Newnan times herald sports

Seeing as the customization crowd has been gaining a bit of a negative reputation on this subreddit the last few hours I'd like to share my constructive criticism and hopefully not come off as too whiny.
I've spent hundreds of hours in SMB3 creating essentially my own baseball universe with college, minor, major and international leagues/tournaments. Right now I don't see myself doing the same in SMB4, not because I don't want to.
Currently in SMB4, I can't copy teams, meaning I need to re-create intricate logos from scratch all the time (think logos where letters interlock with each other like the USC baseball logo OR a Tiger logo [seriously, why don't we have a logo with a Tiger on it, it's one of the most common mascots in sports]). Additionally, there is no way to import logos other creators have made either.
I really like SMB4's gameplay. The addition of team chemistry and more traits makes the game a lot more dynamic and I really like the new animations. I just don't see myself spending as much time with SMB4 as with 3 without an easier way to copy/share logos.

Hi everyone,
I have decided to post on here again as dating apps don’t seem to be working…
I am a M24 who is about to be in his last year of grad school! I am getting my masters in communications. I work in the IT department at the university I attend and love working in it!
In my free time, I love to play and watch sports! I love to play soccer and basketball! I also really enjoy music and singing along to songs by my favorite artists such as AJR, Khalid, and Rainbow Kitten Surprise.
I also am heavily into gaming and play various games on my PS5, I don’t have a PC sadly but I’m thinking of saving up for one!
In terms of what I’m looking for, I’m looking for someone that I can grow with and travel the world with! I’d love to find someone that pushes me outside of my comfort zone to do things I wouldn’t always necessarily do.
I don’t really care where your from and am willing to make long distance work!
All I ask is that in your opening message please include your age and a little bit about yourself and a picture if you feel comfortable 😊
Thank you for reading, and I look forward to meeting you soon😊

This morning, you asked me how to spell tomato.
I was busy, far too busy to be questioned by a 4 year old on the spelling of a fruit.
I mumbled something about a time and a place, and you slunk off, disappointed but not unhappy.. Or so I thought, I mean maybe you were upset.. I never actually asked you.
On the way to school you were telling me about a play you’re going to be in. I can’t remember what character you were going to be, because I was too distracted with getting you dropped off, myself to work on time.
Work was so busy. It always is. I didn’t get a chance to check my phone until after lunch. By then, the school had been trying to reach me for 4 hours.
I am out the door, without a word to anyone. My boss sees me leaving, and asks what’s wrong.
“My daughter.” I say, breathless. “She’s hurt, badly. They don’t think she is going to make it.”
The principal is waiting at the hospital, a solem but horrified expression on her aged face. You had died before I arrived. I was late when you needed me, I was not even on time for your death.
The principal explained, you had a sports carnival, and of course, I’d forgotten your bag. And instead of asking the teachers to phone me, like you had known your mother wouldn’t answer, you took it upon yourself to walk home and get it.
The truck driver never saw you until it was too late. He did not stop to see if you were okay, because he was drunk. He did not want to get into trouble, so instead, he left you, all alone.
I can’t forgive myself.
But I can’t forgive him either.
I am currently with the truck driver, we have been downstairs, in my basement for the last few hours.
Cops have us surrounded, threatening to break the door down at anytime. I relish them coming in, I relish being free, with you again.
I’ve been here slowly making out each letter,
T O M A T O
I carve carefully, and slowly, into his skin, over and over again.
Mummy is so sorry. See you soon baby girl.

Long time lurker, first time poster in this Sub. My Fiancé (27 M) and I (27 F) have been together 7.5 years (engaged for 6 months) and I am currently 16 weeks pregnant with my first, a boy, due in November. From our “celebratory times” post engagement my family jokingly says.
I could write a novel on all the B.S we’ve gone through with JN but I’ll try* to keep this short for the sake of this post, but this is years of crap and abuse so I apologize in advance if this gets long and out of sorts. Maybe some day I can post specific examples/stories of all the shit she’s done.
She was wonderful for about the first year or so, then when she saw I was someone serious she changed her tune about me. She’s a typical Narc who see’s me as stealing her “perfect Angel boy”, whom she treated as her surrogate husband post divorce (divorced when Fiancé was 8 as a result of her cheating amongst other things). She’s a serial boundary stomper. I’m the one who is “behind” my fiancé manipulating every move he makes and every word he says, because she can’t fathom that her baby boy has a mind and will of his own to do what HE feels is right!
My fiancé is wonderful and has the shiniest spine, and has told her off many times and had even moved out of her house (immediately, I’m talking overnight here) and went NC for about 3 years when things reached an incredibly ugly point (around 2017/2018). Within the last few years he has tried going LC with her but it still results in issues and problems because she cannot control him, his life, relationship and is not the perpetual center of attention. However the last few months he felt she was changing, as she was reaching out to his sister (21 F who is also NC with her for a ton of despicable reasons on JNMIL part as well) which he felt was a positive sign. Mind you SIL has not felt comfortable with any of her “attempts” and does not want to have a relationship with her at this time for all the abuse she has put her through and rightly so! IMO most of her attempts were public grabs for attention, to be able to say “see I tried!” and not genuine acts from her heart. They’ve all been public displays like showing up to her college sports games uninvited, leaving oversized signs staked into her lawn, leaving gifts on her porch and notes on her car etc. None of her notes have held any sort of accountability/apology just the good ole “God doesn’t want us apart. Family is everything, Mommy loves you” VOMIT.
My fiancé does want to have a relationship with her but is still somewhat conflicted. He is trying to be the biggebetter person and give her a chance because he doesn’t want to live his life with regret towards this of any kind. Which I understand but I just can’t get past. I’m sure it’s easier for me to feel and hold onto as she’s not my mother, but the amount of abuse she has put my fiancé and SIL through and even myself I cannot forget.
Now onto to my question/concern. I personally do not want her to know anything about my pregnancy, maybe even a little after the baby is born. My fiancé says it doesn’t really affect me that much because I don’t have to see her and talk to her (which I don’t thank GOD). However I don’t want her to think this is opening up gates for her to do so. I know she would just treat me like an incubator and try to “butter me up” and act fake nice in order to try and worm her way close to my child. I’m afraid we’ll go the rest of my pregnancy with her attempts and hearing about how much she’s “changed” just to have big problems erupt when baby is born because she’s not going to be allowed in the hospital or to see him right away (which I’m not even sure if I want my own family there during or immediately after). We could try and set boundaries all we want to but I know for certain she doesn’t believe they apply to her and she’s entitled to do/say whatever she feels. She would always state that she’s the “queen” because she’s his (fiancé’s) mother and deserves special treatment and when I’ve asked about my own mom and the special treatment she deserves she tells me it’s not the same and she doesn’t matter… OKAY. This woman has stated to my fiancé and I quote “I’M top dog and she’ll get to be top dog when I’m DEAD” referring to how she’s the top person in Fiancé’s life and I can have that spot over her cold, dead body. Like what the actual F? So reasoning with her on boundaries is not exactly easy or in the question.
Personally I don’t want to let her in on my pregnancy or anytime close after. For my own peace of mind and sanity. Fiancé is afraid she will find out through mutuals that we’re expecting and doesn’t want her to blow up about it, or be mad because she didn’t get told sooner. I’m on the side of I DON’T CARE how she finds out, I want to have a stress free pregnancy and PP away from her. I’m afraid if he lets her in now she will gain all these delusional expectations about our relationship and her relationship to LO. So I’d rather deal with her finding out on her own or her finding out after and still being angry. Not having to jump hurdles of her crap while still pregnant.
I’d like to add that this isn’t something fiancé and I argue about just is something we discuss our concerns over. I know if I really put my foot down and said No he would respect me and my wishes and follow along. I guess I just feel maybe as thought I’m in the wrong or just being petty and unable to to let the past go. So AITA here?
(Sorry this rambled on for so long, thank you to anyone who stuck around to the end!)

Hi everyone,
I have decided to post on here again as dating apps don’t seem to be working…
I am a M24 who is about to be in his last year of grad school! I am getting my masters in communications. I work in the IT department at the university I attend and love working in it!
In my free time, I love to play and watch sports! I love to play soccer and basketball! I also really enjoy music and singing along to songs by my favorite artists such as AJR, Khalid, and Rainbow Kitten Surprise.
I also am heavily into gaming and play various games on my PS5, I don’t have a PC sadly but I’m thinking of saving up for one!
In terms of what I’m looking for, I’m looking for someone that I can grow with and travel the world with! I’d love to find someone that pushes me outside of my comfort zone to do things I wouldn’t always necessarily do.
I don’t really care where your from and am willing to make long distance work!
All I ask is that in your opening message please include your age and a little bit about yourself and a picture if you feel comfortable 😊
Thank you for reading, and I look forward to meeting you soon😊

Hello Everyone,
I registered to play an event starting this week and next week with River City Sports & Social Club. I have been trying to get in touch with them, emailing 6+ times, called the number I found online, messaged via FB and Instagram, and absolutely no one will get back to me. It's been over a week since I first attempted to reach out.
Is there some super secret contact information or trick out there to get a response?

