I am always teetering on the edge of doing this, not because I think it’s a good idea, but just because I really, truly love fruit…

If you desire romantic companionship, start by making non-romantic friends?

I tend to agree. For me, an otherwise unfulfilled person looking for a fulfilling successful romantic relationship is kind of like a poor person trying to become a millionaire. You should take care of your basic needs before aiming for something that, probably, few people ever realistically get to have.

That said, overwhelmingly, what I want is friendship (love and understanding) but it’s much, much harder to find ways to meet people for friendship than a romantic relationship. There is no friendship app on the same level as the dating apps. People who want to get in my pants text back much more reliably than potential friends I meet even irl. I shouldn’t complain because having a lot of suitors is a pleasant problem to have but I work unsociable hours and on more days than I care to admit, the only human contact I get outside of work is on dating apps, which is not a happy situation for me.

It’s precisely bc it’s such a huge topic that i’m reaching out for help lol! Region doesn’t matter but my immediate interest is closer to the aesthetic than the academic side of the spectrum atm, so I’m looking for visual highlights more than other kinds of salience/importance. I just need a rundown of what’s iconic (or looks like it ought to be)

Yes, I don’t think I have another app but more features on some apps I use (Smartdock, Joplin, Librera, Rimusic) would be slightly life-changing.

I really, really like this.

I recently read that rather than “global south” and “global north,” some people opt for “global majority” and “global minority.” I like that, it reflects how I’ve always tried to think of it.

he knows nothing and genuinely thinks he’s doing a good job.

seems like the first step to improving is being given information on how you’re doing, and the second is being mentored/trained?

sorry to be a hater but I’m gonna be a hater. if you don’t know what it’s like to live without curiousity or awe you are either a child or an extremely fortunate person. to fight against incuriousity and a dulling of the senses is a full-time job unless you are extremely lucky with how much free time you have, the people around you, the events in your life you experience, etc. this is extremely haughty. “tell me what it’s like” it fucking sucks! annoying

What do you use for TTS? I’m interested in both a service that’ll turn a PDF into an audiobook and that reads a document line-by-line. I use Librera for the latter but the FOSS voices available on F-Droid leave a lot to be desired.

Can I ask how you ended up there in the first place? I can scarcely think of a more interesting place on earth.

How integrated are you into the local community? How well do you speak the local language? I’m a foreigner living abroad and I would never trust either my own perception of this place nor 99% of other foreigners’ perceptions.

Surprised by how hiɡh up Mexico is!

Why were there trackers initially?

One thing I do not need is more recommendations of what to read, my list is bottomless. Do you find it encourages you to read more or read differently? Has it given you any insights about your habits?

what benefits do people see from tracking their reading? why do you do it? I couldn’t see the appeal years ago & had some hangups about it (like an overjustification effect psychologically from the social aspect of it messing up my motivation to read) but I’ve since gone through periods of tracking my spending & my food & seen benefits from those.

Jesus, why the downvotes? Someone give this man a dragonfruit. So much for friendly, casual discussion

I disagree. I’ve only ever had luck with the white ones.

I’ve done this and still only gotten lucky like 1/20th of the time. Very hard to tell when they’re ripe and flavourful

I realise now what I was getting at in the OP is how people massage themselves into a state of inspiration where they can maximise their engagement and what they get out of the book and the beauty of it and open their hearts to it or whatever, and how they interact with the text when they’re in that state. I realised this because I had the unusual honour of experiencing a state of inspiration the other night. Life feels pretty much dull and my heart feels pretty much shut to suggestion most of the time. What actually got me there was a completely unrelated life event (whose enchantment has already long since dried out). Seems like a work of art is the seed but the soil is life itself–how you read might be, at best, the water, so my question maybe isn’t of much use if we live in a world of concrete. I hope there’s more we can do that’s under our own control but it doesn’t seem that way now to me. (edited to rephrase a few times)

I’ve always wanted to learn to sing, ever since I was a kid. I even started taking lessons before I went through a major life change that pushed all of that aside. I meant to come back to it but I realised recently it just doesn’t matter to me enough to pursue it compared to other things I want to achieve. And it really never became fun for me: it seems like the only way to improve is to 1) make it a team sport, which isn’t an option for me, 2) start improving from when you’re young enough that you’re not self-conscious, or 3) painfully just listen to yourself be awful until you improve as an adult. Which is totally 100% doable, but pretty joyless & not worth the time investment for me rn.