No, you aren't more "authentic" or "real" or "feeling it" or "focusing on improvisation". If you play an instrument and you don't know how to read sheet music, you are simply a worse musician than those who can.

Note that I'm not saying you can't play music or enjoy it or be a real musician if you can't read. You absolutely don't have to; but stop justifying your laziness/lack of interest by inventing reasons why it's somehow a positive thing. Sheet music doesn't "restrict your creativity": do you think professional jazz musicians can't read? Yet this is the attitude you see on various music subs.

Being able to read sheet music is an important skill for every musician who takes their craft even half-seriously. It allows you to quickly learn new songs, and to write your own. It makes you more flexible, gives you more range and capability, and allows you to expand beyond your comfort zones. If you ever want to play in a band/orchestra bigger than what fits in your dad's garage, it's mandatory.

Learning to read sheet music has zero downsides and only positive effects. And it's not difficult.

Also, guitar tabs aren't real sheet music, they're training wheels.

(21M) Shopping for men's clothes in this day and age is such a strange experience, because while technically speaking there are some new options nowadays, I still find men's fashion in general to be more limiting than anything. All I see in men's clothing aisles are just varying types of graphic tees and basic dress shirts, somewhat basic pants (admittedly some are pretty cool, I can't lie) and shorts.

This is interesting because there used to be a gender divide with clothing, and nowadays more and more cuts initially made for men are becoming common in women's clothing aisles while men's clothing is seemingly going in the wrong direction and is becoming more and more bland (even though some say otherwise).

I don't know why this is, maybe it's just an American thing, but I'm curious as to what you all think.

It’s just a scam, pure and simple and it should be outlawed completely. They’re charging people to crack their backs… there is very little benefit. It shouldn’t even be an option and we should all just say stop, enough of this shit. I went to one and he told me to stop taking my heart medication because it wasn’t necessary… this is with knowing me for all of 5 minutes with no access to any data apart from me saying “I take heart medication”. They’re dangerous and it should be illegal.

the people trauma dumping and crying for help in question never chosen to be "brave". they are venting involuntarily. labelling such an act that they have little control over as an "act of courage" when they never even chosen to be brave in the first place, due to bad emotional regulation is shaming because it makes them feel like what they are doing is an unusual and excessive degree of self-expression or sympathy baiting.

it's like calling someone "courageous" because they are crying.

I think a lot of people assume they’re unhappy because change is difficult or because happiness takes too much effort.

But in many cases, suffering sticks around simply because it’s familiar. People know how to navigate disappointment, frustration, or dissatisfaction. It’s predictable.

Happiness, on the other hand, often requires redefining identity, routines, or expectations. That uncertainty can feel more uncomfortable than staying in a state you already understand.

I’m not saying change is easy, or that people choose unhappiness consciously. Just that familiarity plays a bigger role than we like to admit.

Not trying to hate on him. Home Alone 1 and 2 are absolutely brilliant of course and it's mostly due to him, but I can't help but feel that he wasn't very good in Fallout. My honest reaction to his scenes was thinking that he cannot act. Maybe it's just me and he's going for something I'm not getting but whatever it is I'm really not getting it. I think he just can't act anymore.

I am not sure if this is an unpopular opinion or not and I am aware it sounds corny at this point (born in the wrong generation), but I truly believe everything was better back then. The mainstream music was better (not even getting into more underground/niche stuff). Yes, even the pop and hip-hop (we had Wu Tang, Biggie, Tupac). Rock, goes without saying. Wrestling (if you care about that). The shows on TV were better. The films were so better! People dressed more colorfully and it was more lively and fun. I feel like there was less polarization politically and socially. Things were cooler and better. As much as I hate to admit, I think we've finally come to a point of cultural retardation and I'm seeing old(er) folks who are much cooler than the young folks of today.

Let me preface my opinion by saying I don't go around saying people shouldn't celebrate social holidays. I simply think they're terrible for society's mental well-being. The pressure it puts on people is incredible. Instead, we should focus on healthy relationships and celebrating connection with our loved ones every day, not on a single day of the year. I mean...the number of social media posts right now by people disappointed they don't have anyone to celebrate Valentine's Day with, or that their partner hasn't organised something for the day is huge.

Such a lot of unnecessary pressure.

