Fuck yes my dude! The hamstring connection isn’t the most obvious, but makes a lot of sense once you hear it. I spend 5 minutes on hamstring stretches alone and it helps keep a lot of my pain away. I could never touch my toes until I had 2 metal rods in my back! 🤣

I am so glad to hear it’s helping!

I agree this has been a major factor. During the early internet days, folks used to tell me “don’t believe everything you read on the internet”. Now those same folks believe everything they read on the internet.

Oh Trillian, that was such a good program. I loved changing the skin to fit my mood.

Sorry to hear about your aches and pains, I get them too as I’ve been getting older, especially my knees. I have a spinal fusion and a few things have really helped to alleviate my chronic back pain.

1. Stretch every day. I pay special attention to my hamstrings, they get most of the stretching because it helps loosen lower back muscles too.

2. Try not to sit too much. A sit stand desk helps with that, but I also try to stand if I’m watching tv. It’s weird, but it works.

3. Go for walks. I don’t have to go anywhere, I just throw on an audiobook or music and walk for an hour or two around the neighborhood.

These keep my daily pain minimal, most days it’s so low pain, I can just ignore it and I’m fine.

Galavant, at least the first season, the second season wasn’t as good. It’s fun. It’s hilarious. It’s a musical.

Ooo!

I’m the same, I prefer physical copies over digital, but I know how expensive that one is because it’s out of print. I typically only do audiobooks as rereads because I don’t retain the info as much because I space out often. It was just the quickest way I could get it and I (mistakenly) thought I would have time on vacation.

I’m probably going to go pick up that book now. Thank you for the tip!

Also, I just noticed your username and I love it!

I’m currently reading The Two Lies of Faven Sythe by Megan O’Keefe. I’m digging it so far, I have a trilogy of hers that I’ve wanted to read, I’m just not feeling reading a series at the moment. This was me testing her writing and I will definitely dig into The Protectorate books.

I’m still listening to Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey. It’s taking me a while to get through it because I paused to listen to a few Murderbot books. But also because I forgot why I disliked one of the characters in this one so much.

I just finished Barbarian Aliens by Ruby Dixon. It’s the second book but I’ve decided to not finish the series. I really enjoy the world, the people, and the romance, but I’m kind of tired of everyone just trying to get knocked up. It’s just not my thing.

I so want to read A Stitch in Time. I borrowed the audiobook to listen to on vacation, but I didn’t have time to actually do that (we had way too much fun). Now it has a really long waitlist again 😭

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That’s what I started doing. 2-3 times a year, I will pick up Hulu or Netflix for a month or two and binge everything. I usually keep a list of what I want to watch and go through that when I resubscribe. The key is to unsubscribe as soon as you sign up or very shortly after, so you don’t forget.

AppleTV is one I don’t do this with but only because I get it through a bundle and they have been putting out some good content. If the price goes up again, I may consider changing that.

I haven’t watched it, but I doubt I would enjoy it. I really don’t like reality tv and I wasn’t a fan of Top Gear. I am very happy you enjoy that show though!

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I’m a Tolkien fan, but I can definitely agree with that!

Ken Liu, but his family immigrated to the USA when he was 11, so I’m not sure that counts? He does a lot of translations for Chinese scifi authors including Three Body Problem. I do have all of his Dandelion Dynasty books, but I haven’t started them yet.

I am a big fan of his short stories and I would recommend Hidden Girl and other stories. There are a few in that book that are loosely tied together and it was made into a tv show called Pantheon, which was great!

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories is another great collection of short stories. I first listened to the title story on the LeVar Burton Reads podcast, then bought the book. My favorite story was The Literomancer, which was so moving I couldn’t read anything for a few days. Good Hunting from that collection was also an episode of Love, Death, & Robots.

Philip Pullman will always and forever be my favorite author. I first read the His Dark Materials series when I was 11 and I was hooked. Those books made a huge impact on me and how I think about the world.

I would recommend his book The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ. It’s a retelling of the Jesus Christ story where Jesus and Christ are 2 brothers, one who is moral and the other who is not at all moral. I am not a religious or even spiritual person, but that book was really good!

I always feel a little sad with shows like Heroes. It had such good potential, but it was a victim of the writers strike at the time, so was Battlestar Galactica (one of my favorites). Quite a few shows just kind of flopped and that’s when we saw more reality TV start showing up and become the monster it is today. I really hate reality shows.

To be clear, I 100% supported the writers during their strike, it just sucks that some really good shows were impacted.

I also disagree with adding The Last of Us to the list. I never played the game, although I know most of the differences between show and game because of friends so I get why folks who played the game were upset with it. As just a show watcher, I thought the second season was just as good as the first. Maybe a little slower paced, but not enough to be on a list like this, especially putting it higher on the list than Westworld S2.

Oh! I forgot about that one, I liked Edge of Tomorrow too

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

I was 11 when the book came out, so I was the perfect demographic for it. That book played such a pivotal role in my life at that age. I remember being excited for the next books and waiting for their releases.

I’m 41 now and I still will pick up any book by Pullman and read it. He is my very first favorite author.

I have two.

I do not like Will Ferrell in his typical roles at all and I’m glad I’m not the only one saying this anymore. Everyone quotes Anchorman and I just did not enjoy that at all, or Elf, Step Brothers, or any of his “everyone loves” movies. Stranger Than Fiction, however, was amazing and I wish he would do more roles like that.

Tom Cruise is my other one. I find his acting very bland and unappealing. Mission Impossible has put me to sleep every time I try to watch it. I am not a big fan of Top Gun, Jerry Maguire, or any of them. My Cruise exceptions are Tropic Thunder which I wish he did more comedic roles like that and Minority Report, not a perfect movie but it was the very first DVD I ever owned so there is a bit of nostalgia tied to it.

Star Wars Pod Racer Halo Reach Word of Warcraft

Pod racer was the first game I was better than my younger sibling and when I bought my very first CD (Green Day). I spent hours playing that game with my CD on repeat.

Halo Reach was the first Halo game I was really into and first console modern game played. I spent so many hours playing online and IRL with friends.

World of Warcraft is the game I’ve played the longest. I’ve been playing since a few months after launch. Even though I initially thought it was “too cartoony”, it has kept me entertained for decades. Some of my favorite books are from Warcraft lore. I’ve played countless hours with friends, but now I play solo more than anything. I chase achievements, transmogs, and pets.