rogue_cricket's recent activity
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Comment on Post something from your notes app in ~talk
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Comment on What is your strangely specific phobia? in ~talk
rogue_cricket (edited )Link ParentI had a similar fear about autonomous computer things when I was quite young! Mine started from The Sims. When I had my first Sim die in a confusing way due to a glitch, I fully believed my PC was...I had a similar fear about autonomous computer things when I was quite young! Mine started from The Sims.
When I had my first Sim die in a confusing way due to a glitch, I fully believed my PC was haunted. I had nightmares about waking up to a messenger ping to find the dead sim trying to contact me over AIM.
I anthropomorphized inanimate things quite a lot as a kid, like believing that if I picked the same cup over and over again the others would get "sad", so I don't think it is really that surprising that I'd see these little digital people as having real feelings.
EDIT: I've talked about this here before, just took me a minute to find the link:
https://tildes.net/~talk/qwh/whats_something_that_creeps_you_out_more_than_it_should
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
rogue_cricket Link ParentOop, late on this! But apparently there was a ban wave right as I started a few months ago, so I only experienced like, a day or two of bots. I think they've been kept in check since then. Double...Oop, late on this! But apparently there was a ban wave right as I started a few months ago, so I only experienced like, a day or two of bots. I think they've been kept in check since then.
Double Cross is my BFF's favourite map too! She likes to play Demoknight and collect Sniper heads there. I've only got about 20 hours of actual playtime, so I don't have a ton of opinions yet.
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Comment on What are some traditional internet forums that you still use? in ~tech
rogue_cricket Link ParentI am also a big fan of MetaFilter. I think Ask MetaFilter is one of the best things on the entire internet. Some random notes - the jokey "he needs mouse bites to live" House joke script is, I...I am also a big fan of MetaFilter. I think Ask MetaFilter is one of the best things on the entire internet.
Some random notes - the jokey "he needs mouse bites to live" House joke script is, I believe, a MeFi original. There was a thread about emotional labour that made the rounds years ago as well that got the site some attention. I also occasionally use the MeFi terms "eponysterical" (when a person's username matches up with something they have posted) and "crouton-petting" (when you humanize inanimate objects) and forget they aren't common outside the site...
John Scalzi and Adam Savage have also made occasional appearances! I'm sure there are other notable members as well.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
rogue_cricket LinkWeirdly enough, I've been playing Team Fortress 2. I say weirdly because I am generally not the type to enjoy FPS games, although TF2 is much more casual and silly than the way some people play...Weirdly enough, I've been playing Team Fortress 2. I say weirdly because I am generally not the type to enjoy FPS games, although TF2 is much more casual and silly than the way some people play other FPS games so I'm vibing with it a bit.
I started because my friends play it regularly. I am pretty bad at it, but I do like playing Medic and Scout and Heavy. I'm neutral on Soldier, Pyro, and Sniper and terrible with Spy, Demoman, and Engineer. I'm interested in Engineer but I don't really know any of the maps well, so I'm never sure where to put my things.
Honestly, I don't really care about being good at it, it's just something to do with my computer friends on a regular basis. I really look forward to it.
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Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (February 2025) in ~health.mental
rogue_cricket (edited )Link ParentI'm feeling the same. I'm not a US American, I'm Canadian, but I've worked with many US Americans, visited many times, and I've had universally good experiences there. With the tariffs and the...I'm feeling the same. I'm not a US American, I'm Canadian, but I've worked with many US Americans, visited many times, and I've had universally good experiences there. With the tariffs and the social upheaval, I don't think it is unrealistic or alarmist to prepare for a humanitarian and economic crisis on both sides of the border.
I'm coping at the moment by trying to bring myself to a place of better economic stability so that I will be able to be of better use when shit really hits the fan. (I worked in tech and was, of course, hit by a massive layoff like many of my cohort.) I am taking stock of my skills, working on my physical health, reading about how other people have survived similar circumstances as the ones I am expecting, trying to be the best I can be for this. Don't get me wrong, I'll help no matter how ready I am, but I'd rather be prepared.
A lot of this is really hurting a lot right now because my very best friend is a US American trans woman. I love her and I am so afraid for her. I will do everything in my power to help.
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Comment on My hair is thinning. Tips and tricks, please! in ~life.style
rogue_cricket Link ParentI'm a woman. Last year my mother pointed out that my hair looked like it was thinning and showed me a photograph she'd taken of me from above and I went into a full panic. My hair had always been...I'm a woman. Last year my mother pointed out that my hair looked like it was thinning and showed me a photograph she'd taken of me from above and I went into a full panic. My hair had always been one of my favourite physical features about myself and unfortunately I was so upset that I didn't approach things scientifically in the same way I would normally for any kind of product introduction, so I was applying topical minoxidil, microneedling, doing red-light therapy, using dilute peppermint and rosemary oil.. dear Lord, reading that back, what a mess I was.
