Try out Shokz bone conducting headphones. They are awesome, you can hear the world around you, and the app has a vocal booster mode that makes listening to podcasts much better. It works really well on my 1.5 hour bike commute in traffic with road noise, and I can still hear the cars passing by.

You could wear your Apple Vision Pro on the date and use Tinder AI to get live prompts like a modern Cyrano de Bergerac.

I think it’s just not for me. Space operas and the like are too tedious. My preference in writing is for immediacy and action, not tangential explanations of dynastic lineage, lengthy asides on culture, etc.

I’ve tried so many times to read this and can never get past the first couple chapters. Just doesn’t keep my attention.