Interesting read. On a similar note, I’m finding myself regularly doing the same thing in the US - there’s lots of “memory-holing” of past atrocities in favor of rosier myths and the belief that history is “in the past”. For instance, in the state of Minnesota there are concentration camp sites (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Snelling) as well as the site of the largest mass executions in us history (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1862_Mankato_mass_execution). But rather than learn from the past, locations are instead named after the perpetrators (Ramsey, Sibley, etc.)

I go through it myself so I just come at it earnestly, and then let the consistency in that platonic approach ward off any misconceptions. And stick to things that they have control over and likely made conscious efforts to present a certain way “your glasses look great!”, “that’s great shirt color for you!” - which draws their mind from what they feel less confident about (their body) to something that makes them proud in their choice.

Depending on the closeness of your relationship, and your knowledge of their struggle, a “you look great/strong”, or an acknowledgment of their hard work goes a long way; at least between me and my friends. In my experience - at least speaking about being overweight- very few people appreciate the difficulty in moving the needle even a little bit. So I find that acknowledging efforts rather than results is a good method too.

James Harden and Fidel are the same; great bushy beard, and I’ve never seen them in the same room…

”you’re either in or you’re out”

Me walking out before they even uttered the first syllable of this

”i could go on…”

sounds like ol Nicky was already hitting their rhetorical capacity with busting out bangers like “inability to build new stuff” and “lack of house building”

Not typically a Monday fan, but Easter pasquetta got garf wildin

I was reading a blog post where the author was specifically going off about how media perception skews so much towards major areas, that whole nations (in the specific case, Greece) are reduced to the major areas (Athens) and this erases smaller regions and their cultures (e.g. Peloponnesus). What I’m saying is, if they are going to do Japan again, I’d like a Kagoshima walking simulator pls

Hope this helps you get through and to a better future. In solidarity

Who’s that Pokémon!?

It’s Hillary!!

Cursed. I know many have come before, but Zeldin is a real scumbag. We need a revolutionary Peoples EPA (PEE-PA)

Twice! I was inadvertently stranded places by my family because I was supposed to “call after I was done”, and my brother was on the dial-up playing WoW lol - also was in the overlap where cell phones weren’t big yet. Eventually got a ride home from the one situation, and in the other one I walked a few miles home at night along the only road (multi-lane highway but just swamps instead of buildings). At least that kickstarted my enjoyment of late-night distance running

Bringing on the new person: “Yeah here at hexbear we’re often accused ‘toeing the party line’ but you’ll only find one party line here” gestures at the boogie train about to leave the station

Tim I really enjoyed the movie Clue - you crushed in that

It’s actually so any genital can use a pee bottle on a long road trip

What a gorgeous lil dove. I see them all over the city I work in, and they’re such industrious critters. From high points in buildings you can see their favorite little alcoves on the roofs where there are good sized puddles, plenty of shade, and lots of cliff like nooks on the sides of buildings. They manage to find and make nests in the smallest spots without anti-bird spikes- and I’ve seen them rip up smaller sections of spikes. I think they’re the critters I have the toughest time not anthropomorphizing - they just have such big personalities, and have persevered through so much human bullying

Sending understanding from across the pond. Early 20s are tough - your previous connections are harder to stay in touch with - and like you say, it’s hard to make new ones when you’re trying to stay afloat with everything else. Eventually you’ll find comrades in the struggle. I find I’m constantly reminding myself to “put in the work” of socializing - because otherwise it’s not a big priority for my brain - and after any rejection, isolation is such a nice balm. I have about a decade more years on earth, and it’s still an area I need to put in conscious effort - albeit when I have the mental capacity to do so- which has been rare in the past year.

That detail cracked me up. “Catwoman relies on the power of stealth, but when that fails she knows she can count of FN Herstal”

Poor catwoman, even she can’t find a proper fitting bra

Exhausting for us usains too - literally living in a fake world while things around burn