Anyway, something did something for sure because I did in fact end up growing the ghost of a little moustache! Among the myriad things I tried I really think it was the topical minoxidil that would have caused it but because of my terrible approach I can't be entirely sure. I have blonde hair, and less body hair than average, so I just kind of left it - it didn't stand out and wasn't really visible unless you were close enough to make my wife jealous. In fact, at the time I was glad to have some clear evidence that my body was producing more hair anywhere.
The thinning is reversing some now that I'm becoming generally healthier from what turned out to be a pretty serious health complication. I don't use the minoxidil any more but I did end up keeping the red light and the rosemary oil as an occasional part of my self-care routine. Even if research is not great as you said, those are at least enjoyable and not likely to be harmful.
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Comment on Kiki Rockwell - Cup Runneth Over (2023) in ~music
rogue_cricket LinkThis is from Kiki Rockwell (she/they), an alt artist I've recently stumbled upon. She has this sort of... semi-fantastic-historical aesthetic and worldbuilding in some of her recent videos that I...This is from Kiki Rockwell (she/they), an alt artist I've recently stumbled upon. She has this sort of... semi-fantastic-historical aesthetic and worldbuilding in some of her recent videos that I have enjoyed a lot. I picked this one in particular to share because it's standalone, but my favourite is probably actually "Burn Your Village" - technically the second part of a two-parter.
Same Old Energy (Part I)
Burn Your Village (Part II)I really like her dark, almost creepy sound. I think she makes some fun production choices.
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Kiki Rockwell - Cup Runneth Over (2023)
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Comment on Semaglutide for weight loss in ~health
rogue_cricket (edited )Link ParentI take Wellbutrin for depression, and for seasonal affective disorder. Is that a shortcut to happiness? I'm sure I could devote my energy to other interventions but willpower is a resource. The...- Exemplary
I take Wellbutrin for depression, and for seasonal affective disorder. Is that a shortcut to happiness?
I'm sure I could devote my energy to other interventions but willpower is a resource. The reality of my brain and its stupid little chemicals makes many basic aspects of navigating through my own life eat up energy and willpower out of proportion to someone who might have more typical chemistry. If I devoted my energy to a complete lifestyle change WHILE my own neurology was working raw against me - something that anyone who has experienced depression will understand is nearly ridiculous unassisted anyway, but humour me - I'd have no energy left over for my JOB.
There have been a lot of strides made in the public acceptance of mental illnesses like depression and the attitude towards their medication in the last several years. People are dealt different cards and there's no shame in using treatments to give you a boost given we can't exactly restructure society to accommodate everyone's diverse experiences better overnight. The modern environment we exist in is complex besides, a recent development against millions of years of evolved biologies, and our environments affect our behaviours as well.
That is how I think about ozempic, food, weight loss. If a drug can change how people feel about food, how they experience cravings and hunger and satiation, does it not stand to reason that perhaps their experiences were atypical to begin with? That they don't lack willpower, but rather, they need to use more of it due to the increased real and physical intensity of their experiences of these things? And then, that suggesting a solution which involves spontaneously redirecting or manifesting the resource of willpower is not going to be universally applicable given the diversity of our experiences?
The prevailing attitude is still that it's a failure of character to be fat, and one must flog themselves back into shape to atone for it. It's really a shame. Honestly, I think a lot of people are on the drugs and keeping it a secret for that reason.
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Comment on Semaglutide for weight loss in ~health
rogue_cricket (edited )LinkI am a relatively recently diagnosed diabetic. I use it for controlling my blood sugar and it's been seriously effective for that purpose. I think the slowed digestion causes those random surprise...- Exemplary
I am a relatively recently diagnosed diabetic. I use it for controlling my blood sugar and it's been seriously effective for that purpose. I think the slowed digestion causes those random surprise foods that might spike me to level out more over time.
I am also obese, and although since my mid-20s I had always been a bit overweight in a way I didn't necessarily mind, during the pandemic I really did gain a truly shocking amount of weight due to an equally shocking amount of stress. I suspect this is also when I developed diabetes without any major initial symptoms which allowed me the time to begin accumulating some very unfun nerve damage. This has begun to heal thanks in part to the semaglutide.
I have been on it for seven or eight weeks now. My highest weight was 240 in 2022, I slooowly lost 30lbs "on my own" (honestly only remotely possible because some environmental/stress level/mental health changes). Since being on ozempic I have lost another 25lbs, most of it in the first few weeks. It is very noticeable and my entire wardrobe will need replacing soon.