My name is Rushi, and I am the Head of Product and Marketing Lead. I am conducting a research study to understand the motivations for betting, decision-making processes, and pain points of crypto sports bettors. The purpose of this study is to validate market assumptions and gather valuable insights.

• Sessions will be conducted in English via Zoom or Google Meet (video must be turned on).
• Participation in this session is voluntary and anonymous; no personal information will be captured during the session.
• You will be compensated for your time with a $10USDC in Polygon.

To be eligible for this research interview, here are the following requirements:

1. You must be an active sports bettor within the last 6 months.
2. Share your betting platform experiences
3. You must be cricket, tennis, cs:go, valorant, baseball bettors
4. You must already know what a USDC polygon is (otherwise it’s hard to payout)
5. You must have a crypto wallet.

If you meet the above requirements and are interested in participating, please send an email to [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]). Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns regarding the study.
I look forward to speaking with you soon.
Sincerely,
Rushi

This has been reoccurring problem for the past three years. My friend, Ben (22M) has been buying things for me (24F) for and spamming my phone with texts and it gets on my nerves.
We've got to know each other through one of my close friends three years ago. Since he lived in another country, we've only texted, but a year later he moved to my town and started attending the same university as me, but he's different major and on different faculty. Since then we've been hanging out a lot when I can go. I'm in my last year of my Master's degree, so I don't have much time to spare.
Me and Ben are like lost twins according to my friends. We like the same things, movies, music. We have similar hobbies, like same sports, did same sports. Love dogs. We watched the same things as kids. The only thing we don't agree on is food. While he eats everything, I am kind of a picky eater. I hate cheese, any kind of meat other than chicken and some kinds of fish, and then mushrooms. Other than that there are foods I dislike, but it's not that bad and when I have to eat them I'll eat them, but wouldn't prepare them or order them.
Though sometimes he texts me if I want grilled cheese, or Blue cheese pasta or some meat dish to which I reply that I hate those foods. He replies that he's asking if I changed my mind which I didn't and don't think I will change any time soon.
Ever since we started texting, I noticed one big problem about him. He's super big texted, like he messages 20 times in like an hour with spam of 'Hi. How are you? What are you doing? Then random facts...' He does this like 4-5 times a day. I am not fan of texting, nor calling and everyone in my friend group knows. I've told him multiple times that I can't text back when I'm studying as I don't look at my phone 24/7 so he backs off for like two, or three days and then he's back at it. Then when I'm not responding, he starts asking if he's being annoying, then he tells me he'll text later. Or when I'm working on a presentation, he texts me to come hang out with him that he'll prepare something for me, to take a break for an hour, but I honestly can't spare even the hour. I work on 3-4 hours of sleep and I barely eat. While he takes uni life like every other day, for me it's very important to finish my studies. Recently he started asking more personal questions about my family (not like how my siblings or my parents are, he wants to know what exactly is wrong since my best friend asked hows everything back home and I honestly told her it'd not that good, Ben was there too, but I didn't know he overheard us, then he asked me to give him more details, but I said no, I am not that close with him to share that personal info) and my health (which is not like I would want it to be). He asked about it over the year several times, saying one person carrying a burden must be hard, that telling him may lift some weight off my shoulders, but each time I told him no. Not even my best friend knows all the stuff since it's very, very personal. Or when I tell him I can't text him since I have an important lecture, he text me constantly about how the subject goes, if it's hard lesson, random facts about the topic if I text him back.
He also gives me compliments which I've repeatedly told him I hate receiving and am uncomfortable by them. I don't mind those like 'Your hair look nice. You bought a new dress, it's pretty. Or did you get your nails done, I like what you chose.' but he compliments go like this, 'You're beautiful, smart, intelligent, kind, caring, friendly...' I don't know why but I find them uncomfortable and told him repeatedly to stop. He didn't.
Then every time we're hanging out, he buys stuff for me. When I'm hungry, he buys it. I like something, but the price makes me turn around, he buys it for me. I have money. I mention something I think about buying, the next day I have it. It's so uncomfortable. Money are no problem, but I avoid buying expensive stuff now since I'm saving up for an apartment. Or when I'm at work he messages me constantly asking what food I want as he wants to walk with me home and he will spam me until I reply, or he buys me something. Or when I achieve something like when I pass my exams, he's immediately texting me, 'Dinner's on me.' And he doesn't want to take my money for it, since he offered. I started making excuses why I can't go, but I can't say no all the time since many of those times are with our friends.
Ben buying all this stuff for me is making me super uncomfortable and I've told him dozen of times to stop. But he doesn't. He even said that he'd gladly spend his whole salary on me. That I'm the only person who deserves it. Since my hardwork needs to be appreciated. But I hate it.
And he does it only to me. No one else. Because I'm special or whatever's that supposed to mean.
My friends think it's cute and that he likes me and that he cares about me. But I don't know if that's not true, since he thinks I'm attracted to girls apparently. Once I jokingly said that I have to go since I have a date with Batman (to watch the newest movie), and I added that maybe even the whole Justice League (since I wanted to see the latest movie), he jokingly asked 'Even women?' to which I replied, 'Have you seen Wonder Woman? She's hot,' and since then he's been making constant comments like, 'You need to find a woman who will treat you right. You need to find a woman who will prepare a meals for you when you forget to eat while studying. You need to find a woman... yadda yadda yadda. You get it.' Now I really don't know if he's joking and likes me, or he thinks it's really the case.
When I told my friends I'm looking for an apartment, he immediately suggested moving together. That I don't need to worry about anything, that only I make him my 'testing rat' since I like experimenting in the kitchen and trying out new recipes and he loves tasting them.
The only person who is on my side is my cousin who disliked Ben from the first moment she heard about him and her dislike grew as soon as she saw a picture of him. She offered to put him in his place, but I told her I'd like to take care of it myself.
I don't plan on moving with him. While I may have liked him a bit in the beginning, my feelings disappeared. Other than that he's kind guy but enough is enough.
Do you know what I should do? How to make him understand that it's making me uncomfortable? I'm really desperate and no one other than my cousin is not on my side, they say I'm overreacting and should enjoy the attention I'm recieving. Help?

33F, 5’0” and about 130lbs. Had lymes as a child and a lot of bone injuries like stress fractures and knee pain from high school sports. Blood tests come back fine now (not tested for lymes but everything else okay). I walk a bit for my commute but I’ve done it since November in good sneakers. Go to gym and haven’t felt pain from lifting.
Suddenly have intense shin and knee and thigh pain, pulsing all over. Almost feels like the annoyance and persistence of a migraine. It feels like shin splints but also in my knees and thighs at same time. Just a general ache that almost makes me want to laugh/cry in how suddenly it hurts. I’ve gotten this before, maybe a few times a year. Usually when I’m tired or run down.
If it was just my shins, I’d think shin splints but the knee and thigh and both sides hurting is concerning.

