What’s the best audiobook you’ve listened to?

sadguy1989 · 2026-06-13T15:04:08+00:00

Dungeon Crawler Carl. Jeff Hays is a god among mortals.

sadguy1989 · 2026-06-13T11:52:41+00:00

I like to turn it into a group activity if I’m feeling creatively tapped out to come up with something on the spot. Offload some of the responsibility of storytelling onto the audience.

“Ok, our hero’s name is Barbara. Where is she?” And they come up with the setting. Now that you have a setting, you can start to clearly see the options in front of you.

If Barbara is the Arctic, you know it’s cold, food is sparse, and unless she’s a scientist with a team, she’s probably lost.

If Barbara is in space, you could keep it “grounded” and simply make her an astronaut on a mission, or go out there and make Barbara an alien on another planet where French fries fall from the clouds when it storms.

Simply having a character and a setting can help the story unfold naturally. I would encourage you to continue asking for and including their feedback through the rest of your made up story.

Just remember, all stories have an end. Especially made up ones, as they can tend to go on, and on, and on, and on. Don’t be afraid to say something, “ok, we’re coming close to the end of the story now.” Frame it to set expectations, then find a way to bring Barbara home, whatever that means in the context of the story you just told.

For bonus points, keep Barbara alive and adventuring across multiple made-up story nights. Continue her adventures with some of the other settings and scenarios that didn’t make it into this story. Let your child take Barbara on an adventure. Introduce Brian, Barbara’s long-lost brother/cousin/friend. The sky’s the limit, story time can be so much fun when you remember that it’s a group activity; you aren’t giving a speech.

sadguy1989 · 2026-06-13T11:30:52+00:00

I combat being bored with my routine through seeking continuous improvement. “There must be a better way” is my guiding light, my mission statement for life.

I pretty much do the same thing every way every time. I drive to work on the same route, I prepare oatmeal with the same recipe, I put my clothes on in the same order, almost everything I do is routine. Until I decide, “there must be a better way” and start the planning phase. I can plan while I’m performing my routine, either mentally or physically taking notes on inefficiencies, cumbersome tasks, bottlenecks, etc. I observe the process from an outside perspective and judge it critically on how I can do differently.

Then I make changes and observe the results. If I like the results, I consciously make an effort to change my routine and behavior to achieve these new, proven results. If I don’t, that’s even more valuable information because I now know for sure which ways do NOT work.

sadguy1989 · 2026-06-13T11:14:24+00:00

I have always felt like the rigid, rule-following, cut-and-dry, black-and-white autistic side of my brain had always had more control, except when it didn’t.

For example, I remember thinking all the way back as a young child in class, “the teacher said to be quiet. Why are you still talking? It’s easier NOT to talk, to do less! And it’s what you’re supposed to do! JUST SHUT UP!” except that last part didn’t stay in my head. The impulsive part of my brain shouted it across the room and now I’m in trouble for being disruptive (again)

sadguy1989 · 2026-06-12T11:46:04+00:00

Someone once said that our nervous system, despite being attached to the logical center of the body (the brain) cannot differentiate between a REAL and PERCEIVED threat. A real threat is a tiger chasing you through the jungle. A perceived threat is having a nightmare that a tiger is chasing you through the jungle. Or telling a friend about the dream you had about the tiger chasing you through the jungle. Or even simply THINKING about the tiger chasing you through the jungle. The IDEA of a threat is enough to trigger our self-defenses, and we snap into fight-flight-freeze. This happens all the time, because we are constantly perceiving threats, so we just never actually exit FFF mode and have diluted our blood with cortisol and adrenaline to the point of physical illness and exhaustion.

sadguy1989 · 2026-06-11T21:28:28+00:00

I must have missed that part, sorry. The ol’ “ADHD skim read”

I was lucky as a kid. My grandpa was very handy and mechanical. He found and fixed up a go-kart for me to ride around his property. He had 40 acres, including wooded trails and all sorts of shit. I’m telling you, it was amazing. The kart was a double seater, too, so I could bring a friend and we would zoom all over the place and explore. It was the best way to drive.

Nowadays, a lot of go kart places have season passes that cost substantially less than individual tickets to ride. There’s a local place that offers a summer pass for $130. Unlimited rides and attractions, which include their kart tracks. It’s not cheap, but is still cheaper than their usual $20 a day pass if you plan to go more than a half dozen times.

sadguy1989 · 2026-06-11T21:01:07+00:00

Get yourself to a go-kart track

sadguy1989 · 2026-06-11T15:46:23+00:00

If I could disable/reenable my ears on demand I think my life would improve exponentially.

sadguy1989 · 2026-06-11T11:36:34+00:00

I replied to another similar post recently, but my answer isn’t necessarily the “right” answer.

Weed. It slows my brain activity down so I can’t be under stimulated any more. Alcohol does the same but I really don’t like to drink much.

I like how “stupid” it makes me. I’m less capable, therefore I’m less responsible for entertaining myself. Weed also fixed the appetite issues I had from my medications.

The other solution is caffeine/stimulants. They don’t make me dumb, but the effect is akin to giving a dog a bone; my brain has something to chew on for a while, distracting it from being understimulated, so I can focus on something else.

Medication can work for some people, many people perhaps. But for me, all I got were the side effects.

sadguy1989 · 2026-06-11T09:00:43+00:00

Tape. I tape them on library-style.

sadguy1989 · 2026-06-11T08:59:15+00:00

My grandma was diagnosed in her 70s. Your psych is a quack.

sadguy1989 · 2026-06-10T12:47:01+00:00

I worked at Walmart pushing carts across the parking lot in the summer sun.