Early days were rough. I had nausea, fatigue, and bathroom issues for the first few weeks at 0.25 and I nearly quit it was so bad. I never vomited, but if I didn't work from home and have easy access to a private bathroom all the time it would have been, uh, challenging. My gag reflex also became so strong that I would have days of consuming only liquid meal replacements (and even then only at the insistence of my sweet and long suffering wife) because any solid food I put in my mouth would be make me heave and felt nearly impossible to swallow.
Now I'm up to 0.5, and the worst side effects have abated. My appetite is completely gone and I do not really experience hunger except towards the end of my dose or if I've messed up and forgotten to eat for an extremely extended period of time, because I'm also lucky enough to have ADHD (which I experience as extreme forgetfulness and occasional loss of body awareness when over/understimulated = forget to eat disorder). I am also on some other medications that could be contributing to this complete erasure of hunger, but I only experienced its full absence after the ozempic. It is extremely strange and while it's inconvenient in some ways I'm definitely no longer seeking food as a comfort in ways that I used to. I find eating boring now to the point of being mildly unpleasant.
Anyway. What I've gleaned online is that people respond to it very differently - I am a "super responder", lucky me, and I am therefore on a much slower ramp-up to a normal dose than usual. Some people don't really respond that much at all, and some people end up vomiting a lot. I think the important thing is to keep in contact with your doctor and monitor yourself.
It has really solidified my perspective on a lot of things wrt weight loss and weight gain.
My workplace has such an incredible drug plan I do not pay a cent for it but I would potentially pay a lot for it if I had to. I am very fortunate to access this treatment and not ashamed to be using it.
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Comment on Love songs about established, long term relationships in ~music
rogue_cricket LinkI really like Glasses by Jonathan Colton for this, which is about accepting the aging of yourself and your partner. The chorus gets to me. I like the affirmation:...I really like Glasses by Jonathan Colton for this, which is about accepting the aging of yourself and your partner. The chorus gets to me. I like the affirmation:
Forget the grey, let it fall apart
It's okay
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Comment on What do you like about your job? in ~talk
rogue_cricket (edited )LinkAdding my voice here to the throng of programmers. My current job is great; I get to work in clean energy and do math all day (3d modelling software using Lidar). The flexibility of remote work is...Adding my voice here to the throng of programmers. My current job is great; I get to work in clean energy and do math all day (3d modelling software using Lidar). The flexibility of remote work is great (although my work has a stipend for office rental which I take advantage of), and the pay is extremely good especially for how low my COL is.
One thing I really enjoy is that every week, the team I'm on has an hour-long hangout online where we just shoot the shit about whatever. It's been really, really helpful for keeping me engaged and wanting to contribute instead of falling into my usual job cynicism.
As for pens, I'm a Zebra Sarasa Quick Dry gal. Ride or die.
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Comment on Caroline Polachek: Tiny Desk Concert (2023) in ~music
rogue_cricket (edited )LinkThanks for sharing! I first learned about Caroline Polachek from her feature on the La vita nuova track on the EP of the same name by Christine and the Queens and have followed her loosely since....Thanks for sharing! I first learned about Caroline Polachek from her feature on the La vita nuova track on the EP of the same name by Christine and the Queens and have followed her loosely since. I think she's great.
Weirdly enough, my partner was familiar with this cover of So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings (worth a listen, IMO - has some variants that I think are pretty good) and only found out it was a cover a few weeks ago. We had been bingeing our favourite music videos and I mentioned that I liked Polachek offhandedly after watching La vita nuova together (link timestamped to the track in which she appears) and I was surprised she wasn't already familiar - when she listened to the original it became a fast favourite. One of the very few times my more-trendy wife learned about an artist from me, hah.
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Comment on Chappell Roan - Red Wine Supernova (2023) in ~music
rogue_cricket LinkI have recently become absolutely obsessed with Chappell Roan. This is a 2023 release and although I think I prefer her other track, HOT TO GO! a bit more musically, I thought this video was the...I have recently become absolutely obsessed with Chappell Roan. This is a 2023 release and although I think I prefer her other track, HOT TO GO! a bit more musically, I thought this video was the more fun of the two: I'm a queer woman and the aesthetic sensibility of it is bang on to how I remember my time with my big gay found family back in my early/mid 20s. Not necessarily, you know, magic themed, but the over-the-top costuming, the playing, the glitter, the performance - I think of those days very fondly. :)
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Chappell Roan - Red Wine Supernova (2023)
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Comment on Polygon review: Palia is an early access utopia that relies on its regular patches in ~games
rogue_cricket LinkI was in one of the closed betas for Palia, and despite BG3 taking over my entire life I did pop into the open beta a couple times. While it's cute and cozy, and the devs seem responsive and...I was in one of the closed betas for Palia, and despite BG3 taking over my entire life I did pop into the open beta a couple times. While it's cute and cozy, and the devs seem responsive and active, I think overall I was disappointed by the lack of player interaction systems. My expectations may have been a bit off but it's one of those games I got the sense I was playing more "beside" people rather than "with" them.