Hello all! It’s the offseason and for some reason (probably cuz I'm insane but I feel that's implied at this point) I got inspired to write up a history of my favorite figure skating discipline: ice dance. This is a project of love. I don’t pretend to be an expert in all things but I like to think my time as an ice dance fan has given me a good amount of perspective and the ability to view the current state of ice dance within the context of what has come before and what has influenced the current state of affairs. All of that said, I’ve decided to highlight eras in ice dance, mostly by Olympic cycle, to bring attention to ice dancers who have had tremendous impact on the sport as well as to appreciate how far ice dance has come in its 70-year history. I’ll be posting this on Tuesdays and Saturdays (in ET) for everyone to read and take in at their own pace to pass the offseason by. Without further ado, here’s to starting this passion project.
​
Part 1: Early Beginnings, 1952-1980
I debated back and forth whether to separate these years out further given the sheer amount of time covered. However, the complete lack of footage for a vast swath of the World Championships that occurred from 1952 to 1970 was the ultimate decider in realizing that those years simply needed to be included in this grouping of years in order to be worth posting. This, of course, also colors my assessment of this era. But I hope to bring an objective view to the early beginnings of ice dance.
The first World Championships for ice dance were held in 1952 in Paris, an addition 44 years in the making. Nine pairs competed in front of 7 judges for the honor of becoming the first ever World Champion in ice dance, an honor that ultimately went to the British pair of Jean Westwood and Lawrence Demmy. It’s unclear what exactly was competed at that first Worlds. The placing system simply asked the judges where they felt a couple should place, added the numbers up, and posted the standings. For example, if all 7 judges placed a couple first, the pair would have 7 points. So it’s hard to tell if more than one program was ever performed.
Although footage for this first Worlds does not exist, we are lucky that footage from Westwood/Demmy’s 1954 win in Oslo was preserved to some extent. The first thing to strike a viewer about Westwood/Demmy, beyond the fact that the music from the event was not captured, was the extended use of the Killian hold, an emphasis on synchronized leg movement and lines, as well as the slower and purposeful movement across the ice. This was early ice dance. The goal for couples in the 1950s and even 1960s was to translate ballroom of the time onto the ice as best as they could. On top of that, we see some early staples of the discipline, like close holds and synchronization, take root almost as soon as the sport could be judged.
The 1950s and 1960s featured a short period of British domination in ice dance, briefly interrupted by a 4 year span where the Czechoslovakian sibling pair of Eva Romanova and Pavel Roman took home 4 titles. Watching this pair, it becomes clear how the sport changed in a short amount of time. Romanova/Roman keep in the spirit of Westwood/Demmy before them but now feature quick changes in hold and more speed than their predecessors. Or at the very least, this is the first recorded instance where this is captured accurately. And while the music is not captured here, given the change in the style of dance, it is likely that music and tempo changes were a requirement at this early stage. This is corroborated by the first ice dance program whose music was captured, the winning program from Diane TowleBernard Ford in 1966. An interesting note in TowleFord’s program is the introduction of small lifts, spins, and Towler’s switching of positions over the ice, lying nearly flat on the ice at one point. The program features 3 music changes.
You may now be wondering how a discipline so intrinsically linked to the Soviet Union and Russia can have been left out of this write up for this long. Well, you don’t have to wait any longer. The reign of British dance came to a screeching halt in the 1969-1970 season, when an Elena Tchaikovskaya coached team of Lyudmila Pakhomova and Alexander Gorshkov earned their first world title at the 1970 Worlds. The 1969 World Silver medalists became the first in a long line of Soviet dancers to stand on the top spot.
Pakhomova/Gorshkov were primarily known for their more dramatic style. As seen prior, ice dance had been steadily becoming more athletic over the years, increasing in speed and difficulty as the years went on. Pakhomova/Gorshkov were among the 2 pairs (alongside America’s Judy SchwomeyeJames Sladky) who really emphasized the athleticism that the event could contain. On top of that, Pakhomova/Gorshkov often picked music that was dynamic and allowed Pakhomova to shine as a performer. Their style is especially apparent in the compulsory they originated, the Tango Romantica, where the dramaticism of the tango is just as important as the tango movements. This was the early stages of ice dance becoming not just a transition of ballroom onto the ice but also a performance in and of itself. SchwomeyeSladky meanwhile were a tad more traditional, adhering more closely to the origins of the sport and its roots to dance. The inventors of the Yankee Polka themselves (now I am conflicted on how I feel about them haha) featured numerous music and tempo changes in their program to cover multiple forms of dance in a short amount of time. Controversy started early in ice dance’s history, as many felt Gorshkov wasn’t as strong a skater as Pakhomova and the American pair of SchwomeyeSladky should have won in 1970. Alas, figure skating judging seems destined to generate controversy. Worth noting here, the first compulsory dance that has a record of being competed was in 1968, which makes Pakhomova/Gorshkov and SchwomeyeSladky among the first to medal with the new required dance. Also worth noting, the 70s saw a lot more variety in holds, with closed holds being the predominant hold but side by side hand holding also featured in programs along with parallel skating.
It's around this time that SchwomeyeSladky began to advocate for the inclusion of ice dance into the Olympics. In a New York Times article from 1972, Judy Schwomeyer was quoted as saying that ice dance was a different kind of sport that used different muscles but the athletes worked just as hard. The pair had skated on Olympic ice when ice dance was presented as a demonstration sport in 1968, with the IOC president in attendance to evaluate the validity of the sport for Olympic competition. They must have made a decent impression, as the IOC approved ice dance as an Olympic sport to be competed in 1976. Although SchowmeyeSladky didn’t make it to compete on the Olympic rings, their demonstration of the sport’s potential for the Olympic audience was hugely influential to the subsequent inclusion in the Olympics.
The 1976 Olympics marked the first time that ice dance would be viewed by the general public and the forerunners were Pakhomova/Gorshkov, who had won 4 world titles by this time, after not attending the 1975 Worlds. This didn’t stop them from standing on top of the Olympic podium for the first time in Olympic history. Their free dance featured numerous dance style, music, and tempo changes. These dance styles included blues/jazz and tango among others, with an emphasis on big movements that drew attention rather than necessarily strictly translating ballroom to ice. Rather, the “vibe” of the dance, so to speak, was of more import to Pakhomova/Gorshkov than performing movements that were reminiscent of ballroom choreography.
Although Pakhomova/Gorshkov were synonymous with 1970s ice dance at this point, it was the 1976 Olympic silver medalists coached by Tatiana Tarasova who appeared to have more of an impact on the dancers that came after them. Irina Moiseeva and Andrei Minenkov won the 1975 World title in Pakhomova/Gorshkov’s absence and swiftly won the 1977 World title after the Olympic champions’ retirement. Moiseeva/Minenkov were a striking pair and I feel like their programs were some of the first where really interesting stuff was happening choreographically. If Pakhomova/Gorskov emphasized the dramatic, Moiseeva/Minenkov cranked that up to an 11. If there was a time to point to when modern dance started seeping into ice dance, this is likely the pair to point to. Still under the rules of the time requiring multiple music and tempo changes, Moiseeva/Minenkov often opted for holding positions across the ice or repeating positions across the ice. Their balletic quality was in sharp contrast to the couple who had just retired as well as the other couples who had dominated in the same time. Where previous couples emphasized sharp movements, Moiseeva/Minenkov emphasized soft transitions. The style was interesting and exciting, but ultimately only won them 2 titles by the time they retired in 1982.
Instead of the aforementioned pair, it was a young Natalia Linichuk/Gennadi Karponosov, coached by Tchaikovskaya, who quickly rose up the ranks to claim 2 World titles and the 1980 Olympic title. Linichuk/Karponosov are who I like to affectionately name the most forgettable Olympic gold medalists in ice dance. Unsurprisingly given the shared coach, their style was similar to Pakhomova/Gorshkov’s, with the emphasis being on sharp, strong movements on ice and the required music changes being used to really draw attention to this (including…what I can only describe as rodeo music).
This era ultimately ended with a slight preview of what was to come. Krisztina Regoczy/Andras Sallay were the Olympic silver medalists in 1980 and decided to end their career at that year’s Worlds. The team coached by Betty Callaway had an inspired free dance, that incorporated music that was similar across the board with different speeds instead of drastically different music like their Soviet competitors. The stops necessitated by the switch in music were incorporated into the choreography to make the free dance more seamless. And while these are things we take for granted now, watching this program compared with the offering from Linichuk/Karponosov really draws these things into sharp focus as innovative for the time.
As if to emphasize a swift changing of the guard, as Regoczy/Sallay walked off the ice at the 1980 Worlds, ready to accept their sole World title and the first non-Soviet World title since 1969, a fellow student of Betty Callaway waited rinkside to congratulate Regoczy on a job well done. Her name? Jayne Torvill.

I (24m) am a second year middle school social studies teacher, I really enjoy my job and would consider myself a pretty laid back teacher, I accept late work, I play movies before breaks, ect. I don’t like contacting home unless it’s either for a positive reason or I feel like it’s absolutely necessary.
In my one of my 7th grade class periods, I have a set of boy-girl twins, Cheston (13m) and Emaline (13f).
I always encourage my students to think critically and challenge me if they want more detail or hear something they might have heard differently about/correct me on. Cheston has often brought up sports in our discussions, such as talking about the first non-white players when discussing civil rights or talking about baseball during a certain era. Some of his friends do this to, in other periods, when I talked to the boys about this, the guys in the friend group mentioned they sometimes watch TikToks, YouTube videos or documentaries about sports together. Im autistic and my special interest is sports, and I’ll be coaching next school year, so I often engage in their convos as a former athlete myself. They’ve started engaging more and more which I’m pretty sure is to impress me as I’ve had coworkers comment on how they talk about me as being “the fun teacher”. This isn’t me bragging, I have students who I know prefer other teachers and I’m fine with that.
Recently Emaline and a few of the girls she’s friends with have also started to bring up videos that they’ve seen online, the issue is many of these videos contain inaccurate info, which I’m fine with correcting. However, a recent incident with this has escalated beyond what was happening before.
Yesterday’s lesson was on the education system, stuff like how the education system started out, what has changed, ect. I was talking about how it affected disabled people and mentioned Hellen Keller, that’s when Emaline started to bring up the idea that Keller was actually faking it and didn’t exist, I asked her about it and she mentioned it on TikTok, I thought she’d stop after a bit of pushback but she kept insisting that Keller was faking it and continued to argue with me, and then said that people fake disabilities all the time, which really stuck me the wrong way as an autistic person. I was talking to one of my colleagues and she said I should let her parents know that she was being argumentative and saying some ableist stuff.
I called her parents and her mom said that while she disagreed with her daughter, it was my job to correct her and that I was calling over something too minor and I should just do my job and continue to argue with her until she stops. I hung up confused and asked some neurotypical coworkers and family members if I was in the wrong and some of them said yes, but I got a similar amount of people telling me no. AITA?

