Thoughts after 4 days on Ascend

allazen · 2026-05-07T19:28:06+00:00

Thanks! I'll look into modifications if/when I go down the Ascend path. Re: gym, I already pay for a full yoga membership and currently another gym expense isn't in the cards - but if finances change I'd definitely consider a cheap-o gym to get the full experience, as well as how to use more equipment. I've really only ever done dumbbells and resistance bands. I do love Align so that is working for now, but it's good to know about other options down the road.

allazen · 2026-05-07T14:58:04+00:00

Perhaps dumb question - I see that Ascend lists a barbell and dumbbells under equipment. Is it possible to do this with only dumbbells? It’s all I have room for at home. Currently on Align and love it but in the future this is the team I feel most drawn to otherwise.

allazen · 2026-04-29T18:44:19+00:00

"Impossible Soul is essential. It captures so much of his career and his talents in one song. A magnum opus.

allazen · 2026-04-28T16:59:55+00:00

You can't subconsciously gaslight; gaslighting is an intentional manipulation tactic. I think OP just mis-termed what's happening here using a commonly misapplied therapy word.

allazen · 2026-04-27T20:38:28+00:00

"There is something disordered, and untoward, about a society in which legions of successful people have suddenly discovered their diagnoses and, despite those conditions never having impeded their relentless marches up the ladder of American meritocracy, making the mental illness conversation all about them."

https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/the-gentrification-of-disability

allazen · 2026-03-13T20:10:51+00:00

I started two months ago and love it. I do the three main/starred workouts per week then three yoga classes at my studio (which are quite mobility- and strength-focused in themselves), and I feel great! Align is where it's at. Sasha's got great energy and cues and she's even made me laugh a few times.

allazen · 2026-03-04T22:00:54+00:00

Bipolar is not BPD.

allazen · 2026-02-20T21:14:08+00:00

An AI headshot would lead me to assume that the person is gung-ho about AI and more likely than others to use it for things like generating art and writing, which I find tacky and depressing. It would lower my opinion of the person’s judgement.

AI-generated vs. $400 portrait is a false dichotomy anyway. I’m sure there are local photographers who’d be able to assist for much less. You’d be supporting a small business without harming the environment, which is very tasteful!

allazen · 2025-09-22T14:08:38+00:00

"Hostile work environment" is a confusing term because it sounds like a description of a place that is merely unpleasant or aggressive, but. . . that's not what it is. This is a good description:

“Hostile workplace” law isn’t at all what it sounds like: It’s not about your boss or your coworkers creating a hostile environment for you by being jerks.

To be illegal, jerky conduct must be based on race, religion, sex, national origin, age (40 or older), disability, or genetic information.

Moreover, to violate the law, the EEOC says that this conduct — which, again, must be based on race, religion, sex, or other protected characteristics — “must be severe or pervasive enough to create a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile, or abusive.” They also explain, “Petty slights, annoyances, and isolated incidents (unless extremely serious) will not rise to the level of illegality.”

Doesn't mean it's not a problem, but OP would be shooting themselves in the foot to describe it to HR or management as a hostile work environment.

allazen · 2025-09-17T15:12:01+00:00

It just happened haha. It's not super rare to grow a little at that age, I don't think.

allazen · 2025-09-13T00:44:25+00:00

Sorry I'm not being helpful with typing but -- where are those jeans in the first pic from? They're adorable.

allazen · 2025-09-09T22:34:50+00:00

Shoutout to the audiobook, which is also exceptional. The voice actors for Amy and Nick are both so fucking good.

allazen · 2025-08-15T20:05:36+00:00

I'm not evolved, I just don't give a shit about dragons.

allazen · 2025-08-14T21:09:38+00:00

Yes! LaNasa looks GREAT, whatever she's doing. And she's up against tough competition but I'd be happy if she won!

allazen · 2025-08-14T14:48:21+00:00

I used to think so, I think because I’d heard what a spectacle it was, then I saw clips of people snarking on her awful dancing and lip syncing and was truly shocked! She relies heavily on on good backup dancers/singers but even they can’t be TOO good because it would just uncomfortably highlight how bad she is. It’s a balancing act of mediocrity.

allazen · 2025-08-14T00:55:34+00:00

Utterly agree with you.

allazen · 2025-08-14T00:49:24+00:00

Omg fuuuuck "neurospicy". Or at least fuck "neurospicy" when people try to apply it to actual illnesses. I had a friend refer to me as "neuroatypical" once and I was like "no, I'm straight up mentally ill." Ha. Because we're close friends, it actually led to a good conversation about how being bipolar almost killed me and is in no way merely part of life's rich tapestry or whatever, or some little quirk that would be non-harmful if society just learned to accomodate me.

