I left a job once because at the old job I had to share an office and at the new job I found and landed (because I wanted a new office) I got my own office. It’s kind of like a no-duh. I felt like I was the Jeffersons. Motivating factor for changing jobs not caring I didn’t last a year at the old job where I had to share an office: Having my own friggin’ office. I even asked in the interview, “can I have my own office, or do I have to share?” They said I got my own office. I hummed “movin’ on up” after.

There isn’t a need for that at the moment. There are PLENTY of small publishers you can send a manuscript to. Small publishers will, of course, sell authors’ books on Amazon, but it’s absolutely not the same thing as going it on your own as an author dealing directly with Amazon. First of all, if you submit to and are accepted by a small publisher, libraries can purchase your book and there are none of the exclusive rights crap Amazon imposes on the individual writer looking for a venue. Most writers seek out a small publishing house before resorting to the “go it alone” approach. There are many writers who also avoid the Amazon bullshit by setting up their own publishing company just to publish their own works, which is perfectly simple to do and doesn’t cost much at all, in comparison to all the costs associated with marketing, cover art, bla bla bla. Amazon is often a last resort or a result of “the final straw” of receiving rejections from publishers and when writers don’t know how to set up their own mini publisher to self-publish first. Anyway, you can by-pass a lot of the Amazon crap by setting yourself up as a publisher that dedicates itself to publishing your writing. You can even offer paperbacks and hardcovers, using a printing service to take care of that for you. Then, through your own publishing company you set up, you offer your work to Amazon. It’s a different set of conditions.

Yes, this new type of statistical reality in this parallel universe I’ve stumbled into, where people don’t die if they walk, is fascinating, isn’t it? If I see a casino, I’m definitely going all in on the roulette wheel.

I don’t have this problem. I think it depends on your carrier. Some carriers let the call go straight to voice mail. My blocks are a one-time thing and system-wide.

Wow, I know a lot of people that died and they were quite the walking enthusiasts. Some of them must have only walked 3966 steps a day. They were just one step away from immortality, perhaps?

I find it appalling that Amazon demanded evidence of a trademark registration for her name. I hope they get sued. Trademark or not, you can’t put an author’s name on something that they did not write. That’s called plagiarism, and it is not legal, especially if you try to make money off of it. I wonder how many authors they did this to? How clogged will the civil courts get from this? What a mess!

Have you ever said something to yourself like, “Wow, that clown is lucky I can’t reach through the friggin’ screen and smack his face off?” If the technology keeps on advancing, maybe one day there will be mass homicides all over the place.

I loved wood burning when I was a kid. Those look fantastic!

That’s really cool!

You like it. It has nothing to do with your autism. I mean, I have a thing for pickling, and it’s really specific. I like to make hot pickled veggies. I have a huge jar, and it’s for one thing: my hot pickled veggies. I have patience for that endeavor, because when I make them, I make them, in the fridge. When they’re pickled, I use them on everything. It goes with my thing for vinegar. When it comes to fermented things, I prefer to buy them already fermented, mostly because I don’t trust myself to ferment at home. I think it is fantastic that you have that kind of attention to detail that fermenting has at home. I’m willing to bet your fermented stuff is amazing. I love fermented ketchup, for example, and I buy it already made and cherish it. I would love to make it on my own, but I don’t feel confident about doing it. It’s what I’d call my limit in the kitchen. You could probably convince me it’s not so bad. The closest I’ve gotten to fermentation and successful is friendship bread starter and sourdough bread starter. I can handle that, because it’s something you put in the fridge. Do you see what I mean? I’m all about food safety and all that, so I’m cautious. I ought to be more brave like you and just go all out on fermenting things at home, because I think I’d evolve.

I am into it. I made my own Limoncello once. It was a wonderful beverage, but yeah, the constant vigilance. The container selection. Made me crazy!

I don’t ferment anything, but it’s something I’ll think about trying.

I cross stitch. I haven’t done it in a long while, though. I ought to get going on my sampler again.

At least there are some people who see their jobs as useless when they probably are. Enter any American university with more administrators than necessary and you won’t find a single useless administrator admitting to you that they are useless to society and the university.

MSG is really important in my cooking, too. It really adds a nice flavor to any vegetable dish. I use it for so many things, even when a recipe doesn’t call for it and especially for when a recipe doesn’t call for it. I always laugh at myself when I use MSG to season my spaghetti sauce because tomatoes have some MSG in them already. But they need more MSG, you know? They need so much more that on top of the MSG I also use Worcestershire sauce.

Vinegar. Adding vinegar to things can brighten them up or, depending on quantity, give something a sour flavor that is needed sometimes. I experiment with all kinds of vinegar. I even use the brine from my jar of spicy pickled vegetables in my cooking or to make a salad dressing. I also like to swap it with lemon juice to see what happens. For example, I have learned that I prefer lemon juice rather than vinegar in my alioli mayonnaise I make (probably not original, but I figured it out on my own). Going in the other direction, I prefer vinegar over lemon juice for making tartar sauce. I think my vinegar discovery started when I was a little kid. In my home town, famous for its fishing, lobster trapping, and clamming, you’ll find malt vinegar on the table at any restaurant. We use it on french fries and fried fish as a condiment. When I was a small child, I dipped my french fries in ketchup, splashed them with malt vinegar, and squeezed lemon juice on them. So, I think french fries are pretty much the vehicle to my discovery of ingredients. In turn, I have a tendency of turning condiments into ingredients I think I will dip french fries in just about anything on hand, at least once or twice.

Playing games. I like games because they catch my attention for a long time. I enjoy card games, action games, driving simulators, RPG, platformers, arcade. I’m starting to get interested in TTRPG and I found a community you like that talks about playing them solo: !solorpg!solorpg@lemm.ee or you could go for !solorpg@lemmy.ml I also read, do crossword puzzles, and do puzzle games on the computer. I think gaming, doing puzzles, and reading are good because they keep my mind working. I also like to doodle. I have a book about keeping a doodle journal that I like called Doodle Art and Lettering with Joanne Sharpe: Inspiration and Techniques for Personal Expression I like doodling and lettering because it’s a nice way to get my thoughts out of my brain and into some other space. I also like walking and hiking, which combine well with reading.

I really loved this novel. It gets better and better as you progress through it. I loved all the references to Jung, Gothic horror, and just about everything else! Enjoy!

I’m reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula for the first time ever. Can you believe I am 48 years old, a horror literature junkie, and never read it? It’s true. I’m enjoying it a lot.

Yes, this is classic anthropological theorizing, in fact. Claude Levi-Strauss touched upon these issues, and they continue to be interesting questions to think about. He didn’t frame it in the medical field, but it’s the same question that plagues sociological and anthropological research. Your elaboration actually highlights something very important: the straight-up medical field could learn from medical anthropology and seems to pay little attention to it. The two fields have so much to talk about together and collaborate. It happens sometimes, but not often enough.