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I always had a warped perception on reading and age. I did a book report on Goldfinger when I was a freshman in high school.

You are oh so correct and thank you. As a newcomer to the forum I didn't want to create a new thread before grasping the thread cycle it seemed to have. Which is fine.

Being that my school was out in the boonies we didn't really have a library but a "book bus" came every other week to take our orders and they also had some assortment of books that they brought with them. They were surprisingly nonplussed by me asking for three books about firearms and a couple of fantasy books. I've never read Silmarillion, I never could get into it, it wasn't really that interesting to me. But I have read both the black and white books from Robert Jordan though

I have been playing a singleplayer poker game called Balatro recently. This short trailer more or less gives you the idea: As you win rounds, you earn money which can be used at the shop which you visit in between each round to try to modify your build (modify, add, or remove cards from your deck, add jokers that give various kinds of bonuses or change how your build functions)...but the more you win, the more points you'll need to win the next round. Anyways, I only mention all of this because after having played the game for like 20-30 hours over the last month or so, I was finally able to construct more or less the exact deck and winning hand, a High Card build (i.e. a single card and normally the absolute worst hand type that you can play), that I've previously tried to create a few dozen times but failed to, which I took a video of here: I only needed about 86,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (i.e. 8.6*10^43) points to win the hand, but I scored 4,283,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (i.e. 4.283*10^90) points, so I guess I got a little carried away there. Anyways, don't play Balatro, it's a pretty good but pointless poker game and you'll start go crazy from the possibilities that you can see but can't quite ever put together. I was finally able to build the exact build I had thought of like 5 hours into the game but couldn't ever quite get all the parts lined up for, and now I finally have no reason to continue playing it: though the game officially has no end as the required winning amount of points just continue to scale up exponentially (a build "wins" the game after defeating Ante 8, for reference - as you can see in the bottom left, I am actually at Ante 20/8 instead, and Ante 8 usually only requires around a score of just 100,000 to win), I think I can consider it "beat".

Completely off topic, but when I see GNU, I usually associate it with one of two things... the GNU license or this animal https://www.britannica.com/animal/gnu Yes, I know they are most likely called Wildebeest in SA

I liked Enid Blyton as a young teenager, never dug the Clarke stuff But the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant? Yeah, that’s where I got off the bus. Despite several genuine attempts including when I got to my late twenties, it was just more work than rewarding for me. So I ditched them for good halfway through the second book

The first book that freaked me out and I couldn't finish first time reading was Dracula when I was 8. Harker's descent into madness was just a bit too disturbing at the time. To be fair, my parents started me on Enid Blyton when I was 4/5, then I rolled into expanding interests. Arthur C Clarke and JT Edson Westerns got started when I was ending first school and rolling into middle school, so that would have been that 7-10 age period. I was about 11 when I went through Shogun for the first time. Similarly, I was going through Alistair Maclean, Ian Fleming, and Robert Ludlum around that period. For some amusement to the audience, I actually picked up the Dragonlance Chronicles at a car boot sale when I was about 10, and a week or two later I actually go the first 5 books in the Gor Chronicles at another car boot sale thinking they were similar. They had the epic fantasy covers after all.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-passes-defense-bill-automatically-registering-men-draft Great idea and one I support but its unlikely it will pass the Senate vote Lots of young people in the US nowadays are despondent, populist and entitled and this type of law should go a long way to changing that bad attitude It doesnt mean you will be sent to war, you could do civil service work or something like national guard work

I think that beckoner is overkill because too many Chillfogs make the game unplayable. Personally I would pick troubadour because he can summon more often (if needed) and later he can summon a skeleton every 3s and have 10+ chillfogs running all the time without doing anything.

The outcome of our national elections and the coalition parties that have now been created have worked out really well, its exceeded my expectations on numerous levels We have now a GNU (government of national unity ) which is technically different to a coalition government but it has some similarities But first important outcome was the ANC has been absolutely magnanimous and accepting of its loss from 57% to 40%. I am not anti-ANC, I am generally opposed to there foreign policy decisions and Im opposed to ANC dominance because it has created a culture of impunity around dealing with corruption and public sector inefficiencies But the ANC supports and respects the Constitution and legal outcomes and this election is another example of this. And the concern from some, which I didnt share, was that the ANC being a liberation party wouldnt accept its loss of majority like we have seen in other African countries And that didnt happen So the GNU that now exists is parties that I support and the so called socialist, anti-white, racist,pro-Russian EFF not only lost seats in Parliament but they have been shutout of the GNU and this was primarily because of there populist and unrealistic demands and thats the best news ever Going forward the GNU has lots of work to do around our numerous domestic problems but at least we now have a stable political foundation after the election and thats necessary before you see any real changes...the government has to be stable But in summary, great election results and more important a great outcome around the GNU and which parties are in it

