Aztecs.

Mixtec-Pueblo culture before European contact was vibrant, dynamic, and layered. It was reflected by its surrounding cultures of K'iche' (Mayan), Chichimeca, Iréchikwa (Purepecha), and Otomi. Their books look like comics painted on accordions. I've been to Teotihuacan so I've seen the massive pyramids the peoples of the valley built millennia ago. I've read about how cities were planned and zoned then built with stone and you can still witness the logic behind those decisions today. The comida is good too.

I wish I was smart so I could learn Spanish easier.

Mechanics in nature.

There's a protein that's basically a tiny little mobile suite that literally walks along microtubules.

Some bacteria propel themselves with a literal electric motor.

Your ears are more something that belongs under the dashboard of a helicopter than something growing organically... they can literally detect an air-pressure change caused by a pin dropping on the other side of the room, by allowing that pressure to beat on a drum connected to a chain of bones that transmit pressure into a little snail that squirts little jets of fluid over a tiny little field of grass stuck to the inside of the snail shell, and depending on how much grass wiggles, it sends a jolt over to your brain as an interpretation of pitch. AND IT DOESN'T STOP THERE! Connected to that snail are three little hula-hoops made of bone, each oriented to a different plane, and also filled with tiny grass and fluid; and when you move your head along that specific plane, the tiny grass wiggles and that's how your brain knows which way you're moving / gives you a perception of balance.

There's a type of grasshopper with gears in its legs.

I love this shit.

Aperiodic tilings! Just a couple of years ago someone discovered a single tile (down from the set of ~20000 that was first used to prove that aperiodic tiling was even possible) that can completely cover an infinite plane without ever falling into a repeating pattern.

New discoveries in astronomy, astrophysics, and quantum physics.

Oh, goddamn it, this is gonna take a while.

• Code. Like, I actually get real pleasure from seeing elegant and well-structured code. I have no idea why, but I'll almost start salivating at particularly beautiful code.
• Anime. Yeah, I'm a walking stereotype, a software developer who likes anime. But have you seen Frieren? It's so goddamn good.
• Philosophy. No, not bullshit continental philosophy. I'm talking real philosophy. Analytic philosophy. Distilled and legitimately useful logic. Which of course leads me to...
• Science. My YouTube feed is full of fascinating deep-dives into esoteric mathematical and scientific topics. Fuck yeah.
• Tabletop RPGs. Surprisingly, not a huge D&D fan, though it can certainly be fun. These days, I'm much more into story-focused systems, like Fate or Blades in the Dark. Most people I mention that to have never heard of either.
• Science fiction and fantasy. I mean, are you surprised at this point?
• Writing science fiction and fantasy. I mean, are you surprised at this point?
• Politics. Less so nowadays, since our political system is falling apart and we're being overrun by fascism, but I still do enjoy a meaty policy discussion.

That's a good list for starters.

Korean cooking, specifically their use of fermented and preserved food and how it relates to their climate of very hot summers and very cold winters and also their history as tributary state to Ming China and later under Japanese occupation.

Arduino, ESP32, smart home automation. I could talk for hours. I've started to get into PCB design this year, and I've had a lot of fun with it!

Self-hosting, device modding and homebrew, and getting the most out of PC hardware/DIY gaming setups.

IT jobs are a ton of fun for me when I'm helping someone new to the hobby because they love to get invested in all of the little tips and tricks to bring the most out of their machine (Even if they have to use Windows ;-;).

Every single console I've ever owned has been cracked open with homebrew installed, and it's a large reason I got into retro gaming and 3D printing spare parts for things.

Also, hosting PC game servers for yourself and friends instead of paying a provider is so liberating, you start looking at it as "I paid for the whole machine, how far can I push the experience?" and start pushing mods and configs in games that would bring most VPS systems to their knees.

Old mechanical things.

The Japanese have a myth called tsukomogami. It's the idea that things get a soul after 100 years.

And while I don't believe that's technically true, per se. It's fundamentally based on something that I adore, and that's the fact that mechanical things all age individually and that it's something that we've lost with modern technology.

My go to examples are always typewriters and vintage camera lenses.

Each typewriter will age differently. Different keys will become sticky, it'll become misaligned in different places. They develop individual personalities as they get older. So much so that forensics can actually pinpoint when a specific typewriter typed a specific note.

In terms of camera lenses it's much the same thing. Different lenses will wear differently depending on what aperture/focal length, etc... that the photographer uses most often. Mold and discolouration between the glass elements will eventually form a unique look to a specific lense.

It's magical (to me) and something that I am sad that we are losing with modern consumer technology based on on "throw it away and get a new one".

Sorry. Longer than I intended. But you asked for it.

Type faces (“fonts”) and typesetting. I personally like a face with a large x-height, double story open loop g, and a full range of f-ligatures. The art of lead typesetting has disappeared in favour of software solutions; TeX does a beautiful job, particularly when using Knuth’s faces. (Adobe’s InDesign also deserves an honourable mention, but it’s unfortunately proprietary and closed-source). And when using standard TrueType or OpenType faces, the difference between a page generated by either of them, and one output by Microsoft Word, for example, is noticeably staggering.

