KurtVonnegut

Hi all. For several years I have been together with my partner, who is from a different country and speaks a different language. Together we mostly speak English, but her family does not.

We quite regularly go on holiday with her family, and this is what my question is about: about (how to change) the social dynamics of such holidays.

The point is: together her family has a lot to talk about, even if it is about nothing. They have their internal jokes. They are all very much "tuned into" each other.

As a result, they find it very hard to have attention, time or space for me. Don't get me wrong, I don't have to be in the center of the attention. And yes, I guess this discomfort is partly the result of the privilege of being accustomed to more open, social dynamics that are more inclusive (with my own friends and family). But after several days without talking and without being talked to, it gets quite tough.

In "normal situations" I consider myself quite social and open. But in these situations, after some unsuccessful attempts to "join a conversation", I usually just withdraw in a book, or in my computer.

My partner is aware of this and sometimes tries to get them to involve me, but it's very hard for them to create and maintain space for me.

I can imagine all kinds of reasons: as a family they have withstood hardship that created strong bonds. Also they don't see each other that often. And finally they are used to me not speaking their language (in the beginning), which means that they are used to leaving me outside their conversations.

The point is: I believe they are nice people, and that they are not actively trying to exclude me. I believe (hope) that there are ways to change things around, without undermining the thing that they have going on among each other.

So this is where the question part starts: how to do this?

I was thinking of maybe proposing to play a game in the evening, in which everyone gets a turn to do or say something, which would then also involve me. Does anyone have any suggestions for this?

Or maybe you have other suggestions?

This pest is kind of beautiful but also terrible. What is it? Any tips for how to get rid of it, besides cleaning all the leaves?

Why do some cultures prefer to light their homes with bright white neon lights? And others with more yellow dimmed lighting?

Small question: I am on Debian and use Gnome. I'm the only user on this laptop.

Is it possible to hide my username from the log in screen? So that only the password field shows?

The point is, my login name is my first name, and I don't like it ...

1. ... when people in public transport can see my first name when I log in
2. ...that if I lose my laptop, the people who find it can easily know my first name

I realize I could also simply pick a username that is not my first name, but it would save me a lot of reconfiguration if I could simply hide the name from the login screen.

Given that annual fluctuations in solar irradiation become less pronounced the closer you get to the equator, it might get less relevant to track time by referring to our position to the sun?

This is not a science meme.

I just want to take a moment to thank @[email protected] for providing us with so much quality content.

Really improves my day!

If so how could they enforce that?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_to_Prevent_and_Combat_Child_Sexual_Abuse

Looking at https://zoom.earth/maps/pressure/

Given the much lower temperatures at the poles, I would expect the pressure to be (much) higher.

I'm reading here and there that air pressure at the antarctic is low because of its high altitude, but these maps show (I presume?) MSLP?

Reading this article, and especially the end ...

CEO Jay Graber told The Verge that the plan is to hand over control of the AT protocol to a web standards body like the Internet Engineering Task Force.

... it almost sounds as if Bluesky is (going to be) as community-run as Mastodon.

But I'm suspicious. What is the catch?

A close up of the flower:

Thanks!