Username checks out. The profile pictures, however, do not. Is that a quokka?

Girls will have armor plating and have 14 legs

New Halloween group costume idea

she has some kind of electric implant

Yeeeaaaah, that’s where she got it from. Absolutely, definitely

[They’re onto us, girls. Meet me at the usual.]

I tend to turn it into a “casual sweep” of the scene. I’m looking at leaves, architecture, license plates! Well, and also getting a glimpse of whoever’s around me. From being bullied in grade school, to learning to fly in college, with growing up as a young women between the two eras, situational awareness has become baked into my existence. But it’s not a bad thing, it’s a skill.

Tangentially, I wonder how much of this increased situational awareness plays into our famous “women’s intuition”? If we’re taking in more of our surroundings, it makes sense our unconscious minds will notice more readily when something’s “off.”

As well, I’ve often considered my “luck” to come down to increased awareness. When retrospectively thinking about a sequence of events, I can sometimes put together how noticing A led to me doing B, even if I didn’t consciously think about it at the time. Like unconsciously noticing that a car in front of you is somewhat lopsided and getting the urge to switch lanes and pass them. You’re not thinking about it. But later on when that car spins out on a flat tire, you’re well past them - a safe distance away.

Or a situation that undoubtly makes people think I’m lucky - finding four-leaf clovers. A split-second scan of the ground and I can notice a four-leafer in a patch. Just a few months ago I was pumpkin-picking with my girlfriend and it happened again. We were standing outside and I was telling her about this exact phenomenon when I stopped, laughed, crouched down, plucked one particular clover, and handed it to her. “See?! It just happens!” I then proceeded to find two more, and at that point I knew I had to stop myself.

So yeah, it’s not all bad. :)

When my car’s radio system completely busted over a year ago, I wasn’t in a rush to replace it. To replace it with the same original radio would’ve cost over $3000. Meanwhile, all the car radios I saw in stores were touch screen - I refuse to buy those. So I’ve simply gone without.

But the radio/infotainment was connected to other systems, including the back-up camera and clock. I can’t change the time and I need to look out the windows/windshields to back up. I take some solace in knowing that despite those minor set-backs, at least I don’t have to worry about my car’s radio system being a little snitch.

I was thinking about this just the other day. There’s a popular market in my home state, one I’ve been going to since childhood. It’s a single store, not a chain, and it’s almost always packed. I’ve never seen nor heard a single ad for it in my life. Naturally, that makes me like the place even more.

Some people like to say that nobody’s immune to advertising. Maybe so, but there are definitely some of us who aren’t as affected by it. When most ads you see are for things you’d never buy anyway, all the crap kind of blends together.

For me, no amount of fast food ads, car ads, vacation ads, etc. are going to have any meaningful effect. I already don’t buy fast food, don’t purchase new cars (and if I’m shopping used, there are certain criteria that matter far more than a brand or dealership), and am way too poor to take a vacation. Yet, the ads persist.

Even if I weren’t muting and skipping them at every chance, you can’t get blood from a stone. End stage capitalism, man. Can’t spend money I don’t have!

Fascinating! I’ve seen massive groups of ants before, and I’ve watched them because it’s just so cool to see. I never got down and tried to smell them, though.

Now your comment has me thinking of my dad. He has an uncanny sense of smell far beyond what I have. There are some flowers I can’t smell unless I bend close to them, but which he can smell from across a field. I’ll have to check with him and see if he can smell ants.

I learned about the Photic Sneeze Reflex when discussing the frustration of cancelled sneezes (you know, when you feel one coming on, but then it just doesn’t happen and it leaves you feeling weird.) He told me, “When that happens, I just look at a light.” I had no idea what he meant. Meanwhile, he thought it was normal for everyone. We both learned something that day.

That’s weird, because the videos I watch are 1-2 hours long (or longer.) Informational deep dives are practically the opposite of Tik Tok.

Care to share what you read? I’m curious, too.

It could be the same smell, maybe just a different concentration of formic acid.

And no, I can’t smell anything from dead or distressed ants. I’ve never smelled anything from an ant, either dead or alive. It’s definitely not an “everyone can smell that” thing.

Edit: I just read this comment which says it’s not formic acid. Though they don’t cite any sources (yet), so I don’t really know.

I was watching “deep dives” on Youtube yesterday and was getting confused by all the censoring. Even the word “sex” was censored, and like… what? Not just SA (which I understand censoring), but sex itself? In a video ostensibly designed for an adult (or at least teenage) audience?

It’s hard to follow a story when words get censored that you don’t expect to get censored. In my mind I think something much worse is being said, and have to pause and rewind to ensure I understood correctly. The best part is, the creator wasn’t even from the US, land of the Puritans. I expect Europeans not to be afraid of sex, but I guess this is what Youtube is doing to the world?

I’m with you. Can’t smell ants, but cilantro is soapy.

There are lots of little genetic quirks out there. I experience Arnold’s Reflex, that is, I cough when I stick a cotton swab in my left ear canal. (Only my left. My right doesn’t react.) There’s also the Photic Sneeze Reflex, which is where you sneeze when looking at light. I don’t have that, but around 35% of the population does.

I’m sure there are countless more little things like this that people just haven’t talked about/gathered enough data on yet.

I’ve known multiple dogs that put items in a spot, then brushed their noses over them, as if burying them with invisible dirt.

However, I figure that’s an instinctual behavior, similar to digging/burying food. Not evidence of imagination. Just evidence of dogs interacting with invisible objects.

I wonder where humans lie on that scale. There’s such a range between ages, hormone levels, and even seasons (my hands are normally soft, but dry winter air is currently interfering with that.)

I remember when I went to an aquarium as a kid and touched the sting rays in the touch tank. That texture has stayed in my mind ever since. I still can’t find anything it compares well to.

Honestly, the amount of parents that act like their precious little baby is going to always be a precious little baby is astounding. It’s like the idea that their child is going to someday become an adult doesn’t enter their minds. They don’t realize how much they’re setting their kids up for failure by refusing to allow (let alone encourage) them to do things independently.

There are times and places to step in and help your child, absolutely. But as they get older, those times should become rarer and rarer. To hand-hold all the time doesn’t build their confidence, doesn’t let them hone their skills, and encourages dependence on someone else to always do things for them. It’s hard to let go, but it’s a part of growing up.

At age 4-12 you don’t really have stuff you don’t really have homework, except if you’re lagging behind with your work.

That sounds perfect. I wish good grades could exempt us from homework in the US. But if we don’t burden children with long hours of unnecessary busy work, how else will we condition them to accept jobs that demand the same thing? /s

I can draw and happily share my artwork today, but when I was a kid? I was self-conscious as fuck. I was already bullied for any and every conceivable reason. You’re absolutely right, those projects were torture. I have an issue with procrastination, but sometimes I would work on a project, actually complete the thing, then on the day it was due I wouldn’t bring it in because I didn’t want it displayed for everyone to see. I took the F because it was less painful.

It doesn’t help that more wealthy kids had access to better materials, and consequently got better grades because their work “looked more professional.” I either had a small budget, or had to make do with whatever we already had at home. You’d think the teachers would grade on creativity, but nah. Once those kids started coming in with their reports in fancy covers, looking like they made their own booklet, the rest of us (some of whom didn’t even own printers) were sunk. The individual effort never paid off - it was all about looking good. Add in that some students absolutely had their parents’ help (while my parents each worked full time to support a total of four kids), and yeah. The class differences became apparent - you could see it from our report cards.