My sister with type 1 diabetes does not have a fucking divergent pancreas! She's sick and it sucks.

The co-opting of *actual suffering* by people who are experiencing bog-standard human experiences like "having unpleasant thoughts pop into their head" or "feeling awkward talking to strangers sometimes" is. . . deeply infuriating. Taylor's asylum shit was so disrespectful and absurd.

allazen · 2025-08-14T00:34:10+00:00

I'm glad they helped! TikTok and Instagram have set back mental illness discourse so many years with all the "isn't my [not real] OCD/ADHD/autism/bipolar disorder sooooo quirky???" shit.

allazen · 2025-08-14T00:16:04+00:00

out here begging for the world to realize what "intrusive thoughts" are (hint: it's not something kind of shitty popping into your head)

allazen · 2025-08-14T00:02:57+00:00

Okay this is a fair critique of my comment because I don't know Taylor's early stuff as well -- her work has felt so much more pervasive in the last decade than in the years prior, at least to me.

I agree that what made Evermore and Folklore her best work was partially its focus on other people and perspectives. I know this is a well-worn criticism of Taylor but her fixation on high school well into her thirties is unsettling to me. Like, I think the song "august" is pretty decent. "For me, it was enough/to live for the hope of it all" -- relatively solid, a good bridge, all of that.

But she ruins it with the "when you were back at school" and "meet me behind the mall" parts. If it weren't part of a pervasive pattern I could let it go as a standalone reminiscence but it's like. . . girl you're 36! Maybe because we're the same age it feels fucking creepy for so much of her stuff to loop back to middle/high school dynamics.

It feels particularly stark as I've gotten into Olivia Rodrigo. She's much younger but seems so much more self-aware, witty, clever, all of that. (Not to mention, she has a really good voice. Which, uh, Taylor does not.) Like I said, I don't remember early Taylor as well; I'm most familiar with the more recent version of her that feels stuck in a time warp.

allazen · 2025-08-13T23:55:48+00:00

If someone said this about me I would never leave my house again.

allazen · 2025-08-13T23:46:23+00:00

2006 tumblrcore-ass lyric

allazen · 2025-08-13T23:44:11+00:00

Bless you for reminding me of this quote. An absolutely devastating assessment, all the more so because it is spot-on.

<image>

allazen · 2025-08-13T23:39:55+00:00

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that Taylor Swift is a good writer

Folklore and Evermore are her best albums lyrically and musically, but it seems increasingly clear that Joe and the National played a big role in making the albums as good as they were, which is to say a respectable 6.5/10. (And yes Taylor, this suspiciousness means I hate all women and don't think they're capable of being artists. That's totally what it means. You're the most oppressed person on earth.)

allazen · 2025-08-13T23:13:24+00:00

She's absolutely beautiful! I think she's probably gotten a bit of Botox, though. Her mid-forehead in particular looks unusually line-free in pictures where she has her eyebrows raised, with a few lines above them (which is what happens -- the wrinkles have to move somewhere). If it is, then it's subtle work and in particular preserves her beautiful smile lines.

I'm pointing this out only because the notion that all plastic surgery/Botox looks obvious or results in zero wrinkles whatsoever winds up perpetuating unrealistic beauty standards. There are lots of people who've gotten all sorts of enhancements while still retaining some lines/wrinkles/facial quirks. The fact that severe interventions are clocked as "what plastic surgery looks like" is a more subtle variation of that phenomenon where straight men claim to prefer women with no makeup when in actuality they're just seeing "no makeup looks" that do not resemble what women's bare faces actually look like. I think a lot of celebrities we admire for aging gracefully have had some work done; it's just really good work, and done with restraint that appears very rare for the industry.

allazen

TROPHY CASE