I wasn’t a big fan of goat

Some have a removable cover that you take off and wash. The ones that don’t I think are generally surface wash only, but all should have a tag with instructions someplace.

I don’t think that attitude is as fringe as you seem to be thinking. There seem to be an awful lot of people who are horrified at any kind of nudity.

And one of the reasons why there’s so much more wealth inequality now is what conservatives have done to the tax code. Take a loot at this chart on the highest tax bracket over time.

Is anybody shocked to see a nude statue in a museum or something?

Sadly, some are. I remember as a teen visiting my aunt and uncle who had a giant Catholic family. We were sitting around watching one of the Pink Panther movies, where the main character is in a museum at night. As he scans his flashlight across the room, it passes over some nude Greek statues. My aunt took the remote and switched the channel, saying “We don’t need to watch this smut.”

The counterpoint is that, for many women I know, their swimwear exposes way more skin than their underwear.

You should reflect back on that “less prude than Americans” part of his statement. It’s only “not really possible” because of widespread American taboos about nudity. If boobs were visible in everyday life - on TV shows and at a typical day to the beach - in a non-sexual way, your son wouldn’t give a crap.

It’s interesting that in many US cities, there’s no law against women going topless, but if a woman does it, it’s outrageous. Hell, some women get chastised for breastfeeding in public. We’re a messed up society.

I’m starting to collect a few of those. I now have things in the evening on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. One of the strange things is that the hours and days pass by very slowly, though the weeks and months go pretty quickly. When I worked, I was really busy all the time (managed a software engineering organization), and there were many things that were regularly scheduled each day. I don’t want to get back to anytime like that, but it also feels like an eternity between Monday and Wednesday.

I get where you’re coming from - in years past that was often the same for me. It turns out that life can be really stressful, but still not have any marks for the passing of time. It just means that the stress doesn’t come from things like work, school, or other deadlines.

I retired in January, and I live alone now. I have no cues about the days and the passage of time. I’ve found I have to put things on my calendar with reminders that I never had to before. Just mundane things like taking out the trash barrels. It seems really strange to me, but more than half the time, when I get the notification, I’m completely surprised. “Oh, huh, it’s Thursday.”

I feel more like I’ve got the wire monkey mother from that same experiment.

I’ve come to really like Adrian Tchaikovsky - I haven’t been disappointed by anything he’s written. The trilogy that starts with Children of Time is especially good.

Lots of others great books out there. The Space Between Worlds, by Micaiah Johnson, was an interesting story read recently. Kiln People, by David Brin, was great.

I keep little spoiler-free notes on everything I read, so if there’s a type of book you like, let me know and I’ll scan my notes.

A couple years ago, after I sharply increased my reading, my wife (who paid the bills) came and said, “I don’t want to discourage you at all from a healthy hobby, but I wanted to make sure you realized that, in the last couple of months, you’ve spent like $200 on books.” In fact, I hadn’t realized it was that much. That’s when I started trying to figure out a cheaper way to read.

I read even more now. So far this year I’ve read 46 novels. That would be prohibitively expensive if not for Libby.

You should get a library card and the Libby app. Lots and lots of free audiobooks.

I read kindle versions, but there are almost always audio versions of everything I read. I read a ton of SF and fantasy - if you tell me the kind of stuff you like I can suggest some titles.

Oh, there it is

I did not. These are the first celebrity Oreos I’ve encountered.

Are you sure that it’s not Selena Gomez flavored?

“Now with real Selena Gomez flesh in every bite!”

Oh! I think you’re exactly right, based on the description. They’re pandering to the Latinos.

Let’s see, where did I put that barfing emoji…?