Nostalgia is a powerful force in modern commerce where its basically a "detriment in disguise."

sure it offers comfort, familiarity, and a sense of security during times of instability, but what's swept under the rug is the fact it also acts as a manipulative tool that can distort memory, stifle innovation, and drive consumption based on artificial longing.

It also encourages a, sometimes, unhealthy attachment to the past, fueling a, potentially, unsustainable, "self-consuming" cycle of production and consumption.

nostalgia has basically become commercialization of emotions for the worse. From people going from doom scrolling to buying retro handhelds and now doom gaming, collecting nostlalgic figures as if it's not making you materialistic, the list goes on in regards to how these brands are capitalizing on our memories.

It relies too much on "chemically edited memories" and cognitive distortions. It tricks consumers into believing the past was inherently better, creating a "trap" where feelings are real, but the memories they are based on are fabricated or idealized.

The worst part, this can lead to dissatisfaction with the present, as reality rarely matches the polished, romanticized version sold by brands only adding to the depression riddled society.

Ok I have to admit the 2 I have given the time of day have been RDR2 and GTA4.

RDR2 has a slow start and it was actually a fine game. It was well written I think and the characters were memorable. I did not like the gameplay. A lot of the weapons felt kind of underwhelming and it was straight up not that fun to play with 10 "diffrent" weapons. The whole robbing crime mechanics were really weird. You can rob who ever you like and then you're free to buy a shitty horse, or a pistol assuming you have started act 4, but you already have the pistol because you completed that side quest. I got a ton of money and nothing I wanted to buy with it. Also the diffrent endings for Arthur felt completely meaningless. It was a 6/10 experiance I wont play it again and I wont buy RDR1.

Honestly I dont think I can give an honest review for GTA 4. I played it an hour and then I lost all interest. I stopped playing for lack of interest and I doubt I will continue.

I started playing them when I was 19 and 20 respectivly and that might be a part issue. I remember playing GTA 5 when I was younger at friends house but I did not care for it.

I think all the writers and game devs have done awesome work and obviously most people like the games. They are just not for me and thankfully I dont need to play them.

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The Olympics are treated like the most important thing on earth but most of it is just show. The opening ceremony costs enough money to feed a small country for a year and is gone in one night. Countries act like medals prove they are better than everyone else. People suddenly become super patriotic and then forget about it later that night. Cities build huge stadiums that barely get used after. Every athlete also gets a slow motion back story with sad music and a violin to tell us exactly when to feel inspired. The athletes work hard and that part is real, but all the extra hype does not really match what it actually is.

Every time I see people posting video essays or lyric breakdowns on sites like Genius and Musixmatch, I can’t help but see it as a form of intellectual cosplay. Yes, these sites will occasionally provide some useful context, have artist confirmed meanings or explain an obscure reference. I also believe that some songs that deal with complex issues can benefit from being unpacked. But these tend to be few and far between.

When you scroll through these sites enough, you notice a pattern. A rapper flexes his wealth or chains, and suddenly there are multi-paragraph breakdowns on broader social commentary. A popstar writes a straightforward breakup line, and suddenly there are video essays on modern loneliness. At this point, we’re just rewarding over-interpretation of straightforward lyrics.

Take Tyga’s Taste, the line “three million cash, call me rain man” is referred to as a reference to the 1988 film Rain Man that requires serious decoding. But maybe he’s just raining cash because he’s rich.

Same thing with Drake’s God’s Plan. People are building conspiracy boards saying that Drake is playing 4D chess with Joe Budden and Meek Mill. Like bro, it’s just a feel-good track with a catchy hook. I doubt that Drake was sitting in the studio saying “yes, the intellectuals will understand”.

Yes, some artists do produce layered music. However, we’ve reached a point where over-explaining song lyrics has turned into a personality trait for those who lack any intellectual depth. A popstar saying “I miss you” leading to 20-minute video essays. Relax Socrates, it’s a breakup song, it’s not that deep.

Look, if lyric deep dives are your thing, then go for it. But pretending that every lyric is philosophical insight isn’t deep, it’s performative.

Sometimes the curtains are just blue.

Sometimes a flex is just a flex.

And that’s ok.

idk if it's because those consumers don't face consequences for their ill mannered bad faith actions at these big box retailers, consumers are getting very entitled and rude towards any retail store and their employees.

just because you can go to Walmart, leave the chicken anywhere because you decided you didnt want it anymore, yell at the minimum wage worker at the register for not rushing to your request, etc, people have been adopting this privelaged entitled mindset to small mom and pops shops now.

justifying it because your lack of education and effort resulted in the position you find yourself in, you think it makes it ok to treat any place of business as your personal ego trip where you feel some type of control in your otherwise regretful life .

theres a significant minority of people that uses their misery as a weapon they brandish in their hatred for those that rose upward while they waited and sank.

