A reason that everyone should get behind:
AI = increased carbon emissions for a product that won't even be useful because AI is really unreliable.
Seven on 7 is a series of TV news shorts and commercials from The Boys universe. It's a delightful little parody of Fox News. The whole series is available free on YouTube.
In Washington State (where most voting is done by mail) it doesn't matter when officials receive your ballot, all that matters is that it's postmarked by election day. This does mean that any race that's even remotely close can take days to call (as ballots continue to arrive days after election day), but you never have to worry about how long the post office is going to take to get your ballot delivered.
In neighboring Oregon on the other hand (also primarily mail-in voting) they won't count your ballot if it's not received by election day, so every election they have to throw out stacks of otherwise legitimate ballots just because the voter either underestimated how long it would take for them to arrive, or because all they heard was "XX is election day" and didn't know to consider mailing time.
I think Washington's system is superior, and should be how it's done everywhere. Washington also has same-day registration for the super-procrastinators! Literally no excuse to not vote here.
I mean, obviously it's not for everyone, but it's important to actually experience urban living for yourself before deciding you hate cities. Especially given the political situation in the United States right now, where so many suburban and rural residents are bashing cities and urban living without having properly experienced it for themselves; I think there would be a huge bite taken out of the urban/rural divide if more people had experience living in cities, and got to personally see the good and the bad for themselves. Plus your twenties is a great time to learn street smarts, because that way you'll be less likely to have a bad experience when you do visit a big city in the future, whether it's for something fun like a concert or something serious like going to a medical specialist. There are a lot of basic lessons like "never ever leave anything visible in your unattended parked car", how to use public transportation, being able to firmly say "no", and general situational awareness that are just good life skills that city living forces you to pick up.
I'm not at a point in my life where I want to live in a big city anymore, but I'm so, so grateful that I did in my youth.
Travel, live abroad if possible, and experience living in a big, culture-rich city. Unfortunately the economic realities of the 2020s are making this increasingly out of reach for many youth, but if you have the resources and opportunity, absolutely go for it. As you get older, responsibilities and lack of energy will likely sap much of your ability/desire to move around as much (this isn't true for everyone, but it's extremely common). Even if traditional travel is impractical for you, there still exists cheaper opportunities for exploration that are a bit off the beaten path, such as the WWOOF program.
Regardless of your situation/location, one thing that basically anyone can do is get involved in a cause. Find something you're passionate about and throw yourself into it. Make sure it's something that you can do in-person and not virtually... as in, there are local groups you can join for this cause, although if there aren't you can always try making one or forming a local chapter of a larger org. With the right networking you'd be surprised how many other people will join you, especially for causes that involve your local community. This is a great way to meet other people, get to know the issues facing your neighborhood/city better, and learn to navigate your local government/NGOs. Again, as you get older responsibilities/exhaustion can make this sort of thing a lot harder.
Minnesota is probably the most famous example at the moment, but they're far from alone!
https://www.nycfoodpolicy.org/states-with-universal-free-school-meals-so-far-update/
Red states are not okay, because all they have left in their value system is cruelty toward people they see as not "pulling their weight," as if we still live in some resource-scarce era of yore where if you don't work, you don't eat (and even if you do work, eating is not guaranteed, better work harder!).
Blue states are increasingly providing lunches, and sometimes even breakfast, for all students free of charge. It used to be income-based (you'd get free or half-priced lunch based on your family's income), but even that system is getting ditched because of the associated stigma and the problem of some needy students falling between the cracks.
I actually think this is brilliant. Most Americans have no knowledge or personal connection as to where their food comes from and what goes into producing it. The ag sector is also, sadly, rife with worker abuse, farmers commit suicide at way higher rates than the general population, and our food system is getting increasingly industrialized and specialized, with small farms getting gobbled up by megacorps. But because agriculture usually happens away from population centers (sometimes far away) there's not a lot of public awareness (or sympathy) of issues. Meanwhile soil depletion and unsustainable practices are setting the US up for all kinds of potential future disasters (second dust bowl, anyone?), and that's before you factor in climate change.
So yes, let's have all Americans get even a few months of experience with our food system!
There's a webcomic called Just Roommates that's based on this concept of the suits themselves taking on a persona.
Agree with everyone else that this isn't normal for someone your age and get a second opinion.
However addressing your other questions: you're at an age where lifestyle starts to really matter. Diet, exercise, ergonomics, environmental exposure to pollution/toxins, alcohol/drug use, sleep habits: these are all things that many healthy young adults can avoid having to worry about... until suddenly they can't anymore. It is common, especially starting around age 30, to find there's unhealthy behaviors from your teens and 20s that you just can't do or do to excess anymore. It's different for everyone; for some people it's that they can't sleep on a crappy mattress anymore, or drink certain types of liquor, or pull all nighters, or eat garbage, etc etc.
