Life Experiences

There’s a whole generation of us who remember the lost art of watching scrambled TV channels—squinting at a mess of warped colors and static, trying to piece together fragments of forbidden content like amateur cryptographers. It was the 90s, and sneaking a glimpse of the Spice Channel felt like the closest thing to breaking into Fort Knox, except instead of gold bars, you were hoping to see a knee, or—if the universe was truly merciful—a fleeting glimpse of a boob.

[Read more…] about Through the Squiggly Lines: A 90s Kid’s Quest for the Elusive Boob

1. Absolute hell. I was in solitary for 3 days as a 15 year old, which is nothing in a world where adult prisoners can spend a month or more in there. No clothes, no books, a steel bed and the room was kept very very cold. I was allowed a bible for 1 hour a day. The rest of my time was spent staring at the wall.

[Read more…] about 7 Inmates And Former Inmates Reveal What Solitary Confinement Is Like

What pushed you to do it?

A lot. Losing my girlfriend, the savings account we worked at for years, the business we created. Just exacerbated my anxiety and depression.

[Read more…] about Confessions of a Man Who Shot Himself In The Head And Survived

How long were you a cult member, and what was the organization like?

I was brainwashed for a little under a decade. It was a small but fervent, insular organization led by a very charismatic, psychologically imbalanced “prophet.” His message was simple, but convincing: That our only responsibility was to love each other and the rest would fall into place. Not a difficult mantra to embrace! Contact with the outside world was prohibited, but once I was fully indoctrinated I wasn’t even interested in the outside world. I wanted to stay pure and radiate love like my brothers and sisters.

[Read more…] about What’s It Like To Be Lured Into A Cult

I have been up to 800 pounds. I lost back down to 500, and then now I’m back up to 750. I am also 6’2” and pretty independent. I live alone.

This is going to be a pretty in depth explanation and I’ll be called a fat cunt or some shit, but it’s what I expect from the Internet?

I’ve never been bed bound or had to have help with hygiene. I do it myself. How do I do it? I’ll tell you.

[Read more…] about The Dirty Details Of Being A Morbidly Obese Woman

I don’t know how to qualify the way I viewed myself. Days I knew I was too thin and others where I viewed myself as in need of losing weight. Small things, skin roll when sitting, bloating, skin pinching, that made me obsessed over every ounce of fat.

I don’t think I viewed myself as fat or obese, necessarily. I was aware and unaware of being thin. I knew my ribs sticked, I knew I looked I’ll. But the need, the will, the absolute triumph I felt when my weight dropped trumped everything else. This feeling mattered more to me than the consequences, I felt important, I felt good and in control.

[Read more…] about The Inner Thoughts Of A Person Suffering From Anorexia

“Euphoria and insight,” as Roger Sterling said in Mad Men, but while the ‘visuals’ are what’s publicized, they really only make up a very small portion of the experience.

The #1 thing psychedelics do is make you unable to rationalize how important events and emotions are supposed to be, similar to the way a child thinks. In other words, it makes EVERYTHING seem incredibly significant, in a way it’s almost impossible to experience otherwise. You are INCREDIBLY attuned to small emotional / mood / vibe changes, and are in a heightened, much more “raw” state of being. This can be incredibly enlightening (or terrifying, depending on how your trip goes).

[Read more…] about What is a Psychedelic Experience Like?

When I was a little kid, and I asked my parents a non-obvious question about the human body or biology, their answer would be “Ask your uncle Paulo next time we see him. He’s a doctor”. Other questions about various topics would get “Let’s call up grandma and ask her; She’s a teacher”, or “Let’s see if the encyclopedia has anything about this”, or “Ask your teacher if, during recess, you can go ask the librarian at school”.

What movies are playing? Let’s check the newspaper.

[Read more…] about What Was Life Like Before The Internet?

1. When they say Americans are stupid. If you knew anything about engineering or natural sciences you would know the US has by far the most spectacular advances in STEM.

In fact, the smartest people from all around the world come to the US to study, research, and work. The US won 2/3 of all Nobel prizes. If you generalize 330 million people based on a heavily edited pedestrian interview on Hollywood Boulevard, you are the dumb one.

[Read more…] about 12 Americans Reveal Criticisms From Non-Americans That Aren’t Warranted