me some type of way. She was very pretty, but wasn't someone I'd really associated with, because she dated a guy who was scared of me and herself had a kinda mixed reputation. Her boyfriend and I butted heads earlier in grade school, and I smacked the crap out of him, was the story there. The same day I noticed this girl looking at me, after band practice, I watched her boyfriend throw some kind of tantrum and speed off without her. I offered her a ride, she accepted very happily, and along the way she asked if we could stop at a park, so we did.
For a long time we just talked. About a lot of different things. I wrote before she had a pretty mixed reputation. It was pretty typical high school shit - girl has male friends, therefore, half the women at school called her a slut, and folks wanted to believe it so it stuck. The truth was that what guys she did date were not fun folks, and Scared-of-me-Boyfriend had a propensity to talk shit when she didn't go along with stuff he wanted. Practically everything folks said at school was wrong in some way, if not just an outright lie. At some point the conversation died down and we just looked at each other for a bit. I remember a moment in which she said she felt something she couldn't put words to, and I told her how I felt something similar. I'd encounter this again in life, over and over - sometimes you meet someone and there's just an attraction. An intense, physical sort of attraction, wordlessly recognized and overwhelmingly present. No one was there to stop us.
We would meet up every weekend pretty much across the year and for a month or two after I graduated. We'd only ever meet in the evenings, after whatever stuff happened in our own social groups, because we both didn't want folks talking about us. As time went on, it almost became an in-joke - let's see how wrong everyone is this week. I existed outside the gossip sphere and she liked poking the bear, so we'd compare what we'd heard and make fun of people for lying/making shit up. As we talked though, it also became clear how unfair it all was. She didn't really do anything to begin with. While she'd antagonize folks at present, originally nothing really happened except a boyfriend being a big piece of shit. I was the only person she actually did anything with, because I had always been respectful, and was known not to gossip. "Safe" was the word she used, and I told her I was happy I could do that.
Our evenings would stretch across the night, often with us coming home just before sunrise. We'd talk, for hours and hours, with occasional breaks to work out some of that mutual attraction. We'd compare notes and laugh at the dumbasses making up stories and being petty. Sometimes we'd go way out of town and shoot guns, in the woods, at a junkyard, wherever. You could do that where I lived if you knew where to go. We'd bring each other things - snacks, trinkets, band stuff, etc. Outside of that time we each had our own social groups, our own friends, our own realities playing out, and over time we really came to understand ourselves as looking into things from outside. Above and beyond the bullshit, so to speak.
The experience of this really shaped how I understood people, and more or less stopped a reckless streak before it happened. I was still reckless, mind you - it's a wonder I didn't come out of this with a kid - but contained to the one person, the one behavior, with a lot of positives. I was happy, too. That woman understood me better than anyone I'd ever known. And yet, we both understood, there is no future in what we were doing. She wasn't going where I was going, I wasn't doing what she was doing. When I graduated it would be over. We just accepted it, and had fun. But too, in getting to truly know her and in telling our jokes, we both got to observe just how completely ridiculous other people could be. How they'd just make shit up, add details that never happened, say whatever outrageous thing got them some attention with no care for the expense. They never did figure out what we were up to, but said all kinds of things about her. We'd shout our memes at each other between classes just to see if anyone would catch on, but they never did, and we enjoyed the hell out of it. As an example, my ex would tell folks this dumb story about having a dream about me cheating on her. I never did anything like that (never in my whole life, I can say today). It was a stupid way of trying to drum up attention. My friend and I called this "the dreamcheat", and occasionally shouted "YOU'RE DREAMCHEATING" to amuse ourselves.
After I graduated, for about a month or two we continued to see each other. The very last time, we each thought to bring the other a big gift basket and had a big laugh over it. Wished each other the best, and hoped that for each of us the future would work out. I went on to college, met tons of new people, and got myself thoroughly immersed. She had one more year left, so as it naturally happens we drifted apart. Until one day I got a phone call from her.
