Sycamore's recent activity

  1. Comment on How do you handle being around other people? in ~talk

    Sycamore
    Link Parent
    I was watching Angela Colliers 'why do Trader Joes employees do that', and as an aside to the main point of the video, she goes on for a bit about how she likes to engage in small talk. And that...

    I was watching Angela Colliers 'why do Trader Joes employees do that', and as an aside to the main point of the video, she goes on for a bit about how she likes to engage in small talk. And that stuck with me for some reason because i think i've come to the point in life where I have to enjoy small talk or learn how to engage in it because otherwise I don't get the social interactions that I need as regularly as I had when in school.

    I always thought of small talk as superficial or a waste of time and energy, but im starting to accept the real benefits of sharing even a momentary connection is. And what you're sharing above supports that.

    6 votes

  2. Comment on How do you handle being around other people? in ~talk

    Sycamore
    Link Parent
    What was the difference between your old 'friends' and new friends that was most striking?

    What was the difference between your old 'friends' and new friends that was most striking?

    5 votes

  3. Comment on How have you improved your living spaces? in ~life.home_improvement

    Sycamore
    Link
    Lighting matters changing any bulbs you have from white to a warmer tone helps make the space less sterile and more homey. One time i even used a orange and yellow wax pencil to color the bulb...

    Lighting matters

    • changing any bulbs you have from white to a warmer tone helps make the space less sterile and more homey. One time i even used a orange and yellow wax pencil to color the bulb manually.
    • adding lighting sources that are not your typical overhead ceiling light. Overhead light is not the most natural way to light (sun moves around all day). Having light sources from lamps or sconces can help diversity the lighting and make your space look more interesting and dynamic and moody.

    Minimize visual clutter

    • this is really hard to maintain for me, but something i aim for. Reducing the visual noise around the room makes me feel more at ease. Important thing is to make sure everything has a place inside drawers, on a shelf, in cabinets etc.
    • dust also counts. Even if you don't think you can see it, dusting and vacuuming regularly really makes a space feel way cleaner to me.

    Give your furniture some space

    • this is a little impractical but its visually much nicer when furniture is not jammed into corners or placed right against each other. Centering pieces along walls and giving space between and around them helps make a space feel more intentional.
    • this is impractical bc you've made cleaning more difficult and not great when you need to maximize space - so i do it when i can.

    Plants

    • they give life to a room. Highly recommend. Rooms feels so different without them.
    4 votes

  4. Comment on Do you iron your clothes? in ~life

    Sycamore
    Link Parent
    This is what i do now for the most part too - except i have more woolens that need extra attention that i hand wash whenever i have enough for a batch. I hear separating whites & colors isn't as...

    This is what i do now for the most part too - except i have more woolens that need extra attention that i hand wash whenever i have enough for a batch.

    I hear separating whites & colors isn't as necessary anymore bc dyes are getting better at not bleeding.

    Edit: wait you don't even fold??

    4 votes

  5. Comment on Do you iron your clothes? in ~life

    Sycamore
    Link Parent
    How often do you iron & how long does it take typically? If i had an actual laundry room where i could leave out the ironing table, i would definitely feel more open to doing it regularly.

    How often do you iron & how long does it take typically?

    If i had an actual laundry room where i could leave out the ironing table, i would definitely feel more open to doing it regularly.

    4 votes

  6. Do you iron your clothes?

    ~life Ask (survey)
    I can't imagine anyone doing this regularly but at the same time, people at work have wrinkle-free clothes! I hear people take their clothes to the laundromat to avoid doing so, but that seems...

    I can't imagine anyone doing this regularly but at the same time, people at work have wrinkle-free clothes!

    I hear people take their clothes to the laundromat to avoid doing so, but that seems like it'll get expensive.

    How do you manage to keep your office clothes neat and presentable?

    37 votes

  7. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    Sycamore
    Link
    I finished "The True Drama of the Gifted Child" by Martin Miller, son of the more famous Alice Miller. @thereticent mentioned it in a comment and I took interest. Its an autobiographical account...

    I finished "The True Drama of the Gifted Child" by Martin Miller, son of the more famous Alice Miller. @thereticent mentioned it in a comment and I took interest. Its an autobiographical account of his own relationship with his mother and biographical account of his mother.

    In short, its about how Alice Miller, who had large contributions in the field of child psychology, who had strongly advocated for children to grow up with agency and flourish as their "true selves", was a bad parent. This is not to dismiss her theories on childhood development (martin miller does support them for the most part), rather a kind of exposé on Alice and how or why she was a bad parent, despite not seeming so publicly due to her work.

    Its definitely written by a novice writer. It doesn't always flow well, organization of the book was odd. Its not a good book in that sense but it gets his story across.

    And its actually very sad and essentially about generational trauma through WWII/Holocaust. Real shocker at the end of the book with this US edition about some later discoveries about Alice by Martin.

  8. Comment on Apple announces iPhone Duo, its first foldable iPhone in ~tech

    Sycamore
    Link Parent
    Way more pictures with hands provided here haha - thank you for sharing. It does not look as massive in these photos, but still does not look comfortable one-handed.

    Way more pictures with hands provided here haha - thank you for sharing. It does not look as massive in these photos, but still does not look comfortable one-handed.

    1 vote

  9. Comment on Apple announces iPhone Duo, its first foldable iPhone in ~tech

    Sycamore
    Link Parent
    Exactly! I didn't see any photos of the phone in the hand, except for one and the fingers looked absurdly long..

    Exactly! I didn't see any photos of the phone in the hand, except for one and the fingers looked absurdly long..

    1 vote

  10. Comment on Apple announces iPhone Duo, its first foldable iPhone in ~tech

    Sycamore
    Link
    I don't understand how anyone could comfortably hold this. I for sure cannot comfortably hold a phone this size.

