Update: So I wrote this a number of years ago, and since that time, Elon has gotten more and more nasty on Twitter and has said some hurtful things. But I won’t change the title of this piece because I still have a deep love for this man. He has expressed deep hatred for me and people like me as well as many people I care about. But I’ve always believed actions speak louder than words and at the end of the day, his words are just words. They are…
Read MoreYear: 2021
Why We Need to Invest More in the Space Industry Even Though We have Problems Here on Earth
This is a deeply problematic question. The subtext behind this question of course is, “space travel holds little to no value to humanity.” Also, “space travel somehow takes away resources from things that actually help humanity.” Both of these subtexts are so false that it feels like gaslighting to informed people. The child-like over-simplification of such a complex issue feels to space enthusiasts as though it is deliberately designed to make us feel stupid. That may not be the case, but that is how it feels. This question is rarely…
Read MoreAutomobile Trauma is Just as Valid as Other Forms of Trauma
Years ago I had a girlfriend who was terrified of automobiles. Whenever we would drive anywhere, she would grip the handles in terror. A few times she would even break down in tears if someone cut us off or I had to hit the brakes too hard. She would sometimes chant to herself “it’s perfectly fine. We’re safe. It’s all safe. This is all perfectly safe.” It recurred a few times where we would need to drive somewhere and she would have a panic attack, then she would call herself…
Read MoreMillie’s Pipe Dream
Once upon a time there lived a young girl named Millie. Millie lived in a little village, where everybody loved each other and everyone seemed happy except for one problem: they were a long way from the river. Every day, most of the villagers had to walk a long trail down a cliff to fill up their buckets so they could have water to cook, bathe and wash dishes. Every day for years Millie walked this trail several times, carrying a bucket of water for her mother, then her sister,…
Read MoreToxic Anti-Capitalism
In my early thirties I dated for a couple months a woman whose best friend was dating a millionaire CEO of a software company. I hung out with him a couple times. He may be the only millionaire I’ve ever had drinks with outside of a work event. He bought me a cheese plate once and talked about the history and significance of each cheese. He seemed like a pretty normal guy. You never would have known he was loaded. He would write these long, deeply emotional emails to his…
Read MoreThe Secret, Oddball Thing that Offends Me
I have a weird story/confession. Before today I’ve only ever spoken about this to the few people I mention in this story. I’m hearing so much talk lately about the words people use surrounding gender and thinking about how easily the wrong words can offend. I personally don’t understand a lot of the emotion surrounding gender, but I do have one thing in my life I use as reference to try to help me understand. I didn’t attach my identity to my gender. Instead, for whatever reason, the main things…
Read MoreWhy I Try to Communicate Even When it Seems Hopeless
Almost 20 years ago one of my closest friends was a Nazi sympathizer. He would lay out in order which races were better than which and go on about how Hitler was just in a hard situation and did what he had to against the Jewish invasion. Some pretty gross stuff. We would argue nearly every time we hung out. He believed the world was all a competition, race vs race and we all needed to stand up for our race. I argued that no, we are all humans and…
Read MoreWhy do People Hate Technology? (Jixuan and Sebastion)
A couple weeks ago I posted about some threats I got from an old friend who hated me due to my support of technology. I sent the video to my favorite tech YouTubers, Jixuan and Sebastion which inspired them to prioritize a video they’d been planning. They didn’t mention my situation, but I found the video to be a really fascinating look at how technology affects our mental health and why emerging technologies can lead to such vicious hate. It also discusses the old argument of whether you inherently have…
Read MoreI got Death Threats for Being a Technology Enthusiast
Last weekend I received a series of death threats from a very old friend. Some of you may remember a post I made a few months ago about Elon Musk’s Neuralink. Well, that post scared him pretty bad, because of Skynet and stuff, and I did not realize how it had affected him. Then last week I made a joke in favor of certain artificial intelligence technologies and he sent me the death threats in audio form that you can watch in this YouTube video. There’s three things I want…
Read MoreReview of The Wrong Missy on Netflix with Spoilers
