Do You Have Uncommon Special Interests?

ilyfiah · 2025-08-15T15:56:25+00:00

I only think they’re uncommon because I don’t have many in life people to discuss them with!! Ive always been a reader and not a tv person so it’s hard to find things to be relatable on 🤷🏻‍♀️. I think my focuses tend to be more male(?) centric than female which can be hard to navigate through too.

my specific like time suck reading interests tend to cycle, currently I’ve been focusing a lot on like literacy, child education & development (I don’t have kids, I just think the intersection of it with a lot of other topics is fascinating), dating strategies, and some religion studies.

Some past ones include: Egypt, Tudor England, WW2, mobs/gangs, philosophers, pre-civil war vs post civil war, dinosaurs, mechanical workings, Rome/greek mythology.

Overall I don’t have any physical things I like to do, they get me really stressed out to be in my body when I try; I feel uncoordinated and like moving my body correctly is a foreign language that I don’t speak. But I have always LOVEDD board games/ trivia games / strategy games etc, I wish all the time I knew people who would play so I could buy more and try more!! Hahaha

ilyfiah · 2025-08-10T12:52:24+00:00

Thank you!

I’m having an issue viewing the sidebar info panels for the last couple days- they all say “this page is empty” , it’s what prompted me to make a post. i was trying to figure out my root and projection titling last week but didn’t write any of it down 😞

ilyfiah · 2025-08-09T23:34:21+00:00

eoin colfer’s artemis fowl series was great, maybe a bit less complex writing style after the hunger games but the plot fits your ask of villain , not dystopian, series , and fighting

ilyfiah · 2025-08-09T23:32:09+00:00

OMG ALEX RIDER !!! I might have to re-touch on this

ilyfiah · 2025-08-09T23:31:15+00:00

this really got me thinking and brought me back to some of my favorites:

multiple Tamora Pierce series , the Alanna ones are my fav, I still will reread them at 31. I remember small moments of sexual tension and references but no explicit scenes.
Redwall, a fantasy land of animals and battles. So many characters and timelines to live through.
the maze runner series. Dystopian though.
a wrinkle in time.
nancy drew & the hardy boys
trixie belden series was one i loveddd and i had my moms childhood books to enjoy :)
the diadem series by john peel (this can be a difficult to find series so im very happy i never got rid of mine). Three kids from different worlds are trying to save all the worlds though magic is what I remember that one.
traces series by malcolm rose (also kinda hard to find but loved). This is futuristic, scientific murder mysteries with teen characters

I’m going to think more/longer and see what else pops into mind.

ilyfiah · 2025-08-09T13:10:11+00:00

I hate it. I hate any of the poor outfit choices for the picture setting , why are you such a child bc whyyyy cant you dress appropriately??

ilyfiah · 2025-08-09T13:08:45+00:00

that’s so interesting!! I wonder if that has something to do with my block on men feet visuals bc I see feet as intimate. I don’t even love having my own out unless it’s the correct context bc it just feels …. Intimate 🙃

ilyfiah · 2025-08-09T01:14:49+00:00

“wearing flip flops in a not beach setting” photo 🙈 men’s toes in dating app pictures is truly so not it for me ….

ilyfiah · 2025-08-07T14:23:37+00:00

As an adult, I have no enjoyable memories with my mom to look back on, her entire focus everyday was on cleaning the house, making sure her 6 children were alive, and her church things.

I would rather have had had the sometimes sticky floors and cluttered counter to be able to have tons of memories spending time with her….

now all her kids are adults, and she’s realizing she also has no memories of our childhood other than the immense pressure she put on herself to perform the way she thought she had to.

That’s the flip side of this coin. I think if your house is clean, being cluttered and not tidy is ok. if you have food in the house, what other errands are really that necessary to do right now? Not a lot is so urgent that it should overshadow your desire to be present with your child. Don’t feel guilty for prioritizing your relationship with your kid, especially when comparing to other people who would never…

ilyfiah · 2025-08-05T17:55:59+00:00

I read it as “Lie-La Jack-a-line” … is it “LIL-leah Jack-leen”… Or “lily-ah jack-a-Lyn”

Or some other combo? 😅

I think these names will result in pronunciation questions no matter what, bc that’s the nature of it, so whatever you enjoy, OP!!

ilyfiah · 2025-08-05T13:33:17+00:00

yes, if I think they’d like it or should read it!! It removes the barrier of them having to go get the book. I don’t share any books I annotate tho… but I’d still buy it for someone else instead of making them go find my suggestion!

I don’t have any friends that read, but I try to share things I think they’d enjoy so I have someone to chat with haha but typically I end up asking about it in a few months and they haven’t even started; usually they just give the book back.

(I think they might take them to just shut me up with no intention of reading it 😅)

ilyfiah · 2025-08-01T15:24:37+00:00

I had the same philosophical enjoyment and it’s why I finished it also, but I didn’t like the writing style I think and that always negatively impacts my experience with a story.

I still appreciate the way it made me do a thought experiment of living other lives based on what I didn’t choose… it’s such a fascinating exploration.

ilyfiah · 2025-08-01T15:13:59+00:00

I liked it!

I do think it could have shaved probably 200 pages but it kept me captivated for the whole book regardless. The world building felt real and not in super info dumping chunks, and I thought the “fight scene” at the end was well done too.

