Oh God you are right I am just conflating all those movies I avoided so successfully. I just mean until then he played characters so straight and gung ho and active and shiny. No way I could have cast him, whoever did saw something that nobody else did and they were right.
I still want to hate him. But do think he’s a gifted actor.
I want to hate him so badly. But he is so good. I remember when he was cast as the vampire and I was pissed, having read the books it made no sense that Mr. Top Gun Fast Times at Ridgemont High as an undead vampire.
Saw the movie and had to eat my words, he had become a gaunt undead vampire. What the actual fuck. He was fantastic. Ever since that, I kind of trust he will be good in anything.
The first time, I was 7 and it snowed overnight in Florida (a little). I saw it and ran in to wake my mom up but she kept saying “it’s frost, go back to bed”. She also made me go to school and the only other kids in my class were 2 kids from Michigan.
I was 20 when I first saw snow falling from the sky. Was in England, looked out the window and panicked because I thought there was ash falling from the sky. Asked what was burning and my boyfriend (Scottish) said “That’s snooo, lass”.
This has been true around here since I was in high school (or that’s when I noticed) but once you get as old as I am now it’s different, only the people who took care of themselves look good and the distribution is more equal. So I don’t think guys are putting zero effort in, maybe as regards style but they must be maintaining their bodies at about the same rate, exercise and diet wise.
I’m oldish GenX and maybe atypical but was a very early adopter of tech, on Usenet as soon as I could connect to anything, and was tech support for the older kids (but both got very tech savvy boyfriends) and of the younger set only the 19 year old has outpaced me. But I do think, if generalizing:
I can work computers because I had to fix them and like to mess with them. So everything now seems so easy in a way - I set up a network in my old house, wires everywhere, testing testing fixing, blah. Was dreading doing it when we moved - nope, mesh system, scan a code, boom done! Amazing!
Millennial kids don’t expect everything to work but seem stumped when it doesn’t. This may just be my kids because I fixed stuff for them.
The younger ones are used to everything working seamlessly and it does for them. That mesh network setup did not awe them, they expected it to be that easy!
This one. 2014 Honda Accord with manual transmission. I love this car, and want it to last forever.
Second favorite was a Chevy Geo Prism, also manual (I kinda hate automatic transmission) that got the best gas mileage of any car I have owned before or since. Overhead cam, perfect engine design. Body fell apart, but that engine would not stop and was so efficient.
I have kids in both these age groups and they are more alike than different. I think the younger set is slightly better with technology and much more diverse in their musical taste than the older ones were at the same age. I guess they don’t have a generational difference if they are all siblings though.
I think yes we are all more similar than different but as you move north, there is less income inequality and better social services, less graft and corruption.
Supermarkets in the US are like nowhere else, they are incredible.
Honestly I have stuff from clearance racks at Gap that have lasted 15 years and cost $3 -$5. Thrift stores have gotten expensive here but the mall clearance rack can still sometimes be a great deal. I didn’t buy clothes this year at all, don’t usually since I have enough to rotate. But when I do eventually, I look for something I can like for a long time.
Also smartwool socks, I thought I was throwing away money because they were so expensive, I got them for running because they are so good and help avoid blisters. I had to replace them last year, looked in my Amazon history and saw they were 11 years old! So I saved money really. Socks that lasted over ten years!
Of course these are all middle-income tricks. When I was very poor - you can live in your car but can’t drive your house, keep the car if you have to choose. Ask for help from people you know - you would help them, right? Roommates, so many roommates. Splitting rent 8 ways makes it affordable.
If you have secure housing but not much else - our neighbor used to bring us fruit & veg he dumpster dived because he knew we were struggling. Look for free healthy food like that to supplement what you buy - some community gardens you can harvest from, that’s how ours works, it’s not a grow your own space, everyone grows for everyone. Some farm coops you can trade time & labor for food. We couldn’t get food stamps because Florida but if you are willing to jump through the hoops that can really help get you through too.
Yin yoga is good for this exact situation. I do it without getting out of bed usually (husband is a heavy sleeper). I read somewhere “vigilance is the enemy of sleep” and that makes sense. Yin yoga is designed to calm your nervous system and I find it does help knock me back out. Try to let go of unhelpful thoughts, if you think you need to remember something for the morning place a rubberband around your wrist to make you notice and remember in the morning then let it go.
If it’s so late (early?) that you might as well get up, a morning run, jog, or walk as the sun is rising is a very encouraging activity. It feels so happy to see the new day born, and vigorous exercise in particular (so if you can run instead of walk, do it) is invigorating.
I am a working mom and will tell you - if you don’t schedule time for yourself you won’t get it. I prioritize sex and exercise into the schedule because if not, life and work will eat every moment. For 2024, schedule in 3 hours every weekend, or an evening or morning but every single week.
Realize that everyone is accommodating everyone else, they aren’t doing it to annoy you. You aren’t the center of the universe. But that doesn’t mean you don’t need time to recharge, plan it weekly in 2024 and let the schedule fit around you too. It will.