monarda's recent activity
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Comment on TV Tuesdays Free Talk in ~tv
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Comment on The ethics of buying, playing military, war or games inspired by them? in ~games
monarda Link ParentWhat the heck is war.gov - is that a thing now? Edit to add the link you posted: https://www.war.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/Article/2062735/how-why-dod-works-with-hollywood/I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone else bring up what I think is the most obvious parallel -- Hollywood depiction of the US military. The DoD has deep and longstanding cooperation with Hollywood, and they provide a lot of
What the heck is war.gov - is that a thing now?
Edit to add the link you posted: https://www.war.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/Article/2062735/how-why-dod-works-with-hollywood/
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Comment on Would anyone be interested in an online gardening club? in ~hobbies
monarda Link ParentIf you’re talking about houseplants, two that I find easy to propagate and hard to kill are Plectranthus verticillatus (swedish ivy) and Tradescantia zebrina (silver inch plant). Both are trailers...If you’re talking about houseplants, two that I find easy to propagate and hard to kill are Plectranthus verticillatus (swedish ivy) and Tradescantia zebrina (silver inch plant). Both are trailers and grow quickly from cuttings. Most begonias can be propagated in the same way. Super easy. But several species can be propagated from leaf cuttings laid flat on soil and secured with pins. I find this fun to do and watch as you’ll get multiple plantlets popping up from the leaf. This works well with most rhizomatous begonias like begonias in the rex group (Begonia rex-cultorum). There’s also the wonderful world of succulents, many of them easily propagated too.
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Comment on I need to talk to someone with social mobility experience, and I'm out of ideas in ~health.mental
monarda Link ParentI get to rest this weekend, it’s going to be awesome. I see chips and a comfy couch in my future lol. Don’t forget to enjoy as much of the ride as you can. I hope your weekend is a satisfying one!I get to rest this weekend, it’s going to be awesome. I see chips and a comfy couch in my future lol.
Don’t forget to enjoy as much of the ride as you can. I hope your weekend is a satisfying one!
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Comment on I need to talk to someone with social mobility experience, and I'm out of ideas in ~health.mental
monarda LinkI just wanted to say that I think you’re doing the right thing - you keep putting yourself out there. That’s how I’ve mostly found my “luck.” Luck has rarely, if ever, fallen into my lap without...I just wanted to say that I think you’re doing the right thing - you keep putting yourself out there. That’s how I’ve mostly found my “luck.” Luck has rarely, if ever, fallen into my lap without me doing some footwork. And you’re also trying to learn how to keep putting yourself out there. I’m reading your responses and seeing things like, “yes, you’re right, I could do that better.”
Getting myself to a place I wanted to be was not a straight line, and it was often demoralizing and fraught with self doubt. Sometimes I needed to pause and decompress and recharge. Sometimes I just went nuts for a bit. But our experiences are accumulative and can enable us to overcome much adversity.
Keep putting yourself out there and keep being teachable. I believe it pays off.
Good Luck!
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Comment on Color game — how well can you remember colors? | Dialed in ~games
monarda LinkEach game I played was worse than the game before! It was fun anyway. Thanks for posting.Each game I played was worse than the game before! It was fun anyway. Thanks for posting.
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Comment on What's an obscure book/series that you've read that you would like to recommend? in ~books
monarda Link ParentCreatures of Light and Darkness has a lot of critics and as much as I like the book, some of that criticism is fair. Lord of Light on the other hand won a Hugo and was nominated for a Nebula. That...Creatures of Light and Darkness has a lot of critics and as much as I like the book, some of that criticism is fair. Lord of Light on the other hand won a Hugo and was nominated for a Nebula. That info may help you decide where to start.
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Comment on Bookmark management for non-technical people? in ~tech
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Comment on What's an obscure book/series that you've read that you would like to recommend? in ~books
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Comment on What's an obscure book/series that you've read that you would like to recommend? in ~books
monarda Link ParentI’ve read Simmon’s series and found it a good journey.I’ve read Simmon’s series and found it a good journey.
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Comment on What's an obscure book/series that you've read that you would like to recommend? in ~books
monarda Link ParentI’m going to give it a go (and my library has it). Your excitement is contagious!I’m going to give it a go (and my library has it). Your excitement is contagious!
