Real talk, I love the idea of being part of the Lemmy contingent that ‘crashes’ (see: participates respectfully in) local reddit meetups.

Not a huge board game guy though, which is the most established one in my neck of the woods…

Not weird or stupid!

Friends? Absolutely! People may go back and forth on the value of online-only friendships, but you can definitely make friends if you keep a decent back and forth going, no different than other online spaces. Obviously, be aware of the risks (scammers bots), but there’s lot of folks here who’d probably be down for friendship to at least some degree.

Relationships? This I’m a little less certain about - probability seems very low if you’re hetero, slightly higher but still pretty low if not. But who knows?

Don’t neglect meatspace, though (even if it’s kind of a horror show sometimes).

Thanks man, I appreciate this :) Yep, might be tough now but I know there’s better things on the horizon. Really about rediscovering who I am, after a lot of time being focused on other people. That and it could always be worse - no one is at anyone’s throat, in the interest of an easier time with it, thank god.

Preferred genres - oh boy :). I do like 90s/00s punk, also a big fan of stoner metal, psych rock, prog, rockabilly, surf, funk, jazz, old school country, hip-hop (though not super deep into the hip-hop scene here), some electronica-adjacent stuff - basically, I’m willing to listen to most anything once. You’re half right - if I’m out at a gig, more likely than not I’m either at the Dom or House of Targ (the latter slightly more often).

If you’re into bluegrass Red Bird is obviously the best choice, but keep an eye on the show calendar for Irene’s, Rainbow, and Atomic Rooster as well (in that order). We’ve also got a pretty cool neo-bluegrass and adjacent festival in the valley - Black and Bluegrass. Haven’t been myself but have enjoyed some of the musicians that have gone there at other shows.

Appreciate the well wishes. May take you up on the venting and beer at some stage, otherwise if you see a kind of out-of-place looking dude with a toque/hat, big beard and (more often than not) House of Targ hoodie at a show, there’s a decent chance it’s me - come say hi :) Even if it’s not, that’s a good segway into making small talk with someone else, lol.

“And I suggest you let that Ontarioiate” has officially been welcomed into my lexicon, and I wait anxiously for an excuse to use it.

Edit: agree with them though, fuck everyone who voted Ford back in.

Couple weeks late, but because I feel like whining:

-Came back from a vacation to settle my head about an upcoming divorce. Trip was great, felt like I was in a great place to start doing the needful (apartment hunting, tagging stuff I want to take, etc.), only to have my last cat die my first day back. I’ve been unmotivated to do pretty much anything since. Just feeling pretty sad and lost again, which I know is normal but is annoying as fuck when I was full of piss and vinegar when my plane landed.

-Went to my local haunt last night, felt kinda off and had some minor annoyances pop up (shorted by a change/token machine, was cashed out after two beers without prompting [ended up just leaving, I wasn’t having a great time anyway]). Probably for the best, I’ve always felt weird about having ‘regular’ status at a bar and this made me feel like I should take a break from it, but still put a bit of a damper on me.

-Looking at gigs going on this weekend (I love live music, it’s been a source of comfort for a while), but real concerned that I might have a similar response. Winter might look real dark if that doesn’t do it for me anymore/at this stage.

Idk - I’m getting the sense I need to make some major, major changes in how I’m approaching things/the things I do for comfort/the kind of ‘me’ I’ve been for the past bit, but got a little stuck this week with the loss.

‘House’/basic no-name wheels are probably fine if they’re just trying it out for now (edit: just pay attention to hardness with an eye to where they’re skating - harder for park, a little softer and/or wider for street. Talk to the guy at your local skateshop). I second Reds or Bronsons for bearings.

The indy fanboy in me says they deserve a good set of Independent trucks, but honestly at this stage of the game the cheapest trucks you can find at the skateshop probably suffice. Pick them up a skate tool while you’re at it.

So the branded Screech is kinda meh imo, a sort of harsh dark rum. Tasted like depression which suited me fine at the time, lol.

Proper screech (bathtub moonshine style)? I’ve never had the chance to try some, unfortunately.

Edit: apparently the recipe for Screech changed over Covid, new stuff is supposedly smoother.

All good, it’s pretty regional as the Wiki attests to.

Yep, that’s the stuff.

This was my peak ‘life sucks and I’m just slowly dying’ song as a very young adult, drinking Screech alone in my parent’s basement and contemplating all sorts of dismal stuff.

Fantastic song, but if I find myself listening to it on repeat in the near future it’s straight to the shrink. Gotta fire your own damn starting gun before you lose the strength to pull the trigger.

Things that make Lemmy users say “Hell yeah”! I’m super stoked and happy for you!

This is what I was thinking, but I’m digging the lists for both holidays rolling in too.

Excellent choice! Didn’t even consider that one.

HAHAHAHAhahaha…ha…😭

The real question is do they start using ounces for amounts equal to or over 28 grams?

Flirty answer followed by real answer if actually pressed. It’s not like it’s something you reasonably have control over anyway (I don’t consider lengthening surgery reasonable, though more power to anyone that does, it ain’t my body), outside of maybe some small gains if losing weight in your pelvis area or improving your general cardiovascular health.

Not gonna come out here and say size is totally irrelevant, but there’s lots of ways to have great sex without going around bruising women’s cervixes.

Good question, actually - I had the same thought, there’s some facial structure similarities. Could just be a coincidence, might be a distant cousin or something.

The fact that Kevin’s parents are from Mass doesn’t help or hinder that much, given a history of migration of French-Canadians to that region.

I’ll leave it at a solid “idk, maybe?”

Edit: If Wikipedia is to be trusted (and I can’t be arsed to dig deeper), probably not - Kevin was adopted. What I’m personally picking up that looks like family resemblance is pretty striking nonetheless, though, even if there’s no real connection.

LOL. LMAO, even.

sh.it.head, for a lemmy user of a certain vintage, anyway.

Beyond that idk 🤷‍♂️

Frankly, this is the best outcome. Going and winning a decent amount your very first time is a huge risk for developing a gambling problem, because your monkey brain goes “It happened once, so it can totally happen again”. Doubly so when you’re young and your ‘decent amount’ is lower than it might be otherwise.

It could, sure, but the actual probability doesn’t line up with your probabilistic fluke, and that’s a hard thing to overcome for a lot of folks.

Never got to a point where it was a survival threat (very lucky in that regard), but that $300 I won when I was 19 was the most expensive money I’ve ever made.

What I think is even funnier, as someone who moved around the country a lot, is it’s often thought of as a regional thing when it’s actually ubiquitous.

In Victoria BC, it’s called a Langford Dinner Jacket. But if you’re a blue-collar working class Canadian anywhere in the country, it’s more likely than not you own or have owned one of these (which is good, 'cause they’re a good warm layer).