Looking for people to talk to and would really like to see if we can make an actual connection.
I always love to workout, play video games, watch sports, or hang with friends. I love to get to know people and learn about them. I just finished my master’s degree, giving me a lot more free time. I enjoy cooking and trying new recipes. I love traveling, but haven’t done so in a while!
I live alone and aside from work, I don't have that much to do at night and would love to talk to new people. I’m a pretty open person and enjoy like-minded individuals.
Here is a picture of me https://imgur.com/gallery/pKJVvzP
I would want to see a picture of you as well. I am 5’8, but I do not care how tall you are.
I’ll likely be up for the next few hours! I prefer someone who's nearby or in the US! Looking forward to chatting!

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!
I actually wrote up a post right after the 4th palace. Then I played a bit and they dropped so much more info that I had to toss it. Tomorrow is the trip to Hawaii so I thought this was a good point to stop and make another round of predictions.
The 4th palace is my favorite so far. There was so much symbolism to look into and I really liked the whole cursed gem bit. The end boss was a little annoying.
Things are really picking up pace. I had so many questions that were answered like 20 min later. They're really starting reveal some important details.
This is what I have as of now. In addition to my way off predictions there are also a few bits of info I'm that I'm not sure how they fit yet and some general impressions. I tried to keep it short (I failed).
Please no spoilers for any of the Persona games. This is my first and I plan on picking up 3/4.
After Palace 1 predictions : https://www.reddit.com/Persona5/comments/13odesi/first_time_playing_going_in_blind_my_horribly/
After Palace 2 prediction : https://www.reddit.com/Persona5/comments/13q3q9j/first_time_playing_going_in_blind_just_beat_the/
After Palace 3 predictions: https://www.reddit.com/Persona5/comments/13sl0vp/first_time_playing_going_in_blind_just_beat_the/
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Futaba/Alibaba and somehow Morgana

• The squid girl from the movie finally gets a name.
• Futaba's mom is the curry lady (Wakaba)!
• the phone call Sojiro had about a printer not being the right one makes soooo much sense now. I knew he was taking care of someone but I thought it was an old lady. Honestly thought there were going for a cheap laugh were she kept on printing out pictures of snowball or something.
• translated some of the binary on the walls of her palace into ASCII looking for a secret message but they were just the same odd symbols that were on the doors and such.

---tinfoil hat time---

• Futaba picked Alibaba as her hacker alias. before we get to see the whole Egypt / pyramid theme of her palace it seemed like a really odd choice.
• It could be just a cool name that the writers picked but "Chekhov's gun" states that every element introduced in a story should be necessary to the plot. If the gun isn't going to be fired then the audience doesn't need to see it being loaded - or something like that.
• It got me thinking and for sure I remembered the name Alibaba but had forgotten the details of the story. I did a quick search and was able to find the story pretty easily.
• Short version : Alibaba was a dude who stole a bunch of riches from some thieves. Alibaba is living the good life when the thieves track him down and make plans to kill him. The plans are stopped by Alibaba's slave who kills the thieves.
• Alibaba's slave was named .... wait for it .... Morgiana! Mind effing blown! That's way too similar to Morgana not to be important.
• Morgiana was female. Early in the game Ann ask Morgana if it's a boy or a girl. It says of course it's a boy, but it also says that it is human.Morgana might be the Male version of Morgiana but this throws it's gender into question too. It's not like anyone had checked between it's legs as far as I can tell. (also where does it do it's business I haven't seen a litter box).
• Add to this the "birth" flashback that Morgana had
• Morgana is an unwilling servant (aka a slave) to the big bad which is trapped in the deepest part of mementos
• The big bad was able to squeeze through the crack in his prison just enough to deposit a small amount of it's power in the metaverse this power took the form of Morgana.
• The Morgana in the dream had yellow eyes. still going with yellow eyes = metaverse native.
• He was programmed to want to find the deepest part of Mementos at all cost so he could free the big bad.
• His attraction to human desires was not intentional. He got sidetracked from his mission and got caught by Kamoshida.
• Meeting joker was a stroke of luck.
• He keeps telling us that he's using us for his own goals and that he just needs pawns.
• We're made to think that this is just a defensive move to avoid talking about his real feelings but I see a perfect opportunity for a "I told you I was just using you all" scene after the big bad flips some switch later on.
• Most of Morgana's battle functions are getting replaced by other members. Makoto and Futba are both doing the combat calls now. Morgana will leave the party soon.
• Something will happen to Morgana that will flip his switch while the PT are in Hawaii
• Morgiana killed the thieves.... The big bad will take control of Morgana at one point and we will have to fight shadow Morgana or something to get the cat back.
• Was almost thinking Morgana could be the one who betrays us but no one can understand him and even Akechi would have trouble selling the whole "my informant is a cat" thing to Sae.

Kasumi

• A big problem with Kasumi is we know shes going to be a badass by the time the casino heist comes around but right now she's the complete opposite of the person who saves Joker. This isn't like Makoto who is a bad ass and was just holding back. Kasumi is 100% a wet noodle right now.
• Add to that the my weak self relied on you so much line and there is little doubt she has a split personality disorder of some sort.
• They also dropped a major clue for Kasumi after the 3rd palace. She had a sister who died.
• My fist thought was she never had a sister and just had two distinct personalities that were separate but equal to each other. Each would take control at different points and her mind created a fake sister to explain any inconsistencies with her memories. At some point one of her personalities (the sister) was repressed.
• The problem with this is her interactions with joker she doesn't seem like a totally different person just more sure of herself. like her week self is the Kasumi we know now and her complete self is the one we fight with.
• She could have really had a sister and the trauma of the loss sent her into a downward spiral of depression. So *someone* did something to her to repress the negative emotions.
• Her gymnastic slump is important. what ever was done to her was the cause of her slump. Shes missing something of herself which is why she says that her body doesn't move the way she wants it to.
• Current theory is some part of her is locked away. It's not separate, but a piece of the whole person that we fight along side with at the casino. At some point between now and then her two halves will join.
• This brings up the question of what's up with her dad? Unless your some sort bad person wouldn't you notice such a drastic change in your kid?
• Either dad works for the government and was ok experimenting on Kasumi or he somehow thinks whatever was done to her was for the best . Like her current state is better than what was before so this is the cure.
• explains why she transferred schools. He dad claims to work at a TV station (could be a cover). It's not like he would have to move for a new job. If she had a major personality change then her old classmates and teachers would notice. this would cause Kasumi to question her reality which could cause it to fail. moving to a new school removes this issue.
• This would have to go above standard therapy. Either hypnosis or cognitive psience.
• something is going to happen to her dad. we got the glasses shopping scene to show us how close they are. This will be her motivation for going into the metaverse.
• when her persona awakens the mental barrier will be taken down.
• She only has a 5 star confidant rank. It's not like Maruki who still has his card symbol but won't advance till the story does.
• The other 5 starts will be with her "other" personality. After whatever was done to her is undone she's going to be a mess and will turn to Joker.
• something will happen to her while we are in Hawaii. Only reason for her to let us know she was leaving the country of a bit. she might not actually be leaving the country and just be having more mental work done on her.

Maruki

• He want's to legit help people.
• Thinks that traditional therapy is not effective enough. Want to develop a medicine or medical procedure to actually fix people's negative emotions.
• with the introduction of cognative psience we now know the method that he's going to use to attempt this. (could be he already did a test run or two).
• Although his intentions are good things are going to wrong very very wrong.
• After the 2nd exams he talks to joker about not meeting peoples expectations. This comes right after some girls were gossiping about Kasumi in the halls.
• Total misdirection. Since the phantom thieves are making all sorts of waves, the Agency is putting pressure on him to complete his research. This will lead to mistakes being made.
• Eventually his logic will change to "It's better to feel nothing than to feel pain" - this will be his I still think I'm a good guy logic.
• Unless he is also a persona user then were going to visit his palace.
• The first time Joker goes to see Maruki he runs into Kasumi and she tells Joker that she has been seeing Maruki for some time.
• Add to that the line Sae's Boss says on 6/23 "This incident happened at the school you're supposed to be presiding over..." and we have a clear connection from Sae's Boss to the principle at Joker's school.
• He also seemed to be bothered that the Kamoshisa change of heart happened at Shujin like he was aware that something special was going on there.
• This set off all the alarms. The new girl who happens to be a badass persona user transfers to the school and a month later her doctor gets assigned to the very same school. He was hired by the principal who just happens to work for Sae's boss. Sae's boss knows of the metaverse and so does Maruki.
• Maruki was assigned to Kasumi's school to keep tabs on her and make sure whatever he did to her stuck. The Kamoshida incident was just the excuse they needed to bring him in.
• He either developed cognitive psience on his own or was giving Wakaba's research by the Agency.