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Comment on What's an obscure book/series that you've read that you would like to recommend? in ~books
monarda Link ParentHuh, I had no idea that Neuromancer was part of a series. It’s been a long time since I read it, but I remember liking it. I’m going to put that on my list.Huh, I had no idea that Neuromancer was part of a series. It’s been a long time since I read it, but I remember liking it. I’m going to put that on my list.
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Comment on What's an obscure book/series that you've read that you would like to recommend? in ~books
monarda Link ParentThose books seem so familiar. Unfortunately it’s another series my library doesn’t hold! Over time I have gotten rid of most of my book collection with the belief that I could always borrow or buy...Empyrion
Those books seem so familiar. Unfortunately it’s another series my library doesn’t hold!
Over time I have gotten rid of most of my book collection with the belief that I could always borrow or buy them again. It seems as if that belief is false.
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Comment on What's an obscure book/series that you've read that you would like to recommend? in ~books
monarda Link ParentNone of your recommendations were available at my library! I will look for them the next time I’m at a used bookstore. Thank you :)None of your recommendations were available at my library! I will look for them the next time I’m at a used bookstore. Thank you :)
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Comment on What's an obscure book/series that you've read that you would like to recommend? in ~books
monarda Link ParentI’m glad you mentioned that book, as I vaguely remember it and think I’ll read it again. Been looking for something.I’m glad you mentioned that book, as I vaguely remember it and think I’ll read it again. Been looking for something.
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Comment on What's an obscure book/series that you've read that you would like to recommend? in ~books
monarda LinkC.S. Lewis wrote a space trilogy: Out of the Silent Planet, Peralandra, and That Hideous Strength. I read them a long time ago, and no one I’ve recommended them to has ever heard of them. I can...C.S. Lewis wrote a space trilogy: Out of the Silent Planet, Peralandra, and That Hideous Strength. I read them a long time ago, and no one I’ve recommended them to has ever heard of them. I can barely remember what they were about, but I do remember really liking them.
Around the time I read those, I also read the Cluster series by Piers Anthony. Another series I’m always surprised that sci-fi readers I meet haven’t read. I don’t know how it will it hold up. I was a teenager when I read it and felt all adult reading some alien human sex.
A couple of books that were well known but aren’t so much anymore, were written by Roger Zelazny: Creatures of Light and Darkness and Lord of Light. The prose in Creatures is marvelous. Zelazny can pack so much meaning and feeling into a few sentences that I often will have to reread in order to get the full impact of the beauty of the sentences. Creatures of Light and Darkness is one of my favorite books of all time. Wikipedia has this to say about it, “Creatures of Light and Darkness was originally conceived and written as merely a writing exercise in perspective.[1] He wrote it in present tense; constructed an entire chapter in poetry; and made the concluding chapter into the script of a play. He never intended it for publication…“
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Comment on Anyone get into caffeine (coffee/tea) as an adult? in ~food
monarda LinkI started drinking coffee around age 27. I went full on - drinking triple and quadruple shots to get through doing highly laborious work. I didn’t like coffee which is why I drank it black and as...I started drinking coffee around age 27. I went full on - drinking triple and quadruple shots to get through doing highly laborious work. I didn’t like coffee which is why I drank it black and as shots. It did the job. However at some point, like most stimulants I’ve done in my life, I ended up drinking it from wake to sleep. In my forties, I started needing a tooth guard when I went to bed because I was clenching my jaw so tightly it was painful. That’s when I slowed down on the coffee and stopped drinking it after 1pm. That did the job. I still drank highly caffeinated coffee, I just stopped drinking it all day. That worked for the jaw clench. Now I drink three very weak coffees every day, two in the morning, and another around noon, and then drink decaf until around 7. I like the taste of coffee now, and I think I drink it for that more than for it having much effect on me.
In the early days of coffee, it very much helped me have energy and stay on task. I will occasionally use it for that today, but at some point I was drinking so much of it, I can’t tell you what it was doing for me. When I stopped drinking coffee after 1pm, I don’t remember it having any noticeable difference on my energy levels.
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Comment on 振り向きショラオン - コーコーヤ (2011) (upbeat, instrumental trio) in ~music
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Comment on What healthy habit has made a difference for you? in ~health
monarda Link ParentGood questions. Regarding the woman: My husband knew her husband through work. And years ago the husband invited us to a dinner party where I met her. I ran into her a few months later in a clinic...Good questions.
Regarding the woman: My husband knew her husband through work. And years ago the husband invited us to a dinner party where I met her. I ran into her a few months later in a clinic waiting room where we chatted and exchanged numbers. And that is pretty much that. I still don’t know why she was insistent in reaching out to me. She says I was funny and interesting, personally I felt like a fish out of water.
