About 65%.

63.7% personal savings then another 1 - 2 % investing in charity and my community. Thats all my savings combined though, after tax and before tax 401k, hsa, and brokerage.

I would do a couple days in Kyoto (half day in Nara) if you can. Or an overnight at an onsen, we went to this one and it was a highlight for most people.

in tokyo:

http://www.shinjuku-robot.com/pc/ - this is a must! skip the bento it's terrible

http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/ - get tickets in advance, like today

Golden Gai - A tiny neighborhood of bars the size of a large closet. Some only serve 3 people, but it's so you interact and get to know each other. one of my favorite parts of the trip. We made friends with a local who got us in to some of the friendlier bars - some do not allow people who speak english.

Picture from our favorite bar. I don't remember the name, it was 4:00am and I was not sober at all

Karaoke - it's worth it, definitely hit it up at least once. I actually found the place we went because it had this amazing giant toast thing

I would say maybe try different accommodations. Our first night we stayed at a capsule hotel, then a hostel, then a business hotel, then a ryokan. All were really unique experiences in their own way. And if you can stay near the Yamanote line because it will get you just about everywhere you need to go.

Edit: Forgot a super important one! Learn the kanji for shochu. Do not get it confused with sake! Very different beasts.

I highly recommend this podcast for you:

https://gimletmedia.com/episode/44-shine-on-you-crazy-goldman/

My issue with any sort of narcotics is that it makes you into a person with less control over yourself.

The psychonauts I know have way, way more control over themselves then just about anyone else I know. The ability to handle your brain radically changing normal function, and not only handle it but derive something of value, takes incredible strength of self and is not to be belittled.

but I feel like using drugs will rob me of the reasoning skills and the willpower I so treasure

Then don't. No one is making you. But if you aren't willing to take the risk you probably shouldn't pass judgement on those who do, because it's something you don't understand. Most worthwhile experiences in life come with risks, its your call if those risks are worth it for you.

Setting an arbitrary barrier on what you allow yourself to experience seems to me to limit personal growth, not advance it. You are going to change. You're reasoning and willpower are subjected to a million external influences anyway, hunger, tiredness, how much sunshine you've gotten. Who you are will be shaped by what you experience, like it or not. The only choice you have is what those experiences will be.

Have you read Eon by Greg Bear? It's a bit more modern homage to Rama. I loved it, I haven't given the original a try since I feel like it will be the same story but less fun. Hoping for someone who's read both to tell me if it's worth a shot.

https://hubski.com/tag?id=weeklybooksthread&time=all

Been going strong since I started, personal initiative is not the question :) Books take days to read while songs are a few minutes. If the average hubsker doesn't have anything new to add each week it might be better for me to space it out. I'd rather higher trafficked threads biweeekly then half the interest each week, mostly because I think its cool when people interact and discuss them together / support each other.

But one week doesn't make a pattern, I'll wait a bit before I switch it up. I'm also open to ideas if people have suggestions!

:(

I think you're both essentially right. Yes, you can lose weight eating twinkies. If you are taking in less calories then you burn, you will lose weight. But figuring out those two numbers is pretty complicated. And, as the Times put it -

That humans or any other organism will lose weight if starved sufficiently has never been news. The trick, if such a thing exists, is finding a way to do it without hunger so weight loss can be sustained indefinitely.

That's where modern diets like paleo and keto come in. If you can sustain them, they can be a great tool for weight loss, because reducing sugar reduces insulin spikes and helps control hunger. Most people can't sustain them though. Reddit exacerbates this problem, because people who are currently on the diet are the only ones active in those subs, and those who drop out aren't included in those perspectives. So the discussion is entirely driven by people who are on these diets, most of them who will only last a few weeks to a month.

The answer for most I believe is somewhere in the middle. If you cut all carbs for a month it won't do you much good long term. But if you structure your meals with less carbs and more food that helps with satiety, you'll see lasting health benefits.

My buddy is ready to retire. When she does, even though her net worth is over a million, her income for the year will be under 10k. She'll still be "working" because she's going to write, but yeah. Income is a poor quantifier of wealth.

My room in college!

I definitely feel like that sometimes. When I sink too deep into that though I try to be more positive. Did you read the "crazy eyes" Ama? It was really eye opening for me. She talks about racism, feminism, pretty much all the trigger words for an internet shit show. But she was so nice, positive, and friendly people were more open to her message. Looking at the good not only makes me less miserable but it helps me have real discussions with people.

Well had a terrible interview that kinda crushed me a bit. Spent my allocated one evening of wallowing and now I'm back on the hunt! Resume looks good, just need to figure out what the dream job is. It's really hard in the games industry, if you aren't careful they work you to death then lay you off once you ship. Not really ideal.

It seems to me the difference is your focus. This guy collected women like Pokémon and grew to resent them when it still left him unsatisfied. You focused on yourself and your own goals, social skills, and fitness. Seems like maybe the answer is fixing yourself, not trying to fix others.

In my expirience picking places by comittee is cat herding at its worst. When it comes to restaurants dictatorships are the way to go.

She says cardio is fine for now! I hate cardio though, prefer lifting.

Mostly just to +1 KB. Michael Lewis is a fun way to learn "if these guys have any chance they will rip me off and laugh while doing it" which I think is Wall Street rule #1.

A Random Walk is really the book to read but it might be too dry. If you can't barrel through don't give up on finance, just switch to an easier book for a while. I started on The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing and can't hype that book enough. It's based on the principles of a random walk but written for less finance minded. It's one of the few kindle books I can lend so if you PM me your email I'm happy to lend it out.

