My cousin put $500 into BioTech Dreams last year. It was gone in a week. Poof. So yeah, I get why you steer clear. Index funds are boring but they don't just disappear. Losing that first deposit hurts, man.

Yeah that "whole month" rule is what makes it work for me too. I did a smaller version with my kitchen junk drawer and found like five bottle openers. It's wild how much stuff piles up without you even noticing.

What changed your mind...

That "notes of citrus and minerality" bit is spot on. My friend grabbed a rose last weekend and the app called it "delicate with a stony finish." He said it just tasted like pink wine to him. He mentioned how the old owner would scribble "dry and fun" on a coaster and everyone would laugh. Now it's all quiet tapping on phones.

My first sketchbook was full of terrible figure drawings. The messy pages are actually the most interesting part to look back on. They show where you started and how you figured things out. Posting a few of those ugly pages is way more real than just the polished final pieces.