Huh, I’ve never done that. The thought to do that never even occurred to me. Maybe I would’ve enjoyed shopping more if my family tried this.

Interesting. I’ve never ridden in a tram, they don’t exist in the parts of the country I’ve lived in.

Generally, in the US, it's pronounced as cres-AHNT. It has a clear R sound, the T at the end involves moving your tongue toward the T position, but the word ends without a clear T sound (as opposed to the French pronunciation, where the R becomes a W and the word ends on the N sound, with the T completely omitted.)

I doodled often as a kid. From little characters drawn on my notes or the corners of class work (after I'd finished completing them), to silly comic strips I'd make at home, to art class where I had a knack for still lifes, it was a casual interest that I really enjoyed.

By high school, though, I had friends who were incredible at manga-style drawing. I could never make drawings in that style, so I thought I couldn't compete. I'd also been bullied a lot in childhood and was terrified to draw for school projects if I knew they'd be displayed around the class room, so I didn't even try. I didn't consider myself an artist at all, and had managed to internalize the idea that I couldn't draw.

Then I became an adult and realized there's nothing wrong with being unable to draw in a particular style, even if it's popular. I began embracing my own style. I also began branching into painting, and before long I redid my childhood bedroom to create a different season on each wall, complete with a light blue ceiling full of realistic-looking clouds.

I've since become known for making art at the places I worked. At a craft store I taught classes and a coworker made a fake nametag for me as the "Official Doodler" of the store. Then my brother had kids and by the age of 2, one of his boys was enthralled by me drawing on a magna-doodle. He would ask me to draw particular things over and over again, watching every stroke I did, then copying me until he developed an amazing artistic skill in his own right. Today his classmates ask him, "How did you draw that?" and it annoys him, because it's become so easy as to be intuitive and he doesn't understand how they don't get it.

My parents recently sold my childhood home. My old bedroom was a selling point - the new owners fell in love with it, and have already decorated the room to go along with the "seasons" theme. They'll be turning it into a nursery. :)

So yes, 100%, go back to your childhood interests! You never know what skills might be lying dormant because you haven't practiced them in a while. It doesn't matter if it's good or not at first, because if you've got a passion and you practice enough, you might surprise yourself with what you can accomplish.

No joke, the first time I hooked up with my current girlfriend, was right after I showed her my Lego City collection. I don't know what it was about it that did it, but I had only just finished showing them to her when she asked to go to the bedroom.

I'm not saying your Lego collection will get you laid, but it seemed to be the final piece that convinced her she was ready. So uhh, take from that what you will.

Finland is the true MAGA-Fanboy of the EU

I can see it. I mean, replace the knife with a gun and this guy looks angry enough to fit right in:

[Source: Scandinavia and the World https://satwcomic.com/]

Huh, I've never been in public transportation where opening a window was an option. All the trains and public buses I've been on (in the U.S.) have windows that are permanently shut.

Yeah, this massive rock itself will survive, so all the animals and plants in ecosystems that can't adjust to climate change can suffer and it's fine. /s

I've never been a cheater, and as far as I know I haven't been cheated on. However, I did hook up with a guy who I later found out was married. Not only married, but he'd just had a baby with his wife. As soon as I learned that, I shut that shit down.

He argued, "Just cuz I'm married doesn't mean I shouldn't have a little fun." Bruh, you're digging yourself a deeper hole. I brought up his infant daughter, and he gave no shits.

Just when I thought he couldn't get slimier, he went and floated a fantasy of having both me and my mom (he knew her from a previous job.) Yeah. Seriously. I went zero contact from there.

Dude still messages me out of the blue every few months despite me never responding. I wish I knew his wife's name and had a way to contact her, but in the meantime I haven't blocked him on the off chance I'll be able to share all his crap with her someday.

The hardcore christians don't dominate everywhere equally. You'll hear much more religious fervor in southern and rural areas, generally. The hardcore christians are also the loudest, so where they do reside, they'll be speaking over anyone who disagrees with them.

I wish it worked like that. The amount of times I’ve stated having a boyfriend just to be told, “He’s not here, so what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him” is disheartening.

And artistic expression. There's no rule saying you can't both study law and enjoy music.

In response to the last bit OP said.

Yesterday one of my coworkers mentioned that a lot of people in their 20s are into 90s stuff now, to an extent that our generation (people who grew up in the 90s) didn't feel about prior decades. She posited that the idea behind it is "breaking free of technology" for a generation that never lived in a world without it.

I'm not close to many people in their 20s these days and I don't use TikTak or any other social media, so I don't know how accurate that is. But if that is the case, I can totally understand wanting to escape to a tech-free world.

Username does not check out

I'm with you - you stated a fact. That doesn't imply an endorsement of anyone's ideas. Just because some people use biological differences as excuses doesn't mean biological differences don't exist.

Sadly, it appears that parsing nuance and reading comprehension are common struggles these days.

It's true. I remember when I could go most of the day without eating and feel nothing but minor hunger, which was easy to ignore.

But now I'm in my 30s, and if I try to skip lunch it's like my entire body goes into revolt. Lethargy, headaches, mood changes, the works. My metabolism has changed with age and now the effects of blood sugar actually pack a punch.

My first thought was, "I guess you can drive little cars all over that."

My second thought was, "Actually, that sounds like some fun kink play. It's sensory, it's intimate, and I've heard of weirder things, so why not this?"

But they do rebuild to better resist hurricanes? Florida doesn't do much good for its people, but it does build for storms.

I remember when Hurricane Sandy eviscerated the northeast. I was living in Florida at the time and people were shocked that a cat 1 hurricane could cause so much damage. Part of the answer was building codes. Modern buildings in Florida are built to tolerate much worse winds, but New York and New Jersey, where strong hurricanes aren't as common, still had many homes built without such thought in mind.

That's why a cat 1 in Florida is a normal day, where if people are hunkered down, they just party straight through it without fear, even though the same storm can devastate other states. Building codes make it possible.

The new problem Florida has yet to solve is flooding. Although the storm drains are supposed to handle a significant volume, stronger storms + rising sea levels are overwhelming the infrastructure. It also doesn't help that towns are built at sea level in former swampland.

FIFA ball does not look happy

Kid, excitedly jumping around the room: "The floor is lava!"

Parent: "You know, Billy, if the floor were really made of lava, jumping from furniture to furniture wouldn't really help you. The volcanic gases alone would be enough to suffocate you. The heat would be no picnic either. You'd be suffering in agony until your final, searing breath."

Kid stops jumping and stares emptily off into the distance: "I ... I think I'm gonna go play alone in my room now."