No problem my friend. On the project side of things, a couple of thoughts. This is assuming it’s a project for school, if it’s not either see if any of this can be adapted to your situation, or otherwise discard it without any guilt.

0. 100%, do whatever is in your power to expedite things with your psychiatrist. Ignore my caveat above on this one.

1. If possible, do one thing a day that moves the needle a little bit. It can be tiny - like, write 2 sentences - but just something where you can say “I did something”.

2. If you need to use a computer for some project tasks, go to campus (or a library) and use theirs. Sometimes being in an environment where folks are doing focused work (or at least pretending to) can help people stay on task a bit better. Turn off wifi and mobile connectivity on your phone, and keep it in your bag.

3. Set timers for doing project related tasks in increments - 20 minutes, 10 minutes, 5, whatever makes sense for you. Try your best to just do something project related for that increment. If the end product is you wrote a sentence, that is still something.

4. If you find you’re lapsing into doom scrolling instead of project work, give yourself permission to stop ASAP and go do something else (see prior comment). If you’re not going to be productive anyway, at least do so in a way that isn’t causing you as much distress.

5. If you need to review sources, print them out over just viewing them online. Go through them with a pen and a highlighter and take physical notes.

6. [should probably be higher on the list] Set a meeting with your prof and be brutally honest about your situation. Let them know your struggles with the project, and what you are trying to do about it. See if an extension is an option at all. It may not end the way you want, but having that conversation is something you can control (if not the ultimate outcome).

7. Be gentle with yourself. You’re in a hard spot, and you are trying your best while working to get the professional assistance you need. Maybe you do or are doing all of the above, and you don’t feel like it’s getting the results you need. That’s OK. When you get the professional support you need, you can revisit. Prioritize your well-being.

I hope you find at least some of this useful.

Do yourself a favour: put the phone down. Stay away from your computer screen. Do literally anything else - some chores, a hobby, counting the number of people walking by your house, fill pages with drawings of squares, take several really long walks, find a pond and skip some rocks, whatever floats your boat. The point is not trying to accomplish anything, but to shift your attention. If something you’ve been putting off gets done, that’s a nice side effect, but not the point - so don’t worry too much about the result.

You have no control over the outcome of the U.S. election whatsoever. It is not worth your health to obsess over something that you can’t control that fills you with negative feelings. So block it out - if anything, try to summon some gratitude that you have the option to do that (though it’s ok if you find that hard to do).

I know this is much easier said than done. But you’ve got this. You’ll be ok. I’m pulling for ya.

Honestly, now that I know Pee Pee island is in the mix, I’m sold on a trip to Newfoundland. Dildo was almost enough to make that happen as it was.

Edit: There’s campsites at Dildo Run Provincial Park, btw. Do with that information what you will, people.

We got the Subproject 68 expansion set here.

Out of curosity, how was the weather in your end of the world? We had the same thing happen this year, but mostly because it was unseasonably warm.

Granted, it was also 'cause we had a fog machine this year, but the weather played a big part.

Huh. Can’t help but wonder if this is connected to why a significant amount of people find asses sexually attractive across gender lines - something about signs of a good persistance hunter (likely quite overstated by base monkey brain), and therefore ability to provide for spawn.

Probably not, but makes ya think. I also accept that I’m thinking about it from a heteronormative, sex as biological imperative for spreading genes POV - so limited and overall probably wrong.

I wouldn’t say it’s bad so much as it’s simplified and incomplete. Some of us cough develop defense mechanisms designed to keep other people away, and at one point it may have been for good reasons. Down the road, though, you find yourself keeping those defences when they no longer serve you, which isolates you from others.

For these folks, acknowledging that they’re doing this, finding ways to safely lower their guard, and slowly exposing themselves to more people and experiences can help with that loneliness.

This is the kind of thing I get from this image. But this situation does not address all causes or types of loneliness, just one possible factor.

Dope. As. Fuck.

