u/litcoflit

One of my closest friends lives in Burbank and has a birthday today. She had a fun activity planned with a few other people (and me) and unfortunately everyone else other than me cancelled at the last minute. She's feeling understandably pretty sad about the whole thing and I've managed convince her to go to the McCambridge Park with her dog around 8PM.

Would anyone be interested in joining us and helping cheer my friend up after a pretty crummy day?

My friend is very sweet, a little shy, in her 30s, has a fun Shiba puppy, likes anime, creative writing, movies, and books.

Edit: Thank you to everyone who came!!!

I firmly believe these posts should be funny and entertaining, so will I try to do that.

Friends have told me I have "clown energy." Still not entirely sure what this means. But I am kind of silly and wacky things sometimes happen to me. Sometimes, I even make silly things happen. I currently am not a clown, though it is ok if you are one. I did actually sign up for a clown class in the future, so it is possible I technically might be a clown soon.

I think I'm at least somewhat funny, and it would be cool if you were at least somewhat funny. But more importantly, I consider myself empathetic and kind, and those are the #1 qualities I look for in people.

I like to read—literary fiction mostly but sometimes nonfiction. Sometimes poetry too but less as of late. I also try to read The New Yorker every week too.

I'm left of liberal and hopefully you're of similar political disposition.

I also like to write and make art and do other creative stuff. I love art and museums and galleries too.

I'm a huge music person with a wide range of taste. I like everything from Miles Davis to Fiona Apple to My Bloody Valentine to Vince Staples to REM to Talking Heads to Brian Eno. I also like going to live music and ideally go to at least one concert a month (typically at smaller venues).

I'm a big film person whose taste tends to lean Criterion Channel / arthouse, but I did watch the new Minions film and enjoyed it. So I guess I contain multitudes.

Sometimes, I like nature and outdoors stuff too.

I like traveling and am lucky enough to have been to 18 countries or so in the past few years. I went to Japan last month, which I'm aware makes me another man talking about their Japan trip. Sorry!

I really like karaoke as a hobby, but I also recognize most people do not like to do karaoke. It's very ok if you do not like karaoke. It's also very ok if you want to do a duet of "Once in a Lifetime" or "Some Velvet Morning" or "O Superman."

I'm neurodivergent / autistic / ADHD. I think often mesh well with people who are some flavor of neurodivergent, but if a doctor or therapist or general brain expert said "your brain is perfect" that is ok.

My day job is hopefully the least interesting thing about me. It's ok if you have a different relationship to work though.

I'm California sober and don't drink, but it's ok if you do. I do occasionally take an edible or mushrooms once every few months, and find that experience very mentally valuable. But it's ok if you don't do any of it.

I'm 5'4" but I don't care how tall you are. I have gray hair and I think that's cool. I am pretty healthy generally (don't eat read meat) and like going to the gym. But I also like going out to eat, so life is about balance.

Age wise, I think I'd probably best relate to someone 28 to 43. Looking for something that feels organic.

If any of this resonates, send a message and hopefully we can grab a coffee or NA beverage sometime.

Apparently people do like listing songs here. Here are some songs that are cool:
* Broadcast - Come On Let's Go
* Kate Fagan - I Don't Wanna Be Too Cool
* Slowdive - Kisses
* Brian Eno - The Big Ship
* Miles Davis - In a Silent Way
* Yellow Magic Orchestra - Behind the Mask
* Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas​​

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https://preview.redd.it/6dqm31uvb5eh1.jpg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4a4bebf82bced9df64c2bd789375d338ce434cf2

https://preview.redd.it/fj1c5fbxb5eh1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=48a774abc16d5b8870dbe5516a3cf58477ec8a88

Hi there,

I'm hoping to crowdsource some recommendations from people outside the US (where I am) or Rate Your Music types really into crate digging. I'm looking for great indie/alt rock/synth pop/art rock/shoegaze/post-punk/trip-hop from continental European countries. Ideally stuff that synthesizes US/UK/etc influences in an interesting way but if someone made synth music using an electrified accordion or something else totally unique I'd be open to it to. Also just straight up open to "here's the French Guided by Voices."

A few reference points I'm thinking of for bands who sort of synthesize influences in interesting ways:

* Broder Daniel (Sweden) - channel Jesus and Mary Chain/The Nightblooms into big wall of sound pop-rock
* Lenny Valentino (Poland) - channel Radiohead and slowcore and some post-rock into something else
* Holden (France) - channel Stereolab and lounge and Broadcast and trip-hop into something else
* Hooverphonic (Belgium) - channel Portishead or maybe Cocteau Twins into something else, at least Blue Wonder Power Milk

When I mean alt rock, I do not mean post-grunge or nu-metal. It can encompass a lot of stuff though, anything from Oasis to Stone Roses to New Order to Sonic Youth. What alt rock was as a format before it became something more narrow.

I hope my search makes sense.

Hi there,

I'm hoping to crowdsource some recommendations from people outside the US (where I am) or Rate Your Music types really into crate digging. I'm looking for great indie/alt rock/synth pop/art rock/shoegaze/post-punk/trip-hop from continental European countries. Ideally stuff that synthesizes US/UK/etc influences in an interesting way but if someone made synth music using an electrified accordion or something totally unique I'd be open to it to. Also just straight up open to "here's the French Guided by Voices."

