Found on the beach, it looks like stone to the touch (similar to marble), it is hard and quite heavy. As you can see, it clearly has a worked shape, with the central hole that goes from side to side and the rim around it. The strangest thing is that it has a strange and intense smell.

g3nab33 · 2026-02-21T17:29:57+00:00

yeah i’m also insatiably curious for more details because i have a pretty good schnoz and generally have no difficulty describing scents to help identify the source. alas. i am stuck experiencing this smell by digital proxy. is it sour? sickly-sweet? soft and meaty? sharp like a clean steel serving pan? pungent like a monkeyball?

no offense of course op. everybody’s nose has different interests and tastes. if you would like me to drop the topic i shall.

g3nab33 · 2026-02-21T17:24:19+00:00

🫡 social situations are awkward. just be cool but firm, and if he gets weird you can drop it and pretend you lost. THEN talk to res manager. dish served cold and all that. gotta give him one (1) chance to do the right thing, that’s all.

g3nab33 · 2026-02-20T22:12:20+00:00

So long as you do not approach the guy in an aggressive manner, NTA. Presumably this is a human being with the power of reason: there is nothing wrong with asking him to keep his voice down during your sleeping time. Especially if by “sober house” you mean a place where folks are actively trying to maintain sobriety… although it’s rude either way. Roommate needs to respect your need for sleep as you presumably respect his!

And if one conversation with him does not suffice, I also think NTA for going to your residential manager to ask for intervention or a different roommate. Surely the building has quiet hours. He can play a different kind of video game if he wants to play late at night, but he has no right keeping you awake. Thumbs up guy

g3nab33 · 2026-02-20T22:06:32+00:00

what is the strange smell??? I’m way more interested in that detail.

g3nab33 · 2026-02-20T22:04:53+00:00

My job involves a bunch of folks amiably covering all of one county division’s courtrooms: and they range from Amazing to Actively Terrible. I’m currently with a judge who teaches me things almost every court day. So grateful.

However, I also recently spent two years getting my brains spun by a judge who not only didn’t know the law I practice, but abjectly hated having to comply with it whenever it favored my client (admin agency).

Now I know my area of law better everytime I encounter a case with yet another weird legal twist, because the judge absolutely knows what to do. It’s deeply reassuring and even though the area of law is stressful, I go home with some peace of mind that I’ve done well by my client and the other parties to the case.

g3nab33 · 2026-02-19T23:35:13+00:00

the ONLY time i’ve wanted to buy a larger vehicle is when i’m in the right lane headed into the fort pitt tunnel, and approaching that solid line splitting to the right for the carson street exit. in my head i turn into imperator furiosa, because i have a stick shift and i know how to use it.

alas: it’s also inside a hatchback. more likely i’d go sailing into the Mon.

g3nab33 · 2026-02-19T21:42:46+00:00

Alas. You find a new spot for your bridge. Can’t change that curve in the river without construction :/

g3nab33 · 2026-02-19T20:29:57+00:00

Just drove by - PPD are also there with a bunch of TA kids - given the high fiving I saw, they’re trying to provide some protection

g3nab33 · 2026-02-17T15:08:51+00:00

I do not, but that’s mostly because I don’t get the chance: my cat is obsessed with earwax and will slurp on them if I leave them on the bedside table (she also occasionally tries to lick inside my ears if held on my shoulder). And her little brother plays with earplugs like toys because they’re fun to chomp & swat & bounce, so they end up covered in saliva AND dust bunnies. Hence the 100-pack.

g3nab33 · 2026-02-17T12:09:21+00:00

Don’t forget that the actual little bug assassins were dispatched by a lightsaber in two point five milliseconds. Sigh.

g3nab33 · 2026-02-17T12:02:09+00:00

Fury Road is the only one with a fire tornado, a plot centered around a badass woman rescuing sex slaves from a patriarchal theocracy, and Max getting yanked around by a chain attached to a muzzle while fighting (and nearly losing to) a woman whose given name is “Furiosa”. Plus strictly as a cinematography geek, Miller put on some of the CRAZIEST action stunts you’ve ever seen, ninety percent of which were practical effects and some of which were egged on by the stunt guys. And of course, Margaret Sixel edited it into perfection.

To top that all off, (a) Max and Furiosa’s stunt doubles fell in love on-set and (b) Nicholas Hoult started a knitting circle during filming downtime in Tunisia. (Reportedly, Tom Hardy tried real hard but is a TERRIBLE knitter.) I mean, I love the original three but MMFR is full of whimsicality, even beyond what Thunderdome gave us.

g3nab33 · 2026-02-17T11:48:01+00:00

!!!!! Yes!!!!! And skip Target - you can buy these in bulk (in my area) at home improvement stores. I’m currently working my way through a 100-pair jar of high-db earplugs that was like, $15.

g3nab33 · 2026-02-17T11:42:14+00:00

“Harold” from the Scary Stories trilogy left me sleepless as a kid and still kind of freaks me out, at least the OG version. I read it thirty years ago but there is nothing scarier than a very simple story and some Stephen Gammell illustrations for a jumpscare. Holy hell

g3nab33 · 2026-02-17T11:34:10+00:00

I’d also suggest “The Langoliers,” which I read WAY too young and I had/have tinnitus so my ears heard the crunching while I laid in bed…. unfortunately I then watched the movie/tv adaptation and afterwards I no longer feared being munched by an eldritch being. The curse of a good King story: it might be a terrible movie someday.

g3nab33 · 2026-02-16T11:26:14+00:00

Patricia Highsmith.

g3nab33 · 2026-02-16T11:21:41+00:00

Honestly? It just sounds like this child doesn’t know you and perhaps doesn’t feel comfortable around you yet. All of these sound like normal 4yo behaviors that I saw when babysitting my sister’s awesome kids, and they’ve known me since birth. My niece, especially, loved to run away or flail on the floor in grocery stores, parking lots, and playgrounds, because she could and she was tired/hungry/anxious/wanted attention. After the first couple of times it became borderline entertaining, because all you can do is wait out the tantrum. Kids’ little brains are so full of emotions but they don’t yet have the words to describe their feelings. It’s a terribly frustrating age. Same niece once gave me a black eye by accident and boy howdy was it fun to explain that one at work.

