The scent of my grandparents’ house.

It had a very distinctive sweet aroma. I was never sure what is was, and I never asked. The scent followed them when they moved into a condo in a retirement facility. The last time I visited them in their condo was 2019, and they’ve both since passed away.

They gave me a book many years ago, the pages of which used to smell like their house. I know if I dig that book out of storage, it might still have a trace scent in it. But otherwise, it is now just a memory.

Disclaimer: am Canadian, will be discussing using that lens.

On a daily basis, most people I interact with are about where I am. I probably have different reasons for believing and voting how I do, but if an election were to be called tomorrow, all my friends and most of my co-workers would be voting in roughly the same direction as me.

My family is a mixed bag. On the one hand, my father has never voted for anyone further left than the old Progressive Conservatives, and has even voted for the Christian Heritage Party on occasion. My mother also normally votes conservative, though she has confessed to be that she finds American-style conservatism in general and Pierre Poilievre in particular to be too odious to stomach and so I think she may have been spoiling her ballots recently. I don’t know how my one sister votes, but her husband is a also an outspoken conservative, being a card-carrying member of the CPC.

On the other hand, my other sister has never voted for anyone further right than the NDP, and her husband is apathetic - he thinks all politicians are the same and doesn’t bother voting.

Holidays are generally fine, as political opinions are generally off-limits, though inevitably at some point my father and brother-in-law (the CPC one) have an extended grouse session about the state of the country and how much they hate the Liberals.

Except the demon is also an idiot because she doesn’t have a tail and is way less agile than she thinks she is.

I simply don’t like the taste of many things. I’ve never been officially tested, but I suspect I may have extra sensitivity to certain compounds, such that no matter how many other things are in a dish, I can still taste that one thing that I don’t like. I also suspect that I am more sensitive to all tastes in general, as there are many foods that have been described to me as “mild” that I find are quite strong.

Now, I’ll still try most things once. There are limits, mostly involving spiciness, but I wouldn’t want to be thought of as ungrateful or close-minded. It’s just that I’ve disliked far more things than I’ve liked when trying new foods.

I also resent the common refrain of, “You just haven’t had good [food in question] yet!” Actually, I probably have, and I still didn’t like it. It has nothing to do with how it is prepared or what other ingredients are in the dish, that food still has its fundamental taste that I don’t like.

It’s not food, but I like using wine as an example. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the cheap boxed stuff from the supermarket or some expensive vintage at a fancy restaurant, because both taste like overripe grapes in addition to whatever other flavours present, and I don’t like the taste of overripe grapes.

I think it’s the case with most Slavic languages. My wife’s native tongue is Serbian, and knowinf when and how to use articles was one the hardest parts of learning English for her.

I seem to remember reading about how he once torpedoed his own bill when he found out the Democrats were going to support it, because he valued denying the Democrats a bipartisan win more than he valued the effects of the bill itself.

I also remember reading about the time he blamed Obama for the unintended consequences of a piece of legislation. Obama had vetoed the initial passage, and Congress re-passed it with a veto-proof majority. But somehow, Obama was at fault because I guess he didn’t warn the Congress-critters hard enough or something.

If true, neither of these would be the worst things he ever did, not even close. But they are emblematic of his desire to score purely partisan wins above most anything else.

Most is Slay the Spire, and I don’t even think it’s close. And I say that having bought it twice, once on Steam and once on mobile.

Least, I’m tempted to day League of Legends or Overwatch, both of which I bought extra cosmetic stuff for and neither of which I play anymore - and I’m not sure I even liked either of them much when I was playing.

But not knowing (and not wanting to know) how much money I’ve spent on either, I’ll instead say either Imperator: Rome or Victoria III. I preordered both with extras, and ended up only putting around 40 hours into both before giving up. Compare that to other Paradox grand strategy games, where I can easily have 500+ hours played, and I really feel like I didn’t get my money’s worth.