NormalTownLeader

joined 2 years ago
[–] NormalTownLeader@mander.xyz 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Never really got into TikTok myself, always just seemed like a worse version of Vine. But I'm also not the target demographic so there's that.

[–] NormalTownLeader@mander.xyz 8 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Hah, fair enough. I was using that more as the generic "go do something that's not just reading Reddit posts on a computer all day". But I have also been hiking!

 

Exactly what the title says. I used to look at Reddit and spend 2+ hours minimum every single day, more on the weekends. Once the API changes were announced and the protest date hit, I decided I would stop using it regardless of what happened moving forward.

I made a lemmy account and I do enjoy posting and reading occasionally, but I don't sink nearly as much time into it as I did with Reddit. After the first couple days where I really had to fight not to look at Reddit (guess it was addictive for me), I started doing other things in my free time to alleviate my boredom. I have read two books, and am starting on another book tomorrow. I have started work on personal projects I put on the back burner and have been making some genuine progress.

I was never a mod, but I feel kind of pathetic admitting this because it's such a meme that Reddit mods/admins haven't seen the sunlight for years. Guess my life was also passing me more than I realized. I don't really have a moral/point here because I know not everyone has as much of an addictive personality as I do, guess I just felt like sharing.

 

I can't recall which exact thread it was, but I was reading a book recommendation thread and the book "A Year in the Life Of Ancient Greece" by Philip Matyszak was recommended. I enjoyed learning about ancient Greece in the past and this seemed manageable (under 300 pages), so I read it over the course of this last week.

I really liked it! I normally enjoy fantasy/sci-fi, so while I knew I liked ancient Greece I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this historical fiction. It basically told the story of various ancient Greek lives over the course of nine months up to the Olympics, each person with a different life/livelihood accurate to ancient Greece. Following the Builder and the Farmer were likely my favorite parts.

[–] NormalTownLeader@mander.xyz 2 points 2 years ago

As if we didn't have enough to worry about with microplastics... I try not to be pessimistic but it's hard not to when more plastic is being made and chucked into the ocean every day

[–] NormalTownLeader@mander.xyz 1 points 2 years ago

Honestly I never truly understood the appeal of cryptocurrency in general.

If you want to make an anonymous deal, cold hard cash gets the job done and doesn't have nearly as poor of an environmental impact. I guess if you really want to make sure online purchases are anonymous then it can be hard to do that with cash, but unless you are buying something blatantly illegal that shouldn't be too large of a concern (at least if you are in a first world country). The whole "decentralized" currency argument also falls pretty flat when some of the top used cryptocurrencies are not decentralized (Tether, Usd Coin).

Cryptocurrency feels less like an innovation to fit a need, and more like somebody created something cool as a concept and tried to figure out a use case after the fact.

 

Below are the current succulents I have! I generally have a black thumb, but I'm trying to change that. Any gotchas to keep in mind when taking care of succulents? I already learned the hard way that I need to keep the dwarf jade indoors because direct sun causes the leaves to brown.

[–] NormalTownLeader@mander.xyz 2 points 2 years ago

While I can't speak to the mental health mentioned in this post, I used to read all the time, but by the time high school years hit that dwindled and I could barely read a chapter without wanting to do something else. I think that social media really took a toll on my attention span (though I can't prove that).

What helped me was making a book club with some friends of mine! When I had a deadline in place where if I didn't finish chapters at a set time (otherwise I wouldn't be able to properly have a conversation about it with them) that really helped motivate me. This also had the added benefit of exposing me to books I wouldn't normally read (this is how I was introduced to House of Leaves). I still don't dive deep into a book as easily as I used to, but it has been improving and like anything else just generally comes with practice.