I graduated with a philosophy degree. I’m a lawyer now. So are a huge chunk of my classmates from undergrad.

Even the ones who didn’t go on and get more schooling tended to find white collar work in some kind of business, same as the people who majored in business administration, finance, marketing, other business school fluff.

There are plenty of majors that are interesting and help students learn how to think, how to write, and how to research. And there are plenty of career paths that don’t care about major, just want to see a 4-year degree for their entry level people.

A bachelor’s degree isn’t a vocational degree. It’s ok to major in something you don’t intend to work in, because at the end of the day more than half of college educated workers aren’t working in their field of study. Part of the reason is because the typical 4-year degree teaches only barely enough to scratch the surface of what actually happens in industry, and those entry level workers need to learn a ton on the job anyway.

Here’s a helpful chart of career outcomes by major. Note that many of these undergrad majors tend to be feeders into graduate or professional programs, and that a lot of the joke majors in the humanities and liberal arts have long term outcomes that are better than the sciences. Compare biochemistry to philosophy, for example. Both of those majors kinda expect people to go get graduate or professional degrees after, but the unemployment and underemployment rates are pretty similar.

Have a plan for getting a job. Whether that plan involves a specific major or not is up to you, and isn’t strictly required. It’s mainly engineering that provides a specific pipeline from undergrad degree to specific career in that field. All the others are much looser about which degree is required, or require additional schooling to enter (and once you have a graduate or professional degree, your undergrad basically doesn’t matter).

The pizza dough tastes better when allowed to rest and rise slowly in the fridge. Using a ton of store bought yeast for a quick rise is fine, but planning out the dough the night before is better.

I love Chinese food so much. I’ve visited twice, and always make room for food.

My favorite street food is probably sheng jian bao, the pan fried buns with soupy pork filling sealed in.

In terms of a single standalone dish, it’s hard to say. I like noodle dishes, like Taipei style beef noodle soup. Or Wuhan style re gan mian.

And for the type of meal where there’s a lot of dishes on the table to be shared, my favorite dish in that setting is probably Mapo tofu. I did a food tour of Chengdu once and just everything Sichuan is so good, but Mapo tofu is just all my favorite Sichuan things in a single dish.

I’ve lived all over the U.S., so here are some of my favorites:

Texas:

• Beef barbecue. The classic is beef brisket, but a lot of places have great beef rib, too.
• Tex Mex: fajitas hit the spot every time.
• Breakfast tacos, especially with leftover smoked brisket from the day before, or some other smoked meat like smoked sausage. Undeniably Texas, undeniably delicious.

Louisiana:

• Boiled crawfish, with red potatoes and corn and andouille sausage. Some people overcook their potatoes and corn, but even then there’s still a charm to it. But the whole experience of a crawfish boil is everything great about food culture: socializing around a big table, making a big mess, teaching kids and newbies how do engage in that task of peeling crawfish. The Vietnamese riffs on these traditions are also great, and Viet-Cajun is a great genre of food in general, too.

The American South in general:

• American Southern style fried chicken. It’s just great.
• Pecan pie. Easily my favorite American dessert.

Southern California:

• Burritos. Something about the fresh made flour tortillas in Southern California are just better than everywhere else in the U.S. So a good burrito provides flavor from the fillings, and also flavor from the wrap itself, in a way that all the parts just complement each other.
• Ensenada style fish tacos (yes, I know this originates south of the border but it is “local” to the general region). There’s just something refreshing about fish tacos with a crunchy cabbage slaw, fresh lime juice, a crema-based sauce, eaten outdoors. Can’t beat it.

New York:

• Bodega style breakfast sandwich. The basic concept is universal across the U.S. (egg, a breakfast meat like sausage or bacon, and cheese on some kind of roll, bun, or even bagel, griddled with generous amounts of butter), but something about the New York bodegas just make these taste better when you’re on the go.

Chicago:

• Deep dish pizza. Looks kinda dumb, but it’s delicious.
• Chicago style, “dragged through the garden” hot dogs. Every component makes this ensemble great.
• Italian beef sandwiches. I don’t know why these aren’t more popular outside of Chicago. Get it dipped, get a little messy with it.

In terms of popular and well known local dishes, the deep dish pizza and Chicago dog are great. I agree with you there.

The one that people outside of Chicago don’t know a lot about, that is still a delicious representation of the city, is Italian Beef.

And the one that is uniquely Chicago but isn’t going to be winning over people in a blind tasting, is shots of Malort.

All else being equal, in terms of structure and property itself, I’d rather live in a detached house.

But all else isn’t equal. I’ll sacrifice my ideal building type in order to live in the specific neighborhood I want to live in, within easy walking distance of amenities like parks, groceries, world class restaurants, bars, and things like that, all while being able to get around by bike, mass transit, or even easy/cheap hailed vehicles like taxis or Ubers. And that means I’m living in a dense urban area, where detached houses are rare and prohibitively expensive.

So I look for neighborhoods where I’d actually like to live, then look for places there with the right number of bedrooms and floor space, and then look to see what is within a feasible budget for myself. The first time I bought a home, I would’ve preferred to rent, but the building we liked in the neighborhood we liked happened to be condos rather than rentals.

But housing is a package deal. And house versus townhouse/rowhouse/brownstone versus low rise condo versus high rise condo versus apartment versus someone’s accessory dwelling unit is only part of that package. And the other parts are more important to me.

The average added sugar consumption for American adults is about 70g per day, which works out to be 25.6 kg (56.2 lbs) per year. People can shift their source of sweetener and consume a dramatically higher amount of honey without necessarily having a diet that is all that different from the national average.

I plan on going abroad in the coming year

See world. Oceans. Fish. Jump. China.

Roasted peanuts are cheap, high calorie, high protein, and shelf stable. It’s a decent mix of all the macronutrients (including carbs and fiber). Personally, I can also eat them all day.

Around me, a $3 jar has 2500 calories, over 200g fat, over 100g protein, and about 30g fiber. On a per dollar basis, it’s hard to beat for shelf stable food.

You might be overcooking it. Once the cell walls rupture too much, the sulfur compounds spread out and start to overpower the rest of the vegetable. It should still be somewhat firm/crisp when you bite into it.

You might also be using broccoli that’s had too many of the cell walls ruptured from processing before cooking. If you’re cutting with a dull knife, especially into small pieces, or smashing it somehow before cooking, those smells will leak out a bit faster.

Or, if you’re cooking from frozen, the ice crystals might have mushed up the vegetable.

Here’s the two main ways I cook broccoli:

Blanched: cut broccoli into big florets, big enough to constitute two big bites. Boil a lot of water, salted to about 2% salinity. Once it’s a rolling boil, put the broccoli in, and set a timer for 4 minutes. As soon as the timer goes off, dump the broccoli into a strainer and run cold water over it, or dunk it in ice water, to stop the cooking process. Serve and eat.

Roasted: cut broccoli into big florets. Toss in oil, and season with salt and pepper. Preheat oven with a sheet pan in it, to 450°F. Once preheated, take the broccoli and place it in a single layer on the sheet pan. It should sizzle. Roast for about 15-20 minutes, optionally flipping once (better char if you don’t flip it, but it’s only on one side).

Optional seasonings: garlic, pepper, red pepper flakes, lemon juice, honey, bread crumbs, pine nuts, any combination of the above. Works with either blanched or roasted.