I started with basic goals:

• Make enough money that I don’t have to worry about money. Not like “annual tropical vacations” kind of money, but “if my car is stolen tomorrow I can buy a new one without having to worry about covering other expenses” money.

• Do work that is creative and technical.

• Do work that somehow benefits society.

When I got to university I pulled up the list of majors and started highlighting ones that sounded interesting and would likely fit those goals. I ended up going into engineering. And after bouncing around in industry, for a few years, I found a niche that fits me well.

I’ll third.

And speaking of Friday, it’s time for the weekly reminder! (CW: swearing)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6tfEZI54Jg

The Washington Post published an op-ed 9 years ago (Jesus, it’s been that long?) suggesting that Trump launched his political career out of spite after being laughed at during the 2011 correspondence dinner.

https://archive.is/20241107222538/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/i-sat-next-to-donald-trump-at-the-infamous-2011-white-house-correspondents-dinner/2016/04/27/5cf46b74-0bea-11e6-8ab8-9ad050f76d7d_story.html

Depending on the field, later in your career you can often skip the spreadsheets and get away with just saying, “That looks close enough,.” If you have enough seniority people will assume you know what you’re talking about.

In winter, I would be lucky to make 48 hours. In warm weather I could probably last a week. Grabbing a blanket, knife, water bottle, and hat on the way out the door would delay the inevitable by a few days.

Anyone thinking they could survive easily needs to remember the survival Rule of Threes:

• 3 minutes without breathable air (unconsciousness), or in icy water.

• 3 hours without shelter in a harsh environment. (Including sleeping outdoors uncovered on a cold night, IMO.)

• 3 days without drinkable water.

• 3 weeks without food.

Dehydration will get you faster if you drink contaminated water from a stream and pick up giardia or some other infection that causes diarrhea.

assumed that anyone I dated would flop over like a dead fish in bed,

Those women do exist. I have dated them. They were raised as you describe yourself being raised, and thought sexual relationships were entirely the man’s job. Sex was something that happened to them, not something they would actively pursue or direct.

Fortunately, the world has all types. You can absolutely find someone who wants the save dynamic you are looking for. Dating is trial-and-error so you’ll have to deal with some duds along the way, but you’ll get there.

It’s referencing the move Poltergeist.

For boxing specifically, it is absolutely part of the fighters’ marketing strategies.

For sports in general, trash talking during a game is “real.” Extended beefs that get major media coverage might be intentionally played up for publicity.

Oh, how could I miss Louisiana? It’s the place with the highest incarceration rate in the world.

https://www.prisonpolicy.org/graphs/2021.html

There is no universal, objective answer. It depends who you are, your financial situation, your political views, etc.

That said, the states that suck the most for the most people are conservative places with lots of rural poverty. Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Oklahoma, …

It would be spun as a win for small government/libertarian ideals. Get government control out of private lives and all that jazz.

That is likely a new swarm looking for a home. When an established hive gets too crowded, they will create a new queen who will then fly away with a subset of the workers to establish a new hive.

If you want to make your local beekeeper’s club very happy, call them and tell them where this swarm is! They will come and collect it.

Then you get too close and they all scurry away. No little ones, don’t go! I won’t hurt you! I just want to see you up close.

Girls will be boys and boys will be girls
It’s a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world

'Cause I ain’t no hollaback girl

The Catholic press has picked it up, too:

https://www.ncronline.org/news/california-bishops-scramble-tend-catholics-feeling-hunted-ice-agents

There are hints that the current government’s actions are widening a cultural rift in the church. Considering how large the Catholic church is, I’m really interested to see how this plays out.

https://www.ncronline.org/news/trumps-immigration-agenda-widening-fissures-catholic-hierarchys-consensus

To add all the other good comments here…

As a recording artist, it’s nearly impossible to stand out unless you have a marketing machine behind you. That means a record label that can promote your work, get your songs placed on radio stations and streaming platforms, and (in the old days) manufacture and sell physical media through many different retailers.

As a touring performer, you also need a large crew of people working for you: booking venues, marketing your shows, ticketing, managing the logistics of set-up/tear-down/transportation, operating lights and sound during the show, etc.

In both of these scenarios, the musician is only one small cog in a large machine. And there are enough good musicians in the world that they are treated as largely interchangeable.

There is a significant group of conservative Catholics who view any change as a departure from the One True Faith™. You can still find churches that do not follow the modernizations from the Second Vatican Council, which happened back in the 1950s. Pope Francis was seen as a radical by many of these people.

I’ll bet the lane is there purely to satisfy some requirement for including non-car infrastructure, regardless of whether it makes sense in this particular location. It’s the same way we get fun bike lanes like these: