I knew a guy who was, by all objective standards, a musical genius. Brilliant songwriter and lyricist, prolific, could master an instrument in weeks, took to sound production and engineering like a fish to water. In a sane world, he’d have easily flourished in the music business and possibly even made it big, as he had the drive. He had a razor sharp wit and a relentless sense of humor, and in his lucid moments, was a blast to be around.
Except he was an irredeemable and unapologetic pedophile. He had previously done ten years for making and distributing cp by the time I had met him. When I brought it up he vehemently defended himself and his vice as being completely normal and natural, and even bragged about his “work.” He insisted that he did nothing wrong and seemed to genuinely not understand why people didn’t accept it.
Shortly after we parted ways, I learned that he got caught again hoarding thousands of pictures and videos. He’s currently in prison and will spend the rest of his life there.
Honestly, I’m a classically trained musician, so I almost never put on classical music for background noise - I tune in and listen out of sheer habit.
I like Philip Glass. Yeah his name is a punchline but I find his sense of harmony and melody pleasant to listen to. I recommend his violin concerto. If you like vocal music I recommend renaissance motets (anything by Tomás Luis de Victoria for starters).
If you like a challenge take a listen to Stravinsky. If you wanna hear what it’s like to be a combat veteran try Xenakis.
I stopped reading the news, and I block any and all feeds that relate to politics.
I know, I know…staying informed and all that. Except I’m hard pressed to name a news outlet that informs. What I see is so driven by the engagement metrics, rage baiting, if-it-bleeds-it-leads mentality that any modicum of facts or truth gets lost. Journalists seem to have forsaken their obligation to hold leaders accountable and have become complicit in the problems they’ve created.
I’m old, I’m jaded, and my activist days are far behind me. I’m just done with that shit. My own mental and physical health are my top priority at my age and switching off the never ending River of Doom has improved both.
I could probably only go as far back as the industrial revolution.
I work in materials testing, mostly for automotive and aerospace, but I could probably put that to work helping design early steam engines and rail systems.
I also play trombone. That design was more or less finalized around that same time.
Mostly rock/alternative. I got used to things like the weekly feedback/promotion threads and I’ve been hoping to find something similar here, but maybe we’re just not there yet.
Looking at the suggestions in these comments, even the liveliest of these communities is extremely sparse and doesn’t feel very discussion-friendly.
Think of the same twenty or so reposted questions on r/askreddit week after week, and as long as I don’t see those I’m happy. What I love most about this community is people seeking very specific information or help on a given issue and actually getting it.
That being said, I’m also a habitual shitposter. I get a laugh out of seeing and posting questions like that and I hope people like to use them to either play along with the joke or use it to make a good point.
When I was about 13 I got into a deep-feelings conversation with my mom and then she started talking about how hard it was having enormous breasts and I after that I just stopped speaking to everyone.
What’s a Jawa’s favorite cocktail?
MARTINI!