I used to use this as an icebreaker, until I got a very uncomfortable response from a female colleague. Turns out that whilst men’s “worst dates” are usually weird or awkward, and tend to make for good light entertainment and a little window into their lives, women’s are way more likely to be sexual assault related… Made me wonder how many answers I had heard in the past were glossing over some trauma that didn’t need to be brought up in a social setting.

I now usually rely on the way more positive “what’s the next thing you’re looking forward to?”.

As call and response in the office whenever two “absolute top priority, over all else” tasks arrive in quick succession;

If everything is urgent?

Nothing is urgent!

Been using my Pixel 4a for almost 5 years now - had a case from day 1, which started to disintegrate somewhere during year 4. Figured the phone would crap out well before a second case, so took the Ivan Drago attitude (“if he dies, he dies”). Never dropped it, barely losing any charging capacity, and a better user experience with a (relatively) small, light phone.

If you’re finding it hard to get started, totally strict exclusions can force you to start actually thinking about what you’re putting in your mouth. Even if you don’t particularly care about veganism from a moral/ethical viewpoint, try following the diet for a while. You’d be surprised how much snack food contains milk powder, or other animal products. Strictly following the rules eliminates mindless consumption, then after a while you find yourself thinking whether or not something is worth consuming, rather than just sticking it in your mouth because it’s there.

Weigh yourself consistently (i.e. same time, same outfit) - I find it easiest to do straight after jumping out of the shower in the morning, post-poop and pre-breakfast, but ymmv. And the important part, record it. I have smart scales, which makes life easier, but absolutely not essential. There’s something very motivating about watching the line go down - and will quickly highlight if you’re on the right track, or if you need to cut back a little more.

I find it easier to maintain a hard no-snacking policy, than to try to reduce snacking but with case-by-case exceptions. Stick to eating at mealtimes only, rather than allowing yourself to rationalise that slice of cake (it’s a colleague’s birthday, rude not to), bag of chips (I only had a small lunch) or dozen donuts (they’ll go stale if I don’t eat them, that’s wasteful).

• Calva Louise - Third Class Citizen
• Heriot - Coalescence
• Capra - The Locust Preacher
• Ex People - Dread
• Cassyette - BOOM

Edit - thought of a couple more…

• Black Moth - Blackbirds Fall
• Vodun - Mawu

Most trips are organised around arbitrary goals, why not beer? People want to try pizza in Italy, or see the northern lights, or swim with dolphins - all geologically locked, ultimately frivolous goals. But if it brings you joy and you can afford it, why not?

I wouldn’t consider this particularly lightweight - it’s a bit of a battery monster, even with the moving background turned off

Bandcamp link here - one of my all-time favourite VG soundtracks. Never heard anything like it before or since!

“Critically panned” means to receive a poor critical response. I tried looking for the etymology, but couldn’t find anything convincing… It seems to have started as something to do with panning for gold (i.e. using a literal pan to sift through dirt looking for gold flakes), but I can’t see where that shifted from “looking for small bits of good in mostly dirt” to “this straight up sucks”.

Friends through eternity, loyalty, honesty

We’ll stay together through thick or thin

Tension builds, and never really resolves - it’s a frustrating listen

I doubt that the incinerator was big enough, and that’s what the “icky specifics” covers…

One of his character traits was telling dad jokes.

Sorry, I’ve Got No Head - a kids show, but has a lot of familiar faces (if you watch British comedy).

Witchfinder sketch

You’d use a wet blanket to smother a fire.

Sean Bean is a stage name. His birth name? Shaun Bean.

Makes sense for numbering floors - ground is zero. How many floors should there be between -1 and 2?

Rockbox, by any chance? I have fond memories of playing doom with that scroll wheel…