Once you're comfortable with the basics I really like anything by William J. Bernstein, maybe The Investor's Manifesto for a start. The Millionaire Next Door is an interesting bonus read, especially for parents.

You can tax loss harvest at least 3k of that if it helps.

insom and lil have already said what I would but better. I'll just add - my friend and I have an email writing team. Whenever we need to call someone an asshole, ask someone a favor, ect, we work on drafts and proofread for each other. Having a buddy to proofread and check for tone is huge. If you have a friend you can enlist you can send out your stuff for review at 2:00am you can have a reply by the next afternoon when your brain is more awake and send it then.

I get over 500 emails a day easily so most of are insanely ideological about email rules and etiquette. I wouldn't expect someone outside of the company to follow rules perfectly but it makes things easier if you do. insom's reply mostly covers it I just wanted to add many people organize their email by "rules". If an email is "to" me it goes in a special folder and for some people even plays a sound. "to" is much more likely to be seen then "cc".

But I did think I deserved to not be doing worse than Henry.

He's the one saying what he deserves, not someone in the comments.

He's attempted to sound even handed by leveling blame at feminists and at MRAs, although the fact that he equates the two is itself inflammatory. Then he repeats classic MRA arguments which have been, at this point, beaten to death, and complains that people might take offense to them.

If you want to whine about being single, go ahead. If you want to blame everyone else because you are single, people (men and women) aren't going to respond well. That's not because of feminists or MRA's, it's because your being self-pitying and you are ignoring a very normal response to it.

Congrats then? Is it a happy reunion?

You sound a lot like me on the PNW vs New England thing. New Englanders are my people. They move fast, talk fast, and tell you what they are thinking. I can't handle the PNW brand of glaring passive aggression, and what I consider "honest" they consider "rude". Not to mention way, way better public transit.

But the PNW is beautiful. I love the weirdness out here and the coffee / beer / food culture. There's no better place in the country to appreciate nature while still living in a big city.

I've come to the conclusion the grass will always be greener. My heart will always ache for the other coast and the people I'm far from, regardless of which side I live on. But I'm lucky that I've gotten to really experience both, and maybe when I retire I'll just be a nomad and hop between each coast.

Right now? It's people who wait an hour in line for airport security and only take off their jacket / take out their laptop / learn to shoes right at the bin. Really? You couldn't have done this in the 10 minutes we've been standing a foot from here? No wonder the line is so long! What is wrong with you? I hope your flight is delayed and you get a middle seat in between two crying babies.

Guess which one I empathize with:

In 2016, I will learn programming.

Is that just because you moved to Seattle? We won't kick you out for not knowing how to code ;) Do you know what language you're going with? Let me know if you need pointers (heheh)

I loved House of leaves, it's front and center in my book collection. One of the few books I've read that really scared me. Let me know if you get around to reading it!

My dad was an alcoholic and my mom was anorexic. They met in recovery. I was raised by addicts and surrounded by the chaos it causes. It's hurtful you jump to a knee jerk diatribe against me, totally skiping the part where I call the book moving and instead fixation on my one criticism.

Her problems are entirely self made, and it is hard to empathize with someone like her. She has an incredible job and a loving family, with tons of friends. Most of it came very easy for her. None of it came easy to me. Her style is open and honest about her addiction, but she doesn't seem to show gratitude for all the other good in her life. That is the part I found grating. Her lack of appreciation for things I spent my whole life working toward.

My life is a study in addiction and it's consequences. Just because I'm critical of her book doesn't mean you're justified in talking down to me.

Edit: I also want to add, in case you misconstrued my whole self destructive comment, I'm not saying alcoholism is a choice and we shouldn't empathize with addicts. I'm saying every since that rat utopia article it's been something I wonder about: how much of addiction is caused by our upbringing? Hepola had it pretty good, and yet this still came for her. To me, she's the rat utopia example, but she's still an addict. It reinforces my belief that some people, even if you put them in utopia, will have these self destructive behaviors surface and will have to eventually face them.

If the only value in mining is made by bitcoin increasing, then you should never mine, since you could just buy bitcoins today then sell them later. I think most miners just hope one day the price will jump so high it will justify the electric use. Of course, by then, more efficient miners will have been created, so in general it seems like a pretty bad idea.

I'm very behind at work. Starting to do the thing where I just check out and procrastinate indefinitely instead of actually making progress. Goal today is to get something small done. It won't dig me out of this mountain, but it's a start.

I just moved my library actually! Advice on setup welcome, not sure how to organize everything yet. Middle books stay out though, those are signed or otherwise special ones.

I made ratatouille and my Samoa cake. Forgot to take pictures this year but it looks the same, here's mine from last year :

The Samoa cake is basically a giant girl scout cookie, I'll see if I can dig up an old picture later.

I agree with the definitions others have posted. I just wanted to add, I've never met someone who thinks cultural appropriation will stop just "because it offends them". Most people are hoping that by creating discussions around it, educated people will no longer see it as trendy and continue to commodify it.

This whole thing is just mind boggling to me. You know about 3 blocks from Yale is the projects right? Almost entirely black, and the school system has failed so bad they have to bus kids to other schools because they are technically denying them an education when they go to that school. They bus these kids into majority white schools, where they go through their teen years awkward and isolated as one of the one or two black kids in a 300 person class. If you were young, intellegent, and black at Yale, looking at the inequalities literally surrounding you, wouldn't you be pissed? They are college students trying to improve the world. Their methods need some work, but why is everyone so pissed about this? Because some black 18 year olds argued with a professor and were wrong? Do you know how many times white kids do the same thing and it doesn't make national headlines? Daily, and with much less justification. Their methods need work, bit I think their heart is in the right place. I don't know if I'd say the same for people who are treating arguing students like national news.