Akechi

• he has to be the one who betrays the group.
• Keeps putting idea's in Sae's head
• At some point Sae will catch on that Akechi is messing with her.
• working with Shido but not for him. Has his own goals or works for the big bad.
• says he has to catch the PT "for the sake of my justice" combine that with the arcade scene where he ask joker what kind of justice he believes in and Akechi is def bad. He's not after "justice" but "my justice" which sounds a lot like revenge. Has something to do with his father. If the PT crew keep operating they're going to ruin his chance for revenge.
• He will frame the PT by sending a fake calling card and then killing that persons shadow.

Twins / Butterfly Lady

• The number of new confidants that unlock after the 3rd palace was a bit overwhelming but It did give me plenty of chances to watch the new confidant unlock scenes. It got me thinking about what it actually says. Just picked the fortune confidant for this but any would have worked.
• I am thou, thou art I - we are one and the same
• thou hast acquired a new vow. - you just unlocked a new confidant. to quote Jose "Good Job!"
• It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity. - butterflies have wings also still talking about Joker "thy chains of captivity". We are like a caterpillar and when we obtain out true power we will become a butterfly (not literally). the chains could be a the cocoon that the butterfly breaks out of.
• With the birth of the Fortune Persona I have obtained the winds of blessing that - creatures with wings (like a butterfly) ride the wind. Is now referring to herself in this line "I have obtained..."
• shall lead to freedom and new power..." - It's over 9000!
• The butterfly lady is our persona or at the very least out power levels are connected.
• Part of the butterfly lady's power is sealed in joker. Was not intentional but will be the key to rejoining the twins.
• When there is a fusion alarm the twins do this adorable back stretch where one kicks her legs. They then do this weird like side stretch that looks like the fusion dance from Dragon Ball Z.

Igor

• Not working for the thing that made Morgana.
• Morgana had no knowledge of the skill cards and his mind exploded when joker captured the pixie.
• Even though he's not bad he's still not good.
• Has some cosmic role to fill. His job is to prepare for the final battle. He doesn't care who wins just as long as the fight occurs.
• Gave Akechi the metaverse nav but Akechi betrayed him and went rogue which is why he went looking for a new recruit. He took on the twins after so the same mistakes wouldn't be make with joker.
• Says joker will fight someone with powers very similar to his (jokers) own. Akechi has the wildcard too?

Sojiro

• For the record Joker defended him and never once thought he was abusing Futaba.
• Met Wakaba when he worked for the government.
• Feels guilty that he didn't do anything when she said she was going to die. Was he in a position to do so? What did he do for the government?
• After Wakaba was killed he suspected his own government were behind it and left in disgust.
• Sojiro is just awesome. He would take a bullet for any of Joker's friends and die happy knowing he saved someones life.
• He will be the getaway driver after the PT crew breaks joker out. He's the only person we know with a car.

Sae's Boss / Shido

• They refer to it as the metaverse and not the cognitive world. could be the writers just didn't want to add a new term without context or they gained they're knowledge of the metaverse from an "other worldly" being.

​
Limo Girl.

• Is in the opening movie both the heist scene and the smash the city part. Will be joining up.
• Ran in to her in the hall at the star of the game she was labeled as a senior
• Riding in a limo. daddy is loaded.
• At the park cleanup she asked Mishima for the bottle cap so they can be used for medicine. She is seen watering flowers at the school also. What we should take away from this is she's a really good person. We need to know see that she's super duper good because her dad is bad like really bad.
• daddy's money is dirty money and she knows it or at least suspects.
• We will change daddy's heart and make him admit his evil ways.
• Her dad is the Shido.
• We don't know when she's going to join up or if the casino heist is her first. Stealing her dad's heart will prob be her first mission so the fact that shes on the comm at the start of the game isn't too much of a problem with her dad being Shido.

Opening Casino Heist

• on 7/29 Morgana says "But it's true that an observant criminal could have a true to reality city in their Palace."
• The opening casino heist wasn't in the real world but was Shido's palace. His palace just included a 1:1 of the city in it. He also says in the scene at the start of the game where joker has a flashback that he owns the cops. Would make sense that the shadows in his cognition would take the form of the police and security guards. The 2nd palace had two types of shadows (male and female) and the 3rd/4th had people/dogs. Multiple types of shadows is not unheard of
• Also looks like we did manage to steal his treasure but not sure if they were able to get it out.
• We don't actually see joker get taken in by the cops. It's possible that the traitor grabbed us after the shadow cops took us down and turned us in to the real world cops. Doesn't mean the world's can't be merging but my reasoning for it is off.
• One thing that bothers me is when they ask if everyone remembers where they have to meet up. Why was joker separate from the rest of the PT? The PT all leave the metaverse together so far. Could just mean where they're going to meet up near the exit (if there is an exit with the palace being the whole city). Hoping for more clues to clarify this.

Mashima

• not going to betray us. he almost fell to the dark side and I haven't seen the conclusion of his story but seems like he's going to an issue.

​
Best Girl current rankings - Nothing is set yet no decisions have been made just the current rankings.

• Makoto - the scene where the lights go out and she grabs jokers leg just made her more endearing. Her driving skills saved the crew after Palace 4. Could beat Kamoshisa in 1v1 volley ball.
• Futba - who doesn't like a quirky redhead. Her being Boss's adopted daughter could be a good thing as he seems to like Joker at this point in the story so he wouldn't have to give him the whole "let me show you my gun collection" talk. Although I'm thinking shes more like the quirky best friend type then best girl material (so sorry Fatuba Fans plesedonthateme)
• Dr.Death - shes a doctor who really cares about her work. Cares more about helping the little girl then getting the credit for it. She basicly broke down when she thought the girl was dead. Also SP Adhesives are amazing.
• Kasami - 100% little sister vibe while Futaba has potential to move up in rank Kasami is stuck in the sister zone. Who knows maybe her "sister" is more interesting.
• Fortune teller- Still a nice person despite the way she was treated. A but gullible though. I could see her sending all of Joker's savings to a Nigerian prince.
• Chess Girl (I know it's not chess) - mid tier maybe she well get more interesting.
• Ann - Not even in the running really because She's going to end up with Ryuji. If Ryuji wasn't around I would say shes not the bightest bulb in the pack. shes not dumb and seems to at least have passed her exams but we have honor student Makoto and super genius Futaba to compare her to. She is empathetic and has a high emotional intelligence. No way shes going to make it as an Actress with her (lack of) skills I cringe every time she tries. She would make a great councilor though with how she relates to people and to seems to be able to get along with everyone. She could also make it in professional sports with how high she was able to throw Mona after the 4th palace.
• Kawakami - Yes she's ranked lower than someone who is not even in the running. First off she lied about her sister WTF! She just seems like a mess. Her clothes don't fit and her hair is never brushed. She is stuck in "the help" tier. Keep her around for laundry and coffee.

Best Bro current rankings.

• Ryuji - dude is our bro 100% He's the bad influence with a heart of gold and will stick with Joker to the end. He's the Ron Weasley to Joker's Harry Potter. He would be the most fun to go drinking with.
• Yusuke - you will only ever be his 2nd best friend. His true loyalty lies with art. If Joker was hanging off the side of a cliff and Yusuke had to make the decision to save Joker or paint the perfect sunset it would be a real nail biter to see what he decides.
• Mishima- Once he gets over himself he's going to be fine. He's like a more wimpy less fun Ryuji.
• Akechi - he's too full of himself. He always like "ugh I'm just sooooo popular I can't do the little people things like you do" Hanging out with him you would only ever be "Akechi's friend". His sweater vest is dumb.

Best Kitty current rankings.

• Snowball - he didn't deserve to go out like that.
• Morgana - is a spy and slave of the big bad. Also needs stop hitting on Ryuji's girl.

I (17m) play High School American Football and during summer break, we are usually supposed to have 3-4 hour practices on all weekdays.
I was offered a job by the coach which would allow me to have a job that would pay me to be at practice while also being paid. However, the pay for the job there is lower than the pay for another job that I chose somewhere else. Now I won’t be able to have practice in the summer.
The coach is now pissed since I’m an important starter and we don’t have many backup players.
When I was 16 playing football, I went the whole year without a job to dedicate myself to football but now I need a high paying job this summer to start getting my money up.

