Yep, smorty is definitely on the list of comfy causes. But reading some of her comments on merch, if she ever did this, I feel like she’d probably want to donate any excess to something.

Wouldn’t judge if she didn’t, just get that kind of vibe.

Man, if I didn’t go to stuff alone, I’d almost never leave my house.

Yep. Having given the dopamine spike some time to subside, 99% certain I got fooled. Fits the title, though - nice little reminder that no one is truly immune (or at least, I’m not, and I thought I was pretty savvy).

About $30 CAD, “half-price”, which was another red flag.

Right!?!? Did some searching, though - while this came from a real ad, the whole thing reeks of dodginess.

Probably, which is the main thing that held me back from purchasing. It was just a weird experience - I never felt that “OMG I need this” trigger directly from an online ad for useless bullshit before. Felt weird. Wrong. Generally uncool. But still.

Don’t you dare change for anyone, smorty! Unless it’s something that you really want.

So my Dad’s an impressive guy, at least to me. Dropped out of high school after getting into an argument with a nun about divine authority, had a kid (me!) out of wedlock, married my mom and joined the military to provide, had a moment of self-reflection when child me did some math with fruit, did night school to get his high school diploma, after several deployments and changes in trade got a four year degree done in two years, became an officer, rose through the ranks and is now retired from the military, doing civvy stuff that protects the rights of servicepeople under the law. Beyond all of this, he is always trying new stuff: baking cookies, making his own clothes, repair on all sorts of shit, wilderness stuff, writing, painting, drawing, programming, photography, Qigong, studying philosophy - the list goes on, to this day (he’s currently on a motorcycle repair kick). I basically watched this guy transform from a disappointed, angry young man to a character you could find in a Heinlein novel and say “Jesus, there’s the competent man trope, right on time”.

With all of this in mind, what sticks in my head is what he said when I did some bogus (probably) IQ test as a kid and ran up to him with a good result: “IQ is just a measure of potential. It’s what you do with that potential that’s the important part”. Whether I’ve lived up to that idea is a separate question, but it still comes to mind these days.

This is also coupled with memories of near blows/fist fights over stupid shit growing up, but that’s also offset by watching him make a real effort to learn and account for/manage his temper. He’s a remarkably chill person at this point.

Love this guy, he is a rock fucking solid dude.

If you’re an adult Pokemon fan, these days fan-mades or rom hacks are the way to go. Nintendo/The Pokemon Company/Game Freak are pretty damn risk averse with this property, so the really cool stuff comes from fans (at least until they get the cease and desist).

Older folks can seem more angry than other demographics for a few reasons: pain from physical deterioration, disappointment in their life’s circumstances with fewer/no realistic opportunities to better them, people very close to them dying, worldviews that conflict with the realities of modern life, etc. It depends on the individual but pain and the whole “less unshitty time left on this earth” thing are more commonly experienced in seniors than other demographics.

But this is talking in general - to give you a useful answer, I’d want to know more about your interactions with elderly folks. Only one I saw in this thread was old folks telling you to kill yourself - it’s rare someone cold leads with that unless it’s online (the answer is always living, happily, in spite). What happens before that?

Welcome to sh.itjust.works, btw!

Thing is, a lot of information about the current state of political affairs is blasting through all channels. Some people just want to use Lemmy to shitpost, hang out in CasualConversation, or look a funnies from Stamets.

I think that’s a fair use case, and doesn’t necessarily mean someone who does this is sticking their head in the sand about the current political order going to shit.

Fair enough - glad you’re trying something to address this lot! Believe it or not, did actually mean this as a ‘what if/what are the ramifications for orgs like this if that happened’, but probably best not to entertain that yourself at the moment.

As a total aside, good song to keep spirits up today might be The Last Saskatchewan Pirate by Captain Tractor - very last line before final chorus is relevant :)

Good luck with what you’re doing!

Silly idle thought (for real): Suppose in a situation like this, particularly if people complain on the internet drawing attention to the fact that there’s 1000s of pounds of produce in a space that likely doesn’t have funding for strong security measures, a group of interested parties brought some trucks and took it without explicit permission or consent from the organization.

What’s the impact to the org in situations where this isn’t given away to unauthorized parties, but gets stolen instead?

Fair enough - you’re right, the scene isn’t going anywhere, take the time you need.

Hang in there man - and I better see a link to Bandcamp or something on here when you get your solo project where you want it to be! :) All the best.

Sorry for following you to this post - commented on your most recent one but been thinking about your situation, partially 'cause I used to live in the city you’re talking about. Scene is small and tight-knit, so I get the problem here.

Just a thought - what does your band think about some touring this summer, possibly as an opener for some buddies? Obviously kinda last minute at this stage, but if you guys are interested and can swing it, I think it might be good for you. It could get you off the island for a bit, still playing music with a much smaller chance of her being in the audience.

Just some food for thought. Leaning into the hobby in a new environment for a bit might be the move.

For anyone who was curious, a quick review of search results provided the following:

Real talk - Smorty merch drops with any profit going to a comfy cause? I’m buying it too.

That’s awesome! I’m going as a dude in his 30s - which was reason to have some pause about this event, until I went to an info session about it and discovered I was on the younger side of the group, lol.

Nothing like using your vacation days to recapture a little youthful irresponsibility (coupled with adult sensibilities, like bringing enough food and water. Have erred on that on camping trips with the homies in my younger days :p )

Just gonna chime in to say this was a pleasant exchange to read.