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I was blind, but now I see
  • Also -1 here. I was convinced throughout my studies that my university was being super cheap on the projectors, getting always some shitty, soft ones. Ranted about it the whole time. Wish it was the beamers.

  • What book(s) are you currently reading or listening? May 6
  • I am 10% into Lonesome Dove. Many people swear by it and to me has East of Eden vibes. I find the story a little slow but then there were a couple of scenes (all of which involved pigs) that made me laugh out loud. So far - worth it.

  • Suggest me your most gripping page-turners
  • I'll suggest you what another user here on Lemmy suggested to me: Replay by Ken Grimwood. Topic is re-living life, there is a love story involved, relatively short and easily written but good - you won't need much brain to keep track of what's up but it is still a quality read.

  • True happiness is the intersection of imagination and reality. It's visualizing joy with eyes closed and, upon opening them, finding yourself exactly where you wish to be.
  • This is beautifully said. There had been moments in my life when I'd be so very happy that I would indeed close my eyes, take a deep breath and appreciate the moment. When there is nothing to bug you in the back of your mind to ruin the setting, such moments are beautiful and I agree, could be described as pure joy.

  • Do we have any theories as to why complex life eventually started requiring various metal elements as micronutrients?
  • Also, metals can easily accommodate varying number of electrons in the electron shells of their atoms and still be stable. That makes them very good to quickly store and release electrons which means they can help say transfer molecules around (iron for transport of gasses), scavenge free radicals (e.g. manganese) etc.

  • Any tips for reducing my car dependency beyond walking and cycling?
  • It can really depend where you live so I think the first advise is to take it easy on yourself.

    • It is ok to combine ways of transports, say cycle to the first train/bus then load the bike on it/park at the station
    • Start with a sturdier bike, the one which is bigger and more visible in traffic and gives you a better sense of control.
    • don't expect cars to respect you because you cycle or to know what to do around you. Bad drivers are everywhere. Don't try to prove points. Safety is more important than ego.
    • get yourself a good, large backpack. This will be your new back seat
    • Take taxi/uber when needed. I once arrived to a friend's wedding held out of town in a taxi and literally everybody I knew there looked at me as I was either a fool or a millioner. The bill was like 35$. Way cheaper than owning a car.

    Lastly, enjoy how good you will feel. Climate protection and all that is great but your body will love you for it and you will feel it. Good luck

  • As an adult, what seemingly childish things do you get excited about?
  • Yes!! Funny story, I learned about redwood from a boardgame when I was six and thought they are some trees from this magic game world that don't exist in real life. You can imagine how excited I was once I realized they are real and more so when I first saw them! Californian ones are the most impressive, no debate there, but I actually found quite a few across Europe too, often in super random places. So maybe you will also find some around where you live? You never know.

  • As an adult, what seemingly childish things do you get excited about?
  • Lived in Bay Area for some time and been up to the Redwood National park but not to Santa Cruz! Just checked it out and now I have another reason to visit again. Honestly, I would have even stayed there - NorthCal's nature is simply breathtaking - but unfortunatelly so are the living costs around there.

  • As an adult, what seemingly childish things do you get excited about?
  • Trees! Those big, old giants which make you feel like they are indeed harboring some ancient wisdom, being there, in the same spot years before you, barely brushed by the passing of time. And then if they are evergreen not even season affects them - they just keep on existing, all tall and gracious. How awesome is that.

  • “Most notorious” illegal shadow library sued by textbook publishers [Updated]
  • Not to mention academic/research text where authors are actually forced to pay to publish, only to have the articles end up behind a pay wall of given journal. If the authors want their papers freely available, they have to pay extra fees to the journal (we are talking thousands of dollars scale). Not a cent goes back to the authors or even research funding bodies. Long live Libgen!

  • Sci-fi books which don't involve too much space travels and massive world builds?
  • Yes, yes, you are totally correct - delivery can make all the difference.

    But I have to add that my main problem is that I am a scientist and big part of my job is to read immense amount of literature and memorize/connect often obscure terms. So when I read for pleasure (I love my job, but still) what I tend to enjoy the most are character heavy, emotional books with beautiful prose, written by people with deep understanding of life. Quite opposite to the academic literature.

    So you are right, yes, this slog issue is not restricted to SF (e.g. I don't read epic fantasy either; GoT and LOTR books I skipped myself as well), but SF in particular is something I really want to dig deeper, as there the ideas challenge my brain and remain lingering far after I finish the piece.

    But! - I prefer to do it without being forced into a memory challenge. Because if I start and within the first two pages there are 15 names and 3 planets and lots of traveling (i really damn hate descriptions of pure traveling, like please lets just skip that part) then I lose interest in the main idea and the ideas are what I am after.

    So Tldr yes, you are absolutely right, it is also the prose and the delivery, but still no prose or delivery would keep me long motivated or make me deeply enjoy reading work which has too many names or weird, invented terms.

  • How do you go about preserving fruits and vegetables?
  • Do you use diluted or out-of-the-bottle vinegar and does the fruit taste weird afterwards? I need to temporarily become a bit of germophobe and this sounds like a good way to take care of fresh produce.

  • "Gallbladder’s Last Day" by The Awkward Yeti
  • It doesn't refer to the interaction of liver with stones. The bile acids are produced in liver then transported to the gallbladder, where they are stored and released into the intestine when needed. The whole role of gallbladder is to accept and release the bile salts, the "stuff that liver makes". But then sometimes gallbladder makes stones and it has to be removed because of it.

  • Sci-fi books which don't involve too much space travels and massive world builds?

    Don't really know how to explain this. I like sci fi and would love to dig deeper into it. Am avid reader and enjoyed Project Hail Mary (though set in space, this book is just amazing), Dune, short stories by Ray Bradbury and TV shows like Raised by the Wolves, Westworld, From (love From!). But e.g. Foundation I really disliked. Wheel of time is massive and I lost interest. Even the guide through galaxy I appreciated but was not really into it. Somehow, all those lots of traveling, lots of worlds, lots of many novel/invented names and terms render reading laborious for me.

    Can you help me pin what is that I like and perhaps offer me a suggestion where to start? Thanks!

    EDIT: thanks everyone for your excellent suggestions! So happy to be a part of lemmy community. I might make a follow up thread in couple of months so we can discuss some of the works. And lastly, if you been reading this far: have a good weekend.

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    giriinthejungle @lemmy.world
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