Time to get excited about Yes again.
I tried to keep this review succinct, but had a hard time with it. If you're not a Yes fan, honestly, just move on to another thread.
Certainly there are Yes tropes that are activated again on Mirror to the Sky, but that's not a bad thing. The band sound particularly inspired, like they have something to prove. In a sense perhaps they do. But when you're heralding one of the most, if not THE most important progressive rock bands of any generation, the pressure is on.
Some of you following me know my affiliation with Yes's membership and with their artful product as a whole. This is my dedication to their latest effort.
TLDR; just get the deluxe edition. You would be doing everybody a favor. And you will honor it more. And let's be honest, us Yes fans... we want a good album. Well here it is. Side one is immaculate, and the title track, well, you need to find out for yourself. Believe me I want to talk more about it, but it's something you need to experience first hand.
I'm writing this in real time, listening to it. That's how I roll.
Comparisons to Magnification and Going for the One have been tossed about, and are well fitting. But honestly this is one of the more original Yes recordings I've heard in a while. The closest match would be the splendid Oliver Wakeman recordings that were released as outtakes from Fly From Here.
The whole album is upbeat and downright catchy. One track even has an AOR feeling to it, which is most welcome on a band that produces material that is as serious as it is. Howe is more subdued, but also a lot more intelligent in what he's placing on this album. Sure, I wouldn't mind hearing a ripping solo ala Siberian Khatru live, but let's be honest he's older than all of us on this Reddit. I'm cutting him some slack. Not unlike an aging major league pitcher on the mound, one cannot throw the fastball they once had, so they get more creative and still maintain their relevancy in the game.
Mirror to the Sky is a very intelligent composition. The whole album that is. Frankly it's better than it ought to be.
Particular attention made by me to the drummer Jay Schellen for obvious reasons. He's very good, tasteful, and suits the mood of the album.
Not hearing much on time signature changes, but the tempo changes are most welcome. Some very creative chord progressions can also be found.
For my money, Sherwood never sounded better on the bass. On a Yes album at least.
I'll be honest: Davison may be my least favorite singer in the Yes lineup, but he has improved demonstrably here. There are times where he sounds like he's really putting in the effort, which is welcome for any frontman singer in a rock outfit. I'm not seeing the Anderson rip-off as much, in fact he sounds more like he did on Glass Hammer. And there's a real treat in one of the songs where he sings lower than his usual tenor throughout.
As a unit, Yes are challenging themselves more here than on The Quest and certainly more than Heaven and Earth. It's almost like the band as a unit were biding their time releasing some of these ideas to the public.
I was worried this was going to be the Steve Howe show, and to some extent it is. That said he should get props for the production quality, right down to mic placement. And if you pay attention to Geoff Downes he has very selectively chosen some wonderful textures on his keyboards, something that even our good friend Rick Wakeman was sometimes amiss in doing with consistency. Downes really does provide a good backdrop for everyone's contributions; I'm a bigger fan than some towards his work, and his playing is certainly most welcome here.
The orchestrations are very well placed, very smart, particularly the title track. At times it felt like I was listening to Wobbler. I realize that is a strange compliment. Going further, Cut From the Stars is reminiscent of Starcastle. Again, not a bad thing.
Honestly, I think this release has something for most everyone. It is better than The Quest and much better than Heaven and Earth. I'm still partial to Fly From Here, but this is a very close cousin.
Criticisms? Some of the lyrics are banal, but that's not the first thing I look for in prog rock personally. Also Billy Sherwood could have been employed more with backing vocals. Yes started off as a vocal operation, I wish they would revisit that.
With this release Yes has truly mastered the transition from one idea to another. Yes is known for doing this; clearly they haven't lost the touch.
And of course the entire listening experience is an optimistic one. At times delightful without ever being vapid. We all could use a little bit more of this nowadays...
And hey, even the bonus tracks are good! At the very least interesting.
So as a whole: Mirror to the Sky, certainly the title track, is downright emotional. Go get it.
I could go on but I want to play it again. A part of me wants to express this is their best release since Going for the One... I won't commit to that until I hear it several times, but Mirror to the Sky is certainly enough to attract long time fans and maybe even generate some new ones.
-EDIT- The deluxe edition is a gorgeous ensemble, I have to say it is worth the extra money at this point. The interview book was an interesting read, and the sketches are beautiful. The Rolling Stone quality photo-portraits make even Steve Howe look handsome.
The 5.1 surround is a nice touch and sounded very... personal, if that makes sense. Almost intimate. Howe did a nice job producing it but I'll always feel the guitars deserve to be turned down a little. I would have enjoyed hearing more Downes (when he's up front he sounds great) and even Davison's vocals were surprisingly in the back at times. That said when he is in the spotlight he does not disappoint. And the vinyl playback is superb.
Would like to hear feedback on this release from the rest of bandcamp Yes.

Hey Sportsfans — it's time for Week 9 of baseball Power Rankings: It may be Tuesday, but still thought about how much we dislike your favorite team 8 Days a Week. Also pool side blackjack is now my favorite part of Las Vegas. John Fisher, please ignore.
Every voter has their own style / system and the only voting instructions are these:

"To an extent determined individually, you must take into account how strong a team is right now and likely to be going forward. You must, to some degree, give weight to the events and games of the previous week."

TRANSPARENCY: This link will show you who voted each team where and has added neat statistics!
New Voter Chance: Are you a fan of the Dodgers? Why? We have a new voter oppening. Please check this comment for details.
If something is a little messed up, feel free to pester me let me know.
Total Votes: 28 of 29. So close.

