keepcarrot [she/her]

I’m going to a protest

From an autistic person’s perspective who generally enjoys parties: (autistic person with both extroversion and social anxiety) The main goal is to establish and strengthen social relationships. There are a few other goals and notes the support this goal, but if you do not wish to do this, then do not go to the party.

Secondary Goals:

• Survive. Typically, you don’t want to come away from a party feeling like its damaged either your emotional state or relationships. If this means taking a noise break so you don’t melt down in the middle of the party, so be it. Phrases like “I’m just taking a sound break, it feels kinda oppressive in there.” if anyone questions it. This doesn’t have to be music, it can be people’s voices reflecting off walls as people try to talk over each other. If there’s a drinking game and you’re asking this question, try not to win or lose. Be in the middle.
• Vibe. At some stage or another, it entered into my head that reading other people’s social needs and responding to them was somehow manipulative. Maybe it is or isn’t, but try to pay attention to the energy of the room. If people are talking about a board game or their kids first day at school, don’t drop your hot take about Palestine. There are definitely parties where that conversation is the go, though.
• Push medium and long term responsibilities from your mind. For the next few hours, you don’t have taxes or homework unless someone wants to commiserate about them with you. Commit an amount of time afterwards to unwinding as well (or having a hangover). You and everyone else here is trying to use their leisure time.

After that, there’s a bunch of party specific activities that serve these goals:

• Conversation: Obviously. Hypothetically, you might have a standard group of friends that you hang out with on discord and play video games with. While it’s fine to chit chat with them, this is not super different to voice chat. Try to engage with a new person or two, move between groups. Typically, people will gravitate towards the more interesting, outgoing, and/or hotter people at the party. This is fine for you to do as well, but be aware of whether you’re monopolising someone’s time, or they clearly want to end the conversation. If you have a special interest, try to talk about something else unless people want to know about it.
• Drinking: This is a cultural thing, but drinking in moderation can lower social anxiety a bit. Depending on your experience with drinking by yourself, bring your own drinks. You don’t want to get too drunk (risky, embarrassing), and you don’t want to be in a corner sipping drinks all night (some of the night is fine). Be wary of anyone who wants to get you drunk (especially you specifically). Also, watch your drinks.
• Dancing: Not my wheelhouse, but in some cultures its extremely weird if you don’t dance. I don’t have any advice here.
• Others: Board games, bad movies, asshole playing guitar in the living room etc. These are all fine and normal, but remember they should be bouncing off points for chill conversation. Don’t be too competitive or whatever.

Ideally, after a party, you’ll have a few new people to talk to regularly, and may get invited back to future parties or other social functions (hiking, video game groups, a roleplaying game etc). Don’t jump down anyone’s throat after the party with conversation unless they were really really into you. They probably are not.

Tbf far from the worst book they haven’t read

A Brief History of Time was the classic one amongst self-described sapiosexuals

The art of war is actually quite short though

Yeah, haha I was hoping the joke would land

Sucker play, it’s trivial to get a bible for free. For instance, one could find it on libgen or something idk

Does this work back in time? Does France’s open borders with the US support the US’s invasion of Iraq, despite their lack of direct military support (and verbal condemnation)? Like, maybe, but I don’t remember that discourse at the time. Does anyone buying Saudi Arabia’s oil support its war on the Yemenis? idk

I am curious as to what this means materially. Like, if you have one sanction that encompasses 80% of your economy, that’s more than 5 sanctions that each encompass 1% of your economy.

Is current Russia more excluded from the global economy than Iran or North Korea? What is this graph saying?

It’s been a while for me. I remember school covered a bunch of basics. What is this text trying to say outside of its explicit wording? I don’t remember it going into sources or framing much, but I also did pretty badly at it in school. A lot of students are checked out most of the time. I don’t really remember anything to do with the preponderance of media (e.g. If NYT, CNN, MSNBC, and FOX all agree on something, how will this be perceived by the public, how small will your voice be if you say “But the UN sent investigators and found no evidence of chemical attacks” etc). We certainly didn’t explore, say, Chomsky’s reading of how the media industry is structured, even though I think most students at my school would be capable of absorbing the information.

The thing is, I think people often have the skills for media literacy if it’s a message they disagree with. They can question sources and motivations, peel apart euphemisms etc. But most of the time they are insufficiently motivated, especially with messaging they agree with. Or they want to agree with.

Here in Australia it can be used for post-high school vocational education, but it can also be used for residential premises attached to a university (but not the university itself). Of course, there’s some American language import here.

Dusting, apparently

There’s a couple of mildly funny interactions in here. Question in the reverse, does that mean you’re often showering without a full scrub (a rinse, we’d call it) regularly?

Once a day until it gets into sweaty season, then whatever i need to maintaindecorum.

I had a bath bath last year, I think?

I mean, advertising exists and is pretty pervasive.

Kind of interesting. I wonder if I’ve helped keep any odd torrents alive

Probably being on welfare for an extended period of time. It kinda beat the techno-libertarian out of me.

Most of my big internal changes were done through years of struggling in communities and therapy though

Yeah, I feel like Florida and Queensland have a lot in common. We don’t have as many states though, so there’s bound to be some blending.

Damn, I wish this was mine

Seeing the ocean on my regular commute.

It used to be 50c chicken wings night at my local pub, but I moved away

I like their one train that everyone has to push towards their one station in Pyongyang.