Meteorological Misanthropy #3: Stop, hey, What’s that Storm?

I apparently have a new pet peeve in fantasy novels. I'm currently reading a fantasy novel that shall remain nameless so that - as with a t.v. show that shall also remain nameless - I don't have to learn how to space posts to avoid spoiler alerts. The novel itself falls somewhere above "completely generic …

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Meteorological Misanthropy #2/Subway Sociology #8: Winds of Change

History Channel Announcer: "Tonight, four of the world's strongest men will compete for the world's greatest prize: bragging rights!" Partner: "That's not much of a prize!" Lavender: "You've obviously never had your entire sense of self-worth founded on other people's perceptions of you, I take it?" Partner: "No, why would I set that as a …

Trust in Mental Health Treatment #6: Axe to Grind

Actual texts sent to my Partner from my psychiatrist appointment: Lavender: "Mental health treatment is bullshit. I got the first appointment with my psychiatrist at 8:30am - knowing how ridiculously early that is – and I honored that commitment to wake up on a weekend to be available for rehearsal. It’s 9:45am and he hasn't …

Subway Sociology #7/Improv #18: Dysautomomia

You know it's hot when... Your city subway sends you an emergency number to notify if you start to roast alive in their subway cars using the system they normally use to notify about line delays!  Wait, were you expecting a punch line to that one? Because that experience was real and is deadly serious. …

Where’s Whoopsie #21: Tea Hydration Solutions

Lavender: “Are you sure I should keep buying Gatorade to function out in public? I could just stop going anywhere until it cools down. In theory, in two or three months it will start being human-livable again.” Partner: “Complain less. Guzzle more. You are the only one being weird about paying for the hydration drinks …

Messages in a Bottle #13: Placebo Effects

I bought pink Himalayan salt pills today instead of my usual generic salt capsales. I know some people think the "highest amount of trace minerals of any salt" are independently useful, but my default assumption is still that salt is salt. I have a scientific image to maintain at all costs, after all. My conception …

Subway Sociology #7: Weed Out the Weak

I have spent many years traveling on a graduate student's budget. Travel was - and is - my preferred way of handling the Christmas holidays, which would rank second after the week-that-shall-not-be-named (aka this one) on my list of least favorite times of the year, except for the fact that my travel tradition actually makes …

End-User Experience

Movie theaters have become events in and of themselves. One that opened near us recently has a full restaurant inside of it where patrons can eat at traditional tables before the movie - or order their carnitas nachos to be served at tables inside the theater while they recline in their heated leather seats. The …