rosco's recent activity
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Comment on What did you do this week (and weekend)? in ~talk
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Comment on What have you been eating, drinking, and cooking? in ~food
rosco Link ParentNice! Yeah, that's my logic too. I was terrrrrible at making rice until my last housemate took the time to teach me. (I never grew up eating it). It's a 1 part rice to 1.5 part water ratio (can...Nice! Yeah, that's my logic too.
I was terrrrrible at making rice until my last housemate took the time to teach me. (I never grew up eating it). It's a 1 part rice to 1.5 part water ratio (can vary based on type of rice). Bring to boil covered and immediately turn to low and let it simmer for 10 minutes (don't touch the lid, this is key). Then turn it off and either eat then (good) or let it sit with the lid on for another 10 minutes (best).
Rice was always such a mystery to me and after that it's the easiest side!
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Comment on What have you been eating, drinking, and cooking? in ~food
rosco Link ParentI'm dealing with chronic constipation and the associated stomach pain and have switched from trying to eat more to just trying to eat more calorie dense. I know this isn't what you asked for, but...I'm dealing with chronic constipation and the associated stomach pain and have switched from trying to eat more to just trying to eat more calorie dense. I know this isn't what you asked for, but as an alternative strategy if the appealing route doesn't pan out, you might want to consider mixing in high calorie things into your normal meals. I've started adding nut butters into shakes so I can wang out a drink with 800 calories or adding olive oil to like anything else I eat (or at least the thing where I might not notice it, i.e. baked chicken, potatoes, sandwiches, etc...) It's an odd thing to navigate in a world that is usually pushing calorie reduction, but I've found that following food advice for infants and toddlers has been helpful.
The most successful meal for me has been rice bowls. I can throw in a few eggs, sesame/olive oil, spices, and usually a little veg and end up with like 800 calories. It's easy on the stomach and goes well with kimchi for gut health.
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Comment on These travel influencers don’t want freebies. They’re AI. in ~travel
rosco Link ParentInterestingly, we found that the suggestions Anthony Bourdain's old shows have once again become "hole in the walls" because so many of the contemporary travelers follow suggestions from tiktok or...Interestingly, we found that the suggestions Anthony Bourdain's old shows have once again become "hole in the walls" because so many of the contemporary travelers follow suggestions from tiktok or instagram. Anecdotally it seems to be pretty true.
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Comment on Without looking, do you have a vague idea of your coordinates? in ~talk
rosco LinkWow, I work with GPS and survey work and I have absolutely no idea. I know what coordinate system we're in be it WGS84 or the NAD State based system - so if they said NAD 83 Zone 4, I'd know they...Wow, I work with GPS and survey work and I have absolutely no idea. I know what coordinate system we're in be it WGS84 or the NAD State based system - so if they said NAD 83 Zone 4, I'd know they are in my ballpark... but that's still a huge amount of land.
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Comment on We bought an old house in the Japanese countryside in ~life.home_improvement
rosco Link ParentOf course! I really appreciate you putting words to my feelings as well. And thank you for pulling us in to this relaxing thread rather than back into the prickly one. A little more Japanese house...Of course! I really appreciate you putting words to my feelings as well. And thank you for pulling us in to this relaxing thread rather than back into the prickly one. A little more Japanese house reno viewing is just what the doctor ordered!
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Comment on Winter boot recommendations for women in ~life.style
rosco Link ParentWeighing in on these, be it on the Caribou because it's the men's version. I have a hand me down pair from my dad who bought them in the 80s and I started wearing them in the early 2010s. Take...Weighing in on these, be it on the Caribou because it's the men's version. I have a hand me down pair from my dad who bought them in the 80s and I started wearing them in the early 2010s. Take everything with a grain of salt because these are ooooold boots but still in very good condition.
My pair has like zero traction. I use them in tandem with a pair of yak tracks if there is any amount of snow or ice. Seriously, it's like being on a slip and slide. The insulation is great. The materials are great - they look almost new despite being like 45 years old. But if I'm actually hiking or really doing much of anything other than kicking it around in a snowy area, I take my Vasque hiking boots or my La Sportiva trail runners.