I don’t normally do movie reviews but I finally watched The Wrong Missy on Netflix and was taken aback by the lack of social responsibility shown by the writers. Spoilers will follow: If you’ve seen the preview, you know it’s about a boring businessman named Tim who invites the wrong woman on a corporate retreat. The first thing she does is drug and rape him on the plane while other passengers watch and laugh. Tim is really upset about this and starts fantasizing about her death/murder. She then goes on…
Read MoreBe Sure to Get Good Sleep Before and After Your Vaccination
I was just listening to this Masterclass about sleep and they mentioned a study done with vaccinations that found when people get flu vaccines when they are not getting proper sleep, the vaccine elicited about half the immune response that it did in people who were getting healthy amounts of sleep. He recommended that whenever you get vaccinated for anything that you be careful to get really good night’s sleep every night for the week before and after you get the shot. I haven’t heard anyone else talking about this…
Read MoreSpace Events Happening in 2021
The space industry is on track to make 2021 even more spectacular than 2020. Here is everything happening in 2021, in order of awesomeness. NASA already had a mostly successful static fire test of their not reusable Space Launch System in early January 2021. It’s still scheduled for its first launch in late 2021. SLS is basically Space Shuttle 2.0, outdated and overpriced, it’s almost already obsolete but will still be cool to see it fly. Joe Biden put a moon rock in the oval office, subtly signifying his support…
Read MoreSarah Blakely Thought Real People would Work Better than Mannequins
I recently listened to a Masterclass by Sarah Blakely and was very impressed with all the ideas and perspectives she offered on business and entrepreneurship. I’m making data-management software and she makes shapewear for women but there was still a ton of ideas I can apply to my own mission. She told a story about going into a manufacturer where they were producing clothing and found they had three mannequins they used for sizing. A big mannequin, a skinny one, and an in-between. So Sarah asked something like, “Well where…
Read MoreWorker Uniforms are Like Socialized Medicine
Let’s say we have two executives in a board room debating about whether or not the company should make the employees buy their own uniforms. Our hypothetical character named Jim likes this idea and says “By having employees buy their own uniforms we can clearly point to X dollars in savings against our bottom line. Other companies that do this don’t see much pushback from employees.” So another executive I’ll call Susan replies, “I think this policy will ultimately harm our bottom line. Employees may feel ripped off, like we’re…
Read MoreSeafood Crockpot Stew
raw seafood (I had a pack of scallops and a bag of raw shrimp) Potato Bell Pepper lemon juice wine (I used Boyz II Men wine) 2 cans of clams (this is very optional. I probably would not have used it if I wasn’t trying to use up some old cans) Butter and lots of it (I used coconut oil to make it dairy-free) – probably about an entire stick of butter minced garlic cayenne pepper The seafood was all frozen so I just dumped it into the crockpot and…
Read MoreKalin’s Hypothetical Story-Imagination Learning Experience
Passionate Story Creation – an interactive how-to by Kalin
Read MoreWhy I Oppose Coronavirus Lockdown Mandates
My experiences with social isolation
Read MoreDeliberately Shockingly Immoral
One day in seventh grade I peed in a urinal and someone I’ll call Miles came up behind me and jump-kicked me as his friends looked on and laughed. I fell on the floor and peed on myself and they all just laughed and called me a loser. A couple minutes later I had picked myself up and pulled up my pants. I was so angry I wasn’t thinking or behaving rationally or thinking about consequences. I ran out of the bathroom and found Miles halfway down the hallway, standing…
Read MoreThe Space Industry is a Beacon of Hope in Difficult Times
I really believe that space news does not get nearly enough mainstream attention. It has far more affect on our daily lives than most political news and just about all celebrity news, yet it seems to be only a niche subject. Is that because there is rarely any bad news coming out of the space industry? Because there’s nothing to get really angry about? Is it because the effects on our lives often take a few years to be felt? Or is it because it has a stigma that it’s…
Read MoreEgg-Free Krab Salad
Fake Crab celery onions (prefer both green and regular) cilantro coconut cream lemon and/or lime juice salt pepper I based this loosely on this recipe: https://nerdymamma.com/egg-free-crab-salad-stuffed-avocados/. Actually I guess it’s pretty close. I went with celery instead of my normal preference of bell pepper so that it would take more of a background. I used coconut cream powder instead of opening a can of coconut milk and scraping off the cream. I mixed the “mayo” together first and taste tested. I used a lot of lemon and lime juice and…
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