A lot of classical music most people are exposed to are single movements within a larger composition. Listening to whole symphonies/concertos/suites/etc gives you a consistent vibe for 20-45 mins.
Some I like:
Violin Concerto in E Minor Op 64 - Felix Mendelssohn
Violin Concerto #5 in A Major, K219- Mozart
Symphony #2 in D Major - Jean Sibelius
Cello Suite #1 in G Major - J.S. Bach
Moonlight Sonata - Beethoven
Miserei Mei Deus - Gregorio Allegri (has an interesting story)
You answered your own question, they would prefer planned obsolescence so you buy a new product
Don’t discount paying off a modest 6-7% car or student loan. That’s a guaranteed and tax free return on investment. Historically the stock market returns about a 7% annual ROI. Not having a payment every month can make a big difference for liquidity and peace of mind
In case anyone needs them here are some resources to help you quit from the American Lung Association . Quitting is hard and thankfully there are FDA approved therapies that can help like varenicline/chantix, bubpropion/Wellbutrin, nicotine replacement like gum, patches, and lozenges. If you smoke quitting is the best thing you can do to improve your health!
I also have flat feet (aka over pronation). I’m a big fan of Asics brand shoes for over pronation and they make it easy to put in insoles. I typically get black ones for work settings. Their website tends to have good sales around black Friday/cyber Monday.
Head lamp with both red and white light, a game changer for walking the dogs. Red light preserves night vision
Coalition for Rainforest Nations. They work with indigenous and local communities, and national governments to do everything possible to protect rainforests and reforest areas. The donations really stretch far because they predominantly work in low income areas.
ProPublica is a no paywall investigative news organization that has really hard hitting reporting that holds corrupt businesses and people accountable. They have a good track record of getting consequences for the things they report on.
World Wildlife Foundation does great work with preserving biodiversity and raising awareness of nature with the public. It’s hard to care about something if you don’t know about it
My local Unitarian Universalist church creates a place for LGBTQ+ and other marginalized people to feel safe and celebrated and the people do so much work trying to make our local community a better place. There’s no expectation to believe any specific scripture, just a shared set of values. Find a congregation near you
I have two friends born to parents of similar ages as that. Both have had very happy families. One was an only child. The other had a similar age gap with his half siblings, they didn’t interact much while he was growing up, but now that he’s an adult they hang out all the time. It seems like both friends have had to deal with more challenging losses of parents earlier in their lives than typical, but there’s no guarantee about tomorrow anyway.
Undecided with Matt Ferrell - new energy tech developments Technology Connections - how contemporary and retro tech works City Nerd with Ray Delahanty - public transit, city planning, housing affordability, city walk throughs
I believe they’re on Nebula as well
You’re welcome!
On the fulfilling community aspect, I found that at my Unitarian Universalist (UU) church. UU’s don’t believe in a shared religious text, instead they have a core set of shared values. My church has people who identify as atheist, Christian, several types of pagan, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, etc. We celebrate religious holidays from all of them as well as secular holidays like Trans Day of Visibility and Earth day. The focus is on being together and trying to make the world a better place. I also really like the music program. There’s a handy website to find a congregation near you, many stream services on Zoom so you can test them out before going in person.
There’s two subreddits I really miss: AskScience and AskHistorians. I was a regular and flaired contributor to AskScience, but its super helpful to generate a response when there’s a good question. It would feel weird opining on a random science topic that I come up with. And I loved the well sourced AskHistorians posts. When I do see a c/AskHistorian post on Lemmy the responses are very low effort
The majority of US federal agriculture subsidies go to corn production, the majority of corn production is for live stock feed. Anybody who brings up spending that money on vegetables or basically anything other than corn gets silenced pretty quick
If you’re interested in energy efficiency, here’s a great video from Technology Connections!
Yes the headline is about chest freezers, but he just uses that as an example of highest possible efficiency before getting into other design of fridge/freezers
Agreed, birch leaves are serrated, these look like beeches
I really like the Yoga with Adrienne YouTube channel. She has a large variety of yoga and strengthening exercises from super low impact to intense workouts.
There is definitely some invasive bamboo in the forests near me that’s spreading and taking over the native habitat
It varies a lot by UU congregation. Mine has more focus on Earth based traditions, as in we’re celebrating Earth Day this Sunday instead of Easter. Although we’ve been known to celebrate the high holidays from several major religious traditions.
Agree with many of the other commenters on the multiple causes of loneliness.
I’ve been fortunate to find community at my Unitarian Universalist church. UUs don’t have an expectation to believe any particular scripture, but instead share a common set of values, the first being every one has inherent worth and dignity. My congregation has people who identify as atheist, Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, and several types of pagan. So the focus is on being in community and helping each other grow and achieve their goals. I’ve made good friends through the choir and a young adult group that organizes social activities. UU congregations vary based on their membership, and many stream services virtually so you can check them out before going in person. Here’s a link to find a congregation near you.