The peril makes it MORE romantic. I was super Baptist at the time, so pretty much all of my fantasies involved very fraught situations, because surely looming death makes pre-marital sex more forgivable, right?

Well, I had never been skiing at this point, so my hypothetical ski lift sex was not only feasible but also really dreamy. Now that I’m wiser, I realize that resting your skis on the other person’s skis and trying not to embarrass yourself too much on the dismount is pretty much the extent of ski lift flirtation.

My fourteen-year-old self totally had a very PG-13 sexual fantasy about this exact situation! Obviously, if I got stuck on a cable car with my crush overnight, we would have to snuggle up inside a single coat to stay warm and then we would make out a lot. I hope that someone is at least getting a steamy make out…

Thank you! It really is so, so helpful to hear this from inside the weird little academia bubble.

Thank you so much for sharing, because this is actually a lot like my experience (except that I failed comps, so I’ll need to retake them to masters out). The feeling stupid and lazy and being confused because those terms haven’t ever applied before is exactly how I feel all the time. I’m so glad you found something…

It’s just sucky because this is a STEM research-based PhD, so you expect five to eight years in, which is such a long time to power through something miserable. But I think right now the best option is to wait it out another year, at which point I can petition for a masters. Thanks for your advice — it’s hard to find…

I think I could make it through, but I’m not sure this is what I want to do with my life anymore at all, so that’s terrifying. It’s rough right now because things have been very out of my control for about six months, which has led me to making poorer choices because I’m super despondent and embittered, if that makes…

That’s a good point about using the time in school to figure out what you want to do. Because at this point I’m fairly certain that doing biochem research forever would make me very sad, but I am getting paid to be in the program, so sticking it out while I figure out options that make me happier would maybe be a good…

It’s just so tricky figuring out whether it’s a fleeting thing worth changing perception for or whether it’s truly a bad fit and I should move on to something that makes me happier, you know? Thank you very much for the advice!

I just feel so lonely and unhappy, you guys. I’m about to start my second year of grad school, but I’m scant on friends and really, patently unsuscessful for the first time in my life. I just feel like nothing matters and my life is going to suck no matter what I do. Have any of you ever dropped out of a graduate…

Man, tough luck. Especially since I love lurking around fancy Whole Foodses.

Want to set me up with him?

Synchronized aggressive sloppy swishing in public has been the best way for my sister and me to annoy and embarrass my mom for years. Thanks for that, Taran.

Haha, I appreciate the advice and the nefarious cat owner emoticon

That only makes them bolder

I edited it, because I really meant it’s a studio, so there’s not really anywhere to sequester cats. No interior doors

Twice! The cats had to be subtly shooed off the bed by my foot a few times, but it was chill

Oh God, I have a guy I really want to bone coming over to my cat-occupied studio apartment in half an hour, and this definitely did not put me at ease.

Well, joke’s on you because I HATE spreading peanut butter. (Just kidding, it’s a delight for sure! And I hadn’t hear that phrase, but it made me smile.)

Oh my god, your username. That story still gives me nightmares.