This was about six months into my freshman year. I got the call in my dorm room and answered immediately. For a few seconds I couldn't hear anything, and then, a voice. A voice, but not words. It was her voice, that much was there, but for the life of me I could not make out what she was saying. I said it must be a phone issue, and tried calling her back. Same thing. There just wasn't anything there I could understand. So I said I'd reach her on Facebook. When I sat down to do that, and found her profile, I was confronted with a shocking reality.
I'm not going to spare it, but heads up, this is pretty rough.
The first thing I saw was a photo, of her on her birthday. She was in a motorized wheelchair. Her head was tilted, slumped, and her mouth hung open. Her eyes were not focused. There was a small tube in her ear. Her arms were bent, hands twisted, fingers curled. The cake had the word "miracle" on it, with a single, thin candle. The room was very brightly lit, like a clinic, and her mom was there with a smile that had a lot of tiredness behind it.I had to sit there for a while with that. I cried. I looked through her profile a bit to understand what happened. She was riding with someone, a guy who was once my neighbor, and he did something incredibly stupid. He was speeding along the highway, and while breaking 110, hit a semi-truck. They both, somehow, survived, with him coming out of it able to heal completely. Not true for her. It was indeed a miracle she was still there. But she could no longer speak, she couldn't move much, and there hadn't been much change since that new reality had settled in. A flood of memories hit me. The stories we told, the jokes we had, the gnawing anger at the unfairness of things. I worked myself up a bit, and called her back.
In that call, I told her what I'd seen, that I understood what happened, and that I was sorry for the calls before. I asked if I could just tell her some things, and she responded well enough, a gentle "hmm!". I told her about how much it meant to me, to have someone to talk to, who saw the things I could see, and how much fun I had with the jokes we told each other. Each time she laughed, it's like time stopped, because in those moments she didn't sound any different. Each time was like being shoved; a quick, intense burst of feelings. I couldn't maintain very long like this, so I brought it to a close by telling her how I'd never forget. As we'd talked about, our lives were going in completely different directions, so we understood it probably wouldn't be that we would keep in touch very much. I was also beginning a new, serious sort of relationship and you know how it goes with "exes" with that I'm sure. I didn't consider her an "ex" because that wasn't how we defined our relationship, but expecting someone else to understand is a tall order.
I did though, check in from time to time, and saw that she did end up improving quite a lot. The last time I saw some photos, besides the wheelchair she didn't look much different to how I remembered her, which made me cry in an entirely different way. By that point in time it wouldn't have made much sense to reconnect for a variety of reasons, so I left it there and carried the memories with me.
This whole experience set me up to look at things a bit differently. Arguably, it set the course for a lot of what I would do. Because I had gotten to see so clearly behind a veil, it made me more aware of the presence of many veils. And because I'd had the experience of such a positive, encouraging sort of relationship, it meant I could handle myself better as I navigated those. It didn't save me from a life of reckless, debaucherous nonsense mind you but it did mean the character of that wasn't quite what you might think. A lot of that nonsense was nothing but positive. I was painfully aware of the moments in which I had been the asshole, because of this experience. In moments when I'd feel some type of way, angry or vindictive over a bad time, I'd remember her, and shape up. "Shape up", because as I had been so clearly shown, whatever bullshit was going on in the moment could drastically, completely change, so instead of dwelling on the negative feelings I'd set out to bring the situation to a stable place. It also meant I would give folks some extra benefit of the doubt; a bad reputation could just be a lie, after all, and sometimes it was.
This experience, in two parts, had an immense impact on me and I think changed a lot about how I would behave afterward. I was a pretty wild person and would continue to be, but this experience meant I always tried to be that wild person without it coming at anyone's expense. I had the proof it was possible. Arguable how successful that effort was, but I tried. There was still plenty of growing to do too, so over time more experiences honed and shaped my perspective. But this, I think was foundational, a piece that persists until today and continues to affect a bit, how I go about engaging with people.