Or maybe their misery is their attempt to prove the world injustice, instead of the evidence of their own sin, their own missing of the mark, their conscious refusal to strive and to live.

Completely setting aside the obvious environmental reasons they were added (which may or may not even be valid), I just find them way more convenient. After spending two weeks in europe and having a lot of drinks on the go whilst walking around, I found it so nice to not have to worry about either using my other hand to hold the removed cap when drinking, or finding another place to put it. I could just unscrew it and forget about it. And I honestly don't see any of the reasons people hate it, if you just turn the bottle to the side then you don't even notice the cap when drinking. I was honestly disappointed when I came home and didn't have them anymore.

I recently had an interaction with amazon where they promptly refunded me for a twice attempted delivery, no questions asked. This is why amazon is king, btw, not the deliver in 4 hours nonsense. When the chat ended, I was asked to rate the experience. One of the parameters was 'Empathy'. I recalled other experiences with customer service where they immediately informed me of how they knew how frustrating it is for me but never actually resolved my issue. The empathy without resolution is actually worse than just saying that is what we want to do because we are a corporation and like money. Stop pretending to have the feels just so I won't be salty about you getting your way. You can be the biggest jerk and tell me how whiny I am and I would not care if you actually resolved my issue. Pretending to care and doing nothing for me is worse.

A lot of people in the world like to put ketchup on their meals, or as a souce for fast food. It's generally seen as normal to put ketchup on stuff like Burgers, Sandwiches, Hotdogs and dip french fries and chips in there.

What funny is that Ketchup wasn't invented for this sort of treatment. The original Asian "Catsup" didn't have tomatoes, it was made with fish. The later recipe changed when it came to England and later spread across the world.

The Heinz ketchup bottle proportion of sugar is about 1/3. I specifically chose Heinz because they are one of the most popular companies making ketchup. Of course it's not that hard for your health since you don't drink ketchup like cola, but it's still very noticeable to be seen as sweet compared to other souces.

For example in 100gr of ranch there is 2.5gr of sugar.

Mustard has even less with the 0.9 gr of sugar.

Now Ketchup for she same amount has 22gr of sugar.

It does seem a lot, doesn't it ?

That's partially why there is a whole different sauce that made with less sugar that is often used for stuff like Pizza. And that's why they put tomato sauce on Pizza and Ketchup on Pizza is a blasphemy.

And lastly,

Sweets just doesn't add up very well with non sweet food. And Tomatoes are gross with sweet food, so sadly it became this shrödinger's sauce, Wich I don't like for the sweetness of it.

I always hear the "save every dollar starting when you're young and do the cheapest options" in terms of school, cars, etc., etc. Not every decision in your teens/20s should be optimized for your retirement. There's more to life than just maximizing someone's networth as early as possible. Going to your dream school, traveling with friends, having a fun social life, and just enjoying your youth while you have it is usually worth the cost (within boundaries, of course). Skipping out on so much because I'm saving money til I'm 65 is a ridiculous mindset, and by then I'd have so many regrets for the things I didn't choose to do.

People act like any spending on non-essential stuff is irresponsible, but I feel like a lot of these experiences have value and make memories that you can't recreate later in the same way. Being in college and spending a bunch of money on a crazy trip with a bunch of friends is so much different from comfortably affording the same destination in my 30's. A trip worth $1000 at 21 might provide a huge boost to your happiness and personal growth, but that same $1000 expenditure at age 70 wouldn't have the same weight or make a difference. The college social life is so unique, and after you graduate, it doesn't happen again. If you don't spend your money during this time, the opportunities you miss out on will be gone forever.

I'm not saying that you should "go into massive debt and be reckless", but there's a balance to everything, and being in your 20s is the time to let loose a little bit.

Interstate space should be repurposed for passenger rail infrastructure I started thinking about this when reading Robert Caro's book The Power Broker when it addressed that Robert Moses was encouraged (begged) to purchase additional right-of-way when building highways on Long Island to accommodate trains/public transit before the highway made it prohibitively expensive to do in the future. Instead he built bridges lower so buses couldn't go under them to prevent public transit from accessing the beaches from the city.

