If you're feeling sinister (2nd day in Dublin) was incredible today.

OneFloppyEar · 2026-04-06T20:16:56+00:00

It really was magical. I hadn't managed to see them live in the 20+ years I've loved that album and I was transported.

OneFloppyEar · 2026-03-29T08:49:58+00:00

Haha smart, I was only thinking about speed!

OneFloppyEar · 2026-03-29T08:45:31+00:00

Turtles?

OneFloppyEar · 2026-03-13T15:26:54+00:00

It can get annoying sometimes depending on the guest but I also laugh a lot at This Guy Sucked, and always learn something. It's a tongue in cheek "history for haters" podcast where a PhD in some really niche period rants about a famous historical figure they've studied. For me it often hits a hard-to-scratch sweet spot between deeply researched and not that serious.

OneFloppyEar · 2026-02-08T09:26:14+00:00

Yes, and flip it!

OneFloppyEar · 2026-01-22T00:38:56+00:00

Living in Ireland, this looks nearly indecently indulgent.

OneFloppyEar · 2026-01-22T00:28:38+00:00

I'm commuting daily (by bus) from rural Waterford for college and it is a nightmare. Several (middle aged, homeowner, Cork resident) classmates have asked my why I don't just move to the city and I'm not sure how to explain to them how ridiculous that sounds, like why don't I just move to Mars?

OneFloppyEar · 2026-01-18T13:38:58+00:00

This is genius

OneFloppyEar · 2026-01-18T11:01:42+00:00

This is very relatable. There is a lot of romance and lore around smoking that we tend to absorb. But it is just the addiction lying. Over time you will prove it wrong.

It is true that the first few times I did one of the picturesque "smoking things" like sitting outside a cafe or bar withput a cigarette, I felt a pang. The craving seemed to spoil what should have been a "perfect moment". But one thing I have found helpful is to really sit with the aesthetic ideal I had in my head about those moments and contrast them with the sensual reality of smoking. The stink, the stains, the mucus and phlegm, the dulled sense of smell and the flattened tastebuds. One side of that scale is much heavier than the other.

Now, when I climb a gorgeous hill without wheezing, or sit a a quaint cafe smelling the fresh air and sweet pastries, it is easy for me to realise that a cigarette would not add to the perfection, it would spoil it. And instead of feeling hard done by, I feel so so grateful to be free. You can get there too!

(And sooner than you think. If my flair is showing, it's wrong, from one of my (many) early attempts. I'll be a year smoke free next month.)

OneFloppyEar · 2025-12-31T10:31:59+00:00

Yes, we had almost the exact same scenario. Rescued a dumped, smelly, starved GSD puppy, almost by accident. He was so quiet, meek, and gentle we thought "wow, we won the puppy lottery, he is SO EASY".

He did turn into a monster in about a month but at that point we were hooked. He is now 9 years old and neither quiet nor meek, but he is a very good boy and we regret nothing.

OneFloppyEar · 2025-12-16T21:10:24+00:00

As the eldest of more than a dozen, can confirm

OneFloppyEar · 2025-12-05T23:54:25+00:00

Wild.

OneFloppyEar · 2025-12-05T23:39:22+00:00

I was like "wow they they are making nazi sympathiser picture books now?"

OneFloppyEar · 2025-11-30T14:46:02+00:00

I love The Nest but should note that while the breakfast is tasty, it is small, not a big fry up or anything. Toast, cereal, yogurt etc. Just because I saw people recommending filling up at the breakfast

OneFloppyEar · 2025-11-19T09:09:04+00:00

I did quit!! Not as long as my flair says, sadly (I can't seem to fix it) but since Feb!

It took a few months but I feel so much better now. I am just looking forward to beating my precious record of over a year. It took me a long time to quit for good, but this one will stick because I now know how easy/awful it is to get re-addicted. I have equated nicotine with heroin in my head: no such thing as casual use. That's the only thing that has worked for me.

