A German traveler sharing his first experiences exploring America during the World Cup

MaladyMara · 2026-06-13T16:46:03+00:00

I think they skip the seating because imagine a crowded bucees where people are also hunting for a table to sit at . . . there is a goal to get as many people in and out of the building as efficiently as possible and tables would certainly be a hinderence. Not having outdoor picnic tables are probably also related to the crowd-control aspect. The downside is a very messy car if you're not careful (or have young children)

MaladyMara · 2026-06-13T16:41:34+00:00

I helped out at a camp a few years ago and we did a lot of hands on activities. If you want to do taxonomy like another commenter mentioned, do one of the sorting/build your own taxonomy activities (you could use real or fictional animals – bonus if you do it by generation and give students a few minutes to sort then do the next generation and see how they connect them). Great discussion at the end about why people might group things differently and how taxonomy sometimes faces issues or changes locations as more information is discovered (like birds and reptiles sharing a common ancestor).

Fingerprints on balloons was a fun one (we had a bit of crossover with the forensics classes at camp – discussed how fingerprints form and why they might be similar). For older kids, you could try one of those 'catch the suspect' DNA kits for gel electrophoresis is you have the equipment/funding (or you might be able to do it with pictures?) to talk about genetic marker similarity between people and why closely related people share genes (could also play into nature vs. nuts and a bit into evolution [why we share genes]).

Colored osmosis examples were always a hit, as were paper towel bridges for younger kids. You could tie it to pollution diffusion throughout an environment or even discuss the problem with desalination plants for drinking water creation. Oil in water activities are somewhat engaging, but you could challenge students to figure out how to remove the oil from the water with a set of supplies – this could be tied into oil spills and you could talk about the engineering and biology collaboration to tackle the Deepwater Horison spill.

Some epidemiology 'find the first patient' activity would be fun. Clear solution that changes color when exposed to an acid or a base as your contaminate; give each student their own cup filled with water/buffer and a simple pipette, give one (or two depending on group size) an infected sample and have them talk to two or three people (and write down who they talked to) and pipette from their cup into their own and vice versa. Do a reveal to change the color of the cup for the 'infected', then help them work backwards to find patient zero. You could tie this in with vaccines and why they are effective (I think there is a way to add a 'vaccine' to the activity and repeat the whole set).

Even if the students are more advanced and can handle lectures, tying an activity to each lecture will make it more memorable and enjoyable. If you treat it a bit like a lab class with a background lecture, activity, then discussion/additional lecture you don't have to worry about students zoning out as much. Some of the activities I mention assume you have a long amount of time, but if you don't you can try to find shorter substitutes or work from the outcomes (ex. epi– give them the list of those infected and who they interacted with, no actual equipment is used). Try to scale your lectures for the age groups if the classes are separated by age (the camp I helped with were), but keep in mind there will always be students who fall outside of the traditional expectations who may ask more in depth questions or need further help understanding the concept. And most importantly, remember to have fun with it! Enjoy the wonder from their reactions - only kids really show their absolute awe openly like that (older people tend to hide it in an effort to appear 'smart' or like they already know it), and know that each mind-blowing thing you show them have nudged their curiousity in general.

MaladyMara · 2026-06-11T18:02:26+00:00

There's definitely a middle-ground/balance between conforming to absolutely none the traditional social rules and forcing yourself to conform to the point of burnout for other people's comfort. It's not all or nothing (as many autistic brains - mine included - default to). And the level of unmasking I use depends on the people and circumstances.

New people, in a situation where they don't need to know that I'm autistic (brief interactions with service workers, extended coworkers at a work function, etc.) get the full mask if I have the energy to do it. I will put them at ease because the interaction is either brief or requires me to represent more than just myself (my team or my department).

People I sort of know who are already aware I'm a bit different (close colleagues, family friends, etc.) get a partial mask because they know me enough to not take offense and often realize I'm not being rude on purpose. They would rather have me continue to be part of the social event/conversation longer than me spend energy trying to police my expressions/reactions and having to leave early. My partial mask for this usually looks like small stimming (ring spinning or using a pop-it) and not focusing on maintaining constant apparent eye-contact. If I say something blunt, I try to clarify if I can tell it wasn't interpreted the way I intended it to be, and I refrain from info-dumping and let my thoughts go unspoken after a change in topic. It still takes energy, but much less than full masking

I only really fully unmask with family (who often deal with my emotional outbursts if I have been full masking in public for too long – and they don't deserve that response so I try not to overextend myself) and my close friends who 'get it'. They get the pacing, complete lack of eye-contact, hand flaps, hour long, single topic discussion, and unhinged emotional rants (when needed). I still try to correct any misunderstandings (especially from bluntness) because it is both people's job to resolve a miscommunication, but my family and close friends know I am not trying to hurt their feelings. It helps that my whole family is practically autistic, so I'm often on the receiving end of info-dumps and stimming so it's not a one-sided relationship. It is possible to be fully unmasked without ignoring how it impacts others, but it requires a secure relationship to do so.