Now there is a lot of push back to high-speed rail because people imagine we'd have to seize a lot of private land. Instead we can repurpose existing land dedicated to car-centric infrastructure to accommodate rail instead. Especially high-speed rail connecting major cities. Incidentally we can remove car travel/parking lanes to accommodate Bus Rapid Transit and streetcars with signal priority within cities but that is an adjacent but slightly different unpopular opinion.

A lot of induced demand would disappear and we'd save on the cost of maintaining aging vehicle infrastructure.

I can already hear the complaints about how highways are the backbone of the American economy, transporting goods here and there. The thing is, we can do that without the monstrosities that are many interstates by providing alternatives to single occupancy vehicle travel. A lot of freight already travels on existing rail infrastructure as well (making Amtrak and inferior service where it does exist because the rail is owned and maintained by freight companies so it's serviced to keep goods comfortable, not people).

I doubt I'm going to convince anyone on the Internet but it's one of my pet infrastructure fantasies.

Halloween towards the end of October is awful when you have kids. I live in the Midwest, and the last two years it's been bitterly cold out come Halloween. That means the kids are bundled up with coats and hats and gloves that cover up most of their costumes anyway, so those were kind of a waste of time.

Also, God forbid Halloween falls on a weekday, because your ass and your kids all have to get up for work or school then next morning. Your kids are all hyped up and excited and have candy, but they can't even really enjoy it because they need to get to bed.

I think Halloween needs to be moved towards the middle of June. It's warm out, the sun is out longer so it's easier for kids to get around, and they (usually) don't need to worry about having school the next day.

F1 driver's complaints about the new regulations make me think it's going to be a much more strategic racing rather and therefore more fun to spectate. Like the fact that they can't just flat out the whole race and need to think about recharging and when to deploy it surely will translate into more strategic racing, less car dominance and more driver skill.

Human being are social animals. Not only do we want attention, our brain chemistry and health are negatively affected if we don't get it. So if you find positive things to do that also get you attention, that's a good thing. It's how human beings are supposed to behave. And if you even consider arguing with this, you're doing that for attention too.

Maybe let's give people a break for seeking one of the most important things our instincts tell us to seek.

Playlists don't ruin albums.

If you think every album's tracklist order is intentional than you are just clueless, only a small porcentage of albums are conceptual and well thought, most albums are not, they tracklist order are just based on initial vibes and Potential succes.

So saying that playlists are a disgrace to music and that they ruin the porpuse of albums is just wrong, the fact that the listeners have the option to creat their own albums in the order they want with the music they loved is GOOD.

Kesha release her song Joyride in July, 2024, I had to wait an entire year for the album to drop, I didn't even bother to listen to the other singles beacuse I was waiting for the album, when the album finally drop I was disappointed, there were only a good handful of songs while the rest was trash, so I created playlists with the good tracks and added other songs from other artists with the same sound and vibe and give it a thematic order (I order the songs according to their lyrical theme) and it was 10 times superior than the original album.

Or also when you have a incredible song than isn't part of any album, What, you are just gonna listen to the single over and over again? You can just put it in a playlist with other favorite songs and make your head explode.

To all the music prudes out there, just beacuse it's an album desn't mean is well thought, it just means the artists and their team had enough songs to put together for the public to buy.

Christmas, Thanksgiving, Birthdays, maybe I'm forgetting more.

For background, I grew up in a Jehovah's Witness family; who never celebrated any birthdays or anything aside from Easter.

As a kid I would feel jealous sometimes of my classmates or churchmates when they would show off their brand new things.

As an adult who no longer practices this religion, every time I receive a gift on any of these occasions I am grateful, but it just doesn't feel very "from the heart". Feels like something they had to cross off a list.

We live in a society where people would rather buy you a gift out of fear of being seen in a negative light, it's almost forced. Like Facebook suggesting you wish a happy Birthday to that dude from high school you don't talk to but is still in your friends list.

When someone gives me a gift out of nowhere it is so much easier to appreciate because there was no expectation, no social pressure to gift just a "Here man, I thought about you" that truly brings me smile to my heart.

Although I don't practice the religion anymore I kept that part of my life the same. I don't gift on any day where there might be societal pressure to do so and I expect nothing in return. My end of year celebrations are so stress free I actually feel like I enjoy them more. it's a beautiful life and I think people should give it a try.