Imagine a universe where plants were responsible for modern climate change, Earth Day celebrated deforestation, and Impossible Foods was developing this monster fiber-chicken.

Screen capture while the video is running, like the VCR days of yore

There’s even a proper stroke order

Labor power has apparently scared the shit out of us to such a degree that no amount of toilet paper will ever be enough to wipe it up.

As far as I know, I have 2 main allergies: pollen and metals (some metals, not sure which exactly).

Pollen

• It feels like my nose is a leaky faucet. It will run and run and I’ll have sneezing fits for hours. If I blow my nose, it makes the inside feel super-dry and itchy, which just kicks off more running and sneezing. So it basically feels pointless to blow my nose at all, and I usually settle for sniffling instead. But if I do that too much, I start getting mini-sinus headaches.
• Flare-ups. Sometimes I’ll see the plants that trigger it and I’ll start sneezing within 10-20 minutes. Other times I’ll go outside and it’ll start out of nowhere. It’ll last for hours.
• Meds do not seem to help at all. Maybe they shorten what would be a 6-hour episode into a 3-hour episode but who tf knows. I have yet to find anything that kicks in faster than a couple hours after use.

Metals

• I break out in a highly localized rash. It’s red, bumpy, and itches like mosquito bites.
• Flare-ups after prolonged contact (several hours) with a metal. It’ll last anywhere from a couple hours to a couple days.
• No meds. It’s pretty easy to ignore when it flares up, and it’s easy enough to avoid exposure.

Don’t forget Eeto, the fabled fifth element.

And in the precise moment I saw this, I realized both of my monitors were displaying Excel on full screen. Sigh.

Holy frijoles

I’m gonna make some hedgehog stew today

Cornholio Paradox

They look like they’ll glow and make a soft bell noise if I stand next to them and press “A”.

To me, this says that your workplace has acknowledged and accepted that the way they do business is leading to burnout, at least for some people. But rather than using that as evidence that their business practices need to change, they’ve instead opted to individualize the problem. Our growth projections aren’t unreasonably ambitious, you just need to do more deep breathing.

It’s like how I’m told to take a vacation to relax, only to return to the same (or an even larger) pile of to-dos that I left behind.

Edit: If this resonates with you, check out the book “McMindfulness” by Ronald Purser.

He was a terrific athlete

This makes my bones hurt

Yeah, outrageous headline, obvious hypocrisy. But if you read to the end, the article is basically in support of it:

But let’s get real: both sides of the political aisle are pointing fingers and making things worse. Trump and Vance have their supporters, while the Democrats are no strangers to throwing some fiery jabs themselves.

One side is spreading lies. The other side is calling bullshit – but that’s rude, so BoTh SiDeS aRe aT fAuLt.

The 19 words: “…because democracy basically meaningless…” (pause) “Government by the people, of the people, for the people… but the people are [fools].”

I’m inserting “fools” cuz I don’t wanna use outdated insults.

Does it need to be online and continuous?

Hot take of the day: academia doesn’t need social media.

I encourage others to seek treatment for mental health issues if ever necessary, and I’ve heard a few success stories of people who got the help they needed from a psychiatric inpatient stay. But I’ll be honest, shit like this really worries me.

I’ve been living with depression for many years now. It terrifies me to imagine what a full-blown crisis would be like – not just because of what I might do, but also because of what the health care system might do to me.