Again, they are like nearly 50 years old. So A+ build quality and I can't really speak to how they were originally, but zero grip now. I've thought resoling them, but I also kind of feel silly with near knee high outdoor boots as is.
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Comment on Games: Your personal year in review for 2025 in ~games
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Comment on Games: Your personal year in review for 2025 in ~games
rosco LinkWow, what a year for games. Lot’s of thanks before diving in. To the generous folks like @Protected, @xavdid, and @kfwyre I really appreciate you sharing your games and spreading so much joy! I’m...Wow, what a year for games. Lot’s of thanks before diving in. To the generous folks like @Protected, @xavdid, and @kfwyre I really appreciate you sharing your games and spreading so much joy! I’m much more of a casual gamer, and to me the industry is just absolutely packed with amazing, affordable games. I’m just in awe about the quality and creativity of modern games. That and how much cozy games have taken off. Love me a cozy game.
My highlights were Dredge, Dave the Diver, A Highland Song, and Hollow Knight. I had no real disappointments. 2025 was a banging year for games! I’ve written up each game I played below. I’ve tried not to include any spoilers, but if any have crept in I’m sorry. I did these in order of when I played them, incase you're like "why are they arranged this way?!?"
A Highland Song 9/10 - Total play time 21 hours - Completeness: 90% - Courtesy of @Protected
I think A Highland Song is a total sleeper of a game. It’s been my constant return to comfort game in 2025. I think I’ve run through the whole game about 16 times. It’s got a banging sound track, a really engaging storyline, and impressively fleshed out characters for how little actual dialog there is. I’m about 90% through all the peaks and side quests, and have a fastest time of 3 days. It’s really relaxing and cozy.
As a fun aside I learned about Beltane through this game, the Celtic holiday that kicks off the start of summer and is one of the points when the veil between our world and the spirit world is at its weakest. Without giving anything away, there are Selkies in the game that arrive on Beltane. I swim every morning in the ocean here and this year on Beltane there were two mother/pup seal duos in the shallows of the cove we swim from! It was pretty magical and just made me feel even tighter with the game. I played another runthrough that evening.
Papers Please 7/10 - Total play time 5 hours - Completeness: 30% - Courtesy of @xavdid
Very fun concept and beautiful, brutalist art style. I’m only 30% through but it’s a fun game to come back to. Just not after a long day of admin work haha. Definitely worth checking out!
Dredge 10/10 - Total play time 24 hours - Completeness: 100%
Dredge is probably my game of the year. It was incredible. The art. The storytelling. The atmosphere. The creatures. 10/10. Learning it was made by only 3 people made it all the more impressive. There were so many little decisions that made the game incredible. I bought all the additional DLC and I still crave more. I heard they have reached the extent of what they can do with the open world - like physically - but am hoping for a sequel. The only other game that has touched Dredge in the last few years has been Wytchwood.
Her Story 7/10 - Total play time 2 hours - Completeness: 100%
It was a really interesting concept and the acting was great. If you’re into mystery solving I think this is a great addition to the genre. It made me want to checkout the Rootrees are Dead.
Dave the Diver 10/10 - Total play time 42 hours - Completeness: 95%
Probably my second favorite game after Dredge. I played this for an unreasonable amount of time and have been trying to 100% it. I love the story line and the side quests. It’s just pure silliness and fun. I was a huge fan of the early game when everything was still quite difficult. By the end it feels like a little bit more of a grind as dives can last up to an hour. Overall all the mechanics and the diving vs sushi restaurant are really, really fun. Oh and great characters!
Paper Trail 8/10 - Total play time 5 hours - Completeness: 70%
Another really unique concept and beautiful art style. It was a fun puzzle game and had some really really challenging levels. It also plays like a cozy little movie. I really enjoyed my time playing it. Not much else to say than give it a go!