Typewriters. I love these machines, and the effect they had on our societies, and how they still have a strong influence on our keyboards and typographical likes.

And they are beautiful.

Quasi-egalitarian Neolithic and Chalcolithic civilizations like Çatalhöyük in Turkey or the Carpathian Basin civilizations in Eastern Europe, and some/much of the Indus Valley civilizations in India

Watches bro!
Digital watches are fine & the battery operated ones are cool too, God speed to them, but I'm talking about the Analogue ones.
Specifically Automatic ones.
Fucking piece of assembled metal parts and it will go all tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick on its own from the moment you put it on your wrist.
It'll continue to show you the proper time. Some will also tell you what day of the week it is or what's the date. Heck, I've got one that tells me the day, date, month AND the moon phase!
On top of this, these nuggets are built such, that they will last longer than your poor ass on this planet, still blingy and going tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick.
You know those make Seikos and Citizen? Those mfs put bloody gps AND solar IN.A.FUCKING.WRIST.WATCH!
Why you ask?
So that when your dumb ass gives up on adjusting to the local time after you get off the plane in a different time zone, it will do it for you. That shit is too posh for your fumbly fingers to try to set the correct time, so it says, "Hold on, let me look at the sky real quick and I will set the day,date & time myself, you are too dazed and hungover. Please save your filthy fingers for your disgusting Doritos."
You know the best part? They look more gorgeous than Kate Winslet's porcelain titties embellished with a diamond neck piece.
It'll cost less than your monthly groceries. Don't miss out bro, get one.\

Just came here to say that I love how engaged people are with their hobbies. Keep going!

Propane and propane accessories.

Pens

Its such a common thing that we've all used and have opinions. And the rabbit hole goes as deep as you want.

You're good with a Bic and shitty notebook paper? Cool. You have a $3,000 custom built fountain pen that's been handcrafted to fit your grip and is based on a sketch you made from a dream with a 21k gold nib? Also cool.

Weather! It's just so interesting. I love clouds and adore thunderstorms (although unfortunately I live somewhere where they're rare).

Star Wars and history - in particular how Lucas had aspects of Nazi Germany and the Vietnam War because he was an anthropology student and knew that empires most often fell from within.

So yeah I’m still on a big Andor high right now, waiting for some novels and other books to drop after that.

Other books I can recommend:

Star Wars and History

The History and Politics of Star Wars - Death Stars and Democracy (the author is a World War I historian)

Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy

Star Wars Propaganda: A History of Persuasive Art in the Galaxy

I’ve come to the conclusion that if you’re buying tools, you should go for the sets. Take a socket set, for example. Realistically, you’re probably using the ratchet, an extension, and three to four sockets the most. At some point the cheap ratchet breaks and you replace it with a high-quality one. You may also lose or break a few of the most commonly used sockets and replace them with high-quality ones. In ten years you’ll have a set with a high-quality wrench and a few high-quality sockets that you commonly use, plus the rest of the other sizes you’ll only touch once every few years.

Had you gone for the high-quality set right away, you would have paid even more - and now you’d have a 4mm made-in-Japan socket you spent 10 euros on that you’ll never use.

Retro handhelds.

My favorite is between the monster (steam deck) and the custom build (miyoo mini plus). A few friends and I geek out over them. And custom Roms, indie devs, ect....

There's a ton of Indies onastodon as well.

Too many totally unrelated things that makes it so I cant ever be an expert in any one of them. I probably have adhd

libraries

Characters. I love designing characters and doing a deep dive into who they are and why they're designed the way they are. For example, I did one recently about a girl who is a mechanist in my Victorian modern world who works on robots and airship but likes to go to a dance club at night. She keeps her goggles from work since they're seen as fashion in this world and wears a distinctive hair clip that was given as a gift to her from someone dear to her before the war. And, then there's another guy I did that is basic rich kid egotistical. Looks like and ultra Chad and has the dance moves to show for it. Basically, he's like the ultra Chad meme in this world.

shaving as a trans women (both facial and body)

Phillips Oneblade $50

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intended for men with a beard, waterproof and lithium battery.

honestly a letdown in literally every way for me. Not a close shave at all and other electric ones do way better in that regard. Also not a lot of area for legs and doesn't even give the smooth leg feeling >:(
Upside that there's not really any chance for ingrown hairs, which means it's pretty good for the pubic area. I don't shave down there often though. (obligatory I am NOT the intended target for this product)

face: 5/10
body: 1/10
pubic: 9/10

ladyshave $18

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this is intended for women's leg hair. Not waterproof and takes 2 AA batteries.

pretty good actually. It's wide and gets close enough for me. As advertised. I use on legs before IPL.

face: 3/10 (works in a pinch)
body: 7/10
pubic: 6/10

men's razors $?

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I actually have a permanent scar on my thumb from when I was about 7 and messed with my dads in the shower lol

when I hit puberty I just used my dads old one with new heads, his 'guidance' was pretty unhelpful for me because I thought they were for legs too and got a bunch of red dots / nicks because of it especially because I was really shy about shaving and was too scared to ask for shaving cream. works well enough for what it's intended for, though it's annoying to setup and use. Use a women's for body if you can.

face: 7/10 (with cream)
body: 3/10 (w/o cream)
pubic: 0/10 (w/o cream)

Women's razor $?

