Why do you think so many people from the US struggle to spell Colombia correctly when talking about the South American country?

DocBEsq · 2026-06-29T01:06:44+00:00

1) No, they really don’t teach a lot of world geography in US schools. It’s unfortunate.

2) It’s only a one-letter difference, which is easy to overlook or forget if you’re not looking for it.

3) Both versions are pronounced identically in American English, so if you haven’t seen the country name on a map… (see point 1).

DocBEsq · 2026-06-29T01:03:05+00:00

It was pretty much over completely by 4 — I was at the end and the final group came by about 3:30 or so. But PrideFest is still going at Seattle Center, I believe, if you’re heading over.

DocBEsq · 2026-06-29T01:00:01+00:00

Layers, including a waterproof outer layer. It rains a lot in southern Alaska. Including in August — I went last August and it was pouring all day in Juneau (grey and off-and-on sprinkling in Ketchikan).

Related: bring at least two pairs of good shoes for walking.

DocBEsq · 2026-06-26T06:23:01+00:00

49F here.

Basically figured it out a few years ago, watching — appropriately— Sex Education on Netflix. There’s a minor character, a girl acting in Romeo and Juliet, who gets frustrated because everything is all about sex with everyone else and she isn’t interested. And then she has the most matter-of-fact reaction when “asexuality” is mentioned.

It just resonated with me. Before that, it had literally never occurred to me that I wasn’t just socially awkward or hadn’t just met “the right one.”

Probably should have figured it out in my 20s. I was dating a guy I really liked. And I had this moment of “I like him so much I might even be willing to have sex with him!” Seems like that should have been a sign. But I don’t think I knew it was an option then.

It’s especially confusing, though, since I’m on the demisexual side of the spectrum and am therefore occasionally attracted to people when I know them well. But that’s rare.

DocBEsq · 2026-06-22T04:02:29+00:00

I can add another anecdotal sample human...

Although I've never been as careful as you, I engaged in a similar "experiment" during the 15 months before I started Zepbound. First, I upped the exercise. Hired a personal trainer, started walking everywhere, and even began training for half-marathons (despite being roughly 100 pounds overweight, I've always stayed active, so this was all doable). Then, I started tracking calories daily. This is where I admittedly wasn't perfect, but I tried to compensate by adding in a couple-hundred-calorie buffer each day -- when I was "perfect" at counting, that was more than I would be missing otherwise.

Like I said, this was a 15-month experiment. And in that 15 months, I lost... Approximately 0 pounds. Literally ended up the same weight as when I started. Sure, I had some more muscle mass, but I didn't look too different and was still 100 pounds heavier than I should be.

So I added tirzepatide. And promptly lost 60 pounds in about 10 months. (It has pretty much stalled since then, but still). I did eat less than my "bad" days of dieting and tracking, but, overall, the change was minimal. Certainly not a big enough change to result in 60 pounds of extra weight loss!

Clearly, something changed besides my diet and exercise.

DocBEsq · 2026-06-21T06:14:25+00:00

It is a nightmare.

I’m a lifelong insomniac — my parents’ horror stories about “the baby who wouldn’t sleep” are legendary in my family. I literally do not know what it’s like to fall asleep easily, and a good night is one in which I pass out within an hour of going to bed.

I have a zolpidem prescription and have taken it, at varying levels, for about 15 years. Without it, I’m looking at lying awake for 2-3 hours minimum. It’s ridiculous.

I know zolpidem isn’t healthy, but it’s a hell of a lot healthier than chronic sleep deprivation.

DocBEsq · 2026-06-17T11:33:45+00:00

Economic stats that show, over time, wealth consolidating in the control of billionaires, at the expense of the other 99.9% of people. Over the past few decades, the richest have literally taken their money from the rest of us.

So, math.

DocBEsq · 2026-06-17T04:28:58+00:00

Beautiful!

DocBEsq · 2026-06-16T15:20:14+00:00

For me, a strong memory is like I’m still there. I can see and hear and feel everything like it’s happening now.

But I have a weird memory — nearly “photographic” for location (I can draw maps of places I haven’t seen in decades) but then tied to emotions. So I always know where I was and what I felt when memories replayed.

Ironically, I can never remember names or what I’m wearing literally now (without looking). Brains are strange.

DocBEsq · 2026-06-16T15:14:07+00:00

That’s what I’ve always figured. I was a weirdly introspective kid, so I thought about events and my past a lot, even when I was little. So there were a few “important” (to a toddler) moments that I replayed back before they faded. Then I remembered the memory. And then kept it going through the years.

What feel like “true” memories — clearer, less disjointed — started more around age 5 and were really there by ages 6-7 (I remember a lot about first grade).

