Or the every popular, “I’ll be there at 4PM to pick it up,” and then ghosting you.

The scent of my grandparents’ house.

It had a very distinctive sweet aroma. I was never sure what is was, and I never asked. The scent followed them when they moved into a condo in a retirement facility. The last time I visited them in their condo was 2019, and they’ve both since passed away.

They gave me a book many years ago, the pages of which used to smell like their house. I know if I dig that book out of storage, it might still have a trace scent in it. But otherwise, it is now just a memory.

Disclaimer: am Canadian, will be discussing using that lens.

On a daily basis, most people I interact with are about where I am. I probably have different reasons for believing and voting how I do, but if an election were to be called tomorrow, all my friends and most of my co-workers would be voting in roughly the same direction as me.

My family is a mixed bag. On the one hand, my father has never voted for anyone further left than the old Progressive Conservatives, and has even voted for the Christian Heritage Party on occasion. My mother also normally votes conservative, though she has confessed to be that she finds American-style conservatism in general and Pierre Poilievre in particular to be too odious to stomach and so I think she may have been spoiling her ballots recently. I don’t know how my one sister votes, but her husband is a also an outspoken conservative, being a card-carrying member of the CPC.

On the other hand, my other sister has never voted for anyone further right than the NDP, and her husband is apathetic - he thinks all politicians are the same and doesn’t bother voting.

Holidays are generally fine, as political opinions are generally off-limits, though inevitably at some point my father and brother-in-law (the CPC one) have an extended grouse session about the state of the country and how much they hate the Liberals.

I simply don’t like the taste of many things. I’ve never been officially tested, but I suspect I may have extra sensitivity to certain compounds, such that no matter how many other things are in a dish, I can still taste that one thing that I don’t like. I also suspect that I am more sensitive to all tastes in general, as there are many foods that have been described to me as “mild” that I find are quite strong.

Now, I’ll still try most things once. There are limits, mostly involving spiciness, but I wouldn’t want to be thought of as ungrateful or close-minded. It’s just that I’ve disliked far more things than I’ve liked when trying new foods.

I also resent the common refrain of, “You just haven’t had good [food in question] yet!” Actually, I probably have, and I still didn’t like it. It has nothing to do with how it is prepared or what other ingredients are in the dish, that food still has its fundamental taste that I don’t like.

It’s not food, but I like using wine as an example. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the cheap boxed stuff from the supermarket or some expensive vintage at a fancy restaurant, because both taste like overripe grapes in addition to whatever other flavours present, and I don’t like the taste of overripe grapes.

This is the image Meta AI is currently using to advertise their video generation function on the Google Play Store.

I started with the Eisenhorn omnibus, followed by Ravenor. Currently I’m nearing the end of Gaunt’s Ghosts (I think). I’m not sure where I’m going after that.

Cowboy Bebop. Not even the Netflix adaptation (which I haven’t seen), but the original. I got told by so many people that it was the best anime series ever, but I just couldn’t connect with it.

I’d maybe say it’s because I prefer more optimistic stories, but then I started reading Warhammer 40k books last year, so maybe I just have trash tastes.