Wot? Dang... when I was 11, my favourite books form the school library was by someone named Alistair Maclean. I especially remember Guns of Navarone and Ice Station Zebra. Good stuff (these were all Danish translations in case anyone wonders) I did struggle with The Silmarillion though. Took me quite a few more years to get through that one and appreciate it I have shared the story in the past, I think, how I got into reading Tolkien in English. Bought this adventure game "The Hobbit" from a publisher named Melbourne House. I was hopelessly stuck and the only help to find in the game box was a paperback edition of The Hobbit. I read it and worked out why I kept getting killed by the goblins in the caves (you have to fool the three trolls first, keeping them out in daylight, then raid their cave and get "Sting", which provides a light source

I read tonnes of fantasy books, Tolkien ofc, some weird post apocalyptic pocketbooks, a bunch of western books, Stephen King, Jules Verne and a book series called Deerfoot. I've been told that the only thing I read that was mildly appropriate was the Jules Verne and Tolkien books. My sister refused her kids access to my Tintin or Asterix collections And apparently, Stephen Kings Misery isn't appropriate for 11 year olds somehow.

Assuming Marlins is a baseball team, I remember we had a dedicated baseball thread a while ago As can be seen from the title, it's a bit outdated though. Didn't help GuardDog got a girlfriend, so not hanging around on the internet discussing baseball anymore You're more than welcome to create a new, updated 2024 baseball thread if feel like it (no obligation, it just feels like a sport that warrants its own thread)

Some old British... "something". Not really sure what it is. I remember buying Floodland when the CD came out in 87. Liked it enough to pick up a few more of their back catalogue. Floodland was produced by Jim Steinman iirc, which probably explains why an unknown band suddenly turned out hits edit: almost forgot one of my favourites of the late 80's, just before the music died

Voted for my All-Stars. MLB is weird since all the stars are injured but my WNBA votes are fire and consistent *stares at Stefanie Dolson jersey*

I now know *why* an acquaintance of mine said Kate Bush inspired Tori Amos.

I am so gonna look if Grace Randolph reviewed this shot by shot.

I noticed this tends to be an issue in many a show nowadays.

Had a good day at work at Taco Bell, saw an old doggie friend at the drive thru named Oakie.

I actually get that part. I moved quickly with my wife and we've been married for 20 years now. There is no need to pussyfoot around if the chemistry is right. That being said, if you aren't feeling it, you aren't feeling it, and letting her know early is best. If she doesn't want to waste time, then don't waste her time. I wamted to see my wife every day after the first date.

The problem is, she wants to skip the "get to know one another" and "see if we actually like one another part", because that is a waste of time. A commitment to having kids. Then the other stuff. Basically already planning us moving in together and our holidays and stuff.

I have the same problem, is there a solution in the meantime?

Who knows? She may appreciate @melkathi doing the Haka..,

On a serious note, keeping it calm and clear and non-antagonistic always seems the best approach. That it was a pleasant experience but you don't think you meshed as well as you were hoping, and that you're at a stage in your life where you need to find the natural spark rather than try to force it? Things I've learned from one mildly abusive passive-aggressive ex, and another one who was, shall we say, heavily invested in certain tastes that required it, is always making sure communication is clear, trustworthy, and not open to emotional interpretation. Or, you could just say that you're looking for Gomez and Morticia, not Romeo and Juliet. *** On the matter of reading age-ranges, I can hold my hand up and cheerfully admit I've gotten into heaps of trouble with friends with suggestions of reading for their kids. I am apparently heavily biased by the things I read at those ages, which most people apparently don't consider appropriate for their kids at the same ages. I'm not sure if that says anything about what my parents allowed me to read, my grasp on reading, or current trends in parental viewpoints.

Speaking only for myself, I put 500+ hours into the Baldur's Gate series and loved it.... but have put 1200+ hours into the PoE series, 850 or so in Deadfire, I think it's my most played non-MMO game ever. I actually do think PoE is the better series, partly just because it was released later with better engine tech etc...