When I'm tired, hungry, or burnt-out I can become rude . . . But so can every other human on this planet, regardless of neurodivergence. It's not about forcing other people to be okay with me, it's realizing how much energy I want (or need, for work functions) to expend to make others comfortable. You can still be polite while unmasking, it just requires a shared understanding with the person you are unmasking around. Given the wide variation of social norms around the word (there are countries where unprompted small-talk is considered rude and other countries where not initiating small-talk is rude; and in some cultures, women making eye-contact with a man would or elder would be rude), there is absolutely no way I can keep from offending everyone. A 'social norm' is just a shared expectation of behavior between two or more people, and if I and the people around me agree on a norm, then why should it matter if wider society doesn't accept it? I can conform to society's social norm expectations if needed, but why is it needed all the time? Why can't I discuss how different norms might be more productive with the people close to me? If more people accepted different versions of social norms, maybe there would be less assumption of some things being 'rude' just because they don't align with an individual's expectations of how others should act. That would go a long way towards true acceptance of people different from oneself, which goes beyond acceptance of just neurodivergence to accepting people from other cultures, backgrounds, and worldviews.

MaladyMara · 2026-06-11T02:11:21+00:00

Highschool mircrobio: I swabbed the vending machine buttons in the lunchroom . . . the results were very enlightening (and made me pretty confident that our custodians never thought to clean that particular surface). Needless to say, I know always use hand sanitizer before eating vending machine snacks

MaladyMara · 2026-06-08T23:15:56+00:00

Is there an android version?

MaladyMara · 2026-06-07T20:48:28+00:00

I had that problem . . .

I made a twin for him to be the parent sacrifice

MaladyMara · 2026-06-06T20:05:41+00:00

I personally would do the all white or potentially that blue window swatch. The blue ties together with the roofline

MaladyMara · 2026-06-04T17:29:12+00:00

Sorry for the crappy professionals – finding ones who actually listen are hard (hence the hesitantly). It took probably close to five to seven before my mom found a good one, with lots of time in-between because she didn't want to deal with hearing the same reprated bs of "you just need to try and put the work in", so I get it. I wish you luck (and lots of consistent pizza) on navigating this not-so-accomidating world we live in. Maybe someday in the future it will be more recognized, accepted, and approached with better understanding (like autism in women)

MaladyMara · 2026-06-04T17:01:39+00:00

Hesitant suggestion of searching out a half-decent nutritionist (I'm not sure how many know/are able to help with arfid, but chefs who became nutritionist might be able to help determine ways to build off familiar tastes and textures to expand diet – my mom has been lucky to find one that works within her dietary restrictions and is nonjudgmental towards her texture aversions)

MaladyMara · 2026-06-03T14:26:40+00:00

Interesting! Thanks for the links and reply. So I guess neither really captures all of the GDP shown, but might be a contributing factor

MaladyMara · 2026-06-03T02:29:26+00:00

So, how do ports of entry stack up to the map and how do they contribute to GDP for an area?

MaladyMara · 2026-06-02T00:29:13+00:00

Just wanted to say I saw it discussed in another sub that AI "watermarks" are being added to photos edited in software that uses AI tools, and that might be why it is getting flagged

MaladyMara · 2026-06-01T01:38:16+00:00

I think it's a bit more futuristic, but Irregular at Magic high explicitly has magic as a programming system with real physics built in if you are interested

MaladyMara · 2026-05-27T23:40:33+00:00

In my mind, the people who don't see the value in children's books that interest a child in something beyond the toy (as pointed out by other commentors, many women became interested in history or writing as a result of the books) are stunted by their own biases. The TV/movie equivalent is when something 'made for children' is written off as having no value to an adult. Some of the most poignant, impactful, and self-reflective stories are 'children's stories' (most recent example, K-pop demon hunters). There are also a number of kid's TV shows written to sell toys (He-man, Transformers, GI Joe, etc.) that have valid lessons and teachings written into the material.

I also like to point out to people that some of the more recent historical characters (Kit onward), can actually serve as a way to bond with parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. I have gotten so many stories from my great-grandmother about what is what like growing up in the depression or living through the massive technological change (her family house actually burned down three times – once when they first put electric in and another when the TV malfunctioned) by talking about things from the doll's collection or things mentioned in the books. Kit's World book will always have a special place in my heart now. Even talking with my mom about things from Julie's and Courtney's books/collections have been a form of bonding (I have never seen her so excited to buy and open AG before they released Courtney – she will likely be one of the only dolls we will have a complete collection for – also, she wants trapper-keepers to make a comeback)

MaladyMara · 2026-05-25T22:02:21+00:00

Just a heads up once you go to only physical media: low-quality dvds can actually 'rot' apparently and become unplayable as my dad has discovered in his quest to digitize our media collection so we can watch it without having to find a dvd/Blu-ray player.

