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Weekend Open Thread: Join Us in the Persephone Lounge

It’s Friday, people! Which means another week under our belts, and another weekend to look forward to. We unleashed some exciting changes for our commenters, including previewing and formatting your comments, and the ability to add pictures. I encourage you to play with these new features as you start unwinding for the weekend. To kick the weekend off, here’s one of the Billboard Top 100 songs of my junior year in high school (coming in at a respectable #29):

136 replies on “Weekend Open Thread: Join Us in the Persephone Lounge”

Ladies, does anyone have any experience living on the ground floor of an apartment? My hub and I are looking to move in a few months and are seeing a few apartments today (both ground apartments). They are both in great locations and look nice and clean from the photos, but I’ve never lived on the ground floor before and I’m not really sure what to expect.

Any insight would be much appreciated!

I live on the ground floor. I think it might get colder in our apartment in the winter than if we lived upstairs, especially in my roommate’s room which has two exterior walls. I also live below a family with children and so that’s a pain; they’re very rowdy. Other than that there’s not much to it. My complex isn’t gated but we have good security so I don’t worry about it. We keep our blinds closed most of the time–I pretty much never open them in my bedroom, and we are careful to close them in the living room by our porch door when we are gone or at night, and to make sure our computers and things like that aren’t visible from the windows. If you think the places you’re looking are safe and have good security you’ll probably not have to worry about it much once you move in.

I lived in a ground floor apartment my first year living in Tallahassee, FL for my master’s degree. I actually found living on the bottom floor I spent way less on air conditioning than I would have living on the top floor. Security wise- keep the blinds closed often, and lock the door. Also, there is nothing wrong with having a light on a timer when you aren’t home.

Oh man. On Sunday my friend came home in the afternoon to find she’d been cleaned out by robbers while we were away. It was so obviously an inside job; the security guard let the crooks in. It will be days before she can sleep there again because the lock was busted and needs to be replaced. What is wrong with people?!

Twice in the past week I have repeated myself without realizing it. Like, I tell my boyfriend something and he says, “you just said that, did you know that?” And I knew that I thought it, but have no memory of saying it out loud. I think I am going senile.
Possibly related: I told my boyfriend that I think my social skills are deteriorating since the only people I talk to in real life are him and strangers and every time I interact with a stranger I feel like I end up acting really weird. He didn’t disagree. :-/

I’m making a “Quarter Life Crisis” playlist and need suggestions if you all are willing to help. I tend to like women singing pop/alternative stuff. So far I have –
King of Everything by Sara Bareilles
Pumpkin Soup by Kate Nash
Rolling in the Deep by Adele
Such Great Heights by The Postal Service
You Wouldn’t Like Me by Tegan and Sara
Trouble Sleeping by The Perishers
I’m Scared by Duffy
Merry Happy by Kate Nash
Dog Days are Over by Florence + The Machine
Long Distance Call by Phoenix
Apres Moi by Regina Spektor

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Ok, I have kind of a random question which requires some backstory. I am a Ph.D student and have been practicing judo for just under a year. I really really love it, but in this time I have sprained an ankle so severely that I required crutches and just last week I got a concussion which basically put me out of comission writing/reading wise for about 4 days. The ankle isn’t/wasn’t a huge deal, annoying yes, but with rest it got better. I REALLY need my brain though. Not just because of my vocation but because I love writing and researching so much. I really would like to continue judo, I love the exercise and it makes me feel so empowered, as a small woman to be able to lift and throw people, but I cannot get concussions regularly. I am just so muddled about what to do. Also, it’s REALLY REALLY hard to meet people in grad school and be social outside of your department. My judo club forced me to do it which I also loved. Ugh. Any thoughts in regards to martial arts and graduate school would be lovely!

Is it possible to find out if concussions are a regular occurrence or if this one was just a freak accident that is unlikely to recur? I took up rock-climbing when I started a postdoc in a new country as a way of meeting people outside of the department (very similar problem to a grad student!) and yes, I’ve had a couple of injuries, one of which incurred a three month stay of absence from climbing altogether, but I weighed up the risks and decided I loved it enough to stick with it.

Wrecks your nails though.

Grr, need to whine for a moment: Mr.’s favorite cousin is getting marring in November, and I am ecstatic to be a bridesmaid (she’s my favorite, too). I was so excited when she said she’d be picking a couple of styles for the ‘maids’ dresses, and we could pick from them as long as they were all black.

She emailed the options this morning – they all have nearly the same bodice, some have spaghetti straps, but exactly zero are conducive to wearing a proper brawr underneath, and probably look best on the willowy other members of the bridal party. I am going to look like an oak tree next to the other ‘maids, yikes.

It sounds like you guys are pretty close–could you just call and explain to her that you really will not look fabulous without a bra, and is there another option that maybe she just skipped over that would work? It just might not have occurred to her, and if there isn’t another style that will work, well, just get those stick-on fake bras and drink lots of champagne so you won’t be as self-conscious!

I am currently working as a college adjunct teacher. I would love to join your group. Don’t worry, I don’t teach English. I feel I need to tell that to people any time I write on the web that I’m a teacher. Will not be passing on bad grammar to any youngsters, no worries!

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