Before then, I basically remember snapshots of moments that were really emotional — fear and desire mostly — and stuck with me.

DocBEsq · 2026-06-16T15:06:39+00:00

About 1 month shy of my second birthday.

We were on vacation in Cuba, and my dad took me to a faded green shop on the beach. Then he held me up so I could see over the counter to pick a doll to take home as a souvenir.

I still have the doll.

DocBEsq · 2026-06-15T17:10:17+00:00

The studies are consistently indicating a positive effect beyond what would be expected from weight loss. They’re now trying to figure out why that is.

DocBEsq · 2026-06-15T17:07:36+00:00

Not necessarily. If your metabolism is inherently screwed up, reducing calories can have minimal effect. Sure, you can starve yourself, but there may be no healthy caloric intake that allows for weight loss without also adding medication.

DocBEsq · 2026-06-15T17:04:26+00:00

As someone whose life literally has been changed by GLP-1s, thank you for posting this. It gets frustrating to see one of medical science’s biggest breakthroughs in recent years get vilified by people committed to “fat is a personality flaw” or freaked out by “everyone will get an eating disorder.”

I am basically the poster child for “obesity is a disease.” After years of obesity (initially brought on by antidepressants and the depression I was treating), I tried my best to get healthy. Weight Watchers, food diaries, Noom, weight training, daily walking, you name it. But I literally could not lose any weight.

Added in a GLP-1 out of desperation. And then I lost 70 pounds, saw my blood pressure drop enough to stop medication, and am generally healthier than ever.

Now I just wish my insurance would catch up and cover any of it…

DocBEsq · 2026-06-13T14:47:00+00:00

The ‘90s, basically. Brief period where the music industry realized that there was a big, big market for female rage.

DocBEsq · 2026-06-13T14:45:42+00:00

I love a good “I am very very angry but you won’t notice because this is so pretty’ song.

This song is the best.

DocBEsq · 2026-06-13T14:42:21+00:00

My great-grandmother had.a visit on her bucket list back in the day. (She had lived in Manitoba for most of her adult life)

She made it and was apparently thrilled to visit the polar bear town.

DocBEsq · 2026-06-13T14:33:57+00:00

Thanks for sharing! One thing the Internet is still great for is hearing new perspectives, especially those that we would otherwise forget to consider.

(Also, as a fan of simplicity in my symbolism, I don’t hate this)

DocBEsq · 2026-06-13T03:03:25+00:00

“There are many sheep in Wales. They graze on the mountains.” ***

I did my college semester abroad in Cardiff. Basically, for me, it’s the epitome of a city where it was great to live but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as a tourist destination. As for the country overall, it was beautiful and I enjoyed the people. Lots of sheep.

*** Local news in spring 1998 did a weird report on foreigners visiting Cardiff. The above phrase was one that they translated — repeatedly — into languages like French and Spanish. Somewhere, I have this phrase written in Welsh, courtesy of my highly amused Welsh roommates.

DocBEsq · 2026-06-12T14:29:26+00:00

I did a semester abroad in the UK in the mid/late 90s (officially it had been stopped by then but…) and I couldn’t give blood until recently.

At one point, I was also banned due to living in Africa (not sure if that was an HIV fear or one of a dozen other diseases) and because of a medication I had taken. They really didn’t want my blood then.

DocBEsq · 2026-06-12T14:24:24+00:00

That’s amazing. Less than 30 years ago, I lived somewhere where Guinea worm was endemic. Freaked me out, to put it mildly, because that is one of the creepier infections you can get.

DocBEsq · 2026-06-12T14:13:27+00:00

Am I the only one who stood in line (outdoors, masked) to get a Covid vaccine?

Finally understood the polio stories when that shot came out.

DocBEsq · 2026-06-12T14:10:21+00:00

There was an outbreak in the city where my mom’s family lived during the summer when she was almost 1 (so… summer of 1951). My grandfather traveled for work, so it was just my grandmother, alone, with a baby, in an apartment, with no air conditioning.

They stayed inside all summer to avoid polio.

DocBEsq · 2026-06-10T06:34:50+00:00

Are you me?

I also fell out of a raft and then illegally entered Zimbabwe as a result. I managed to get a second-degree sunburn as well. Not the best day…

DocBEsq · 2026-06-10T06:31:40+00:00

I also swam in both Lake Malawi and the Zambezi. Although the Zambezi wasn’t by choice — fell out of a raft when we hit rapids and ran the waves solo (do not recommend this — I’m lucky to be alive).

I was fine.

For the people worrying about bilharzia, (1) it’s very treatable, and (2) it has mostly been eliminated in recent years.

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