Hollow Knight 9/10 - Total play time 30 hours - Completeness: 60%
So I saw all the hype about Silksong and decided to try the original. Usually sidescroll jump and slash games aren’t my favorite, but Hollow Knight was excellent! Like the other games I’ve mentioned, they did a great job with the art style, the atmosphere, and the story telling. The creatures were also incredibly engaging - be it sometimes frustrating - and you really do have to “git gud”. I actually bought a controller specifically for this game because using the arrow keys just didn’t give me enough reflex for some of the elements (particularly all the down slashing). Honestly, it’s probably a 10/10 game but the other games knocked my socks off so much it’s getting graded on a curve.
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Comment on Ireland among countries boycotting Eurovision after Israel allowed to compete in ~music
rosco Link ParentReally proud of Spain and the Netherlands. It's really depressing to see a country, and a non-European one at that, manipulating and potentially ruining Eurovision.Really proud of Spain and the Netherlands. It's really depressing to see a country, and a non-European one at that, manipulating and potentially ruining Eurovision.
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Comment on Why are 38 percent of Stanford students saying they're disabled? in ~life
rosco Link ParentI'm so sorry the article got under your skin, it got under mine as well. It's so odd to watch the clock turn backwards in this new weird era where the gains we made on acceptance, understanding,...I'm so sorry the article got under your skin, it got under mine as well. It's so odd to watch the clock turn backwards in this new weird era where the gains we made on acceptance, understanding, and clinical diagnosis. Framing it as "kids in wheelchairs" was pretty telling.
I have a late in life ADHD diagnosis, but went through school with a dyslexia diagnosis from age 8. My best friend in school also had dyslexia, and was allowed extended time to finish tests in math. With 20 additional minutes his scores went from 65-70% to 85-90%. It's not that he didn't know the math, it's that he couldn't parse the material in time. (reading questions when your dyslexic can be hard and time consuming) And for all the guffahing from the article, isn't the whole point of a test to see what a student knows, not necessarily how quickly they can finish a test. If extra time allows for students to improve their scores, I think it's something to consider. Perhaps the environment is causing low scores, not a lack of knowledge.
And even beyond that, fuck this whole "you're only disabled if I can see it".
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Comment on Why are 38 percent of Stanford students saying they're disabled? in ~life
rosco Link ParentI have a few friends who are faculty at private universities - Stanford, Claremont Mckenna, Duke - and a few at public universities - UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley, San Diego State, University of...an elite high stress environment
I have a few friends who are faculty at private universities - Stanford, Claremont Mckenna, Duke - and a few at public universities - UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley, San Diego State, University of Hawaii - and there is a real difference when speaking to them about their experience. The private school professors, be it all folks who have been hired in the last 7 years, are all complaining heavily about their inability to fail students. Ones at Stanford and Claremont Mckenna have both cited needed to provide evidence of reaching out individually to students, offering extra tutoring or support, before they are able to submit a failing grade. On the flip-side, I've heard of professors at public school complaining about the number of students asking for exceptions - but not being under mandate or guidance to provide them. I've heard from all of them that the level of effort, comprehension, and engagement are all way down.
All to say, it doesn't sound like elite private schools are any more stressful. In most cases it sounds like it's nearly impossible to fail. Much to the chagrin of faculty working there.
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Comment on Do you feel like you’ve had many lives so far? Why, why not? Which? in ~life
rosco LinkI really love this concept! We have a really strong community in our neighborhood with most of our group being 35-45. It's wild when you learn about people's "past lives". We have one friend who...I really love this concept! We have a really strong community in our neighborhood with most of our group being 35-45. It's wild when you learn about people's "past lives". We have one friend who is a whale biologist, but before that he was a ski bum/lifty for 5 years, a boat captain on the SF Bay for a decade, a farmer in New Zealand, a bike mechanic... the list goes on and on. It's wild when we'd be doing something, like talking about backcountry skiing, and he'd just follow up with a "well yeah bud, I lived on the mountain for like 5 years..."
I think for myself, there have been a few distinct eras, mostly centered around work.