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Comment on What AI tools are you actually using? in ~tech
Thomas-C (edited )LinkI don't really have a professional use case for an LLM, but I do have GPT4ALL and have used Mistral Instruct for a few things now and then. Sometimes it's fun to toss ideas at it and see what it...I don't really have a professional use case for an LLM, but I do have GPT4ALL and have used Mistral Instruct for a few things now and then. Sometimes it's fun to toss ideas at it and see what it says, or ask it about something I'm only vaguely familiar with and get myself started on finding out more. One thing I like to do is just ask it to tell me a story about whatever weird shit I'm thinking about, like "tell me about a man who was eaten by a hamburger", "Write a letter to my mother explaining why she is forbidden from washing the dog", so on and so forth. It's a springboard in my mind, a generator of first steps I guess.
Edit: I wanted to give a snippet.
Dear Sister,
I hope this message finds you well. I wanted to take a moment to talk to you about something that has been on my mind lately. As you know, we have had our fair share of disagreements in the past, but I want to make sure that we are on the same page when it comes to taking care of our shared living space.
I understand that you like to put your fried chicken in the laundry basket while you wait for it to cool down before eating. However, there is a reason why this is not allowed. Specifically, I am forbidding you from putting your fried chicken in the laundry basket under any circumstances.
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Comment on Linux Distro Recommendations in ~comp
Thomas-C Link ParentI'd second this one. I've been using Mint on a few machines and I'm very pleased with it. I put it on my parents' machines and they've done well with them. Even my grandmother does ok on it when...I'd second this one. I've been using Mint on a few machines and I'm very pleased with it. I put it on my parents' machines and they've done well with them. Even my grandmother does ok on it when she uses it (I haven't reformatted her machine just yet, learning curve and all that, but she qualifies as probably the noobiest of noobs and did ok using my machine for a bit).
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Comment on X4: Foundations 7.00 trailer in ~games
Thomas-C Link ParentHad you played any of the previous games? I was a huge fan of the original X3 and Terran Conflict, so it's been kinda difficult when I've tried to get into X4. I haven't tried it since 5.0, so I'd...Had you played any of the previous games? I was a huge fan of the original X3 and Terran Conflict, so it's been kinda difficult when I've tried to get into X4. I haven't tried it since 5.0, so I'd be interested if you're able to describe how it's progressed a bit.
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Comment on Another update, our first event in ~talk
Thomas-C Link ParentVery much so! I made a playlist for it, mostly Disney music (Beauty and the Beast, Frozen, etc) and she was just ecstatic, singing with it and playing around with her friends. Though only 2, she...Very much so! I made a playlist for it, mostly Disney music (Beauty and the Beast, Frozen, etc) and she was just ecstatic, singing with it and playing around with her friends. Though only 2, she was very sweet and loved talking to folks, honestly one of the best behaved 2 year olds I think I've ever seen lol.
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Comment on Another update, our first event in ~talk
Thomas-C Link ParentId love to try that guy's food, I'm a bit envious. That sort of person though is exactly who I want to meet, and try to build connections with. If anything, I think it makes what they provide...Id love to try that guy's food, I'm a bit envious. That sort of person though is exactly who I want to meet, and try to build connections with. If anything, I think it makes what they provide better, if it's produced without a ton of stress. But more importantly, it's an opportunity both, to let them do what they enjoy and see that work be something pretty much immediately. At least personally, that's always what I was after - I just wanted what I did to contribute, to be meaningful. The way the little girl's grandmother lit up at the prospect made me really happy, you could tell in the moment it really did mean something to her. Hoping I can continue like that and one day have a big network, it's one way I'm trying to measure the progress/success of everything.
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Comment on Another update, our first event in ~talk
Thomas-C Link ParentBelieve it or not, the small, white plates are actually paper plates they brought along, as well as the cups. Everything else is ours. We do have a set big enough for this, but given the children...Believe it or not, the small, white plates are actually paper plates they brought along, as well as the cups. Everything else is ours. We do have a set big enough for this, but given the children everybody figured paper was the way to go.
