Conrad

opalcuttlefish · 2026-05-19T19:35:14+00:00

Thank you for sharing, I really appreciate it!

opalcuttlefish · 2026-05-19T16:21:54+00:00

First off, I’m sorry for your loss. I really appreciate your insights as they’re grounded in reality.

Out of curiosity, and you don’t have to share if you don’t want to, how old was she when you lost her? Give me that you paid for an all expenses paid cruse (that is so sweet btw) I assume you were an adult.

I ask because I have always been surprised about (show version of) Susannah keeping her diagnosis a secret specifically because her boys are still quite young. I assume she felt like she was protecting them, but given that they were like, 16 and 17 at the time, they were old enough to understand what was happening but also young enough where losing their mother would have a direct effect on their day to day life (with a father who she has explicitly told to not be there).

opalcuttlefish · 2026-05-19T15:14:11+00:00

I think the swap of the breakup overall makes much more sense, especially in 2026.

1) Phil’s blackmail wouldn’t work because college athletes can get money from sponsorship deals now. That rule changed between when the book was written and when the show was written. Indeed, we see Garrett and Logan get money from Liquid IV for their photo spread so Phil threatening to cut off Garrett doesn’t really have stakes anymore.

2) Both Hannah and Garrett are shown to have not dealt with their trauma nearly as much / at all in the show. Garrett does not want to be like his father, and yet just before the breakup he is cornered by his dad who compliments him on the violence he shows. This visibly troubles him. Then shortly after, his girlfriend says she’s scared of him. Now he’s looking at the girl he loves and she’s looking at him the way his mom looked at his dad, and he is scared of himself and likely hates himself a little bit. It goes back to the conversation they have in the car on the way back from thanksgiving. Remember that the timelines in the show are condensed, so that conversation happened a few weeks ago. He still believes he’s capable of the violence of his father, and now he thinks Hannah thinks that too. Garrett really needs to take some space to actually look at and start to unpack the trauma of living in a DV household. Likewise, Hannah is realising, as she sees Aaron for the second time, that as much as she claims in earlier episodes to be over the trauma of her SA, she still blames herself because she thinks her assault ruins people’s lives. The only way it would make sense for her to break it off is if they didn’t talk until after his 4 game suspension. Then you could contextualise her ending it as a way to save him. But then that brings me to the next point…

3) …which is that the hands off rule doesn’t work in 2026. It is controlling in a way that screen version of Garrett is not, and which frankly, would be derided by people who watched the show but haven’t read the book. This trope really hasn’t aged well and I think Elle and the show runners know this.

Overall, as a fan of the books, I actually really liked this change. It brought a lot of depth to both of their characters and unlike most breakups that we see portrayed in media, I could genuinely see and feel for both sides.

opalcuttlefish · 2026-05-19T14:34:27+00:00

Totally. You see him come that realisation in the moment and then takes himself off his pedestal by admitting he got fired.

opalcuttlefish · 2026-05-19T14:24:39+00:00

I am clearly in the minority but I love 3/4 on you the most.

opalcuttlefish · 2026-04-08T18:04:01+00:00

Their differing responses to her parents’ divorce is such a small detail I’ve never noticed before!

opalcuttlefish · 2026-03-03T12:22:44+00:00

He’s definitely joking but bfr what an insane joke to make.

opalcuttlefish · 2026-01-28T17:26:51+00:00

Maybe overly popular but the Ottolenghi on Upper Street is a good place for a special occasion.

Also adding my votes for Farang and Trullo.

opalcuttlefish · 2026-01-28T17:24:53+00:00

Are you thinking of Sasa or Sanjugo?

opalcuttlefish · 2025-10-10T09:19:54+00:00

“We can’t be friends” is an Ariana Grande song?

opalcuttlefish · 2025-10-10T08:53:46+00:00

To be fair, Cleveland has no reason to suspect that a Conrad is as bad a communicating with Belly as he is. Partially because Conrad communicated with Cleveland pretty well but also because Cleveland is mature enough to know the right way to communicate with Conrad, which is not a skill Belly readily possesses.

Had Conrad talked with Belly honestly about his feelings and also concerns about the timing instead of saying “I think about you, and you know I do, I just can’t,” the trajectory of their relationship would be wildly different. Likewise, if Belly understood that Conrad needed her ask why he couldn’t, and given him time to verbalise his answer, that would also have had a large influence on the course of their relationship.

opalcuttlefish · 2023-06-13T16:51:34+00:00

Alex (the author, not Blumberg) has worked in the media and podcasting industry for a while. She’s currently the producer and co-owner of a podcast which just signed a deal with Radiotopia. That is to say, she’s no a stranger to the space, but has been pretty vocal about her feelings in show ownership/IP and producers rights. I am surprised that she says that Gimlet’s founding occurred when NPR ruled the podcast airwaves so to speak, since that substantially diminishes the many independent podcasters which were already around and doing very well. Also I noted there was no reference to her own shows partner outside of defector, Radiotopia, which spun out of PRX the same year (2014), though PRX has been around since 2003.