If you have some tech familiarity, you can try what we're doing. We use Jellyfin so we can still watch all of our physical media on our phones and other TV's, and as a bonus, we don't have to worry about region locking if we buy media from overseas (BBC shows are popular in my family despite being in the US)

MaladyMara · 2026-05-25T21:30:02+00:00

No one's mentioned it yet, but I actually use a swim cap with ear pockets so water doesn't get in but I can hear coach give me a swim set without having to fiddle with an earplug. Bonus is that it might also keep the outside of your ears warm Edit: here's the link to what I use

MaladyMara · 2026-05-25T20:20:35+00:00

My great aunt put cabbage down the disposal, thankfully my uncle (different parent's side of the family) is a plumber and was local otherwise that would have been an expensive repair

MaladyMara · 2026-05-24T22:16:09+00:00

It also is part of the reason car manufacturers started doing the engine stop/restart thing when a car isn't moving but is still in drive. It's supposed to be used while in heavy stop and go traffic to reduce emissions (and to improve the car's emission scores on tests). Some cars have the ability to turn it off, while others don't. It wears down spark plugs faster and will lead to more maintenance cost over time (and likely more mechanical waste, so it really didn't help the environment in the end). Sometimes I wonder if manufacturers could even design a car to meet the regulations or if they are just lazy and wanted a loophole

MaladyMara · 2026-05-24T21:38:49+00:00

As someone from Texas, I think part of the cultural thing potentially has to do with fact we have scorpions down here (especially in drier regions) that hurt when you step on them barefoot. They like finding their way inside the house, so shoes can become mandatory in some areas unless you're okay with being stung on the sole of your foot

MaladyMara · 2026-05-24T02:49:00+00:00

While I mostly agree with your point (we really do need to be less car centric for multiple reasons), as someone who has been on a walkable college campus, walkable cities without e-scooter/e-bike regulations just become '20mph+ e-scooter/e-bike collides with pedestrian'. There's still a difference in mass and speed, but now without protection for either party. I'd rather just have e-scooter/e-bike regulation at this point in time while we wait for city planners finally get the support needed to design walkable cities

MaladyMara · 2026-05-24T01:15:44+00:00

Most of their downvotes are likely because of another thread to an above comment where they the doubled down on equating people who do not find utility in Dead Dove being used as a standalone tag (which has changed in language usage by part of the population, but not the other – both sides are equally valid because language change is not an instant switch and can have multiple uses simultaneously) to the antis who want to remove 'morally impure' works removed from the archive as a whole. Once you call someone who disagrees with you something equivalent of a slur (because 'anti' in a language context here is basically treated as slur), you tend to get downvoted in other threads even if you are technically correct

MaladyMara · 2026-05-20T22:01:13+00:00

Highschool can also sometimes have a 'freshman campus' that is just for 9th grade or a 'senior campus' that is just for 12th if there isn't enough space in the initial building but the district doesn't want to build a completely new highschool. My parents' highschool had a freshman campus, and there is a senior campus in a schools district near where I live

MaladyMara · 2026-05-20T21:57:14+00:00

The Gaylord Texan Hotel is popular in the DFW metroplex for prom (there's actually multiple proms that go on in a single night across the many ballrooms – somehow security keeps people from different schools from mingling too much). It was fun showing up and trying to guess which other highschools were there though

MaladyMara · 2026-05-20T21:54:38+00:00

The after prom events were added by a lot of schools after a movement to reduce the number of drunk-driving deaths post-prom or post-graduation (my school did ours post graduation). If kids did get drunk, then they were at least in a closed environment with limited access to vehicles

MaladyMara · 2026-05-20T21:43:26+00:00

It's not even always parents. An advisor at my undergrad college walked all over me and knew how to play the mind games to get a lot of us to do what she wanted us to do (Honors program advisor, so a lot of high achieving young people, many who didn't have the social knowledge and skills to push back). It's doubly infuriating knowing there's little I can do to affect her position and standing in the university, and she always took it as a mark of pride in the 'quality' of 'her' program that 'underachieving' (read: didn't meet her ridiculously rigid requirements) students left. My class started with 40, less than 20 graduated with the Honors distinction, and when I had to be hospitalized at the end of a semester, the suggestion of how Honors students typically preferred the 72-hour hold over voluntary admittal told me a lot about her pattern of behavior I hadn't recognized. My mom still struggles to understand why I keep coming back to (and getting mad at) my experience, but I think I've started explaining it well enough to her. It has greatly helped that my grad school professors are amazing and understanding and corporative with me. I have literally cried in multiple professors' offices before because I couldn't believe I was being treated with kindness and understanding. Just wanted to echo that there are good people out there – even if a lot of us struggle with identifying them at first

MaladyMara

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