That’s a good point I overlooked because it’s rare for me to have such polluted skies such as from massive wildfires. Pollution can definitely make the reds deeper, but it comes at the cost of muted colors overall. Human particulate pollution isn’t really on the scale of what’s needed to have a visible effect like that either, so wildfire smoke is the most common source of visible effects

Ah, I still haven’t see that one from Studio Ghibli. Only the two I mentioned. I saw Spirited last year and Totoro last week. Honestly… I can’t say I get them. I’m not sure if I’m too old to form nostalgia, too late to recognize the products of their eras, or too uninvolved with that realm of media to recognize how groundbreaking it was. I can appreciate the vibe and musical score, but it’s not motivating enough to see more. So if anyone loves them and wants to give me pointers, I’m listening.

I didn’t really enjoy Akira, either. I went in relatively blind in 2020 and thought it was a motorcycle story, so I wasn’t ready for the supernatural stuff. That was clearly not a children’s movie though, so maybe I’m expecting too much depth in Studio Ghibli in my anime adventure route

In my experience as someone who rarely gets up for sunrise, they are not really different. I’m sure there is variation caused by rising vs diving temperature, humidity, cloud patterns caused directly by solar radiation, etc. But, functionally, pretty similar. And no, pollution does not make sunsets prettier. (will explain below)

The main difference is my perception and my ability to predict what comes next. When the sun is setting, I have lots of warning because I can see the sun, obviously. With my spot at the beach, I can watch the sun go all the way down. I know exactly when it disappears and then I watch it a little while longer as the oranges turn even redder. I’m coming from my daytime perception of color and staring at the sun, further delaying my dark adaptation.

Sunrise, on the other hand, is more of a surprise. The sky colors are morphing, but I can’t quite tell when the sun will pop up. I’m in relative darkness so my color perception is different. Last one I watched I had my star app open to better predict the sun’s appearance and it made it feel a little more like the sunsets I watch at the same spot. As the reds and oranges fade, I continue to normalize the white balance, so to speak, so it seems like a faster event as it approaches normal daylight color.

Pollution. No, those pretty, dramatic sunsets are not caused by pollution. That’s a myth you can look up, so here’s my observations of why we perceive it as truth. I’ve spent a week at a time a few times a year for a decade watching just about every sunset on an ocean-like horizon over the rest of my country. The sun is creating a massive, flat rainbow of color. The reds get pulled down towards earth due to refraction in the atmosphere than the blue end. On cloudless evenings, the sky, being a poor reflector, turns a sort of yellow-orange hue while the sun itself is the only thing visibly turning red. That flat rainbow array still exists every time, but it’s lost to space as it skims the atmosphere without hitting anything more solid. Think of the classic prism refraction rainbow being projected tangentially onto a basketball. But, if there’s some spotty cloud cover between you and 1000 miles west, that rainbow will be blocked and reflected by some clouds instead of flying miles overhead and missing you. Just about all pretty sunset photos have clouds. The solid orange and Orange-yellow portion of the rainbow will be bouncing off the clouds in a patch of sky that still looks blue or pale white. That’s where the drama comes from.

I’d also add sunsets blocked at the final stages by very distant cloud banks have made what seem to be the reddest finales I’ve ever seen, a few minutes after sunset, because the light is still being refracted, reflected, and refracted again from even lower than before. I never pack up and go in for these, unlike most people at the beach. On the opposite end, I don’t mind the boring cloudless sunsets because it means I’ll have at least a few hours of clear night skies most times. Stargazing is what I’m really there for.

Any relation to the soots in My Neighbor Totoro? Their description made me think they were just eye floaters but since they also appear in Spirited Away with less introduction, I’m curious if they’re rooted in a coal/wood burning era

Only the last-qualified legacy students pay that for Ivy leagues. The other 90% are majorly covered by scholarships funded by shaking down alumni.

It comes from “molon labe” (which you’ll also sometimes see) which was what the Spartans said when told to lay down their arms or face certain defeat by the Persians at thermopylae. Spoiler: they came and took them.

I’m only vaguely with the concept, but have you looked into asexualism? It sounds to me more like a generally low sex drive as opposed to only liking the most beautiful 0.01% on the planet.

Do you feel lust and sexual attraction to these super models?