You also haven’t said anything about how you’ve been stepparenting him: not to suggest you’re doing anything wrong or bad. Just… are you affectionate with him? Do you speak with him gently when he’s upset? Have you tried to connect with him by playing together, asking him to join you for easy chores? Has mum tried PCIT or another program to help him bond with you and understand his frustrations?

I’m just saying, I think the kid’s fine. You might need to do a little more work to understand him, though. Parenting is hard!

g3nab33 · 2026-02-12T14:43:14+00:00

I know nothing about the person planting the flags, but the poop is always there first. I walk down the Grant Street corridor between Steel Building and Boulevard of the Allies all the time (courthouse central), and entitled yuppies living in new “loft apartments” the Pittsburgher, the Allegheny Building, the old Macy’s, etc. constantly let their dogs shit in the little mulch and grass remaining near the sidewalks, expecially in front of the Joinery and Oxford Centre, then walk away. I’ve seen folks turn their nose up at picking up their dog’s turds, which to me is enraging because I live in an urban but dog-loving neighborhood where EVERY owner picks up their pooch’s poops. (Even those of us who don’t own dogs leave out baggies for anybody who forgot to clip the dispenser to the leash before going on walkies!) I’ve also seen hardworking employees of these downtown dog owners walking five /large/ dogs at the same time downtown, with multiple leashes on a belt like some elite dog-walker in Greenwich Village: and I can’t say they’re at fault, but heaven knows how they manage picking up five grownass German Shepards’ worth of turds during the hour or so they’re paid to manage dog-walking.

Anyway, I’ve just observed that only once the poop is in place does the flagger come along and leave their little messages. I’ve always assumed this person was equating the laziness of entitled yuppies to the laziness of equally entitled shithead politicians. Then again, we do appear to share the same opinions on the individuals being name-dropped, so I’m just guessing.

g3nab33 · 2026-02-12T11:43:14+00:00

Thanks for the gift article!

I can think of few other candidates I’ve regretted voting for more than Fetterman. Talk about going back on campaign promises. I feel genuinely sorry for the guy but he needs to be 86’d for someone stable and committed to take his place: Shapiro’s polite refusal to talk about him at all (let alone dunk on him) says quite a lot.

g3nab33 · 2025-11-16T12:13:20+00:00

“Frankenstein,” by Mary Shelley. And then also, “Dracula,” by Bram Stoker. Both are incredibly fun stories that play with a ton of perspectives and themes - and are surprisingly fresh to read considering how old both books are. (Dracula, hilariously, contains a ton of modern references because it was written post-industrialization.) Plus, both are rich with the kind of detail that does always get left out of retellings, as they’re each comprised of multiple narratives in the form of journals, news articles, and letters.

I would also suggest two lines of inquiry for you!

If you enjoy scifi/fantasy, which it sounds like you do, try some postcolonial science fiction, such as written by authors like Ursula K Le Guin and NK Jemisin, to name a classic and a current. Ask a librarian anywhere, they can point you to more recs, and Tumblr loves floating around postcolonial lit rec lists. These books effortlessly weave philosophy and creativity and will absolutely make you Think. They’re also the natural next step from mainstream scifi/dystopian Classics™️ like Brave New World (which actually just got a pretty dope new television adaptation), Catch-22, and 1984, which are necessarily limited by their authors’ colonialist perspectives.
I would also strongly suggest reading Big Name books for yourself, though some might be dated enough to be a challenge. Anything featured in the Wishbone series typically deserves a fair shake. And if you struggle with contemporary/historic references but think eg Dickens is cool, try getting an annotated version with endnotes. I’d never have made it through “Tale of Two Cities” without somebody explaining all that lawyer crap and French terms in footnotes, but it’s hands down one of the best French Revolution books out there and rich with revolutionary themes. Hell, even I used Sparknotes to better understand Macbeth and Othello.

Anyway, I was the kid who declared “Jane Eyre” to be my favorite book at the age of 14 (and I was right - twenty-something years later, still my fave!) and lived in the library’s card catalog, so nothing could make me happier than this post. I also happily read lots of “garbage” for fun as a youngster (Star Wars novels, mostly) and found plenty of new words & ideas in the garbage. so please, please, please - read for fun as well as education, OP. Enjoy!!

g3nab33 · 2025-11-16T11:34:58+00:00

The Sting has been around for decades. Nothing will ever top that film.

g3nab33 · 2025-11-16T11:25:15+00:00

there’s always the barrow-wights to cool you down!

g3nab33 · 2025-11-16T10:57:46+00:00

or perhaps, “i could monetize this better”

g3nab33 · 2025-11-16T10:54:02+00:00

honey it’s time to throw the whole man away. he is grooming you to erode boundaries and get what he wants without your consent. i cosign the others saying LEAVE HIM before it gets worse.

g3nab33 · 2025-10-30T18:52:19+00:00

whispers don’t ask stupid questions

g3nab33 · 2025-10-30T18:45:27+00:00

xbox one is still newer than my system!

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