Ishmael

From a 55 year old, I'd say that's a good guess. It's not entirely incomprehensible--hopefully you'll be more far-seeing, steadier, and less reactive. What you gain for overcoming obstacles and setbacks. But reading your subtext, you're also right.

I don't think 110 is in the cards for me...but if it is, I hope to still have all my marbles, still doing good writing.

Wow. She's so much more expressive in this one. Great work.

Thanks for the new music discovery.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I only ever got to precalculus mathwise; heavy duty stuff is beyond me, so hopefully these aren't too heavy. Hopefully none of these are like Godel, Escher, Bach! I'm a big fan of Feynman's popular books (Surely You're Joking and What Do You Care What Other People Think), but don't know QED. Hopefully the library has a copy. I've always loved science, but didn't think I was smart enough to pursue it. I've gotten so much out of popularizations of the harder science though, like Brian Greene. Cosmos got ten year old me on the train, and I've never gotten off.

Nice explanation. Any general-audience accessible books on the subject you'd recommend? Been a long time since I've read any cosmology....

Fantastic. A practical application for Terrell rotation! But would you have to spin all the way to 0.9c to get these effects? You'd get some of them at much lower speeds? I don't know, just thinking aloud.

Whatever brushes you're using capture the impressionistic feel well. Reminds me a little of 1970s fantasy paperback covers, especially for Tolkien. Her forelegs are posed well, too. You can really feel the anatomy with just lines and shading, and she has a lot more energy than her Flash version.

I like the watercolor-mixed media aesthetic.

I didn't graduate high school, and didn't think I'd want anything to do with it after leaving. Like most posters in the thread, I didn't have a great time, and one traumatic experience pushed me to college early. But the amount of unfinished business I had made me curious after a decade or so, and with social media in the mid-to-late-aughts, I was surprised to reconnect with people who I barely remembered but who had positive memories of me. What spurred me to my 20th high school reunion was a friend a grade ahead of me. Attending his 20 year, he had a long and transformative experience with a classmate who'd been his mortal enemy. The mortal enemy was one of those kings of high school--football captain, student council president, highly sought by the opposite sex, lionized by the school, incapable of doing wrong. In actuality, this person was a racist bully who got away with everything. My friend reported that twenty years on, this racist bully was utterly transformed, working as a community organizer in the worst parts of Baltimore. They talked at length of what had caused the transformation. The biggest thing was "getting away from my John Birch Society dad," former bully said. This was so striking I decided to go to my 20 year a year later. A couple bullies apologized for how they treated me, which was so weird I didn't process what happened until a friend explained it afterwards. The other striking thing was three attractive women who approached me with stars in their eyes professing how much they admired me, but then disappeared into the crowd, never to be seen again. I thought I'd made some connections with a few people, but they all faded away over the next year. I've learned to not bother chasing people who won't respond to friendly overtures, so didn't think too hard about it. I live two time zones away, in a very different ambit, and don't have any ties to my high school town, so I suppose it's natural for that to have happened. My oldest friend went to the 30 year, but reported he just avoided losers and weirdos too eager to talk to him. The exception was a woman who had been widely considered the most beautiful in our class, cheerleader, prom queen, on and on. She had a long conversation with him. Life after high school hadn't been kind to her, but she was holding her own. At the time, I described going not as fun or enjoyable, but revelatory and satisfying. It proved people can grow and change, though many don't, or can't.

I'll ask around and let you know. I'd suggest community colleges, too. Inexpensive and to the point training, and you'll rub shoulders with experienced people who know what they're doing. Oh...I'm sure that Reddit forum you found will have great suggestions on books or training.

Glad it helps. I'm sure there are tons of video tutorials like this. Lynda.com was a great site of tutorials, but it's now "LinkedIn Learning" and looks irrelevant to your needs. Adobe has great books and courses, though they split them across several titles so you have to buy more. I'm sure you can find the books used for a lot less than new. I prefer books to follow along, especially for software as complex as Adobe products, but it's been ages since I did this kind of work, so can't suggest any. I might know people who could suggest some, if you're interested.

Youtube suggested this, but I think it's really meant for you. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MAtL7ax9xOQ How to make pony walk cycles in a Flash

Thanks, @Dreambiscuit. Your thoughts really resonated with me during a difficult week, so I'm grateful you posted. Our hopes, dreams and plans not fully being in our control is a helpful touchstone.

@Dreambiscuit I really appreciate your thoughtful and articulate reply. I have a note on my microwave of The Four Agreements, from the book by Ruiz: Be impeccable with your word Don't take anything personally Don't make any assumptions Always do your best Like fixating on always being mindful, living to the fullest, and the like, these can all be helpful talismans or humorless taskmasters. Is "always do your best" realistic? It's exhausting! Always living a peak experience just burns out. Everything is always changing, always in flow, becoming something else at the same time we become something else. It's important to be mindful--to actually be living your life instead of watching it from the sidelines--but obsessing about wringing every moment is as neurotic as you say. "Nothing too much" is the best distillation I've found. Not that I'm the best in practicing, but at least I remind myself when I'm circling the drain. :) Your point about our plans not entirely being up to us is an important one. Control is more illusory than we realize, and dependent on so many things going right, many of which we'll never even know. Like the self-made man, control is often an unhelpful myth. The trick is figuring out what you have real control over, and letting go of the rest.