Right out of college I worked for a NGO that did heritage preservation with remote sensing tech. Early on there a project in Somalia popped up and no one would take it, so I volunteered. It was great! And the organization learned I was ok with sketchy trips. Cue the emergence of ISIS and the blossoming of my career in conflict zones. It was a really fun/wild era where I'd get to support and work with teams in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Palestine, Myanmar... Anywhere there was active conflict. It also got the attention of National Geographic and I began to do things on behalf or with the support of them as well. It was a big learning for me that regardless of what is happening geopolitically or what a government is doing, the vast majority of people in a country are just trying to do the best they can. I met some just unbelievably amazing people. Folks who would leave my workshops and head straight into active fighting areas. Women who were some of the strongest, boldest people I've ever met, trapped in some pretty regressive situations. People just making sure that their heritage and culture could make it through terrible times and conflicts. I loved working with them but got reeeeeaaally burnt out on how the US and our funding systems do very little to actually support the people I worked with. There were few sustained, beneficial projects in the end. So I got disenchanted and took a little time off.
My partner and I moved to Europe, lived on our bikes for half a year and then settled in Madrid - where I had found work - and eventually moved to Amsterdam when she did. In total we were only there for 2 years, but it felt as long as any other era. I learned so much about how easy it is to move - physically, not the bureaucratic part - and how resilient I can be. I got to start working as a climbing gym route setter, a long time dream at that point. I got to live flexibly. I got to indulge in new hobbies and crafts. I had time to grow. It gave me room to breath and I decided to pivot my career in a new direction where I could make a more sustained impact - climate science and ecology.
This era was my ecology and climate science era. I took the tools I knew how to work with and started applying them to ecosystem management. I joined a grad program that focused on developing climate solutions and just immersed myself in the burgeoning field. I got to support kelp restoration projects, create policy briefs for green/grey infrastructure projects, help plan and prepare for prescribed burns, and tromp through an unbelievable amount of streams/marshes/estuaries to measure algae. (Algae was a weirdly hot topic at the time). I loved it. People were laid back but passionate. The projects we worked on had significant real world impacts. I felt like I had found "my people". And so I started a company and entered my next life.
As much as I hate the term, the last 6 years have been my "entrepreneur" era. My best friend and I got funding from the federal government to build out a team and build out new technology. It was a fun hybrid of the tech from my first life and the issue of my second life. We built a great team, worked with awesome partners, and built a really cool product. Trump era is now bringing this era to a close as the entire ecosystem around nature monitoring is collapsing with the gutting of the forest service. But I happy to have gotten to spend the time I did working on the company and learning an incredible amount.
The prospect of the next era is exciting. There are about 3 opportunities I'm choosing between and that will be mixed up with the baby on the way. So here is to a new era!
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Comment on 2025 Spotify Wrapped is now out in ~music
rosco Link ParentDoes Youtube do a wrapped? I think mine would be all Neverender - the Justice/Tame Impala collab. And absolutely a banger from Tame Impala this year!Does Youtube do a wrapped? I think mine would be all Neverender - the Justice/Tame Impala collab. And absolutely a banger from Tame Impala this year!
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Comment on 2025 Spotify Wrapped is now out in ~music
rosco (edited )LinkDid anyone get a music age under 70? Mine was 78 and all of my top bands/songs are decidedly current. For top artists I had: Kate Bollinger (top 0.01%) Drugdealer bbno$ Sabrina Carpenter Diplo All...Did anyone get a music age under 70? Mine was 78 and all of my top bands/songs are decidedly current.
For top artists I had:
- Kate Bollinger (top 0.01%)
- Drugdealer
- bbno$
- Sabrina Carpenter
- Diplo
All of them are actively making music and the albums I was listening to came out within the last 7 years. I will die on the hill that this is this year's AI fuck up. Last year my number 1 song was something I listened to maybe 8 times wedged in the middle of a semi-common playlist. Bring back the old team!
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Comment on I built an arcade cabinet for my 4 year old and need some Switch game recs in ~games
rosco LinkWhoa!! Would you be willing to share some pictures of how it came out? I love the idea! There are a number of indie games that might work well for a 4 year old. A Short Hike is a fun little...Whoa!! Would you be willing to share some pictures of how it came out? I love the idea!