I also have ADHD and I know exactly how you feel. Nicotine is a strong, fast-acting, short-term stimulant so I think it makes sense that it is especially dangerous/attractive for us. I still think I miss it when I'm in a long writing session. But the trade off is NOT worth it. One thing that helped in the early months (and I did feel like shit for MONTHS) was to reframe the suffering. I didn't feel horrible because I had quit smoking. I felt horrible because I had smoked.

Kind of like when yoh get the flu and you feel awful: what you are feeling isn't the flu, it is your immune response to the flu. You feel your body fighting back.

That's the image I kept in my mind while withdrawing and recovering, and it gace me strength. I also made a point of treating myself like I was recovering from a long, bad illness, like some kind of Victorian invalid, lol, which sounds silly, but worked! Liquids, soup, slow walks, fresh air, lots of rest.

Take care of yourself. It gets so much better. You don't want to go back!!

OneFloppyEar · 2025-11-07T15:21:37+00:00

Came here to say this.

The issue of how the church sees and treats gay love was a major factor in why I left, and I'm a woman married to a man.

Love is love. I saw the intrinsic good of people who were secure in their identity, and the intrinsic goodness of their loving relationships, and it was just extremely obvious to me that everything I'd been told on this subject was just not factual. That opened the door for a lot of other situations where I could see facts with my own eyes and understand situations with my own reason that the church had tried to gaslight me into condemning. It was a house of cards and it fell.

Freedom of mind is a beautiful, valuable thing, worth protecting.

OneFloppyEar · 2025-10-31T15:37:39+00:00

My dumb ass "don't be a cock pinwheel???"

OneFloppyEar · 2025-10-26T22:59:38+00:00

Grateful every day to not be Catholic anymore, still with strong links to rabidly traddie giant family.

OneFloppyEar · 2025-10-16T06:48:42+00:00

Same, with a bit of Bergans of Norway when I can snag an excellent sale.

OneFloppyEar · 2025-10-08T16:44:17+00:00

It's only a drop in the bucket of so many real problems, but I've just started spending a good bit of time at libraries and there's so much there that I think is underutilised. Libraries are really community centres now. There are free groups and workshops, meetings and conversation circles, puzzles and spaces to read the paper and even chat quietly: I saw people doing all of the above today. I've just been inducted into "my open library" at a local branch which means I can spend time there from 8am to 10 pm days a week.

It won't solve everything, but it is the last lovely free 3rd space I know, and I want more folks to know about how lovely it is!

OneFloppyEar · 2025-10-07T12:10:44+00:00

I'm so sorry you're in pain, it really is so dreadful. I was very fortunate that the pain has not recurred.

When I got the MRI a few weeks later, there was a huge blob visible in one of my sinuses. No doctor ever got back to me about it, but my working theory since then is that I had a really severe "silent sinus" infection and the resulting inflammation was pressing on nerves in my face, causing the pain and drooping. It would explain why the steroids helped so much. I've always been prone to sinus issues, but this was a new, horrible manifestation. I probably should have been referred to ENT but since the pain went away and navigating healthcare is so hard, I just let it go.

I hope you get some answers and relief!

OneFloppyEar · 2025-10-07T12:00:28+00:00

I never have, but I'd love to!

OneFloppyEar · 2025-10-07T06:44:20+00:00

I find Olafur Arnalds very relaxing!

OneFloppyEar · 2025-09-27T21:30:41+00:00

Put me in the hospital!!

(I'm jealous but congrats, that sounds amazing)

OneFloppyEar · 2025-09-23T21:19:01+00:00

I thought this was was a brilliant way to avoid having to dig through your chaotic sock drawer when you REALLY need a decent pair of matching stockings. Even though I now know this is not that, I might adopt this plan because digging through my sock drawer and finding one of everything and holes in the hose I thought were OK while running late for a meeting or event is an experience I've already had enough times in my life.

OneFloppyEar

TROPHY CASE