I get it's probably hard to balance the issue while encouraging a particular type of player behaviour. Like, any time you have... an economy... it's gonna be competitive to some degree, for instance. But in preventing people from competing with each other, I also kind of felt prevented from meaningfully co-oporating with them, and for me that's the majority of the idea's appeal.
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Comment on Eight in ten women married to men still take husband’s last name, survey finds in ~life.women
rogue_cricket Link ParentWell there's obviously more practical value in sharing a name with your spouse than with your sibling or parent (as an adult), but it is still a little zero-sum. :) I grew up with a different name...Well there's obviously more practical value in sharing a name with your spouse than with your sibling or parent (as an adult), but it is still a little zero-sum. :)
I grew up with a different name than my mother because she took her second husband's name. I don't think it was inconvenient but now I'm curious to ask. I think she was mostly annoyed that it was difficult to spell.
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How do you get "back on track"? Could use advice.
I have a very long history of mental illness from age 10, and though I've cycled through a lot of explanations the diagnoses that best match my symptoms currently are currently ADHD and CPTSD. I...
I have a very long history of mental illness from age 10, and though I've cycled through a lot of explanations the diagnoses that best match my symptoms currently are currently ADHD and CPTSD. I am medicated for both, and although I am not in active therapy I have also done therapy. I consider my mental health relatively well-managed currently: at least, I am not in any urgent danger of hurting myself and it has been a very long time since I have been. Certainly things could be better but I'm usually functional.
But sometimes I go through these phases, generally 1-3 months long, where my ability to function on a normal level slips dramatically. It never gets to the nightmarish state I was in when I was a teenager, but it becomes hard to... oh, make appointments, do the dishes, walk the dog, just generally deal with the obligations of being an adult. My house is never in GREAT shape but it becomes a disaster. Work performance suffers a lot, my relationships suffer. I also start experiencing emotional PMS symptoms (or perhaps I just lose the ability to suppress them), and while I'm not the type to have "emotional outbursts" I do experience deep and irrational sadness or anger on those days. I also tend to end up dealing with insomnia, which is like a force multiplier on feeling overwhelmed.
It sucks especially because it's like I'm watching myself do it, and I feel as though I don't have enough control over myself to nip it in the bud, and sometimes the damage I do during these times is not fixable at all. It's almost like an unplaceable craving, like there's some thing I'm missing and my subconscious and my body are trying to send me signals, and I just can't interpret them right and figure out what I need.
How I generally get out of these phases is -- well, it's a bit chicken-egg, because the turmoil makes it difficult for me to reach out for help or even do anything to help myself, so to me it seems like sometimes the wave just passes. I'll say, "ok, this time I'll get my shit together", download some new app or whatever, organize my time or tasks via some new fascinating system, and that'll work... but it feels like it's only because I'm "ready" for it to work.
I think it's unlikely I'll find a solution that will work indefinitely to prevent these slips (hooray, novelty-obsessed brain). And anyway - as though it even needs to be said - I'm sulking in the midst of one now, so prevention or reduction tips might be helpful later, but for this moment I'm mostly concerned with getting out once I'm in.
If you have "swingy" mental health, or phases, or waves - what do YOU do about it, if anything? Therapy? Do you change your medication? Do you take a vacation? Commiserate on your favourite internet forums? What works for you?
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Comment on Is understaffing a new norm? in ~life
rogue_cricket Link ParentI'm so sorry to hear it. While I'm not a health care worker myself, my mother is a nurse (non-ER) and I am legitimately concerned for her health at this point. Every year she seems to take on more...I'm so sorry to hear it. While I'm not a health care worker myself, my mother is a nurse (non-ER) and I am legitimately concerned for her health at this point. Every year she seems to take on more responsibility, more nurses and patients and tasks overall... she is retirement age and just can't seem to let go because of how critically low the staffing levels are and how many people would be left up the creek without her. Her knees are giving out from being constantly on her feet. She's arthritic in her hands and in pain.
It makes me so angry to think about the position she is in, put there because people without concern for human wellbeing take advantage of her for having it. The people who don't get care, their families, and the workers who are being asked to do the impossible are suffering in place of those who are actually ultimately culpable for the failure. Accountability without culpability is sick.
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