For a while, it was full of pictures. Only pictures. That “lunch” thing was trendy but not at all the main content. Whatever you wanted, it was there. It was no different than any other platform. Some great content, some bullshit. Now it’s shitty “reels”, ads, and fraud. You’d have to sift through a lot of forced garbage to find your subscribed content.

Do you think wildfires are a result of state lines? Do you have any idea how big California is? Wait till you find out dry California weather is not 100% related the general state drought conditions because of the unregulated almond farming factor?

Super models aren’t somehow wired to only like other super models. A person’s outwards looks don’t tell you what they find attractive. When you see gorgeous celebrity couples, they’re only getting that coverage because they’re both gorgeous (Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt). Some remaining romance coverage goes towards couples where one is gorgeous and the other is talented/accomplished (Aubrey Plaza and Jeff Baena). The other 99% of couples don’t get any media attention because it’s not fun to talk about #4 sexiest woman of 2021 and her husband, extra #4.

It’s completely normal to be attracted to super models. They are literally chosen as excellent candidates for conventionally attractive builds and then dolled up to close the gap on perfection. Keep in mind, you’re probably ignoring a huge swath of models that aren’t your flavor of perfection as that varies between cultures and ethnicities. What you can hopefully realize is those perfect images have a ton of work done to the “base” person by makeup, lighting, camera angle, and photoshop. They’re generally not real. Such gorgeous celebrities are so far from their perfected image that they often go unrecognized in public if not for some unique visual trait. Even just having an unfamiliar accent makes people doubt the identity.

You want a real shock (assuming you’re a straight male)? Look up your favorite porn stars without makeup. The picture is out there.

You don’t need to change your lust for super models, just hopefully come to realize they’re a fantasy. And more than anything, those perfect 21 year old looks won’t last. They may be perfect for 30 or perfect for 40, but not for 21. And that’s OK. Your opinion will change as you age yourself. 8th grade me though high schoolers were adults. Now I don’t even want to be seen with the babies called “college students”.

You never know who will walk into your life. You’ll never know what they’re thinking.

Aw man, it was good info about metals and the likely inclusion of nickel at the hardware store

For anyone confused, just gonna point out OP asked about rubber o-rings from the hardware store, not metal hardware. O-rings are non-metallic

You’re an excellent case for my point. Most car-owning households in the US have slightly more than 2 cars. An EV covers your needs 335 days of the year and a gas car covers the other 30 days, yet people act like that’s why they need a 7 seat suv every day. I plugin hybrid will be my next move when I stop picking up lumber every weekend and put my little trailer back in use for the once a month “haul”

I just said I’ll use one of the 2 other gas cars when needed and didn’t even mention the bikes, but OK, you do you, ignore everything I said about having multiple cars because you’re mated to yours for life or something. You speak for the world. You’re the face of the majority. There’s definitely not an actual silent majority of people who don’t give a shit about cars, don’t talk about cars, treat cars as a costly appliance, and keep buying EVs for their boring, sub-100 mile commutes.

Lots of people consider only their commute. They just don’t complain about… Making it to work OK? Or don’t announce it? The frequency of 200+ mile trips is vastly overestimated by anti-EV people in both terms of how often they do such trips and how many more people live in dense, urban areas. Lots of people already have shitty, dedicated commuter cars they wouldn’t want to sit in for more than an hour as it is. A half-dead 2011 Leaf would still cover my 40-mile round trip. Back when I daily’d a Geo Tracker, I’d take my spouse’s normal gas sedan if we had a trip. Or my weekend gas car. The average number of vehicles in US households that own cars is 2.3 cars. An EV can be slotted into most households without any real change.

I’m amused by the use of “automatically” when I’ve always heard it in my terrestrial life as “involuntarily”. Changes the implication in a positive way, I’d say. Involuntary means you can’t stop it. Automatic means it’s supposed to happen.

Exactly this. I don’t have time to read a 10+ minute article during this hour of shit post scrolling

Topping for baked potato, baked potato soup, and other places where potato, sour cream, and onions may intersect

And those weird products that make common, simple tasks easier (think: 90s-00s infomercial for like jar openers or soda pourers) only ever showed normal, able-bodied people badly performing tasks. Doesn’t change the fact that those were targeted at people with disabilities without singling them out. The shown user is not always the target audience.