To the rest of it: One night I posted to nextdoor that I’d lived here for a few decades and didn’t really know anyone and felt isolated. I mentioned being afraid. I was honest that I had judged my community as a group of judgmental people who would think they were better than me. I pointed out the irony of my judginess. I asked if anyone would be interested going for a walk or getting coffee or something else. My heart raced as I posted it. I woke up and checked for responses and there weren’t any, and I thought I should delete it. I didn’t. And then a few people responded. That didn’t pan out into the type of friendship I was hoping for, but it did get me out a bit, and one woman took me to a monthly community dinner where I met other people. I still go to that. And the woman who took me is someone I’m always happy to see because she’s warm, kind, and accepting.
Those dinners led to me meeting this ancient woman who at the time was having a hard time walking and was sick of being stuck in her house most of the time. I was attracted to her smile and offered to pick her up once a week and take her to a park where her walker could roll unhindered. Those were slow walks. And they weren’t always comfortable. I had so many things bottled up to talk about that my mouth just kept talking. I’d feel like an ass afterwards and promise myself I wouldn’t motor mouth the next time. But I would. One day she told me to shut up. She said that if I was really looking for connection I needed to be willing to receive as well as transmit. I told her I didn’t know how to unmotor my mouth. She said she could tell, but I wasn’t hopeless. That was awful. I wanted to hide. It hit me right smack in my insecurities. But I didn’t hide. The next time we went out, I didn’t say much of anything. She asked me if I was sulking. I didn’t think I was, I was just scared of motoring. She said I could ask questions about what she was talking about that that was a way to show interest in another person. And I started learning from her how to converse. I still motor especially when I’m nervous, but I’m better at listening and engaging other people. Some people I’ve found actually enjoy having a motormouth around. But I’ve been learning to make space for those quiet types also.
So I spent time with old people for a while. They were the most receptive to my vulnerability and the most willing to speak their mind about my floundering. And I still spend some time in that space because they are part of our community. I don’t always enjoy it, but connection isn’t always enjoyable.
And there were people I’d been friendly with when I was a farmer and had ghosted. I reached out to a few of those people. That netted a single person who I text regularly with and speak with on the phone occasionally. I had originally been the person who helped her and her family when they started farming. We had been friends before. So she was a safe bet. We’re not friends like before but when we talk we have deep conversations which is what I enjoy most in any connection.
Old people almost always know people you should meet. And the introduction I was given that was most impactful concerned my alcohol usage. I was struggling to get rid of that habit. I’ve struggled with addiction of one sort or another my entire life - drugs, work, video games, internet, relationships, anything that would keep me from having to look around at my actual life. But I’d always been able to just stop whatever it was. I couldn’t shake the alcohol though. So I was introduced to someone who was in a 12 step program and went and checked that out. That’s how I quit drinking and that opened up a whole other world of people that I could connect with. It also gave me the tools I needed to actually deal with the shitshow my life had become and piece together something better.
Writing is hard for me so I hope I was able to answer your question.
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Comment on What healthy habit has made a difference for you? in ~health
monarda Link ParentOh, the other part of the prompt: how easy has it been to keep up. It’s easier now than before. But I can still slip into the groove of isolation. I still have to be vigilant on that front. There...Oh, the other part of the prompt: how easy has it been to keep up. It’s easier now than before. But I can still slip into the groove of isolation. I still have to be vigilant on that front. There are a lot of times I don’t want to do something and the unreliable narrator makes all kinds of plausible sounding justifications for giving into those impulses. But I’ve been trudging along long enough now that I know I feel better when I’m connected, so I make the effort to push past that. At other times it’s no effort at all and those times are starting to outweigh the other times.
I watched the first season of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters when on vacation last year. It was okay, but I felt it needed more monster time. They made a good choice having Wyatt and Kurt Russell play the same character, though I thought Wyatt did a much better job acting. Season two started a few weeks ago. I still wish there was more monster time! I don’t think it’s a great show, but I do find it engaging, and I think that has more to do with the way they skip back and forth from the past to the present than the actual story.
I’m looking forward to watching One Piece but will wait till all the episodes have dropped and binge it on a rest day.
I’ve also been watching Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. I have no idea why I never watched it before because it’s right up my alley! I’m loving it. It’s completely wacky and constantly surprising me with its antics.