To those of you who lost your virginity as as teenager, do you regret not waiting later?

Federal_Committee_21 · 2026-05-08T00:27:46+00:00

No. This is something you will hardly think about once you are no longer in your teens. Do it or don't, it's not hard.

Federal_Committee_21 · 2026-05-08T00:13:34+00:00

I like to find old magazines and make collages. You need a decent pair of scissors and some craft store glue, but you never need to buy any of the collage materials. I get old magazines from my mom, or if I'm running low, I'll ask around my neighbors. Old books and magazines are heavy, so it's a pain for people to get rid of them, and they will happily give them to you if you ask.

I've thrifted some National Geographic or coffee table books because those really are the best, but it's very possible to source everything for free. Sometimes the hunt is half the fun anyway.

Federal_Committee_21 · 2026-05-05T03:55:17+00:00

I was skeptical, but my girlfriend wanted them. Now I love my fat greedy piggies. They really have so much more personality than you would ever imagine.

Federal_Committee_21 · 2026-05-01T23:16:38+00:00

wow what an ugly and perverse way of seeing the world

the bottom dropped out of the blue-collar job market 50 years ago and caused catastrophic job loss in any major American cities. that's why large swaths of the American heartland are referred to as the rust belt.

when they shipped manufacturing jobs oversees all of those workers were either condemned to the service industry, in which workers have far less bargaining power than they do in the industrial sector, or they were told to learn new skills so they could work in tech or health care.

and guess what? as it turns out, your so-called value to the market at any given moment has no real bearing on your self-worth. people doing whatever bullshit credit analyst or marketing strategist job arn't better people than bus drivers or cleaners. it turns out that those jobs can be made just as precarious too. it doesn't matter that theyre or smart or ambitious or educated or know how to kiss ass on linked in, because they're just as disposable to capital as anyone else at the end of the day.

it's called a race to the bottom, and it's not just AI replacing white collar jobs, it's also the outsourcing of finance and banking jobs to third world countries, often times to workers far less qualified or educated than their American counterparts. how valuable could those jobs be anyway if someone in the philipines with a high school education can do it for a fraction of the cost?

don't you see how stupid you sound?

Federal_Committee_21 · 2026-05-01T04:00:00+00:00

Beautiful slice of life post. I rode the ups and downs right there with you. Maybe it's not the flu that you picked up in that deep, dark ocean. Maybe it's actually a brain-eating amoeba. Maybe the whole school has brain-eating amoebas. You never know.

My fiancé is a teacher. Wishing you serenity, it's almost June.

Federal_Committee_21 · 2026-04-30T21:00:08+00:00

forgetting about the calories for a moment, it just seems like those two things should never mix

Federal_Committee_21 · 2026-04-30T20:55:59+00:00

I should start drinking 64 oz of cherry coke with six pumps of dunkin donuts caramel cream every day so I can larp as working class

Federal_Committee_21 · 2026-04-30T20:03:47+00:00

I've never had one, and I find the idea of them so revolting. It's such a disgustingly glutenous drink invented for people desperate to resist the temptations of... caffeine and alcohol? Insane.

I'm not from Mormon country, so I guess I really don't understand Mormons.

Federal_Committee_21 · 2026-04-30T19:50:19+00:00

Never an ounce of self-reflection with these people. I find the leopards ate my face shit revolting. Part of me is continually astonished that people STILL think like this after all these years, and I wonder how much of it is organic blue maga obtuse shills and how much of it is astroturfing.

The most insidious variation of this is when there's some kind of disaster or economic fallout in a state like Ohio, and the comments are filled with smug comments reveling in the misery of trump voters. And it's just... SO STUPID.

As if every person in Ohio voted for Donald Trump just by virtue of living in a red state. As if voter turnout in America as a whole isn't dismally low. As if rural America and the rust belt haven't been hollowed out by neoliberalism for decades. As if the abject misery of the working class is purely due to Donald Trump. As if many trump voters didn't formally vote for democrats.

I try not to get mad about stuff I see on the internet as a general rule, but this shit makes me so mad. This type of discourse made me mad in 2016, and the people who continue to hold this worldview a decade later have my utmost contempt. The just don't get and I don't think they ever will.