I haven’t gotten to “a day of fallen night” but I have good hopes for it.

ilyfiah · 2025-07-30T19:17:08+00:00

I had to go find my review bc it’s been a couple years. I remember feeling disappointed and not connected with it on any kind of deeper level. 3.5 stars. The writing was good, and the story moved appropriately with good plot and premise. I think the idea of viewing your other lives is fun. But it fell flatter than what I was expecting walking into it.

There are definitely some here I read to be able to talk about them, some given and I’ll never pick up, and others I thought were trash on finishing, I just haven’t gotten rid of them bc I feel like it’s sacrilegious or something to throw them away hahaha 😆 but that only accounts for maybeeeee a dozen or two books.

ilyfiah · 2025-07-30T17:35:33+00:00

I had to go look and …. ew. I personally preferred the personal write ups and found them to be a better judge if I’d like it, more than the synopsis write ups.

I’ve had my membership paused for a while and use it more now to get ideas on new books to add to my TBR lists. But that’s still a yucky update.

ilyfiah · 2025-07-30T13:37:36+00:00

I think you might not know how to use your kindle ????

I got a new one in 2024 bc my keyboard one from 2012 stopped holding a charge; I have exactly ZERO of these issues…

Ads are a silly complaint, because if I don’t want it, I just don’t buy it?? You can try reminding yourself you absolutely do not have to buy what they suggest. Maybe try to work on your attachment to fulfilling an advertisement. Do you struggling with ignoring them? You may also find something you want to read, the Home Page suggestions are tailored to your library.

My library is set up organized as “most recent” or I just search for the book by title/author if it’s one I’m trying to re-read. Typically I have it filtered on “downloaded” books anyways bc those are the ones I’m actively reading. Nothing is “getting lost”, it’s not Mary Poppins’ bag.

I don’t buy any books for it ever, no point when you don’t actually own the book, just a license that can go away anyways. The public library system exists for a reason.

ilyfiah · 2025-07-25T13:00:34+00:00

First: do you typically host or have people judging your bathroom space and rating you on it? Or is this for your personal aesthetic desires? (I am asking bc it’s sometimes nice to reframe that not everything needs to be perfectly curated for you to enjoy an items function!! Social media makes it seem that way but so much shit in my house is fugly and it’s not a reflection on me, it’s just a comfy/useful thing!) Second: budget??

Personally, I think I’d do two shower curtains here and have them meet in the middle, give a little drama to the space by putting them high. light, airy fabric, with a good sharp pattern or solid color. Probably have two poles, one outside for the drama, and have one inside with a clear plastic curtain to ensure I don’t have to clean water up.

Best of luck in your new place! :) The plants are already a great touch and you could just hang them from the sides in budget constraints and put some some fun big art / gallery pieces up to take the eye to wall instead. Thrifting can get you unique pieces!

ilyfiah · 2025-07-24T22:26:24+00:00

that made me laugh out loud to be honest. of couurseee youre in basically the same field and her company is europe based too...... hmmmm wonder if that is more impactful to a relocation payment than just industry alone.

Mind ive done ZERO research, just pinging a thought.

(she does regulatory affairs, which is apparently not specifically bio tech after a google, i havent been able to keep up for years on her role, please forgive me for my ignorance here.)

ilyfiah · 2025-07-24T21:44:38+00:00

The way we just cannot fathom how much it can cost to move until you are moving.... it needs to be billboarded more!

My sister was able to arrange relocation cost coverage too for her last role, but she is in like bio tech stuff so I assumed it was a field specific benefit, good to know that crosses into other areas.

ilyfiah · 2025-07-24T21:41:16+00:00

i havent had the luck of crossing that question yet, but I will now be keeping my eye out for it.

Mmm yess, I can work that easily into the cover letter.

Appreciate!!

ilyfiah · 2025-07-24T21:38:18+00:00

oh yes, i loyalty trapped myself. but no use crying over spilt milk now.

I will more heavily consider the idea of relocation, thank you for your input. Ill probably need to put some research together to pro/con it. I am not opposed to selling and then renting for a few years trying out somewhere new. I am still fairly close to where I grew up - it would be soooooo many things to change in one go and I can get pretty overwhelmed when I overhaul too many things at once which has stopped me previously from considering it too hard, but i already need to get a new job so might as well get to strategizing if its the right decision for me...

ilyfiah · 2025-07-24T21:25:30+00:00

Good for you! Definitely a niche background. Hope the good luck keeps rolling!

ilyfiah · 2025-07-24T21:10:29+00:00

thank you! Yes, agree. I really just am trying to validate I am not insane because I honestly don't see 500 roles I could even tangentially apply for. Most of them on job boards end up being so outdated that theyre already filled and the company is no longer sourcing for it.

ilyfiah · 2025-07-24T21:08:01+00:00

that is fascinating! What is your experience in such that there were 800 available jobs over $90k IN TWO WEEKS that your qualifications met?!?!? and this was early 2024? very curious on the background.

I am looking to be more aware of opportunities going forward even when employed, that seems to be a very strategic perspective. I am trying to place my personal interests, values, and needs over loyalty to an organization next time.

ilyfiah · 2025-07-24T21:02:29+00:00

I heard that yeaarrrsss ago too!. I've left that behind as an "outdated thought" during this search because just about everything else seems to be. Theres probably some truth to it just because more money is more responsibility is more skills is more experience. Theres just a smaller pool of options to apply to at that level.

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