We have a literature community, but I would love a weekly “what are you reading?” or similar thread. I love seeing what other people are reading and sometimes find new books in those types of threads. Mostly I just want to talk about books, ha ha!
this post was submitted on 04 Mar 2024
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Relaxed section for discussion and debate that doesn't fit anywhere else. Whether it's advice, how your week is going, a link that's at the back of your mind, or something like that, it can likely go here.
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Seconded! I'm on a small Danish instance as well, and they have a weekly, bot-posted "What are you watching/playing/reading?"-thread that I really enjoy 👌
for what it's worth we have quite a few communities in dire need of some love and posters willing to give them some life--betterment and praxis was a good idea for example that's unfortunately not been able to sustain itself recently
Cooking! I've tried to post in that community a couple times with a bit of success. I'm going to commit to posting more though. But you're so right. I love people nerding out over the niche things they love. Thanks for the encouraging post!
I’ve really been enjoying the game discussion threads in the gaming community!
The weekly “What are you playing?” thread, too!
Wildlife and other animals, dog training, plants and garden design! Gardening wise I'm very into permaculture and agroforestry in particular, but always down for any plant talk. And if your dog training style is based on mutual respect and a lack of force we're already friends!
i may have already asked this... but what sorts of things are you training your dog(s)?
We've done a bunch of trick training, which is always fun. He's my constant companion even out in public so lots of navigational cues for human spaces like heel and "going right/left" for when we're in stores. Our boy is anxious even by Aussie standards so we've worked to capture calm and self settle extensively as well. I used to be a trainer at a pet store; I have no advanced degrees for it but was taught by a masters/doctorate/alphabet soup behaviorist and built a reputation for being good at helping anxious dogs and their people. Still, Sudo (our boy) has farm responsibilities that are a teetering tower of triggers when he's unable to intervene for whatever reason.
I've seen and adored your posts about the agility and settle training but what other neat things do you teach your dogs?
capture calm and self settle
these are such important skills, especially for those anxious herding dogs! my aussie is actually on puppy prozac, and has been for a long time, because he's a nervous wreck otherwise. i also have no degree for training, though i've been doing it as a hobby and was a training assistant for a highly-regarded local facility around 10 years ago.
we do lots and lots of trick training for enrichment purposes. at this point, loki (aussie) could probably have a few trick titles, but i've never wanted to spend the money on them, haha. he's also pretty close to his rally novice title, but i'm lazy and again... that's money i could be spending on his main sport: agility. i worked on his behavior in public a lot when i first got him, which makes him a great brewery dog. he will settle and hang out with us for hours on end, accept pets from strangers, and is generally great for that kind of thing.
jean is... something, haha. she's very eager to work, but also gets excited and frustrated easily. i also spent the last couple of years working on some dog reactivity issues which seem to have mostly subsided as she's gotten older (thank goodness). she also knows how to ride in the carrier on my e-bike, and she really enjoys that! she does some agility, but even at three years old, she's not trial ready. she gets so sniffy when we're anywhere new, but i think she might be to the point where i can take her to a couple of mock trials this summer.
i'm not quite sure what echo's going to excel in, although i'm obviously hoping for an agility dog. i could see her dabbling in other sports, and maybe even doing some disc dog or dock diving. apparently she had access to an in-ground pool at her former home, although i'm not sure if / how much she used it.
Mushrooms
The kind you eat? Or the ones you trip on?
Eat, trip, soil health, building materials & more.
Not sure about on beehaw specifically but there are a few such communities on other instances.
I know for a fact that at least one of the mods of !greenspace@beehaw.org would love to see more folks posting mushroom pictures and articles there
It would be great to have a place to share resources we've found. Like ways to get help, find food, survive the heat, etc. Those topics come up in all the different communities, but it would be good to have a main place to go and look
dog training! although i’m probably the only one on here hehe. but really any funny pet stories would be welcome.
ಠᴥಠ there's two of us <3
🫣
Maybe a music instrument community? I don't know if there's already a place where we can exchange our progress in learning instruments, music writing and the likes?
My main hobby is go, aka baduk. But that's like me and a dozen other people in the West.
Would there be space for an abstract board game community? Like chess, go, Othello, hex, and so on?
c/Gaming isn't only for electronic games! Tabletop gaming is welcome too.
From video gaming to card games and stuff in between, if it’s gaming you can probably discuss it here!
I wasn't aware. I can give it a shot, but I fear the reception isn't going to be "gang-busters" :)
Board games would be a good one!
I could not wrap my head around that game. I feel like I'm placing stones with 60% guesswork. I haven't played much, but I couldn't see the difference between good and bad placement.
I would be thrilled to teach you. Back when I was starting I had the exact same problem, and it pretty much lasted as long as I didn't have someone available to teach me. Alternatively, you can try learning from AI. Back then AIs were not very strong, and absolutely did not play good moves, thankfully they're extremely strong now. However, they might teach you... not bad habits, but very much not rank appropriate ones.
That sounds like an opportunity I'd be foolish to turn away.
How do we make it happen?
There is a gaming community, but I would like to see a retrogaming community, to discuss and share photos and videos about old/retro games, like Spectrum, NES, SNES, MS-DOS...
Hot Air balloons
My main sub back on R was /liberalgunowners, which was a space for Left-leaning folks to discuss firearms, training, community defense, and everything else vaguely firearms-adjacent, without having to worry about right-wing gun nuts stepping in (those mods were seriously saints). It also very actively eschewed the Tankie tendencies of the SocialistRA sub.
It is/was a very chill and friendly place for people to learn and share, and saw a lot of great interaction with other left-leaning firearm groups (LGC, NAAGA). It was especially nice to see it become a hub during the Trump years for LGBT+ folks who felt that they needed to learn to defend themselves, and had a lot of resources for connecting them with vetted trainers local to them (e.g. through Pink Pistols/Operation Blazing Sword).
As much as I'd enjoy seeing a community like that off of R, I'm not sure we have enough interested folks here to sustain it.
Fandom and art stuff.
Decades ago, I discovered that there are 4 dimensions that need to be covered, in balance, in community news:
- the Strategic issues, 7+y as a rough guideline, for significance
- the Tactical issues, 1-3y as a rough guideline
- the little Pervasive annoyances that never get given a headline, but are a "tax" on people's wellbeing
- Grow The Good!! community, culture, accomplishments, anchoring people's hope, humanity, validity, etc.
Leaving-out any 1 of those 4 dimensions has long-term costs.
this is just what one autist discovered, it doesn't mean you have to think there's any validity in the concept.