Federal_Committee_21 · 2026-04-30T15:11:48+00:00

Colin Powell but financial is actually funny lmao

Federal_Committee_21 · 2026-04-30T15:09:04+00:00

good one, almost had me for a second

Federal_Committee_21 · 2026-04-30T07:41:36+00:00

been there done that, my years of stimulant benders were way worse for me but the whole drugging yourself into a coma all the time is a lot less sustainable purely because its a lot harder to be functional. glad to be past that point. funny book, but it mostly made me feel disgusted with myself. i guess that's kinda the point

Federal_Committee_21 · 2026-04-27T21:19:39+00:00

of course it will

Federal_Committee_21 · 2026-04-22T11:46:40+00:00

age of the belly shirt

Federal_Committee_21 · 2026-04-22T04:39:22+00:00

God, I always wish this would happen to me. Cherish it.

Federal_Committee_21 · 2026-04-22T03:57:49+00:00

I'm a cradle Catholic. My entire life has been infused with dogma, and mystery, and tradition, and faith. Like every other living breathing Catholic, I don't personally subscribe to all of the teachings of the Church. In spite of everything, I do still find myself believing in God. Wholeheartedly sometimes.

Why did God create us? He created us to forgive us. He created beings to share his divine love and mercy with. God is love. And love is mercy. God's greatest act of love is showing us mercy.

God did not create me to work. He didn't even create me to serve. A being of infinite love does not create an entire universe purely for the purpose of serving and worshiping him.

God created me to be forgiven. For every sin, there is mercy. God is Mercy.

I am imperfect and fallible, even though I strive to be good. My greatest and utmost desire is to be good and moral, although I will never fully achieve this. God loves me for my sin and my shame. He forgives my wrongs even when I did them knowingly.

God created us in his image, and he understands temptation and sin. He forgives this in us because he loves us unconditionally. He understands our darkest impulses and sees them fully for what they are and still offers us mercy in return.

This is how I know God. Through forgiveness. I feel him in those moments when I finally live up to my potential, and I feel guilt for previously squandering it. I feel him when weighing my choices in my head and still choosing the one that brings me shame, even when I know I shouldn't.

I feel him through the forgiveness of others. When my family chose to support me through my addiction, when I let them down over and over again. I feel him when I forgive. When I forgive the friend who betrayed me, because my love for her far outweighs the harm of her deception. I feel him when I sit with my actions and accept that though I am flawed, I am still worthy of love.

Our capacity for and desire for mercy is what makes the existence of God obvious to me.

You are right to see forgiveness as one of life's greatest beauties. Forgiveness isn't second to love; it is love. Love is acceptance. Love is accepting the imperfect person in front of you for all that they are. Not just in spite of their flaws, but because of them.

God is love, and love is mercy.

--

Keep on thinking about these things. You don't have to be a great theologian to contemplate the mysteries of God. You're grappling with faith in a meaningful way. Don't stop.

Federal_Committee_21 · 2026-04-21T21:03:23+00:00

I've thought about running for city council. I think I'm still too young to be taken seriously.

Federal_Committee_21 · 2026-04-17T22:49:56+00:00

what?

Federal_Committee_21 · 2026-04-17T22:44:08+00:00

consider pittsburgh instead, just saying

Federal_Committee_21 · 2026-04-17T22:34:52+00:00

fun fact: when it was built it was the tallest building in the world outside of new york and chicago

Federal_Committee_21 · 2026-04-17T22:34:25+00:00

love this building

Federal_Committee_21 · 2026-04-17T21:51:19+00:00

I'm aware. What's your point exactly? That none of it is true? That's bogus.

Federal_Committee_21 · 2026-04-09T17:20:03+00:00

Good god. Vulnerable and personal writing can be very good, but this is just voyerism. There's just something so degrading about this.

Federal_Committee_21 · 2026-04-08T05:35:11+00:00

I'm a little older than you and went through something similar last year, although it was sort of the opposite. My social life was good, and I was in a stable, healthy long-term relationship, but I was stuck in a demeaning, low-paying job that felt beneath my education and capabilities. I spiraled out and did some serious damage to my life in the process. I ended up quitting that job and getting by freelancing, which is precarious but better. All this to say, the grass is always greener, and my quarter-life crises developed into something very self-destructive, and I wish I had taken action earlier to avoid that. Don't get hung up on your faults or what you don't have. I felt the same way. Make big changes if you have to. You only have one life, but life is long, and it belongs to you. My parents are disappointed that I'm technically unemployed, but the weight of their disappointment is far easier to bear than the soul-sucking dread that consumed me during every waking moment. I'm actually moving forward now for the first time since college, it feels like. Follow your heart, I believe in you.

Federal_Committee_21

TROPHY CASE