I’m a massive fan of The Bamboos, very glad to see them show up here!

That was the idea, but now I think a copy of Dianetics is funnier.

A bible.

Love it.

Fresh baked bread/rolls is not that difficult, folks, and the added flavor is immeasurable. Plus, y’know, it’s cheaper.

I’m sure this doesn’t count, but my WoW life was utterly ideal, aside from me sucking at being a rogue.

I played in the same dining room as several (4-6) friends and we grouped up constantly.

But I also didn’t care one tiny fuck about the endgame grind. I hit level 60 (the max at the time), shouted “I win,” and sold my account to a friend for forty bucks.

My current life, I’m not really a gamer other than mobile crap and D&D these days. Too old, tired, busy.

Maybe, just maybe, they’re so incompetent that they get the phrase wrong and accidentally win?

I imagine there are plenty of service-related cancers, and they likely pay for services received elsewhere if that expertise isn’t available at a VA hospital.

I’ve always loved broccoli, and a lot of folks hate it, so…

Roast your broccoli, people.

Toss it with a little olive oil, salt it, and bake at 400 or so until it’s browning.

It adds a depth of flavor you wouldn’t expect if you’ve never had it.

Heh, I corrected that.

I met my wife online about fifteen years ago.

We were in the same town and met after maybe two weeks of messaging each other… and we just clicked. (Views on politics, religion, drugs/alcohol, pets, and lifestyle were all compatible, easy to just be around each other, etc.)

I’m 51 now and this is my fourth relationship. It’s never been easy to find someone I match up with. (For context, I’m tall, balding, and quite fat, but I think I’m pretty attractive/do well with what I have. I didn’t always have that confidence in myself. Don’t beat yourself up, it really doesn’t help.)

It’s also worth saying that I was in a terribly dark place when I met my wife, but I put myself out there anyway. Working on yourself is a great priority, without question, but I found someone who accepted me at my lowest, helped me to be better, and I was then able to reward her by being a good husband. Having been through that (and other dark times) has made us stronger together.

So my advice is:

1. That old canard, ‘Be attractive. Don’t be unattractive’ is completely true. Play up on what makes you attractive, and don’t mess that up by being rude or smelling bad.

2. Show interest in public. By that I mean be jovial and open. Notice those who respond in kind. If you can, strike up a tiny conversation. Build those skills in little moments. Maybe this will go somewhere, maybe not, but you’re learning to be more open.

3. Be social, and some of that can include online dating. If you’re doing online dating, try to meet early, as that’s where you’ll be able to find if you click with someone. You just can’t know until you meet, in my opinion. Plus long online-only relationships involve you envisioning the ideal of a partner rather than seeing if you can live with them.

4. Put yourself out there! You can’t get better about approaching women if you don’t keep trying. Don’t hit on everyone you meet, of course, but I’ve known really ugly guys who always had a cute girlfriend (Also a couple schlubby guys who married absolutely gorgeous women, somehow) and several solid couples where neither are conventionally attractive, but they have love and a great life together.

And that last line should be your goal, a great partner and a great life.

shrug

I don’t need receipts. Maybe that’s too trusting of me, I’ll admit that.

Damn solid apology.

This was back in 2000, had just gone through a divorce. Had gotten a new pad with a friend and started hanging out with his stoner buddies. (Most of them are still close friends to this day.)

I took something like five hits of acid. I’d tried it only once before and it didn’t too much for me, so I upper the dosage.

I still didn’t get visuals, but it was an interesting trip.

A friend of mine was on the couch flipping through cable and settled on a claymation Don Quixote, which was just perfect for a melting reality. Thumbprints in the clay, rough work.

And I did something really goddamned stupid. I took out my new fancy chisels to practice on a block of wood.

Thankfully I didnt cut myself. I was being careful and just trying to gouge out a volcano on the end of a block of pine, twisting my arm to turn the block.

I went through some deep internal stuff about how I treated myself and women, why I’d been alone for so long.

In the weeks to follow I asked out four women I had crushes on and was shot down each time, but the point was I held onto this shit rather than ever expressed any interest. It was really useful.

So I’m coming off the trip and I’m sitting at my computer, and my hand just slides off the keyboard.

Repeatedly.

I’d held my arm in that extreme twisted position so long whilst contemplating my love life, set to claymation Don Quixote, that I almost gave myself fucking nerve damage.

I think that, in the process, you’ll be creating enough Gilbert Gottfried impersonators that they couldn’t all be low-quality any longer.

Just one little hitch in your otherwise flawless plan.

I loved that book!

That explains the strain names!

Word.

I was already not buying their crap.

Now I can do so gleefully.

The courts have no validity nor system of enforcement, and can therefore be ignored.

Oh? That no longer works? Wonder why…

It could work if they made it a prehistoric version of Married with Children instead of The Honeymooners.

Change nothing else but the foundational reference material and let it (heh) evolve.