Just like you, except different.

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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: September 22nd, 2024

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  • If we’re listing weird town names taken from other states, may I present the town of Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania?

    Which, as it happens, is over 2 hours away from New Jersey and its only shores are on rivers.

    The story on the Wikipedia page is that the men who planned out the settlement (originally called Waynesburg) had moved there from New Jersey. There was a rivalry with the town on the opposite side of the river, so the people in that town started calling Waynesburg the “Jersey Shore.” The nickname held on, and the town officially adopted the name in 1826.

    Though I can only imagine how the residents felt about the name during the dark times of 2009-2012.



  • I figure some of them just don’t want to admit that they’re missing a part of their “manhood.” Maybe there’s hidden resentment, maybe they don’t want to admit their parents made a mistake, but at the end of the day they’re hearing that others’ penises are “more intact” than theirs, and that might be tough to accept.

    I’m speculating to an extent - I don’t have a penis, but it’s not difficult to imagine the complicated feelings some circumcised men go through upon learning of what they’ve lost had taken from them, and that there’s nothing they can do about it.

    I wouldn’t be surprised if the same thing happens to some women who’ve experienced FGM. They went through a horrific practice and can’t come to terms that they might “have less” than others, so they double-down on the idea that what they went through must be okay.



  • That’s the neat thing - you don’t! For the same reasons that some people in your country will continue to hold their own stubborn beliefs about other people despite all evidence to the contrary, some people in other countries will do the same to you.

    I never fit in with my home culture. For me, that’s racist, fascist Americans. Even as a kid I wasn’t accepted by my peers, school admin, and even my own mother. Having grown up under that, and becoming myself despite it all, some of those people (my mother at least) have come around. But honestly, I wouldn’t count on it.

    The best you can do is keep being yourself (I know, cliched, but seriously) and live by example. Take it from someone with a lifetime of dealing with this - attempting to convince people doesn’t work. However, those who are open-minded will see you as you are and note you as one of “the good ones.” Instead of trying to change the mind of someone who’s dead set on seeing you as an enemy, focus on the people who already understand that it’s wrong to define a group of demographically-related people by the actions of a few.



  • I literally just finished having a migraine aura (it’s only the second time I’ve had one, though no headache the first time and no headache yet now.) I was reading a bit about it and how it’s a caused by a slow wave going across one’s brain. It started in the middle of my vision on the drive home, and after I arrived it continued sweeping off to my left field of vision until it dissipated off into the periphery a few minutes ago.

    It’s interesting to look at this image and imagine the wave going across the back of my right brain hemisphere. It’s also interesting how even the visual looked like the cone-shaped wave that follows a sonic boom, slowly spreading out.

    And now, with such dire imagery and the potential for upcoming pain, I’m going to lie down and hope nothing else happens.





  • Growing up nearby, sometimes my school would have class trips into the city. Being on the buses and seeing the traffic from within was enough for me to decide, “I never want to drive in NYC.”

    I’ve only driven inside the city proper twice in my life, and it was as awful as I expected it to be. Trains are the way to go, no question. Stations that go there are abundant in the nearby areas, and the subway can get you almost anywhere you need to within the city, with walking for the rest. Pedestrians dominate crosswalks, traffic lights be damned, like roving herds migrating to the next watering hole. The light turns green for the vehicles, but there’s still two dozen people stepping off the curb - traffic waits for them to pass.

    I can’t imagine living there and owning a car at all. Even if parking weren’t an issue, it just doesn’t make sense. You need incredible situational awareness, abundant patience, but also the ability to make merges and turns within tight spaces while surrounded by drivers who see your emerging presence as a threat. Both times I’ve driven there included near-accidents from other drivers.

    If you’re thinking of visiting NYC, for your safety and sanity, do not drive there. If you’re traveling by car from somewhere farther away, do yourself a favor and find long term parking by a train station outside the city. This is not hyperbole, driving in the city is a miserable experience that you do not need. It’s one of the few places in the US where pedestrians rule the roads - embrace it and get your steps in, and take the subway for longer distances. Your legs might feel sore by the end, but it’s worth it, I promise.




  • Hard agree. But I’m autistic, and as far back as I can remember, I’ve avoided social interactions. My mom talks about how I happily played by myself as a toddler. I also remember a neighbor kid who seemed to call constantly to ask to play, and I turned her down over and again. (She eventually back-stabbed me, so don’t feel too bad for her.)

    Some people legit like to be around others. Some people can’t stand the thought of spending time alone at all. Everyone’s built differently. For me, it takes a special kind of person to make me want to socialize with them (almost always other neuro-divergent folks, where I can “remove the mask” so to speak.)



  • I learned a NSFW animal fact the other day. There are some fish that care for their young by holding them in their mouth, it’s called mouthbrooding. That’s not the new or NSFW part though.

    The NSFW part is the fact that

    for some fish, the fertilization occurs in the mouth. The female lays her eggs and scoops them up into her mouth. Then the male fertilizes the eggs directly in her mouth. Yes, it is exactly what it sounds like. A male fish cums into a female fish’s mouth, and that’s how they normally reproduce.

    Ahh, nature. So beautiful. So like us.