My spirit animal. Image: @TheHappyTalent

Humans evolved to be extremely sensitive to loneliness — we couldn't survive or successfully reproduce while alone, so there was a strong evolutionary pressure to be lonely.

That is why loneliness causes tremendous physical and emotional agony — and why I've spent time writing posts to help the lonely find companionship.

It's also why my replies to the incels who criticize posts like What Men Don't Understand When They Complain, "It's Only Creepy If The Guy Isn't Hot" and "Creepy" Isn't About Attractiveness. It's About Reciprocity are curt, direct, and arguably "vicious."

Easily one of the most life-changing moments of my life. Image: @TheHappyTalent

I didn't get a single mosquito bite during my trip to the Everglades. Image: @TheHappyTalent

It is known.

Leggings aren't merely acceptable as pants — leggings are the best pants. 

They beat all other pants in terms of comfort, mobility, and their amazing ability to flatter every body. (With the obvious exception being bad leggings, which flatter no​ body.)

Everyone knows basketball is the best sport. It's also the sport I was playing when I tore my ACL last year. 

After doing extensive research on the best possible ACL surgeons, then meeting with each of my top three, I decided against having the ACL reconstruction surgery — and it ended up being the best decision of my life. 

​Image: @TheHappyTalent on Instagram

After the most epic imaginable month of tent camping and mountain biking in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, I realized that it was my destiny to be a full-time RVer – how else will I visit all the best mountain biking and surf towns in the USA, but still have a place to work when it's raining?

The epiphany came to me while I was climbing the Benson Grade fire road to Eh Line — but as I started thinking through the logistics of my new life plan, I realized I had no idea how to tow. 

I totally accidentally got into mushroom foraging this summer, after I happened upon some totally gorgeous yellow mushrooms growing in the middle of a bike trail in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and decided to find out what they were. 

The Curmudgeon's Quests, by Allan Wooley​

When I found out Mr. Parris died, I sat on my porch and wept — the mailman didn't know what to do when he saw me there, blocking the mailbox. 

What a heartbreaking loss for the whole world. 

Last week, I found out that yet another teacher who shaped my high school experience had died. Though sad, I took comfort in learning that he'd published three books in his retirement. 

I'm only on page 20 of Crumbs Cast Upon the Current: Some Stories, Poems, and Essays... but I already wish that all of my teachers would write a memoir before it's too late. 

Chris Farley's famous "van down by the river" sketch was a hilarious staple of my childhood -- but now, as an adult, I completely, 100% understand Matt Foley's rage.

And I don't even live in a van down by the river. I've just been told I should.

Guys — I am absolutely loving my summer reading list! It started with Hillary's What Happened, which, as I wrote in ​Right Now is the Best, Weirdest Time to Read Hillary Clinton's 'What Happened', felt weirdly timely and relevant. I also enjoyed and recommend ​A History of the United States in Five Crashes: Stock Market Meltdowns That Defined a Nation (which also feels really relevant right now), ​Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters (which is alarming, to say the least), A Sand County Almanac (which is more soothing than poetry), and ​The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West (which was educational, but definitely not my favorite).

Now, I'm finishing Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage, from which I learned a really weird and unexpected fact:

​Marriage counseling was pioneered as a form of eugenics. 

Image: Eva Via Music

​My greatest regret of this whole pandemic is that I only had my travel guitar with me when the world shut down, rather than my Guild. Nevertheless, music has been a major source of comfort and entertainment during this unprecedented time. 
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