And I also frankly would prefer a world where well-argued ideas - rather than someone’s charisma and looks - floated more easily to the top. I do, however, know that that world does not and has not ever existed. Also I hate watching video - people meander so much and I always have to watch it at 2x

I can script and edit better than the next guy and I have good equipment, but I don’t like being observed and I resent that social media now requires one to trade so heavily on one’s face (mine is fine, I just don’t want to share it with everyone, everywhere, all the time). Still, Bouie IS right.

I’ve found that men who have friendships with women also tend to have healthier, more robust, and more intimate friendships with their male friends, maybe because some of the social skills that women expect in friendships also help them navigate other relationships. Better outlooks for late life

I for one have never been willing to date anyone with whom I have not first built a friendship. I can’t be the only person like this and I’m pretty sure this basic standard is part of what locks a certain type of asshole out of the market

This is why the quiverfull folks and weird men like Elon Musk are the way they are: they want to breed their way into the majority so that it’s easier to scale their particularly gross version of patriarchy

I can’t remember the last time I went to the movies: it’s always WAY too loud, nobody masks, ventilation is terrible, and that’s a lot of money to pay risk my health for something I could watch at home in a few months

The real task isn’t “teaching people to spot misinformation.” It’s rebuilding conditions where verification, deliberation and accountability are possible. Critical thinking only works when the world around it gives those skills a place to take root.

Yeah, I so wish I had taken this more seriously, even though I knew it was true. I thought there was stuff I absolutely had to do in order not to let people down, but in hindsight I feel I ought to have disappointed more people in order to avoid my present situation

Depending on where you life there are mask blocs and clean air clubs that could help with supplies. Worth checking out what’s going on in your town - the covid careful community is built on mutual aid and people will want to help you

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t rest rest rest, get paxlovid and metformin, etc, but if it applies I hope it helps a little bit with the anxiety

Also I’m not sure if this helps, since I don’t know anything about your gender, but if you are a cis man you have a lower risk of LC. While the risk of a bad acute infection is higher for men, with the newer variants that’s so much less likely than it was earlier in the pandemic.

Collect the music you like. Maybe watch some tv. Read easy things if you have to occupy your mind. I wish so badly had just stayed in bed with audiobooks during my isolation (i tested positive for a full month) and really regret not resting more aggressively

Even once the acute stage is over, you should take it extremely easy. If you exercised regularly before covid, don’t expect yourself to so for some time. Take NAC (Covid wreaks havoc on your mitochondria), sleep, hydrate, and do what you can to manage anxiety - stress is an enemy in this fight

The big thing is actually to try to reduce stress and not exert yourself at all. It’s pretty clear at this point that really resting (both your mind and body) during an acute infection is absolutely critical in reducing LC risk, so this is your time to ask for help, say no, be a slug