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I don't love wet shaving but this is pretty good!
also, ALWAYS get the Gillette Venus ones. I've tried other ones and they're not as good and I always go back despite being more expensive.
gets clogged easy though.

facial: why/10
body: 9/10
pubic: 7/10 (will get clogged)

women's whatever the fuck

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I left the handle part at home but for body this is the BEST, but is pretty clunky and expensive. reallly smooth and is amazing. however I wish the handle part wasn't just a big knub because it's difficult to do under the knee and behind the back

facial: no/10
body: 10/10 🥰
pubic: 3/10

flat edge razor $5

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I got it on a DAMN cheap sale on Amazon, assume it's like 15. It said it was a "small business" from the US but I really doubt that due to the marketing and and assume it's just something from China.
Anyways, it works really well, too well. Even if you're really careful you'll feel a random stinging somewhere and look down and see blood. I feel like there's a skill floor I just have to learn but I have better alternatives. REALLY cheap blades though, like 15-50 cents.

I also threw it away because I would use the blades to selfharm (7 months clean except for an accident 🎉).

facial: x/10 (too risky for me)
body: 7/10
pubic: 2/10 (wayy too risky, don't try)

Braun 3 epilator $40

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I lost it :<

this is a biblically accurate tweezer as my sister called it. She was too wimpy to use it and gave it to me. Lemme just say it HURTS the first time. Like on the floor crying hurts. Second time too. After a couple rounds it gets way better. However this one particularly doesn't ways pull out the hairs and can if you push down too hard you'll stop it which can be really annoying when you one hair that just won't get out. It will also
also sometimes you'll find ingrown hairs that you can't get because it's underneath the skin so I'll get a craft razor blade and ever so slightly hook it and go in with tweezers to pull it out. This is where the self harm accident earlier came from lol

but in return 3 WEEKS OF NO HAIR!!

exfoliate before, then use, then rinse with cold water and use unscented moisturizer, next day use TendSkin.
if you don't follow this to a T you'll get hella ingrown hairs.

face: no
body: 9/10
pubic: ok story time. one of my afab epilated their pubic area before having sex with their s/o and oh my God they regretted it SO bad. it hurt a TON. I imagine if you're into pain it'll work I guess??

braun 5 IPL $300

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got this for Christmas and was essentially my only product. You use it after shaving (not epilation) I haven't been consistently using it because epilate mostly. Can't give a good review.

Braun Epilator (iirc v7 or v8?) $80

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still in mail 🥲

Nair

use mens. women's ones suck and hardly do anything on amab hair. Also mens suck too, but it's better.

Phillips 5d electric

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(I have it IRL, my cats just laying down next to me and id wake her up) for me it's the GOAT of facial hair. Used it for years and absolutely love it. It just works. My use case for facial hair is pretty odd because I just have long sideburns that go down to the jawbone and some random ones under my chin. For my pretty uncommon use case it is AMAZING. Can't really recommend it for others but if you just have long sideburns get this 100%

in conclusion

I epilate and as it's growing in I use the chunky one for now the back to the Gillette Venus once my heads are gone.
If I'm IPL-ing I either use a Gillette Venus or ladyshave.

if anyone else has done this with skincare products let me know, I have some questions :)

Ice, ice, baby! I love fancy ice. Have gear to make crystal clear big ice for whiskey, and also a countertop ice maker for what the kids call "the good ice".

It's just such a cheap upgrade to any drink.

Music mostly. I listen to a huge spectrum of genres from prog rock to metal, r&b, acid jazz, dubstep, kpop, and more.

Several things, but for a while it's been stand pipes. They're everywhere, and fun to find and point out on buildings. On vacations I like to get my picture by them and my kids laugh when I stop to check them out. Eventually I want to make a parody song about them.

Mixology and movies are probably the top 2 for me. But unfortunately both of these things can be deceptive in conversation. So if I start talking to someone about either one, the enjoyment of the conversation will depend on how deep down the rabbit hole the other person is. But in those rare moments when they seem to be on the same page, I could talk for hours!!

Some things that have been exciting recently: I wandered into a Binny's and saw a whole shelf full of Chartreuse which I have not seen in many years!!! On the movie side of things, I'm very excited for Yorgos Lanthimos latest upcoming film! The trailer looked great and he always makes highly interesting films!

Fabrics, pattern drafting, and sewing techniques. Historical clothing and corsetry. History, soooo much history. Religious movements, belief systems, and paradigms. Language, writing, and literature. Plants and gardening. Birds and bugs. Tea and tisanes. Houses, their interior systems and construction, renovating them, maintaining them, and hacking their unique quirks and issues.

Art history :3

Rucking, lifting, Wing Chun, Star Citizen, Stoicism (the og version). I try not to monologue too much on them but it takes restraint.

Motocross.

Love watching the pros and talking all about it. Recently got a coworker into it and it's been fun explaining all the ins and outs of the sport and, as a past rider, trying to relate track conditions/difficulties to him

Jet ski accessories and gear.