There are a number of indie games that might work well for a 4 year old. A Short Hike is a fun little discovery game that may be a little challenging at parts for 4 year old reflexes, but is a pretty straight forward run through. I 100% in like 7 hours, so it would be easy for yuou to test out and costs like $8. Same for Mail Time. Dave the Diver is more complex, but they might really enjoy the fishing part. And an odd addition, but I loved Highland Song. You explore the countryside on the way to your uncles lighthouse and at times have to match a beat to run quickly. Last suggestion is absolutely made for young kids is Snufkins - based on the Moomins. Accessible and very age appropriate.
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Comment on Flea - A Plea (2025) in ~music
rosco LinkMan, I didn't expect it to be Flea of RHCP. What a treat. And holy shit that transition from the calm jazz to the erratic midsection. Freaking beautiful. Also, Flea's look is kind of timeless. The...Man, I didn't expect it to be Flea of RHCP. What a treat. And holy shit that transition from the calm jazz to the erratic midsection. Freaking beautiful.
Also, Flea's look is kind of timeless. The man has never changed his style and it never seems out of date. His wrinkles get a little deeper but everything else remains the same. Hope I can age like that!
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Comment on Iran's president says capital must move from Tehran over ecological concerns in ~enviro
rosco Link ParentI'd say Israel's history with water is a little muddier than is being presented.I'd say Israel's history with water is a little muddier than is being presented.
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Comment on Non-metal spoons for dining? in ~food
rosco LinkOh man, depending on if it meets your mouth feel needs, I think I have the answer: The Long Spoon! I bought one in 2017 and it has to be one of my top 5 purchases of all time. I love that spoon....Oh man, depending on if it meets your mouth feel needs, I think I have the answer: The Long Spoon!
I bought one in 2017 and it has to be one of my top 5 purchases of all time. I love that spoon. It reaches into awkward packages. It never gets hot. It is surprisingly abrasion resistent for silicon. We got it for a long bike packing trip and no joke of the $1000s we spent getting ready for it, the long spoon and my bike were by far and away the best purchases! Huge, huge endorsement.
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Comment on US shoppers, drawn by steep discounts, power through Black Friday in ~finance
rosco LinkWell, when you're broke a sale can be a big deal so I can see this being a thing. As an aside, I've spoken to one of our friends who is a local artist and she said that no one is buying anything...Well, when you're broke a sale can be a big deal so I can see this being a thing.
As an aside, I've spoken to one of our friends who is a local artist and she said that no one is buying anything from them this season. Same with all the other local artists/makers. Seems to be a good indicator of how pinched normal folks are feeling right now. If you can, try to support and buy from the folks who make, paint, craft things where you are.
Man, we've had the weirdest weather this winter. Like only a light dusting of rain and more or less warm temperatures. It's been great for mountain biking, like absolutely supreme conditions, so I've just been leaning really heavily into that. Usually I'll get like 1 bigger ride a month (like driving over an hour to really good trails) but recently I'm getting 1-3 a week. It's been awesome!!! My riding has been going through the roof!
Last weekend we rode at a really fun flow track area and hit amazing conditions only mired a little bit by the presence of a trail crew throughout the entire flow section. That said I really appreciate all the work they do and I'm sure it'll ride even better the next time I'm out there. I tried to talk our local friends into rerunning the circuit tomorrow, but they have opted for a more local ride. Still great, just not quite so epic. There is a slight mismatch in capabilities with the group going tomorrow, like one person near pro levels of ability and one that is still getter their bearings in the sport, but all personalities are mellow so it should hopefully just be a whoopfest. I'm particularly excited to throw down on two of the sections with some bigger jumps and see if all this time on my bike has had the impact I think it has. Particularly the final drop of the trail, it's spits you out like a hotwheels car.
Other than that, we're finally getting so rain so hoping to spend some time getting wet and hiking around in the woods. Maybe even coming home with some porcinis if I'm lucky!