By all means conduct the thread, but on the side you can find discussion on almost all of those topics in the following central threads respectively:
lsd vs mushrooms
http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?t=201198
favorites
http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?t=360920
microdosing
http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads/775139-The-Big-amp-Dandy-Microdosing-Psychedelics-Thread
low dose lsd appreciation
http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?t=266623
high dose lsd appreciation
http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?t=295476 http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?t=344091
(just basic preference for high or low doses is worth just discussing here as those threads ^ highlight the preferences one at a time mostly)
methods of trip preparation
http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?t=322115
set and setting
http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?t=343407
things to do while tripping
http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?t=517799
All this and much much more can be found in the Psychedelic Index linked at the top of PD pages, some of these require first going to for example the central LSD thread, where you can find the list of subthreads. Alternatively found via the search engine.
Quick answers would be: I find LSD much more rational and clear-headed while mushrooms are intuitive and mysterious to me. Mushrooms are unforgiving and demanding to me while LSD can be bargained with at regular dosages, although if you take a lot of acid it will require you to be humble and commit just as much. Eventually all psychedelics will do that to you, but just like there is a safety therapeutic index, there is also another index IMO namely one that for each psychedelic describes how big the difference is between a generally trippy dose and a hardcore trip dose that breaks you. Maybe it's different (even the opposite) for other people but for me, mushrooms break me quickly and there is not much wiggling room while something like 2C-D has to be pushed very far before it gets serious.
Favorite? I love LSD all-round, I find 2C-T-7 one of the most "rich" and lush, I think mescaline is the most valuable therapeutic tool for personal work and I find 4-HO-MET to have one of the most favorable combinations of allowing you to trip superhard but while still being lighthearted. AL-LAD would be the LSD version of that but I don't trip *that* hard on it necesssarily.
High or low doses really depend, rarely I get a lot out of low doses that let me achieve something therapeutic without giving me a real 'trip' (with visuals, chaos, mindfucks, whathaveyou) to obscure that work... most of the time I want a moderate to strong dose, the more malleable and forgiving the psychedelic is the more comfortable I feel pushing the dose to combine therapeutic effects with a fun trip. I used to really push the envelope with very high doses but I don't really want to break myself or my ego anymore to explore possible 'breakthroughs'. But if I get more 4-HO-MET i can see myself taking pretty hefty doses for some really trippy fucking shit, but that is different from even a moderate dose of something like DPT which is a lot more jarring than any of that other stuff.
Always look out for: paying enough attention to have a peaceful setting to trip in, and not just being careless about trying to manage responsibilities while you're coming up or being with way more people or people that are way more unfamiliar to you that you are comfortable with. Plenty of people just go ahead and try to still manage such situations that they are normally used to. If you are experienced and know perfectly well that during your trip you are not going too deep to answer the door or a phonecall etc, that is fine... but don't just get involved with anything like that without having considered it very well, because it is a typical mistake for inexperienced people to have to deal with stuff like that by trial and error.
When I was inexperienced I also did try to manage difficult situations but in part I did that intentionally to challenge myself in order to have more messy and adventurous trips. I got varying results, and some of that was disturbing. I would not recommend doing that just accidentally just because you don't know any better than to be very conscientious about it.
Don't underestimate how much a phonecall can disturb you, make sure that the basis you start with is some sort of isolated ideal environment where you don't have anything to worry about but letting the quirks of your trip flow free.
Also be aware of how much issues during a trip are caused by your own fears or inability to just let go. It may pay off to learn about the kind of thing that can happen in your mind when you get freaked out. Usually it takes experiences to learn that in practice, but it doesn't hurt to do some homework on it by reading threads and reports that tell you something about how people drive themselves crazy over nothing.
I like to go on a nice walk in the park but this requires learning to manage yourself first, listening to music, drawing, being open to new things that pop in mind like eating something you never tried before (last trip I ate kimchi for the first time), I listened to Pink Floyd for the first time.. I went to a thrill ride even though i normally avoid fun fairs. Things like that can instill a sense of wonder. Sometimes you can have company that helps you get exposed to such things, which is not only great for tripsitting but also for that sense of wonder. It can be hard to arrange the right company, but that can be amazing while bad company like friends who just try to fuck with you and have a nice time themselves regardless of your feelings can really be bad for a trip.
