Exactly.

I went back to church 5 years ago after walking away when I was 18. It truly has been the best experience for me, has made a VAST difference in my life, and I wouldn’t call myself visibly religious either; I am a believer, but I’d never discuss it outside of my church friends. I’m picky about what religious people I’d associate with because I sure don’t subscribe to the nonsense about queer people and abortion that many of them do. I would NEVER try to convert someone or anything like that. If someone expresses interest in coming with me, cool, but really you would never hear from me about it otherwise.

I can’t find those here anymore, but they were AMAZING. They’re insanely expensive on Amazon.

Lemmy, Bluesky, Catodon, which is an adorable Mastodon clone which is way better than the Mastodon app. Pixelfed is nice too.

An aside, I haven’t used my Twitter account in 11 years, and I would read it now and then, but when Space Karen bought it I logged out and deleted it (didn’t deactivate so nobody took my name), and randomly a few weeks ago got notified my account has been banned for “inauthentic behaviour”. It was super weird, but who cares. Dumpster fire.

Not if they have to simply because of affordability, of course not. But I don’t see why anyone who isn’t American would be going anywhere near the US right now, and certainly trying to avoid American products. Canadian grocery stores are labelling what products are affected by tariffs and what products are Canadian and most people are really making an effort to not buy anything American.

I really do miss visiting the US though. I would go to Buffalo a lot for day trips and that really is a wonderful city, and you can’t beat clothes shopping there. Not sure what it’s like with the tariffs, but I shopped last fall for clothes and got AMAZING bargains.

Let’s talk about politics a whole hell of a lot less. Yes, things are awful and insane, but there is good stuff to discuss.

Ignoring the people in your replies who don’t like church, I meet the loveliest guys at church. Find the right church which is progressive and inclusive and a younger crowd and you will meet some amazing people. It’s not like what the other commenters think at all. Even just the amazing supportive friends I’ve met are enough, I’ve never had better friends in my life.

I am reading Moon Zappa’s autobiography, I just finished 1000 Acres by Jane Smiley, which I REALLY recommend, and I’m also reading the collected Wendell Berry, Margaret Atwood’s latest short story collection Babes In The Woods, and the book about the Toronto Gay Village murders. All very good, I am decidedly not into true crime but it happened close to me and one of my friends was part of the Village and they told the cops several times that people were going missing. I feel awful for all the victims, but especially for the very closeted religious ones whose wives and children got to find out their fathers were queer because they found parts of them in a planter, and the whole world got to find out too. It’s not nice to posthumously out someone even under the circumstances when it will have such a profound effect on their families.

Big Guns by Skid Row. Bang bang shoot em like a firing squad.

Me, I got banned. I still used RIF until it died just to read Reddit, but once that was over I was done.

Thank you, I hope so.

Because of the medication I’m on and basically having PTSD from relationships, I’m pretty numb to feeling anything. I feel love for my dear friends and their kids, and my dog and my aunt, but I’m just numb to all the shit my ex does, who I still have to live with, I have really no feelings towards my parents except disdain and vague pity, and anything bad or good that happens I’m super flat to, and even find the bad things sometimes a bit funny. The meds help in that I don’t have spiralling anxiety attacks anymore at all which is wonderful, but I’m pretty detached, and while it’s often super helpful, sometimes it worries me that when I finally can not live with my narcissistic ex anymore I won’t get depth of emotion back. I worry he’s destroyed it for good.

For some reason almost every person in my city says “seen” where they should say “saw”. Drives me bananas.

Probably 1997, way before anyone had cell phones routinely, I went to an open house kind of interview for some cell phone company who were hiring people to go door to door. They hired everyone who came on the spot, and I never heard from them after that day. The only thing I remember was when the guy who interviewed me said that eventually everyone would have their own phone number, and that was such a foreign concept then.

Sheesh I didn’t know that one.

This bluegrass band who covers pop music tunes called the Cleverlys, and their rendition of the song Low. Shawty got them apple bottomed jeans and the boots with the fur is hilarious with a banjo and stand up bass.

https://youtu.be/uA17ZO19ZRs

I think Vince Neil of Motley Crue got a ridiculously short sentence for drunk driving manslaughter because his record company bought off the judge so that they could make money off him performing. I suspect a lot of famous people have that happen.

The Beachcombers! Very long running Canadian TV show about a log salvager from British Columbia. I don’t know how you make 18 years out of stray logs, but they did.

I had a teacher in high school, who also coached the hockey team, who liked to make fun of you when you bought into something stupid by saying “did you know they took the word gullible out of the dictionary?”.

So when he said it, I grabbed the dictionary and looked it up and said “no Mr Pizzo it’s right here!”.

He looked wonderingly at me and said “I would expect that from one of my hockey players but not you”.

I also liked Motley Crue a lot in grade 7, and because I had just begun learning French decided to ask my French teacher what the lyric about menage a trois meant. It was very innocent of me, and she told me it meant three people living in a house together.

I kept a Livejournal for many years. I closed it when the Russian government basically took it over for propaganda, but mirrored it to Dreamdwidth. It’s hard to read in places, but it’s helped me a lot regarding ending my relationship and why I’m not crazy.

Ozzy with Sebastian Bach, Bas posted this the other day, and Ozzy’s pants are giving me life.