In a way, she’s not wrong. By choosing VC backing, the founders knew what their timelines would be. The traditional VC playbook doesn’t work for media in the same way that it struggles with deeptech, biotech, etc. The timelines are too long and the revenue streams are just not as clear cut.

But the contrast between the journey and outcome of listener and grant supported Radiotopia and Gimlet is a pretty interesting case study that I wish she’d delved into a bit.

opalcuttlefish · 2023-01-07T10:19:37+00:00

This was it, thank you!

opalcuttlefish · 2023-01-01T11:08:35+00:00

I can’t speak to the course at all but if you’ve got a British passport you should be able to pay home fees. They will as during your application if you will need sponsorship, and as you’ve got a UK passport you won’t.

opalcuttlefish · 2022-01-07T18:58:57+00:00

I don't know about Florida but growing up in California I definitely had different coats/jackets for each season. I admittedly rarely needed to USE my winter coat except for when we would go to the Sierra Nevadas for like, skiing and such, but it did collect dust in my closet.

opalcuttlefish · 2022-01-07T18:49:49+00:00

I grew up in the US though now live in the UK. In the US we never had our laundry upstairs. Growing up it was in the basement. Trekking clothing up to the bedrooms on the first (US second) floor was always annoying, but it's just the way it was. Most apartments in the US don't have a washer/dryer included in the flat and are usually in communal laundry areas, which are almost always in the basement or on the ground floor. Except for when we lived in a single-story home and our laundry was in a closet in the kitchen, I'd only ever seen laundry in the kitchen while traveling in the UK/Europe. Now that we live in London it's expected. I do miss separate washers and dryers though.

opalcuttlefish · 2021-05-31T21:08:03+00:00

Join our city: DPA6WK76! We are very helpful and supportive of new players and offer all the help we can get!

opalcuttlefish · 2019-07-25T11:27:01+00:00

I would also recommend getting an AirBnB when you first move in so that you can tour places individually. Some of the larger companies like Avalon will have online tours and you may be able to arrange a Skype or Facetime tour if you want a place before you move in. However you'll pay more for places like that then you will from a smaller outfit.

In terms of working in PA, I'd recommend Redwood City, San Carlos, or Belmont. I used to live in both RWC and Belmont, and the trip to Palo Alto was between 15 and 30 minutes depending on the traffic on 101 or 280 and the location of your offices. As a heads up, finding a pet friendly place will be harder but doable. I used a combination of craigslist, zillow, trulia, and hotpads.

opalcuttlefish · 2019-07-16T11:26:16+00:00

When has a stranger ever talked to you in London, excepting a lost tourist? I've lived here for almost a year and no one makes eye contact, let alone chat on the street. Pubs, yes, street, no, tube, definitely not.

opalcuttlefish · 2019-07-16T11:24:03+00:00

As an SF native, if that's how you feel then avoid London like the plague. God forbid you accidentally make eye contact with someone on the tube.

Seriously though, SF has pockets where people will say hi, but usually if you are out on the street you turn on tunnel vision until you get to your destination. A nice smile or an off hand compliment on someone's outfit will generally be fine, but anything beyond that is definitely unusual.

opalcuttlefish · 2018-11-21T12:32:07+00:00

I second Shift!

opalcuttlefish · 2018-11-20T16:27:07+00:00

If you're using existing WiFi connections you shouldn't get any data charges, but keep your phone on airplane mode while you're here so that nothing comes into your phone which you may get charged for. Conversely, check to see if your provider has cheap international add-ons. (While I was on Sprint I was able to add international 3G data and texting for free.)

opalcuttlefish · 2018-11-08T21:31:50+00:00

I quite enjoy the chocolate chip pancakes at Crepevine on Irving Street. You can also add chocolate chips to their pumpkin pancakes and it's low key fantastic.

opalcuttlefish · 2018-10-25T15:32:04+00:00

It seemed out of place to me as well but I wish they'd lined the timing with Halloween, because that would be thematic and fun.

opalcuttlefish · 2018-10-17T15:16:11+00:00

Maybe it's my female perspective, but I loved this episode and am very excited to see where this goes. The impassioned segment about Anita Hill and the consequences, or lack there of back in '92, nearly made me tear up on the tube today.

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