A few reference points I'm thinking of for bands who sort of synthesize influences in interesting ways:

* Broder Daniel (Sweden) - channel Jesus and Mary Chain/The Nightblooms into big wall of sound pop-rock
* Lenny Valentino (Poland) - channel Radiohead and slowcore and some post-rock into something else
* Holden (France) - channel Stereolab and lounge and Broadcast and trip-hop into something else
* Hooverphonic (Belgium) - channel Portishead or maybe Cocteau Twins into something else, at least Blue Wonder Power Milk

When I mean alt rock, I do not mean post-grunge or nu-metal. It can encompass a lot of stuff though, anything from Oasis to Stone Roses to New Order to Sonic Youth. What alt rock was as a format before it became something more narrow.

I hope my search makes sense.

I was in a store today sans Shazam access and heard a song I couldn't place but have definitely heard before.

The song faintly sounds like that Bends-era Radiohead or the post Bends wave of Travis et al. The vocalist's voice is thin, not the range of Thom Yorke or Travis Healy. The chorus is has lyrics something like getting into this and getting out it.

It's either a 90s Britpop or 2000s indie song probably British but it could be one of those OC bands. I don't think it's from the 2010s but I might be wrong. I feel like it could be a secondary single from a British band.

Here is a recording

https://voca.ro/1lpCfUBbjkoe

I know this sounds weird, but everything is weird right now.

It feels like every moment of our life is increasingly optimized. Everything has to be a thing. We are branding ourselves all the time. Life feels like LinkedIn. We're always hustling. We're always improving.

Drawing on my half-remembered reading of Jenny Odell and Byung Chun Han, I propose a different option: staring at rocks. There are very few options nothing or virtually nothing in adult life in an organized way. Staring at rocks is close to doing nothing. It also has a 90s Pavement/Linklater Slacker energy missing from LA life.

So I propose an event where people stare at a pile of rocks. Maybe in Eagle Rock. But literally everyone silently stares at rocks for five minutes before whatever. No phones, no eye contact with people during that time. Just rocks. If you get bored and have to close your eyes or something, no one will judge you. Maybe it's like meditation if a punk rock clown created meditation.

I should say this would ideally not be much of a hike or involve very little hiking. It's easy to stare at rocks on a hike. I should also say this is not an excuse to take drugs.

Maybe there can be some entertainment. Like someone who juggles or attempts to juggle or something? Or makes fake bird sounds? Or maybe someone shows a cool drawing of a turtle? I dunno, but you don't have to be good at it.

Bring yourself. Bring a friend. Bring a parent. Bring a partner. Bring a Martian. Maybe after you stare at the rocks, you could talk about such questions like:

* What is the best or favorite rock?
* Should rock n' roll have more rocks?
* Best rock subgenre?
* How many rocks are in the pile?
* What is Dwayne The Rock Johnson thinking about?
* Do you know a 30 Rock quote?

Also, it would be free. And hopefully fun and very silly. And probably very dumb. Which me need more of in the world. Good dumb of course and not bad dumb.

This makes sense to someone other than me, right?

Edit: I have made an Instagram for this. Maybe that might be the most efficient way of organizing this. If you don't have Instagram, we can figure out some alternate way of wrangling updates too. https://www.instagram.com/stareatrocks.la

Edit 2: The point of this is not to take drugs and look at rocks. That philosophically turns this into a different action. You can't really sit with the possibility of something being boring in an altered state. Nothing against drugs but that is not what this is.

Edit 3: This will be at 12PM noon. Where tbd.

I know this sounds bizarre, but I saw some insane Instagram reel I will not link about how the ideal man is using Claude. And I wondered what's the opposite of that.

I've thought a lot about how modern dating commodifies us. We're constantly trying to optimize or brand ourselves. Dating apps. "Fun" dating events where someone pitches us. Speed dating with first impressions. People are apparently dressing "hot" to wait in line at Erewhon for a meet cute. Everything is kind of LinkedIn now and it's weird, even if it's not on an app.

Drawing on my half-remembered reading of Jenny Odell and Byung Chun Han, I propose a different option: staring at rocks. There are very few options nothing or virtually nothing in adult life in an organized way. Staring at rocks is close to doing nothing. It also has a 90s Pavement/Linklater Slacker energy missing from modern dating.

So I propose a singles event where people stare at a pile of rocks. Maybe in Eagle Rock. But literally everyone stares at rocks for five minutes before mingling. No phones, no eye contact. Just rocks. If you get bored and have to close your eyes or something, no one will judge you. Maybe it's like meditation if a punk rock clown created meditation.

Maybe there can be some entertainment. Like some juggles or attempts to juggle or something? Or makes fake bird sounds? Or maybe someone shows a cool drawing of a turtle? I dunno, but you don't have to be good at it.

When people talk, you also could have a bunch of icebreakers like:

• What is the best or favorite rock?
• Should rock n' roll have more rocks?
• Best rock subgenre?
• How many rocks are in the pile?
• What is Dwayne The Rock Johnson thinking about?
• Do you know a 30 Rock quote?