#		Team	Δ	Comment	Record
1		Rays	0	Everyone's favorite myliobatiformes played another good week of baseball with the return of Tyler Glasnow. The Rays took an exciting series against the Dodgers after recharging during a weird mid-series rest day against the Blue Jays. Wander Franco is making his case to be starting SS in the All-Star Game, just make sure you don't accidentally vote for one of his brothers. It's still super weird to watch the offense carry while the bullpen struggles, but with guys coming back it should be f--, wait, Fairbanks is hurt again.	39-17
2		Rangers	+1	Series wins against both the Pirates and Orioles the last week has the club holding the 3rd best overall record in the majors. Go Stars. We're still having fun.	34-19
3		Braves	-1	3-4 last week and we started this week off with a loss against the Oakland "Triple A's" which is not good Bob. On the VERY brightside, we saw Soroka pitch from an MLB mound for the first time in almost 3 years. He pitched well and we need him to perform as we are absolutely depleted by injuries. Riley is starting to come to life. We hold a 4 game lead on the scond place MARLINS. Our division doesn't want to take advantage of our recent struggles, that's fine by me.	32-22
4		Dodgers	+1		33-22
5		Orioles	-1	A few weeks ago, I said if the Orioles can go at least .500 in May then they are for real. They wrapped up a winning month yesterday and have three games to go. They continue to play well, even though they lost the series against the Rangers, and seem to play better away from Camden Yards. They did, however, send Grayson Rodriguez down this week to AAA. He just has some stuff to figure out. He was getting crushed in his past few starts, and it was the right move to make. This solidifies the fact they need a frontline starter if they are going to make a serious push to get to and make noise in the post-season.	34-20
6		Astros	0	Jose Abreu finally hit a home run. All is right with the world. Unless the world's name is Lance McCullers Jr., who had another discomforting setback and we have no idea when we will see him this year. I still blame his hair. Anyway, our other Jose hit a grand slam at MMP this weekend. Where have we heard that before?	31-22
7		Yankees	0	It certainly would’ve been nice to take 2/3 from Baltimore, but it’s very hard to be mad at the Yankees’ month of May. Since May 1, the Yankees are 18-9, a huge turnaround from a .500 April. As we enter the dog days of summer, the top of the AL East is tightening up, but the Yankees don’t face either of the teams ahead of them again until July. The Yankees have to keep playing at this pace, and a Stanton (and maybe Rodon??) return could seriously help that.	33-23
8		D-Backs	+1	The Diamondbacks had a decent week, barely missing out on a sweep of the Phillies before dropping a series to the Red Sox. The offense gets on base but has been allergic to driving in RISP, and the starting rotation continues to be a merry-go-round, as none of the rookie pitchers on the team seem to be able to string together several good starts in a row without getting blown up once or twice.	31-23
9		Blue Jays	+1	The Jays' first series win since May 14th pulled us out of a bad-vibes tailspin the likes of which this fanbase hasn't seen since, well, the last time everybody freaked out over a losing streak. The usual suspects' continued confounding slow starts (Manoah, Kirk, Varsho, etc) have dropped us 10 games back from TB, last place in the best division in baseball. And YET, hope springs. Berrios (3 or fewer ER in 8 of his last 9 starts) finally appears to be pitching to the level expected of him when he was signed, and is pumping out quality starts along with Gausman and Bassitt. Kikuchi has slipped as Kikuchi does but has been very solid for a #5. We don't have the depth to send Manoah down for some needed alone time, but he's pushing it. Vladdy has been scuffling, Springer is heating up, and Bichette is an MVP candidate. With a little bit of lucky regression to the mean with abysmal RISP numbers, this team is just a few turns away from being very good. As long as we don't have to play too many games vs AL East teams. That should be fine.	28-26
10		Twins	-2		28-26
11		Mariners	+4	Just what the doctor ordered - 6-1 in the homestand so far. Some momentum is just what this team needs before two big series with teams they're chasing for playoff spots. If the M's can handle business over the next week, they'll be right back in the thick of it. Bryce Miller, do your thing. Up next: 3 vs. Damn Yankees, 3 @ Globe Life ParkFieldStadiumGardensArenaDomewhatever they're calling it these days	28-26
12		Red Sox	-1	Scoring four runs total while getting swept by the Angels isn't a great look. This team is in many ways aggresively mediocre, always making sure that every win streak is followed up by an equally painful gut-punch. This is mainly due to the reliance on the offense to carry us to victory (2-17 when scoring <=3 runs), when the bats get cold, you're safe to turn off the game. Whitlock returning from injury and Bello/Sale both stepping up their game in May (2.74/2.42 ERA respectively) are good steps towards this team becoming Actually Good™ though. We'll see what June brings us...	28-25
13		Brewers	-1	Taking two of three from the Astros was nice. Barely avoiding a sweep from the Giants was not so sweet. Milwaukee has some issues with hitting in "close" situations. The Brewers either lose after having multiple opportunities to tie it up, or get absolutely blown out.	28-25
14		Angels	0	Did I travel out of state and all the way to Anaheim just to watch the team get swept by the Marlins? Perhaps. Was that objectively worse than what the Reds voter is going through? It's impossible to say.	29-26
15		Mets	-2	The Mets, who I proclaimed to be "good at baseball" last week, ended up dropping 2 of 3 against the Cubs and doing the same against the Rockies. I just don't know what to believe anymore. The only thing I know for sure is that Francisco Alvarez has got that fucking dawg in him, he's GOATed, he's him, he's on fleek, he's poggers, he's a proper legend, he's got an .885 OPS, he's a top bloke, he's got swag, he's fresh, he's Gen Z Mike Piazza, he's lit, he's making me feel old because he was born after 9/11, he's Francisco Alvarez.	27-27
16		Gigantes	+4	The Giants won yesterday, but strictly talking about last week, they went 5- 2 on an extremely acceptable road trip without any off days. Defeating two competent teams like the Twins and Brewers should feel good. On both losses, they gave up 7 runs, on every win they gave up 3, 1, or 0 runs. So, they threw two games out of 7 – that’s allowed. In the bad news department, Joc, Joey, and Thairo all not expected back until June 6th. I think we’re okay with more Bailey Patrick and this also means another look at unpredictable slugger David Villar. Slater continues covering for Joc. Let’s look a the numbers: 13th in MLB in Run Diff (+6 spots), 12th in RS / G (+6), 15th in RA / G (+2), 23rd in Bullpen ERA (+5). All of that is good and especially the bullpen is promising recently. The Giants continue at home vs the Pirates and wrap the homestand with 3 against our orange and black brothers in Baltimore.	28-26
17		Pirates	-1	Would I have been happy to learn on Opening Day that the Pirates would be around .500 at the end of May? Yes. But if you told me they got there after starting 20-8 I would be pretty disappointed. Here's hoping the pendulum swings the other way in June.	26-27
18		Marlins	+3	Yet another appearance of sweepy, the meme that was promised. After a rough series against the rox, we sweep the angels to settle into the third NL wild card spot. Our starting pitching is coming along after a bumpy start to several of our starters. Eury perez is gonna be a stud, just wanna remind yall. Also, shout out to Jorge Soler, who has been crushing baseballs the last week and change. In other miami sports related news, boston is the first city ever to lose two game 7s at home in both the NHL and NBA playoffs in the same year. Go Heat and go Panthers!	28-26
19		Phillies	-2	After losing 2 to the Diamondbacks and going down 5-0 in the 3rd game, the Phillies season looked as bleak as it could in late May while only being 4 games under .500. However, the team rallied and Trea Turner tied it in the 9th before going onto win it in 10. Then, they went down to Atlanta and split a 4 game series. It could've gone far worse. The Phillies most pressing need is now seemingly a 5th starter who isn't a guaranteed loss, as this week they trotted out Dylan Covey, who hadn't started a game since 2019. He got 2 outs and gave up 7 runs. He took the spot of Bailey Falter who, after a surprisingly productive 2022, started the season 0-7. Falter is the far better option, but Dave Dombrowski will likely be looking to upgrade until Andrew Painter can finally return. This week, the NL East road trip continues with their first 3 games against the Mets and 3 in Washington. Here's hoping June Schwarber shows up again this year.	25-28
20		Padres	-1	My Dad tells me it’s ok that the Dad’s lost 2 / 3 to NY; the Dodgers lost 2 / 3 to the Rays! The Pads aren’t in the same stratosphere as the Dodgers right now, though. 5 games under .500, 10th in the NL standings, 3 games out of the last wildcard slot. Of course there’s quite a bit of time to change it, there’s plenty of time to go on a run, or a slow and steady good month to gain ground. With every day that passes however, that goal becomes a bit harder to reach; I don’t think Pads fans were hoping for a wildcard spot by the end of this season, but that’s the position the team has to get to before even thinking of catching LA. The Padres are 4th in the NL West, and only a half game out of last.	24-29
21		Cardinals	-3	2-2 @ CIN; 1-2 @ CLE; 0-1 v KCR; another struggle week for the Cards. The fandom's been a bit kneejerk because of two good weeks before this. Their mistake. I'll say it a third time, the Cards playing at or beyond their expected level doesn't change the rotten FO. Yeah Marmol's pretty close to being fired, that's not a fix when the problem is John Mozeliak.	24-32
22		Tigers	+2	The most fun part of this past week has been watching the resurgence of Akil Baddoo. His energy is infectious and adds an exciting dimension to the lineup. As we head into the last few days of May, Baddoo has sported a .302/.405/.508 slash and a 155 wRC+ this month. Although he's still been hitting mostly in the 6 hole, if this keeps up he might find himself much higher in the order real soon. This week: 2 more vs. TEX and 3 at CWS.	25-27
23		Guardians	0	The Guardians won a series this week. I would like to see them win some games by more than one run, but it's clear this season, we have to take what we get.	24-29
24		Cubs	-2	Another terrible week for the Cubs, as a promising series win against the Mets was followed up by an embarrassing sweep against the Reds. The starting rotation was terrible, and the bullpen was somehow worse. Fans have had enough of David Ross, and Jed Hoyer is starting to come under pressure. Barring a dramatic turnaround, the Cubs will be sellers for the 3rd trade deadline in a row	23-30
25		Reds	+1	Okay guys, I’m here to be calm this week. I have been told by my wife’s attorney, Tom, that they are “aware” of my online activity regarding our impending divorce, so today let’s have a nice, calm, relaxing, perfectly fine, good old fashioned talk about Reds baseball. The Reds are just sorta middling. They’re not great but they’re not horrible. Unlike my marriage. Our starting pitching has resgressed, just like my marriage, and it’s very unfortunate to see, because our bullpen has been quite reliable unlike my wife. We still can’t hit home runs for some reason, but overall unlike my marriage the Reds on the upturn. There, are you happy Tom? I didn’t mention all the crap that’s been going on lately. I didn’t mention how I had to leave the Motel 6 I was at because I found a used needle in the bathroom, and by the way Tom, I know that you’re trying to use that as evidence that I can’t take care of my kids. I don’t even know who’s needle it was, it was like wedged behind the toilet. Believe me, I only found it because I dropped my phone while using the toilet. It wasn’t even visible, I had to like get on my hands and knees and crawl behind the toilet to grab my phone. So it puts the image in my head of some heroin addict or whatever sitting behind a toilet at a Motel 6 trying to get high, which honestly that just seems like an even worse situation than the one i’m in. Do I think it’s a coincidence that the day after I left the Motel 6 because of this, you’re requesting a drug test from me before I can see my kids? Huh Tom? How did you know about this incident Tom? The only people that know are the Motel 6 staff I notified, I don’t think any police showed up, so either you questioned them like i’m some criminal, or you’re following me. I know you’re reading this Tom, you’ve made several references to my posts on the baseball power rankings insinuating it’s me writing them, and yeah Tom you’re right it is me, can everybody in the comments give praise to Tom for being a regular Sherlock Holmes? Yeah everybody come on, Congratulations Tom! You’re the man! I’m gonna let you go home and fuck my sister, oh wait Tom I forgot, YOU ALREADY ARE. When you get home tonight tell Caitlin her brother says hi. Alright, I think I got that out of my system. Anyway, I think once more of our prospects are called up, probably around June or July, we may get hot and finish more closely to .500 than initially thought, and if this division stays like it is, and those prospects can deliver on their promise, it's entirely possible we could be in contention for the division. But a lot of this is gonna depend on if our Starting Rotation can get things back under control. Also we swept the Cubs so lol.	24-29
26		Nationals	-1	Week after week, I expect this Nats team to take a nose dive. I expect them to crumble and slip into a double-digit losing streak but it just isn't happening. They lead the NL in batting average (.267), are third in OBP (.330) and have the lowest strikeout rate in MLB. They still have their own troubles, but this team is alive (4 games out of a WC spot)	23-31
27		Rockies	+1	I don't have time to write a real blurb this week so you don't have to print this. Actually, you probably don't read these, I'm not sure anyone really reads them anyways besides the Reds guy's life breaking down, and this will probably get printed regardless.	24-31
28		White Sox	-1	Liam is back. I can't overstate how great that is to hear. He is one of the best people in the game and it's nothing short of amazing for him to be pitching in May. If you missed it, it was recently revealed that he had stage 4 lymphoma, not an early stage. He started treatment just over 3 months ago! Nothing on the field matters for this team, but at least there's that silver lining.	22-34
29		Royals	0	As of the time that this blurb is being written (Monday at 11:39 AM), only two teams in the majors have a record below .400. Yup, the Royals are there with the A's. I suppose the positive is that the team figured out that they can get rid of useless players in Hunter Dozier, but they still have a lot more work to do.	17-38
30		Atléticos	0	The A's have given up 10+ runs in a game 7 more times than they've won. It's a mix of bad roster building (the bullpen), under-preforming vets (Ramon Laureano 74 wRC+, Tony Kemp 38 wRC+), injuries (Seth Brown and Paul Blackburn are just now returning), and no fans in the stands since 2019. It's soul crushing to watch and the national media's constant condecention toward this particular poor team and it is even more annoying this year.	11-45

