Starting next month, I’ll be a patient volunteer in an acute adult trauma/surgical intensive ward at a level 1 trauma hospital. The patients I’ll see likely won’t be able to do many activities or hold long conversations and it was mentioned in orientation that some like being read to.

I happen to be a good orator so I’d love some suggestions for books that are generally well-loved, have a calm cadence, and have plot-lines that are engaging but not too dark or complex.

If people in different age groups could recommend comfort books from their childhood/teen years, that would be awesome too. So far for my generation I have the whole Harry Potter series and Percy Jackson series from my own collection.

Thank you!!

Hey!! I’ve (26F) been nervous about getting involved in volunteering, community events, and political happenings like city council meetings/town halls, door knocking, etc., because I haven’t had anyone to go with. But a couple weeks ago I spoke at a Hillsboro city council meeting despite being scared and I loved the experience.

If anyone else has also been feeling nervous about getting involved, I’d love to connect with like-minded buddies. I’m personally leftist and part of the DSA, but I’m also interested in volunteering at things that aren’t directly political if that’s not your vibe. Like animal rescue events and such.

I’ll be door knocking tomorrow in SE for city council members Angelita Morilla and Tiffany Koyama Lane if anyone wants to join in.

Hope this is okay to post here. I (26F) have a last minute opportunity to see Jesse Welles tomorrow but I don’t know anyone else going. Typically I’m good with going to shows alone but I’m really craving some camaraderie right now.

If you’re going solo and want a buddy, or you have a group that would be okay with me joining, please lmk!

Hello! I’m 26F and have the opportunity to get a ticket for the Jesse Welles show tomorrow but I don’t know anyone else going. If anyone would be down to let me join a group you’re going with, or if you’re going solo and want company, let me know!!

I go to shows alone all the time but would really love to feel a sense of community for this one.

Just got this notice from the city of Hillsboro in my email box moments ago (Sunday, just after 10 a.m.):

Hillsboro City Council: Special Meeting

Hillsboro City Council will hold a Special Meeting on Monday, July 27 at 9 am. Public testimony will be accepted as part of a public hearing prior to consideration of a resolution. 

Special City Council Meeting Agenda Packet (PDF) or Splitscreen.

From the packet:

TO: City Council

FROM: Chad Jacobs, City Attorney’s Office

SUBJECT: Temporary Moratorium

DATE: July 26, 2026

Requested Action: Consider adoption of Resolution 2932 to impose a temporary moratorium on data center and battery energy storage system developments pursuant to ORA 197.505 to 197.540 in order to allow sufficient time to conduct necessary studies and develop appropriate regulations...

Before adopting findings, the Council must hold a public hearing. During the public hearing, Council will receive testimony from the public.

Community Members can attend in the following ways: 

Listen to the meeting and provide public testimony from the Civic Center Auditorium. To testify in person, fill out a blue card and hand it to the City Recorder.

Listen to the meeting and provide public testimony by joining the Zoom teleconference. To testify via Zoom, email council@hillsboro-oregon.gov by 8 am on Monday, July 27.

• Listen to the meeting live on the City's YouTube Channel
• Listen to the meeting live on TVCTV Public Access Channel 30

I’ve been stuck in a pattern of similar reactions and I’m not sure if I’m doing something wrong at this point.

When dating, I enjoy making the person feel interesting, asking genuine questions that go beyond “so what do you do for fun?”, and letting the conversation breathe so they can get to know me too. At the same time, I’m aware there’s a line of being genuine vs asking about/sharing things that are too personal/romance heavy in early stages.

I’ll go on dates with these intentions and guys will tell me they love the sincere conversations we have, I make them feel relaxed, and they find me very sweet and kind.

However, after 1-3 dates, out of the blue I’ve been getting rejected with the reason being that I’m so genuine and sweet I deserve someone that can offer me the attention I deserve, or just someone “better”. It’s really confusing to me because this usually happens before we even get a chance to talk about what we’re looking for. They haven’t heard what my expectations about attention or commitment are. Not to toot my own horn, but I’m also pretty sure it’s not because of my looks. It’s pretty easy to tell when a guy is actually physically attracted to you.

I know people will often pick a random reason instead of being honest about simply not feeling a connection, but the fact that I’m repeatedly getting rejected in this specific way is messing with me. Is there something wrong with what I’m doing? A friend told me it’s better to act reserved and indifferent on dates but that doesn’t mesh with who I am.

TW for sibling involvement and non graphic descriptions of inappropriate sexual behavior.

I know questions like this get asked a lot but I’ve been worried I’m overblowing some of my experiences.

When I was 12/13 my sibling (16/17) that I shared a room with started sometimes staying completely nude around me if we were alone. I would get visibly uncomfortable but they’d tell me a body isn’t inherently sexual and they weren’t doing anything wrong. Then there were times they’d be drunk and nude and start telling me about making out with their friends or describing details about sexual assault and harassment they experienced from boys at school.

When I was 15-17 and they were 19-21, they moved back in with my parent and I and started the same thing of getting naked when my parent wasn’t home. When they started dating someone, they’d come into my room nude at night and ask to use my floor length mirror. They would use it to lay on the floor and expose themselves while talking about how they were looking for damage because of how big their partner was and they’d describe details about their sex life. I was too uncomfortable to say I didn’t like what was happening so I’d go along with it and respond just enough so they didn’t realize I was upset.

There were also other times where they’d call me while extremely drunk and start describing rapes they had experienced in extreme detail.

I’ve always felt really confused about this because I don’t think they did any of this for sexual gratification or to have power over me, but they obviously did feel positive in some way or they wouldn’t have continued to do it? I’d already experienced CSA by the time this started so I always used to tell myself none of the stuff with my sibling was sexual abuse and I feel like it is because I was already traumatized. But now I don’t know.

I tried telling them about it once and they apologized for making me uncomfortable but said they’d experienced CSA so they didn’t know it wasn’t right to do any of this with me.

I do Instacart shopping as a way to make ends meet most months but my card unfortunately expired in May. Instacart is notoriously bad at sending a new one. I’ve done 4 requests without one ever showing up and customer service has been completely unhelpful. :(

It looks like shopper cards don’t get linked to an account until they’re activated so if anyone has an extra that’s unactivated but not yet expired, I would be so grateful.