    I don't understand how anyone could comfortably hold this. I for sure cannot comfortably hold a phone this size.

    5 votes

  11. Comment on How accurate have Ed Zitron's AI skeptic predictions been? in ~tech

    Sycamore
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    I've been on the Anti-AI boat from early on for the reasons stated above. But i had never considered it from this perspective of technology being placed in a different context & I really like how...

    I've been on the Anti-AI boat from early on for the reasons stated above. But i had never considered it from this perspective of technology being placed in a different context & I really like how Curiosity framed it that way.

    I have to admit that AI is very cool and mind blowing. But i have had to pull back from appreciating the technology or being able to acknowledge how incredible it is when there are all these negative implications around it in its current context. But i could see myself be totally on board if it was in a different context.

    (Although its a different question if AI can exist in a different context...)

    10 votes

  12. Comment on Songs about doing chores / daily routines? in ~music

  13. Comment on Songs about doing chores / daily routines? in ~music

  14. Comment on What's something that's more challenging for you than it is for others? in ~talk

    Sycamore
    (edited )
    Link
    I can't seem to form any long term habits. I tell myself i want to read, write, walk, stretch, meal prep etc. for at least this many minutes or this many times a week or at this time of day. But i...

    I can't seem to form any long term habits.

    I tell myself i want to read, write, walk, stretch, meal prep etc. for at least this many minutes or this many times a week or at this time of day. But i can rarely keep a streak long enough for it to become an ingrained habit.
    There's something that comes up and disrupts any effort i try to make.

    I end up doing many of those things just on a very irregular schedule...

    9 votes

  15. Comment on We economists have done the maths: ‘growth’ is a doomed strategy – there is a better way in ~finance

    Sycamore
    Link
    One of the authors here, Kate Raworth, wrote a book several years back about this need to limit growth within 'planetary boundaries'. The book and model is called Doughnut Economics. She proposes...

    One of the authors here, Kate Raworth, wrote a book several years back about this need to limit growth within 'planetary boundaries'.

    The book and model is called Doughnut Economics. She proposes an economic model that rather focuses on the stability, health, wellbeing of both the people and planet, rather than one that focuses purely on growth. Growth is at the center of many current economies but the metric doesn't value or measure metrics of human and planet well-being. By refocusing on actual values, she develops an opposite model of needing to limiti growth and maintain certain resource boundaries - using enough to support needs but not excessively to permanently damage the environment.
    The result of a model like that would look like a "doughnut" with upper and lower bounds.

    I thought the model was very interesting and aligned well with my values. But i thought the book lacked specifics on how to get that done. Im glad to see that per the NEEP roadmap, its been more further developed/ coordinated with many others into something thats hopefully actionable.

    9 votes

  16. Comment on Three Cheers for Tildes: App updates and feedback (July 2026) — Version 1.7 detects expired login sessions in ~tildes

    Sycamore
    Link Parent
    Understood - thanks! I didn't even notice viewing bookmarks was a missing feature (despite bookmarking posts 😅). That would surely be nice as well.

    Understood - thanks! I didn't even notice viewing bookmarks was a missing feature (despite bookmarking posts 😅). That would surely be nice as well.

    1 vote

  17. Comment on Three Cheers for Tildes: App updates and feedback (July 2026) — Version 1.7 detects expired login sessions in ~tildes

    Sycamore
    Link
    Thanks for the update! (I too use this app daily). One question - i recently learned users can add a profile. I don't actually see those on the app version (tbh i haven't checked browser since i...

    Thanks for the update! (I too use this app daily).

    One question - i recently learned users can add a profile. I don't actually see those on the app version (tbh i haven't checked browser since i use Tildes exclusively on mobile). Am i missing how to get there? When i click on a user, it directs to a page of their recent comments/posts.

    Not sure how to see/set up my own either.

  18. Comment on What self-help / personal development books did you find valuable? in ~books

    Sycamore
    Link Parent
    Oh interesting - thanks for sharing. Looks like its still available secondhand. Did reading this change how you interpreted Drama of the Gifted Child or credibility of Alice Miller?

    Oh interesting - thanks for sharing. Looks like its still available secondhand. Did reading this change how you interpreted Drama of the Gifted Child or credibility of Alice Miller?

    3 votes

  19. Comment on What self-help / personal development books did you find valuable? in ~books

    Sycamore
    Link
    Read Drama of the Gifted Child by Alice Miller almost a decade ago and it provided an interesting framework to understand myself and others. High level its about the dynamic between children who...

    Read Drama of the Gifted Child by Alice Miller almost a decade ago and it provided an interesting framework to understand myself and others. High level its about the dynamic between children who are sensitive to the needs of their parents and support them in some way, but as a result suppress their own needs (leading to depression e.g.). Common in abusive households or parents with mental illnesses.

    Its a psychoanalysis book - so take what you want out of it. But i found the case studies and analysis to feel relatable even for someone who doesn't consider themselves to have been brought up in an abusive household.

    3 votes

  20. Comment on What self-help / personal development books did you find valuable? in ~books

    Sycamore
    Link Parent
    I found Kondo's organizing tips to be helpful in general. The ones i specifically use to this day is folding clothes so that they 'file' not stack in drawers, folding socks instead of using the...

    I found Kondo's organizing tips to be helpful in general. The ones i specifically use to this day is folding clothes so that they 'file' not stack in drawers, folding socks instead of using the elastic to bind them, & nesting bags.

    I still manage to be a slight hoarder.. but try really hard to buy less things because i know i will have trouble throwing things out. Its been almost a decade since I read that tho - so would be one to revisit.

    2 votes