Great, you're welcome! It took a few tries for me too to figure out how to do it without just smashing eggs all over the table.

I originally came across it from videos where they actually dropped the egg on the table, from increasingly greater heights, and it always seemed to just work. Unfortunately I can't for the life of me find the video. There are plenty of videos though where they just drop the egg straight into the pan and then pick up the shell halves. But I feel like that only works if you plan on frying just one or two eggs.

Anyway, I've noticed that my aim and hands are not quite that adept at getting it to fall right if I just drop it, so I googled a bit more and came across videos (like one from Real Simple channel) where they tapped the egg against a flat surface and got essentially the same effect. And yeah, it's still messy, but not as messy as all the times when I've cracked the egg against the edge of the bowl and then managed to fumble it into an explosion of egg where most of it is on the table, floor and myself and maybe a teaspoon of it made it into the bowl.

I've watched a surprising amount of new stuff this year. Usually when I live in the kinds of times I live now I default to watching my safety series. I mean, I've watched those too but some new stuff has made it's way in somehow. Oh and I'm not exactly sure all of this is from this year, some might be from the end of last year, but I'd say all of it is at least from the past 6-7 months. Most of these are at least partly comedies. I guess I need a laugh now. Almost every series I've tried that took itself too seriously I've just stopped watching after a few minutes.

My absolute favourite is Star Trek: Lower Decks. I've watched it twice through now and I just love it. The humour and the stories are just peak Star Trek for me. Another one I really didn't think I'd like but somehow got completely hooked on and binged through is Upload. I'm rewatching it with spouse now and I still like it. The story and characters are interesting and silly and the humour at times absurd. Somehow it just works.

I also liked American Gods and was sad it was cancelled. The book is one of my all time favourites and I liked how the series took a leap away from that. Rings of Power and The Wheel of Time were good too. Season 2 of Good Omens left me in tatters.

I haven't watched many movies, but I rather enjoyed one called The Portable Door. It's based on a book, and had some of those problems book-to-movies sometimes have but it was still fun. Easy to watch, kind of a feel-good movie but not in a sappy way.

I'm currently in the middle of Truthseekers. It's by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and I've always liked their movies. The series was unfortunately cancelled after only one season, so I've only a couple of episodes left to enjoy it. But it's been fun. And I just started a series called Deadloch. I've only watched the first episode but I liked it a lot. It's a comedy crime series set in Tasmania and is just as weird as it sounds.

OK, I really need to stop this list now before I go through everything I've watched in detail 😄

It's a bit hard to explain, because part of the cure has always seemed to be the fact that I guide the person I'm helping through it and thus take some of their attention away from the hiccup.

But here goes anyway.

1. Sit up straight but relaxed at the edge of your seat, hands to your sides.
2. Take a slow, deep breath, imagine it going to your belly, sides and back. Hold it for a little bit, a couple of seconds, and then let it out and simultaneously relax every muscle in your belly and back so that you slump completely into a crunched position, like you'd attempt to touch your forehead to your bellybutton.
3. Stay slumped, and wait for a bit before breathing in, as long as is comfortable, don't force it. Then keep breathing calmly. Usually it only takes this one time to work, but if you experience a new hiccup while in the slumped position, repeat from beginning.

It works fastest if you do it right after your first hiccup and don't let it get too bad.

A hiccup is essentially a spasm in your diaphragm, and I've found that this is the most effective method of interrupting it. Diaphragm is not an easy muscle to find and control so this is kind of a workaround to get it to behave in unison with your other belly muscles.

I've had many people over many years do this and it's always worked. I know it sounds like I'm bragging but it's true. Hope it helps you too, even though I'm not there to guide it 😄

Hmm, good question and hard to answer, because I have no idea what you expect or think of me. But, maybe my ability to be cool, collected and effective in a crisis. At least, if it happens to someone other than myself.

You'd think with my major anxiety disorder, ADHD and other assorted brain gremlins that I'd fall apart at the drop of a hat. But let's say I was walking with someone and they suddenly tripped, fell and hurt themselves, I'd know exactly what to do and do it calmly, quietly and effectively. It's the kind of thing that often surprises me too, I almost feel like I change into a different person.

Also I don't know if I've mentioned this but I've played the piano for over 30 years. It's only recently that I've had to stop because of pain so it's not something I talk about much any more.

And I've got nimble feet. I often pick up things or open drawers or doors with my toes.

Oh and I can cure hiccups. Not the chronic kind (or at least so I suspect, haven't tried it) but those sudden attacks that sometimes happen.

Hope at least one of these came as a surprise 😄

Most books I've probably read from either Neil Gaiman or Martha Wells. I've read all of Gaiman's novels and short story collections but not any of the comics. No, not even The Sandman. I wish I could but when I got sick my ability to read actual physical books became so diminished that I've since been mostly restricted to audiobooks. I don't want to buy anything because there's a big chance I won't be able to read them. It's on my list though to see if I can get a hold of it through the library.

I have the same problem with Wells' books. I'm missing the newest one, Witch King, the Raksura series and a lot of the short stories. But I've read The Wheel of the Infinite and City of Bones probably around a hundred times so maybe that evens it out.