I'm seeking recommendations for a high-quality ergonomic chair. Despite trying various options, I have yet to find one that suits me. Most have caused some form of pain or discomfort that I found unbearable. Below, I've provided a brief overview of the chairs I've tried, my experience with each, and the reasons I've decided against them. Each chair I've tested for about 2-3 weeks before returning. Some chairs I've ordered and returned multiple times at different intervals to rule out the possibility that the pain was due to unrelated factors, such as a sports injury. Rest assured, I've made every effort to adjust each chair and my workspace properly and experiment with all available adjustment options to alleviate discomfort. I've also utilised a footrest, adjusted my desk and monitor height as needed, and even experimented with a keyboard wrist rest. However, for some chairs, I could not eliminate the pain.
​

• Herman Miller Embody (Logitech Gaming edition)
  • I tried this chair for over 2 weeks on two separate occasions.
  • This would be my favourite chair of all time, however, it gave me pain in the mid/upper back on the right.
  • Otherwise, I loved the reclining mechanism, flexible back, padded seat and back, and the Logitech upholstery.
• Herman Miller Aeron
  • I used this chair for over 2 weeks on several occasions.
  • The seat caused significant discomfort/pain and a numbing sensation in the upper legs (hamstrings region). Despite hoping the issue would resolve over time, the discomfort remained substantial even after about 3 weeks.
  • Otherwise a great chair – loved the reclining mechanism, and comfortable arm pads (if not 4D adjustable), everything about this chair oozes quality.
• Herman Miller Mirra 2
  • Like the Aeron, this chair caused pain in the upper legs (hamstrings region) due to the tough seat.
  • The armrests were less comfortable and felt lower quality compared to the rest of the chairs.
• Herman Miller X Logitech G Vantum Gaming Chair
  • The armrests were too wide, even in their narrowest setting. This caused a lack of support for my arms when sitting naturally. This was a dealbreaker for me.
  • Apart from this issue, there were no particular problems with the chair, but it wasn't as impressive as the others on the list.
• Haworth Fern (without adjustable lumbar support)
  • I experienced significant lower back pain, which was particularly noticeable when not sitting and when bending over. I'm not 100% if the pain was caused by the chair or an external injury but it seemed to increase the longer I sat on the chair and subsided when I switched to another chair.
  • Apart from this issue, the chair was satisfactory. Although not as high-quality as the Herman Miller options, it was still quite comfortable and offered a variety of adjustments.
• Haworth Zody
  • The backrest tilt adjustment system was complex and I couldn't find a static upright position. I had to choose between the backrest tilted backwards (more than on other chairs listed) or tilted forward. None of those positions were entirely comfortable for prolonged use for me.
• Steelcase Leap v2
  • The sticky backrest didn't offer a comfortable reclining and rocking experience, which was a dealbreaker for me.

Strangely, the cheap IKEA office chair I'm using right now doesn't cause me any pain but I would still like to upgrade to a better sitting experience.
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Could you recommend a chair for me to try next? I'm in search of a high-quality chair with a smooth reclining mechanism and ample ergonomic adjustments. I tend to favour chairs with padded seats and backs due to their softness, but I'm also open to mesh chairs as long as they are comfortable and don't cause discomfort. I've already tried most of the high-end options so seems like I'll need to choose from the second-tier ones. Thank you.

I love my parents and they really tried to be good to their children. They gave me a solid academic education and brought me to sports activities, museums, homeschooling groups... But I resent them from homeschooling and overprotecting me.
When I finally got to school I realized how behind I was in social skills and common knowledge. Basic communication is a struggle.
I'm in my late teen years but still a child in my mind because I was never given the opportunities to experience things and grow up.
Recently, for the first time I stumbled upon people that are ok with my weirdness. They became my friends and that's what I needed to get out of my numbness. Learning that I'm worthy of having friends gave me such a confidence boost.
I've been thinking and I've now decided to start actually living my life.
I'm going to fix my sleep schedule and my diet, I'm going to train for social interactions, I'm going to work on my confidence and attitude in public, I'm going to look for a job, study, learn the culture and references I lack, stop escapism activities (daydreaming, reading), start physical activity, learn to manage my time...
There is so much to do but I now feel like I can do it.
Thanks yall for sharing you experiences and I wish you a good recovery.

I am a female and I was born and raised from romania and work here in USA , and im looking for someone to share our daily life with,
to see if we are the same people, I like to watch movies in my spare time, and listen music all the time ,
I have strong practical ability, I like to learn new things, and I have a unique opinion on delicious food,
I like sports, also like to do yoga, I live alone with my dog,
I hope you will also like dogs, hope we can give advice together, get advice, ask characteristic questions, can talk about any interesting things, work, life, hobbies, etc,
let us know more. I hope you can accept it.
I hope you're 30 plus and Please drop me a line if your interested and i look forward to a great conversation!! if you dm me , please tell me your name ,age and location. Thank you :)

I (18 F) know I’ve posted something similar to this but I did not give ANY info on myself to give any clue as to what I could be.
I’ve been questioning the ISTP vs ESTP for almost 2 years now and have looked so deeply into the functions and loops and all of the real typing that goes into each type and I can’t pinpoint if im Ti leading or Se leading.
As I kid I was always super outgoing, could talk to anyone and loved going outside and playing sports or being in the yard with my friends. All my friends growing up were guys except two girls that I have been friends with for 7 years now. When on vacation, I cannot get enough of being in the ocean doing stuff or exploring the forest, I have to do something.
I naturally fall into leadership roles but don’t necessarily choose them. I start talking and getting a collaborative effort and practically get nominated as “leader.” I played with matchbox cars and legos as a kid and was always tinkering around with things.
My mom would always describe me as one who didn’t care what others think and would always stick up for others when given the chance, like for my twin sister who was the complete opposite of me.
I grew up playing soccer for 10 years until I graduated high-school back in 2022. Played viola for six years, currently learning guitar, and can really pick up any instrument and just learn to play it by ear. Favorite class I had ever taken was welding my freshman year of high school and am currently in college to become a pilot.
As I’ve gotten older I have had others describe me as chill and laid back. But I tend to talk a decent amount am pretty outgoing as compared to ISTP stereotypes. However, I absolutely love my alone time but of course need some time with people but only if it is those that I’m close with. When going to parties (I don’t like to drink) I always kinda liven up and start drifting and talking with different people or stay with one group. (These parties are for my academic aviation fraternity so ik these people).
Older people that I talk to have described me as well spoken and easy to talk to, but ik I can fall into the habit of only talking about myself or only what interests me which is something I need to work on.
This may not be enough to go off of but if anyone has anymore questions that you may want to get a better understanding feel free to ask :)