I have two spots on the other side of the country, that I haven’t seen in almost twenty years, that still serve this function if trying to calm myself down. One is a waterfall in what was then a very lush patch of forest. Another is a quiet bay surrounded by pine trees.

If I’m having a rough time, more likely than not I’m slowing down my breathing and visualizing one of these places.

This is an excellent example to pull if you ever want to talk about memetic warfare as a concept.

Or questions that sound like they’re rhetorical, or being asked for provocation’s sake, but are being asked in good faith.

Source: I say ‘honest question’ a lot, and not as a rhetorical device - I just want real answers to questions that might be dumb/asked dishonestly (e.g. as put-downs) in other contexts.

Good luck today!

Listening to a folk punk song that uses the word fuck to great effect on Spotify yesterday, wondering why the fuck the line ‘If you fuck up I will still be your friend’ reads ‘If you f up’.

I just don’t get it. Fuck is a valid, if vulgar, part of the common English lexicon. It serves a purpose.

I never held any real hope for the flying car, and always thought the moon cities were predicted way earlier than would be feasible.

The real question is where. is. my. god damn. hoverboard!?

Depends on the kink. Leather, whips, and paddles? Always been at least a little cool. Electroplay? Very cool.

Diaper play? To each their own, but not cool.

Two choices:

1. Medical mask and sunglasses (preferably those boxy ones people wear over regular glasses). Few people question medical masks these days.
2. Embrace the lunacy, and wear whatever mask/facial covering you think is cool/funny. Life’s short and a lot of people would do well to embrace harmless weirdness.

Gross, but I’m not shocked. IVF and prenatal genetics screening is big business, it was really only a matter of time until someone tried pulling this. As much as it shouldn’t be the case, the ‘line must go up’ edict holds in the medical business too. I know some large lab services companies that are likely watching groups like this with great interest (but letting them take the risks first, which is smart because this is a con).

My hope is that someone squashes this and we keep screening limited to risks for severe developmental disorders (which, even still, is at least a little ethically problematic) and conditions that lower the probability of the pregnancy coming to term. But we’ll see - there’s gold in dem der embryos.

Edit: Read the original investigative article. Modern Nazis are reportedly involved. Again, gross, but not shocked. https://investigations.hopenothate.org.uk/superbaby-factory/

Would love to see further independent verification from a non-activism-focused source (to be clear, I am not saying the investigators are being irresponsible in their reporting), but the way newsroom budgets have been slashed these days, it’s really only outlets like this doing actual, old school investigative work.

Not affiliated, just a fan.

It’s very much a different strokes for different folks kinda thing. People I know prefer LSD and other, closely related lysergamides because it gives a bit more of an energy boost - I’ve heard it described as shrooms with a shot of espresso. Others prefer shrooms because it’s a little more laid back feeling.

Granted, your set and setting is really going to set the tone for whatever psych you ingest. Things can go amazingly or very, very badly with either substance depending on your headspace and how you set yourself up/structure your environment for the experience.

Naive in the sense that it doesn’t adequately account for the situation of many people. Not everyone has the circumstances where they can do this. I can’t help but feel there’s some survivorship bias influencing your position.

I’m curious, though, if you’re up to illustrating (if not, totally fine): You are a single mother of two sons, ages 7 and 8, living in Generic State, USA. You have a high school degree and no post-secondary education. You have limited support, solely in the form of limited childcare, from family/the wider community. You make about $1600.00 USD per month, after taxes, working 50 hours a week at a physical workplace. You’re finding yourself with $10 left at the end of each month, after all legitimately necessary expenses (rent, food, basic utilities) are paid for. Let’s make it easy and say you have no debt.

What are you doing, and where are you going, if following your advice? It should be noted these circumstances are actually quite a bit better than other folks in the U.S. To be clear, I don’t think this is a gotcha, nor is it intended to be - I just want to see your approach here.

Edit: Monthly wage should be after taxes, not before, and changed $900 to $1600 (based roughly on monthly takehome pay at Ohio’s minimum wage rate, and I calculated for 1 pay period rather than 2 per month)