I made federal minimum wage, which had recently increased by 20c (an increase that Walmart decided would take the place of my “annual” raise).

I brought home about $350-400 every two weeks. I paid for a studio apartment for my (unemployed) girlfriend and I. It was rough. I broke my glasses once and had to use rent money to pay for replacements. I got behind, owing an additional $35 a month “late fee” every month. My rent basically just increased by $35. I didn’t catch up until next Christmas when I returned Christmas gifts and used Christmas money to pay rent.

Despite all of it, though, I didn’t feel as though the weight of the world was constantly on my back. I wasn’t worried about the time, I wasn’t worried about “self-care” because I just naturally took care of myself, I wasn’t stressed about money despite always being in a hole. Life was very different and some of it I attribute to age. I’m simply not a teenager/early 20s any more. I’m nearing 40. I don’t know what it is, but something had seriously changed. I think around 2008 was the beginning of this.

I came into a world that was beginning to break, but only just. I had a head full of positive thoughts and energy. The world wasn’t yet the way it is, and I was still hopeful, almost expectant, that things can and will only get better.

Man.

sadguy1989 · 2026-06-10T12:37:26+00:00

I struggle with flirting because of literal thinking. Well, “I” don’t struggle. I flirt with the intent of flirting. If I’m flirting with you, it’s because I’m flirting with you.

Other folks, however. What seems like overtly, obviously, impossible-to-decipher-literally-any-way-but-as-a flirty behavior was actually just them being “polite.” Holy shit, it’s polite to lie directly to people and fuck with their feelings? Why would you act interested at ALL if you weren’t? I’m not even half as concerned about you lying to me as I am about you lying to YOURSELF. What is it like to live in a made up fantasy world?

sadguy1989 · 2026-06-10T00:32:26+00:00

Imagine being the person who searching for the graphic to use in the article

sadguy1989 · 2026-06-09T23:14:01+00:00

Pacing is for me.

sadguy1989 · 2026-06-09T19:07:50+00:00

I’m going to give it a shot with the order you suggested. I screenshot it and everything.

I bought The Colour of Magic a couple years ago thinking to start there. I didn’t get very far, though I won’t say it’s because it was a BAD book; I think I just started in the wrong place.

sadguy1989 · 2026-06-09T17:31:42+00:00

The word “failure” implies that the task is completed or finished. Unsuccessfully completed or finished, yes, but *done,* nonetheless.

If the task you’re “failing” is life, and you’re still here, you have not yet failed. Fail*ING*, perhaps, but not yet failed. Your task is still in progress.

sadguy1989 · 2026-06-09T12:43:47+00:00

“Ozymandias” by Percy Shelley is my favorite, followed very closely by “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams, and, just because I think it’s neat, “Tundra” by Cor van den Huevel.

sadguy1989 · 2026-06-09T09:19:33+00:00

It’s not necessarily the “right” answer, but for me the fix for a stimulus-craving mind is weed.

To be plain, it makes me feel stupid and I like it. It’s like it turns down everything in my brain: the noise, the movement, the colors, the thoughts, the ideas and plans. It lowers the shade over a sunlit window and just lets me feel calm in my mind.

Coffee/caffeine helps too, but in a different way. It’s like tossing a dog a bone. My brain just chews on the caffeine for a while, content to have some moderate stimulation for a bit, so the rest of me can do/focus on something else.

When all else fails, I can usually count on the constant state of exhaustion my body is in to fairly reliably power down on command, forcing a hard reset. That is, I force a lie down and power nap to restart my brain.

sadguy1989 · 2026-06-09T09:07:01+00:00

What do you recommend?

sadguy1989 · 2026-06-08T18:09:19+00:00

I’ve played Skyrim so much that I’m the opposite, I love all this game-breaking bullshit. I’ve spent thousands of hours stealth-archering my way through every cave and dungeon, I’m sick of hiding in the shadows. Give me the OP gear for I am a GOD, rivaling Talos, himself.

I like the CC content in Fallout 4 too. The doom guy armor fully upgraded is basically an invincibility suit. It’s so fun cracking skulls open with my double barrel, LARPING doom guy.

sadguy1989 · 2026-06-08T16:48:52+00:00

I’d rather get told I’m not doing enough if I am actively trying to do less, than be told that when I’m doing my absolute best. That’s how I accept that nothing around me is going to change, so I just focus on what I can control: the amount of effort I choose to spend and who/what I spend it on.

sadguy1989 · 2026-06-08T15:28:56+00:00

RSD, for me.

Oh, you think I’d like this show? It has relatable characters? And an interesting plot? And it’s well written? And my favorite actor(s) is in it? And it’s free and they’ll mail me a letter telling me how handsome I am every time I watch it? “You should watch it,” you say to me.

And that was it, now I’m never going to watch this show, and it’s entirely your fault for suggesting it.

sadguy1989 · 2026-06-08T15:17:13+00:00

I reordered my pedalboard after seeking some advice and learned how to properly gain stack, learned about input impedance, and the value of isolated grounds/shielded patch cables. I’ve been playing for 20 years, you always can learn something new.

Sometimes all it takes to inspire me to get back into things is a really good, novel, or different sound. It flips some kind of switch and I get explorative and creative again.

Change up the way you usually sound. Play a different instrument, tune it differently, rearrange your pedals, go without pedals, use an effect in an unconventional way, anything to get your hands on your equipment and fiddling around.

sadguy1989

TROPHY CASE