So while it sounds like you have some personal health issues outside of what's "normal," you still are at an age where the cumulative effects of a poor lifestyle can start to catch up to you. I think a lot of people greatly underestimate how sedentary their lifestyles are in particular, and of all the behaviors to change for the better as you age, going from sedentary to active is probably the hardest, given that our world is built to keep us sitting: sitting in our cars, sitting at our desks, sitting on our couches, basically sitting from the moment we wake until we go to sleep. Humans never lived like this until very recently: basically every decade since the personal automobile became the standard mode of transportation it's steadily gotten worse. So yes, definitely do some doctor shopping, but now is also a great age to take stock in your lifestyle and how you're treating your body. Because yes, it does get a little harder each year, but the speed of which it gets harder is at least partially up to you.
I think all mowers except non-motorized push mowers should be illegal for home use. You want a big, manicured lawn? Well then you gotta work for it, buddy.
Most properties where I live have huge grass lawns, but I almost never see anyone actually using them. The only time anyone is out on their lawn is to mow it, and they all use these low-effort riding mowers. Every single nice day (and I live in the maritime Pacific Northwest, so warm and sunny days are precious things) is always filled with the din of mowers, leaf blowers, hedge trimmers, and other gas-powered tools of ornamental landscaping. And for what? An ecologically-devoid patch of land that even the landowner isn't utilizing.
I love seeing random instances of vaporwave influence. I stumbled across this example in the sci-fi/fantasy webcomic series Ava's Demon. It's only for two panels and has nothing to do with the plot at all, but I thought it was a neat cameo.
For fans of '80s-inspired contemporary beats. Share artists, albums, compilations, -wave channels, and vibe art.
Droid Bishop (real name: James Bowen) is a one-man synthwave artist who's put out multiple banger albums over the last decade-ish. Each album feels like the soundtrack to an introspective 80s drama/action film. Beyond the Blue is probably my favorite road-trip album of all time; it makes driving through the empty expanses of I-80 through Wyoming feel like a grand, meaningful adventure.
As far as I can tell he doesn't have an official YouTube presence, but this channel seems to have all his works: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYb8MJseDAimJBFCJQ8Hfvg
INEXED is one of my favorite channels for background music. If I wanted to introduce someone to synthwave, this might be where I direct them.
Videos are consistently high-quality, and the compilations are long (1hr to 2hr+) without repetition. There's perhaps not a lot of variety in vibe: some videos label themselves and vaporwave, chillwave, retrowave, etc, but I'd consider those to be more the flavor of synthwave being featured than actual examples of those genres. Most compilations are calming but energetic, with a bit of a surreal touch.
It's frustrating that INEXED only has about 37k subscribers when the quality is so much better than a lot of other synthwave/chillwave channels out there. Please check them out!
NewRetroWave is the GOAT.
They've posted over 3000 retrowave and synthwave songs and albums since 2011, and more keep coming. With over a million subscribers, they're one of the biggest players in the YouTube synthwave scene, and for good reason: in an era of low-effort compilations repeating the same tired tracks over and over, NewRetroWave somehow keeps finding quality fresh material for us listeners. Most of their posts are single songs (3-6 minutes), but there's a few longer (hour-ish) compilations mixed in.
This feels less like a YouTube channel and more like a library. Definitely check it out!
Dreamingr0b0ts is a fantastic house/trance YouTube channel with a mere 123 subscribers. (It may not technically be synthwave, but it's synthwave-adjacent)
Some of the very oldest videos are a bit rough around the edges, but they quickly improve in quality. I like this channel because it has more of an old-school vibe than most synthwave; it reminds me a lot of early-2000s electronica, back in the days of Armin van Buuren. Vocals are present more often than not, and the vibe is more "dance" than "chillax." Great music to stay awake during a long road trip, or to stay motivated during a big house clean-up. A lot of synthwave videos rehash the same songs over and over, but as far as I can tell these are quite fresh.
Check out their "The Daily Dose" series, each of which are albums of about 20 minutes each.
Outer Wilds
Reviews of the game are fantastic ("this is the best game I've ever played" - everybody) but trying to fly that damn spaceship is so hard. I also heard there's tricky platforming later on, and if you mess up you gotta start waaaay back. I did not grow up with video games so I'm terrible at that kind of thing. I should just give up and watch a playthrough but apparently that defeats the whole point of the "incredible" story, which is the only thing I'm here for in the first place.
I guess I'm just holding out for someone to release an assist mode or something.