When I was a teenager, I literally had girls literally tell me they liked me but that I was too short, or they'd date me if I was taller. It bothered me a lot but I didn't get weird and bitter about it or anything. The average height of a woman in the US is 5'4" so I was still able to find plenty of partners shorter than me or the same height or even a little taller, and the older I get the less it matters. I just always think of Prince who was 5'2" and just about the sexiest human alive. The hardest part is not internalizing American society's standards.
Look at what Nintendo's been doing for the last like 20 years. PS2 level graphics but great game design
I could never live in the Upper Midwest states like Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Too cold for too much of the year. Chicago gets crazy cold sometimes but winters are getting milder thanks to climate change. The more Western Midwest states are too boring for me. There are small cultural enclaves like Lincoln Nebraska or Lawrence Kansas, but they are more remote out there than in the eastern part of the region. Instead of a couple hours drive to see a cool concert you'd need to get a hotel.
I like Cincinnati although I've never lived there. Good mix of culture and affordability plus a drive towards more bike and transit infrastructure. If I weren't concerned with having a career I'd live in a blue city in the South, like Asheville North Carolina or Lewisburg West Virginia. Great weather, good culture, and nice people. Just a lot of poverty and few jobs.
The US Census Bureau defines the Midwest like this, but I think the Dakotas and most of Kansas and Nebraska are Great Plains, not tha Midwest.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_United_States#/media/File:Map_of_USA_Midwest.svg
When I was a kid growing up in the Midwest, this is what I thought tacos were. And then a friend took me to a legit Mexican joint as a teenager and my mind was blown
Not enough ads in between sentences
Kinda disappointed the friend didn't check with the driver at all and instead just wanted to leave the scene
And yet its collectivism makes it a much more cooperative society than America. People take care of the commons instead of taking as much as they can before anyone else
I said the same. Giving you a virtual high five
Lao Gan ma.
I'm also kind of upset as a half-Chinese person that I didn't know about furikake until I was like 30. Like I'm low-key jealous the Japanese thought of it and my family didn't get the memo while I was growing up. Ah well, at least I know now!
Walking in an American city is a great way to realize how totally fucked our transportation infrastructure is. So many people seem to have never even bothered to try walking anywhere
I agree. Some of the brightest most creative people in history took walks as part of their daily routines. I think it's a great way to reset the brain and get in touch with your surroundings and your body
As long as the weather's not too bad, walking is great. If I'm in a hurry, I bike, but that's always a little stressful cuz you gotta deal with either cars/drivers or poorly-maintained sidewalks. Haven't owned a car in 12 years
I worked for a guy back in 2021/22 who used to take us through the drive-thru of fast food places a lot for either breakfast or lunch. I always ate before work so I never needed anything, but he'd sit there in the drive thru and complain about the price and how employees wanting $2 more per hour was obviously the cause of the rising prices and how none of it was worth the cost anymore and blah blah blah. Then the next day we'd go right back to the same drive thru and he'd give the same shpiel again. I never understood why he couldn't just buy some bread and deli meat or something and make himself some sandwiches instead of constantly bitching. He was a Gen Xer btw
Also, comparing this to the way Chicago cops handle shooting people is interesting. They are so incredibly methodical about finding everyone who was involved, telling them to STFU while the cameras are on, meeting with a supervisor and confirming they are clear to cut the cameras. It's incredibly chilling how efficient they are. See, for example, the videos here: https://www.chicagocopa.org/case/2024-0003052/
Watching the longer version of the video and seeing the point where the officer's hand starts violently shaking while he breathes heavily and then some guys ask him if he's okay and he just says "yeah I'm fine".... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSN0cqzl__4&rco=1&t=25m20s) Like maybe this is part of why men are responsible for 90% of homicides? Like maybe cops should be getting a little more training in psychology before they get handed a gun yknow?
The idea that Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, two of the richest men in the world, are somehow prisoners in America is truly unhinged