I very much go through this. It can be hard looking at all the niche things around my house which I spent so much energy pursuing - specialized photography rigs, magic cards, jewelry making tools+storage, exercise gear, crazy keyboard setups for multiboxing, etc. With all of those came the community aspect. I feel so guilty just disappearing after gaining so much attention and recognition in various areas. I can confidently say I'm paralyzed with some type of fear to get into new things- I know they'll consume me, but then one day I'll wake up and just see it as a source of stress and drop it. If I had infinite money and loved socializing, I'd not be too stuck, but I just can't afford to keep cycling through interests right now. The things which tend to interest me always demand a financial sink.
Vibi
Cotton or anything natural! The idea of my clothes being made of plastic fibers which then enter the water supply or sit in a landfill bothers me. This applies to sheets, towels, etc. My skin also reacts poorly to synthetic fibers.
I wonder which of these is the cheapest and which is the most expensive.
When I signed up they had a very easy process which allowed migration of playlists. I believe it was a 3rd party utility/website which you could actually use to migrate playlists from and to any of the music streaming services.
I absolutely love Tidal as well. Was a long time Spotify subscriber, but their UI/UX decisions, especially for their desktop client, finally frustrated me enough to switch. Had almost no issues moving my playlists over, have a shuffle which actually shuffles, still have daily recommendation playlists, and my favorite part -patch notes; I know what's happening and why. They actually listen to user feedback and make updates based on it.
I would caution your and other people's perception of your intelligence as having significance. Doing well academically (especially pre-college) and thinking that this equals intelligence can be a bit of a trap. I, along with other high functioning friends, also did well academically and many people, teachers, peers, etc all viewed us as intelligent - the problem is, we understood expectations and how to create a mask and personal systems which allowed our brains to succeed in school. Entering college, that all changed for us. The expectations changed and the system changed- everything I created for myself to succeed no longer applied. I went from a 4.0 high school student in all advanced classes to dropping out of college the first semester. I saw peers who did terribly in high school thrive in college. I saw how they easily formed new connections and found support which allowed them to continue where I stumbled.
I would ask yourself what value you are expecting out of being viewed as intelligent and why you feel you might need that label applied to you. Growing up, I personally put a lot of effort into being seen as smart to make up for my ASD thinking I could outsmart it or something. Being 30+ now, I no longer really care how people view me- I just care that they are kind and respectful.
Music is my escape as well. I consider myself an audiophile and listen to music very technically as it's one of the only things which distracts my inner monologue. Gives me a chance to visualize the sound stage and appreciate every little production decision. Also, great username! Glassware was one I used for the longest time.
My brain shifted towards the end of high school. Growing up, I had an uncontrollable imagination and mental environment - it was essentially a never ending plot line consisting of characters from movies, shows, books, comics- anyone that I found interesting. It was a way to cope. My brain constantly had these characters interact and create conflicts. Their actions and dialog would sometimes spill out into the real world, and I had to remember to keep everything inside. I saw it all in my mind- it was honestly super creative. I eventually wanted it all to stop because I felt like I couldn't control it, but it took effort. I had to slowly turn the extremely detailed characters into lesser versions of themselves until they were just mental stick figures; eventually, I was able to stop the story as I got bored maintaining personalities for 2d characters.
I can still access my visual mind, with effort, but it's nothing like it was. It is now instead a constant inner monologue which converses at nothing- usually it's about topics which I might have to explain to someone later or a way to navigate my thoughts/feelings. There's never anyone talking back, just my mind talking at nothing. It can be helpful as my brain bricks during random/spontaneous conversations with people, and I can lean on rehearsed talking points/sentences.
As for memory- It's on point when something is actively in my life, but the moment that thing becomes uninteresting or I step away for a few weeks, it feels less accessible and usually makes me super anxious and avoidant. Learning about things initially is super fun, but knowing I'm missing information which I previously was very confident in is tough for me.
I have a SUPER random one and have been wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience; I started HRT (patches) and Spiro last week!
I'm a daily cannabis consumer and have been for many years (🩷Volcano Hybrid). One thing I experience for a few days whenever my tolerance dips, or when in a situation which lowers my tolerance (different location or around different people), is a phantom feeling like I've wet myself or feel like I'm about to. It's something I mention to people who are just starting with cannabis, and I have found it's very common. It's not something I've experienced in years, and I did not expect a variation of that feeling to return. I know tolerance fluctuates based on a variety of things, so I guess I'm not surprised- just wasn't something I expected!
I've played so much of it and didn't realize it only supported two players! I guess I'm glad I only talked one friend into playing with me 🤭.
I would definitely recommend some roguelike shooters like Roboquest, Gunfire Reborn, Crab Champions, etc. These are all 4 players, but you could always have a few different lobbies.
Maybe also consider something like Palworld, Grounded, Raft, and other Survivalcraft games. There should be a good few in that genre that will allow you all to play together!
Sounds like a fun group ready for some great memories! Good luck on your game hunt!
Started going to a small local coffee shop a little over two years ago, and I'll never go back to the giant chains. The people working are always happy, greet regulars by name, always go out of their way to interact or talk with me- usually remember something we talked about before, comp my orders every now and then, host little events, etc. It's not just them either - I always have a way better experience going to non-chain coffee places. Oh, and the coffee is always waay better and priced better.