I live in the US and I haven’t noticed any xenophobia. I have heard a couple of people refer to “Russians” like we are a monolith but they were still understanding of someone like me who is very anti-war.

You can still leave but you might have to jump through hoops. My mom had to go to Kazakhstan to get an American visa to come visit me because all embassies are closed in Russia.

Heights. There was some movie or show where people were hanging from a skyscraper window after an earthquake, and I regularly have vivid nightmares about it. It’s not to the point of a phobia but a really strong fear. I went up the Seattle space needle with my husband, and he was clowning against the glass while I was only able to stay in the middle. Had nightmares about him falling or me falling off it ever since.

Please don’t consider this an approval of his chonkiness - he is at “fat camp,” which is the obviously right thing to do. Don’t overfeed your pets, people!

I’m going to tell a story on behalf of my husband.

He was 13 and in Boy Scouts. Their troop was told that some older scouts went missing and the troop had to look for them. They formed patrols and were searching for over 3 hours when the leaders said that the older scouts were located; one of them was disemboweled and needed a medical helicopter to come from Denver. That was the “oh, crap!” moment…

Turns out the whole thing was staged. No one ever went missing. They just wanted the troop to learn how to do search and rescue. There were younger scouts there who were crying and terrified, definitely scarred by the experience.

And that’s how things were done back in the 80s.

She is eating a raw cut-up duck breast, like a princess.

From afar, I love the food. I’d love to visit and learn more about the country but as a woman I don’t feel safe going there.

I would keep working part time because I love my job (psychotherapist). I would also garden, knit, go camping a lot, learn a musical instrument, write fiction and non-fiction books, have a podcast about mental health, and spend more time with friends. Traveling would also be a favorite.

My husband went to a conference 2 weeks ago in Florida. Blue collar industry, no one is vaccinated, no one wearing a mask. He came home and immediately had Covid (we are both vaccinated). I got it too. Motherfuckers. Oh, and if he wore a mask there is a very serious chance he’d be shunned at work, which we can’t afford.

On snek.

The pic is from Colorado - this is what our spring looks like!

This made me smile, thank you.

Here’s the story with more adorable pics and a video.

I’m sure that’s adorably annoying.

This is very accurate, actually.

Spelling? 🤗

Out of all the great suggestions ITT, I think I like this one the best. But I would be the kidnapped wife in this situation, so I don’t get to pick the music.

Thank you so much, that’s plenty for me to explore!

Got any good psychedelic rock recs for someone mostly unfamiliar with the genre?

This is an Abyssinian, they do come in chocolate.