Update for Everyone VII: Insert Something Philosophical Sounding Here

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I might start a new volunteer position helping an Eritrean refugee family get accustomed to America (I thought of Simfan). It's through a secular refugee resettlement NGO that I was put in touch with by the Secular Franciscan Order. I'm not a Secular Franciscan myself but I've been spending time with them lately and learning more about what the ones in my area do.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I just got back from a weekend road trip to Montreal with a close friend. We visited the tombs of two saints (Kateri Tekakwitha and Marguerite Bourgeoys) as well as Leonard Cohen's favorite breakfast place and his grave.

Also, I am going to be taking on that refugee resettlement position after all; in fact I'm going to be in two separate roles, one with an Eritrean family and one in an ESOL classroom with a mostly Congolese student body (I've been directed to try to pick up some Swahili). It's actually with Catholic Charities, which is ORR's contractor for refugee resettlement in Western Mass.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I'm attending a royal garden party :/

I'm interested in hearing the "greatest hits" (so to speak) of how it goes.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Me six weeks ago: Hmm [woman I'm interested in] is cute but I worry she might be tradfash
Her today: I identify as an intersectional feminist and my favorite world literature is Nigerian

Most pleasantly surprised I've been with someone I'm just getting to know in years.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Tailpipe fell off my car on the way home from work. Stopped by the neighborhood shop and test drive a $2K 2002 Jeep Liberty. Good enough, but the smoke smell is suffocating. Gonna stop by dealerships tomorrow. It’d be nice to have a car by my Friday shift.

I'm in the market for a used car too. Currently leaning towards a 2010 Chevy Impala that I test drove on Tuesday, but there's also a 2005 Subaru Impreza that's a possibility.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I've been accepted as a staff writer for my university's (only) non-partisan news publication! I'll be writing for the "world" section. Unfortunately I won't be able to post any of my articles on here, as that would jeopardize my anonymity, but I think I'll have a good time with it.

Congratulations! I recently started writing for a small Catholic opinion website and it really is a good feeling to see your writing get out there in muh marketplace of ideas.

Can you share the general subject matter of some of your pieces (region of the world, specific event (if any) that they're about, etc.) with us, even if not the articles themselves?

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I got turned down romantically a few weeks ago but it doesn't seem to have damaged my friendship with her, at least not so far.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Just got officially diagnosed with bipolar one. No more stoner Sanchez

They don't let you be a stoner if you're bipolar?

psychoactive drugs are very bad for the delicate mood management required to cope with bipolar.

Apparently I'd be better off eating a handful of shrooms than smoking weed, apparently it's that bad for bipolar one. I am going to begin weaning myself off weed (I haven't done psychedelics for weeks and can drop them like a hot potato), which shouldn't be hard because I'm not an addict nor do I smoke all day long like many of my friends. Instead of buying five grams a week, I'll just start buying two, then after a few weeks one, and then eventually none at all. I don't drink at all anyway so abandoning alcohol isn't an issue either.

I was bipolar yesterday, I was bipolar today, and I'll be bipolar tomorrow. We've all known this for years (I know I certainly did), so it's not like my life is going to change in a negative way. I still have a great job and a great life, and that isn't going to go away because of a simple diagnosis.

It does mean that I now have a clear path forward in dealing with my emotional health, and that I'll be able to move forward more constructively. So this is honestly kind of good news.

I'm glad you were able to get a diagnosis. Good luck, man.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I had an interesting conversation this evening. As part of a work thing I had to interview an English language learner about their background and their high and low points learning English, and I ended up with a Venezuelan asylee called Valentina (not her real name). Being a Venezuelan asylee, Valentina had a lot to say about the role that ~socialism~ has played in her life, none of it good. It was an interesting exercise in understanding perspectives very different from my own; we laugh at the Venezuela bogeyman when Trump uses it against Elizabeth Warren or Andy Beshear or whoever, but for somebody who's actually lived and suffered under Maduro, it strikes a real, visceral nerve.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

For anyone wondering, I haven't posted in a while because basic training takes away your phone.

So yeah, I joined the Army. College wasn't gonna pay for itself, so Uncle Sam will pay for it. I'm in the reserves, so I can start college next year. With my army tuition assistance plus the fafsa and the support the college itself gives me, I'll graduate debt free.

I hope that both college and the armed services are meaningful, edifying, and supportive environments for you.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Lyrica + cigarettes, to quote a certain goose, slap.

I am at my power level right now.

Lyrica is pregabalin, right? Anticonvulsant squad represent

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Some mysterious force keeps pulling me back towards this site.

I think you're growing on us. Good to know we're growing on you too.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

My cousin Elaine (age 18ish) got her driver's license the other day after several attempts and on Facebook one of my older relatives just commented "Oh boy", with no punctuation.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I had a dream that opebo was unbanned. Acutely unpleasant.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I had a dream that opebo was unbanned. Acutely unpleasant.

who dat

Self-obsessed "leftist" sexpat trust fund baby from Missouri who racked up an enormous post count from somewhere in Thailand. Had a bizarre cult following that included some otherwise good posters. He did give us a few good forum-isms like adjectives-as-nouns ("poors", "browns", "religiouses") and "Obama is a black, you see".

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Eh, wouldn't be the first Jewish/Muslim relationship I've heard of. Just because there's bad blood doesn't mean there aren't people willing to see past that bad blood.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

One of the more unique street signs I've seen...

You're in Quebec, I presume? (The stop signs in France say "STOP" on them.)

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

You ever just start crying because you realize you're most certainly gonna die alone because you're too afraid of rejection to start a conversation with someone?

How old are you? Good-faith question; it's possible I've been there.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

You ever just start crying because you realize you're most certainly gonna die alone because you're too afraid of rejection to start a conversation with someone?

How old are you? Good-faith question; it's possible I've been there.

18. I know it's unreasonable to jump to conclusions when I'm still so young, but...

I was asking myself exactly the same questions at that age. (It probably didn't help that I'd recently started posting on uselectionatlas dot org slash FORUM.) I'm 27 now and I've had a couple of relationships since then--unsuccessful ones, but I have had them, and I find it much easier in general to talk to people I'm interested in than I did when I was your age.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

i'm going clubbing tonight, f!ck the beer flu.

RIP FF

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Doing Commonwealth of Massachusetts mandated reporter training for my job. Depressing stuff.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Attempting to arrange a Columbus Day visit to my elderly aunts on Cape Cod. I'm suspecting I'll have to get a hotel room rather than staying in one of their houses; the only reason I'm going through with it is that I suspect one of my aunts wouldn't have much time left even without COVID to worry about. This is a woman who's beaten cancer four times and counting; eventually her luck is going to run out...