Also, it would be free. And hopefully fun and very silly. And probably very dumb. Which me need more of in the world. Good dumb of course and not bad dumb. And people dress normal and comfortable and slackery maybe?

Would there be an guarantee you meet anyone? Absolutely not.
Will there be some cool rocks you stare at? I hope so.

This makes sense to someone other than me, right?

He wakes up. He is in a hospital bed. Lounge singer attire. How does he know what a lounge singer is? His name? He looks at his hands to find answers; they are untattooed but maybe fingertips say something. What are some names? Tom? Not the hands of a Tom. Greg? Not the hands of a Greg. Fuck. Me will have to suffice.

Does he know how to open the mouth, make the sound the mouth makes? He tries. "Me." Yes, yes. The official mouth sound. He searches for another word. What are other words? Probabilistic. Wow, that sounds complex. He must be smart. "Me probabilistic." Getting there. Ballroom. That's it. "Me probabilistic ballroom." Loud. Louder. No response.

Is movement possible? He tilts his head. That works. He wiggles and a solitary handcuff slips. Elaborate fetish executed skilllessly? A complete thought. Some more wiggles. Half-hovering. Hovering. He leaves the bed.

The door is already open. He goes through it. "Me probabilistic ballroom." No response. He walks down the hallway. A twenty foot-long sign: Cleveland General Hospital Stanley S. Brockman Amnesia Center. He sees another room.

Another barely handcuffed lounge singer on a hospital bed. "Me probabilistic ballroom." The other lounge singer replies. "Golf cart." This is communication. They leave the room.

Seven other beds. Seven other lounge singers. Seven other phrases. "Surfing actuary." "Boggle boggle." "Poststructuralist critique." This is advanced communication.

They amble. They start crooning. "You in a red dress and me in a cocktail." They repeat. Me in front. Through the doors. A typical hospital lobby. With more crooning. Confused receptionists put their phones down. They leave the hospital. Still crooning. Still ambling. The night sky.

After years on 18mg, I recently doubled my Strattera dosage from 18mg to 36mg (18mg in the morning and 18mg at night). And I had some heavy symptoms the first few days that went away. But I've continued having a persistent acid reflux with a bad metallic taste constantly in my mouth. I tried to eat a piece of dried mango the other day and it hurt the roof of my mouth. I contacted my telehealth provider and they said this goes away in a few weeks. I've read Strattera common side effects include acid reflux.

Does it?

I deleted Hinge recently. Will this unmoderated, bot-spam-filled sub be any better? 🤷 Will this be TL;DR in an age of rapidly declining attention spans? 🤷 Will this at least be interesting for you to read? I hope so.

Friends say I have some degree of "clown energy." Fun and interesting things tend to happen to me. I feel like I have a new rotation of fun/funny stories every few weeks. I guarantee you will leave a date having laughed at least one story.

I think I'm pretty funny. I've met comedians who assumed I do comedy. But I do not.

I consider myself very empathetic and greatly value empathy from others. I think I'm a good listener.

I work in technology but my job does not define me and is not the source of my satisfaction. It's ok if you have a different relationship with your work though.

Left politically/free Palestine/LGBTQ supporting/etc etc is a must.

I'm a big music fan with great taste. I like everything from Miles Davis to Brian Eno to Rosalia to Wire to Frank Ocean. Enjoy concerts (typically smaller venues) and go to at least 1-2/month.

I love film and am an AMC A-List and Criterion Channel regular. My taste skews a bit arthouse. I like reading and have been trying to read more frequently—lit fic and poetry typically. I also try to read at least part of the New Yorker every week.

I also really love art and museums and other bits of culture. And galleries are cool too. I consider myself creative and like to write and draw. Hopefully you have a creative outlet too and interesting taste and value art.

I'm a big fan of karaoke and regularly go to karaoke nights sober. You do not have to like karaoke at all though.

Like a lot of people I like travel. In the past few years, I've been to 17 or so countries solo. Having a travel partner might be nice though.

I'm 5'4" but I don't care how tall you are or are not. I'm slim and try to keep healthy. And I prefer a partner who is somewhat mindful about their health. I still do like going out to good restaurants etc though.

I don't drink but don't mind if you do. I do however do weed and psychedelics on occasion. I find psychedelics a very helpful complement to therapy. You can be totally sober but please be comfortable with occasional dabbling.

Neurodivergent (AuDHD) and lean a little introverted but ok with all types of energy.

Therapy is important to me and hopefully you've been to or are in therapy.

Agewise: 28-43 probably. I have a hard time imagining I'll relate to a 48 year old or 25 year old. I think I'm too old to look max or rizz or whatever it is young people do. And I think I'm too young to know what Sciatica or whatever it is 48 year olds do.

Looking to date and see how things develop organically. I feel modern dating too often reduces us to transactional interactions and the most boring parts of ourselves (you are fascinating, I promise). I want to treat another person as a human and not a checklist.

If any of this sounds compelling: DM me. Hopefully someone out there wants to grab a coffee.