And to answer the other question, I read one of Dan Brown's books 20 years ago and still regret the time I wasted on it.

Thank you for your question, Yuriel 😄

I've been an atheist for most of my life (and to be honest, probably always was even before I knew the word.) But I've still always loved holidays, even the religious ones. Here most holidays are something of a pick'n'mix of different customs and traditions formed over hundreds of years and the religious parts are easy to just drop if you don't feel like it. Most folks celebrate "superficially" anyway, like they have a star at the tip of the Christmas tree but don't really think it's a symbol of the star mentioned in the bible, just a pretty decoration, you know?

That said, my favourite holiday is Christmas, or joulu in Finnish. I love the food, chocolate, lights and decorations. I think it's because winter is so dark and I've always suffered from major SAD that Christmas is kinda the only light in the darkness that gets me through it. Celebration in my case means going to my parents' house to eat and exchange a couple of gifts. We also visit the cemetery and leave candles for passed loved ones.

Another favourite is at the end of summer, called Venetsialaiset. You could translate it to something like Venetian Night. It's unique to the coastal regions of Finland and celebrates the end of the summer season. We have bonfires, fireworks and colourful lights all around and of course, once again, good food. The lights are just so pretty and even though it feels a bit sad that summer's ending, at least it's going out with a bang and you can give it a proper goodbye before autumn descends. I put lights in our garden and then basically just walk around looking at other peoples' lights and fireworks until I get tired of the noise and retreat to my blanket fort.

Also you mentioned the social aspect of celebrations in your own answer to this question. I only celebrate these with my spouse and occasionally with my parents, none of the holidays are social events for me. I wouldn't go to any big gatherings of any kind even if there were such. So just basically staying in the house eating. As opposed to every other day 😁

Impossible to choose just one, because they all serve a different purpose. There are games I've sunk thousands of hours on over years, sometimes decades. There are games I've played once that have left an incredible impact but which are more of an occasional rare treat than something I keep coming back to. So this is gonna be a list. (Also edit: I had to return this to inbox and add one more because it's the game I play most but somehow managed to forget completely.)

Destiny 2. This is the game I first forgot to add and I have no idea how that happened. It's like my base game I'm more or less always playing. I can play other games for a little while but I always come back to this and also play it whenever I don't feel like playing anything else.

Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. Comfort game. I've played it through at least once a year since it came out 13 years ago.

Dragon Age: Inquisition. I love the whole DA series but Inquisition is the one I've played the most. Like, a lot. So many times. Three times just this year. Yeah.

Borderlands 2. This is the game we started playing with my spouse when we started seeing each other and have played it over and over again for years. We've played BL1 and 3 too, of course, but 2 has a more special place at least in my heart.

Horizon: Zero Dawn. Just... wow. I finished yet another playthrough a couple of days ago and it's just such a great game in so many ways, especially the main story. Forbidden West is also good, but doesn't have quite the same kind of impact story-wise as ZD.

Alan Wake 2. I gushed about this being the perfect game for me. Everything about it just clicked. Have only played it once though, for now. Horror games have a bit of a smaller replay value than RPG:s.

Transistor. Another game I love but have played only a couple of times. Lovely story, music I still listen to, great mechanics. Just a great game.

That's about it. Of course there are tons of other games I've loved and could go on and on about but I'd say these are the main ones.

Thank you, that's kind of you to say! I learned it pretty much by accident when I was very young. I learned to read when I was around 3-4 years old and also liked to watch a lot of British and American TV shows and movies ("Jeeves and Wooster" was my favourite). They were subtitled, so I could understand what was said and I think that was the main reason I learned it. I also listened to a lot of music with English lyrics and asked my mum what they meant. It hit that age when you still learn languages with relative ease.

I started learning English in school on 7th grade (I was 13) and as I already knew a lot, teachers took notice and encouraged me. I started reading books in English, the little I could find in our library. Later on came video games and the internet so I just used it more and more. I've also always loved languages and comparing their differences so it's easier to learn something when you enjoy doing it.

I still have to google a lot of words, mostly to check that I'm using them correctly. Also prepositions are difficult because there are none in Finnish. And I seem to have an unhealthy addiction to the words "just" and "finally" and have more than once caught myself using them three times inside the same sentence. So I'm still learning and I don't think that will ever stop. But I wouldn't have it any other way :)

Not a career by any means, I was there from around ages 10 to 20. At the time I did want to become a professional actor but finally realized after years of trying that I was absolutely no good at it and stopped.

Unfortunately I can't disclose my favourite role. It was unique to that play and I'm probably the only one to ever play it, unless the director recreated it in another play. I know the chances are less than slim that any folk from so long ago would read this but I just don't want to take the chance that I'd be recognized. I'm sorry. I can say my second favourite was probably the role of Susan in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe :)

As to a role I'd like to play, that I can't answer either. It's been so many years since I gave up on theatre and it's just not a part of my life any more. Nowadays you couldn't get me on stage if you paid me. Also for me theatre was never really about the individual roles, it was more about the community and making something together that both the actors and the audience would enjoy. But probably any role in a children's play or a comedy. I always liked those more than the grown-up dramas.