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Comment on Tildes Video Thread in ~misc
Thomas-C LinkRecently I finished up a run of Diablo 2, and it just so happened that one of my favorite folks put out a lengthy, detailed analysis. I've always enjoyed Noah Caldwell Gervais for his thoroughness...Recently I finished up a run of Diablo 2, and it just so happened that one of my favorite folks put out a lengthy, detailed analysis. I've always enjoyed Noah Caldwell Gervais for his thoroughness and originality - dude can certainly crank out a good quote like it's second nature.
I particularly enjoyed this one because it's a good way of understanding a series that I feel often is oversimplified. There's a lot in Diablo, more than just clicking monsters. You will click a lot of monsters, but especially by D2 there was a complex, interesting set of ways to grow and become stronger. The change after D2 was one of the first examples of enshittification (imo), that came about at a time before we had that word. Understanding how this particular series changed with time, I think is decently illustrative of how a new business model can undermine the product. Sure, each Diablo is more successful than the last, that's something, but as Noah puts it, they aim today for a sort of engagement that isn't nearly as fulfilling. It really was the case that Blizzard was on top of the world for a time, and their shift toward monetizing just about every aspect of play felt a whole lot like getting shafted.
It's also a bit sad, that D4 appears to be a real continuation but is undermined by its endgame/monetization. I've seen Noah's opinion mirrored in how a lot of others talk about it - that the campaign feels like a proper evolution of the concept, but it is presented almost as a tutorial for a world of endless treadmills that turns some folks off.
Thankfully, these days there's plenty variety and of course, D2 Resurrected, which in my opinion is a pretty incredible product. Both because it's a faithful remake and because it's not been gutted for the sake of further monetization.
The extent to which folks try to liken the behaviors to other traumatic things really bothers me, because it comes off bereft of empathy. I can't make people be different but I can control myself, and I will not risk having someone relive a trauma for the sake of understanding something like "animal products are sometimes/often produced unethically". I can get that point across without having to go in that direction at all. If it's the only way then I quit. I'd rather eat my beans in silence than do that to people. My own choice was driven by simple ethics - I saw a video of things I don't want to write about, and changed my mind after I processed that. I would never show those videos to anyone who wasn't asking to see them, because of how traumatizing and awful they were.
It is a hypocrisy every time I cook the steak, deep down, inwardly, because I remember those videos. I know that in buying the meat I've contributed in some small way to the very problem I'd like to see resolved. That hypocrisy has no bearing on anything, or put a different way, if I want to degrade my own moral character for the sake of something that's something I'm free to do and this time seems worth it. Sure, the cow didn't have a choice, but my adhering to principle doesn't save any cows. It's delusional for me to think otherwise - no one is paying attention to me in that way. My decisions are not a factor in determining meat production in any way whatsoever. Not now, not tomorrow, likely not the day after either. If that changed, I can think of many things I would do. But it won't, far as I can tell, so I'm stuck with what's in front of me, and that's my friend asking me if I'll make dinner tonight. It's my grandmother asking for a corn dog. I'm not going to spend my time trying to convince her out of the corn dog. She's quite stubborn. I'm going to make the corn dog and for myself I'll make something else, and if she asks to try it I will share it with her. Through that, she too has become a mostly meatless person. Can anyone unironically using the words "bee rape" claim any such progress, with anyone? I'll hear it out if they can, but so far I haven't gotten many success stories from folks who go that hard on it.
Anyway, point being, given things will be a certain way for a time, what I think I can do is take those things and reorient them. I'll cook the steak so my friend sees I care about him. If he knows that I care about him, he's gonna reflect that some way or other if he's not just a total asshole, at some point. Perhaps that takes the shape of asking me for a bowl of (those fire, amazing, delicious) beans he tried last time. The food will communicate far better and far more than whatever words I've strung together. If that never happens it doesn't matter. There are others for whom the beans can be fire.