tag rambles

~ Brin ~ 1 Comment

emotionallaborunion:

People say that you should really do something out of your comfort zone. Why? I worked very hard to find my comfort zone. It was really rough and I can’t even get there that often. Takes all day and I gotta get off to a good start and do all the right things and avoid the right people and find all the right people and do all of these things to find my comfort zone. And then I’m supposed to do something outside of my – Fuck you! You do something outside your comfort zone. My comfort zone is hard-won….

But then, that’s where popular culture and pop psych comes in and wants – and the shtick I was looking at last night was that like, so, if it’s ‘afraid’, then, ‘You should do the things you’re afraid of’. Why? Why? I have felt quite enough fear. I don’t think I will benefit from more fear. I don’t think it’s the missing element in my life. I don’t think that’s the thing I need to be seeking out. ‘Go to the places that scare you.’ No! I have carved out an awesome space in which I don’t have to visit the places that scare me. I don’t like them there. I’ve been there. I know more about them than you, person telling me to go to the places that scare me.

John Darnielle, 2014-04-19 and 2014-04-20 at the Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago ( track 18 in https://archive.org/details/tmg2014-04-19.oldtown.flac16 and track 21 in https://archive.org/details/tmg2014-04-20)

Tags:

#I read a thing recently about a free-solo climber #and when they asked why he did it he was like #”I don’t want to just be happy and cozy‚ anyone can be happy and cozy‚ I want more than that” #and I was like what the fuck are you talking about #happy-and-cozy is one of the hardest things there is #you can spend a lifetime striving for it and catch only fleeting glimpses #I don’t understand skydivers and bungee-jumpers and all of that shit #they’re like ”it makes me feel alive” and I’m like ”…no‚ not alive‚ the *other* thing” #how can you be *happy* if you don’t even feel *safe*? #tag rambles #anxiety #death mention #101 Uses for Infrastructureless Computers #and I’ll also add: #people who can distinguish between their drive for sleep and drive for sex fascinate me #my mind is complicated but is also *coherent* #everything feeds into everything else and I can see how these aspects feed into each other #(and indeed I once wrote a to-hell-with-leaving-my-comfort-zone post that was *specifically* in a sexual context)

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~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

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colchrishadfield:

Mars over Toronto. It won’t be this close to Earth again until 2035. (great photo by friend Andrew Yee!) (at Sunnyside, Toronto)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGAAewvHyYt/?igshid=amvrecjly6f9

Tags:

#Mars #juxtaposition #our home and cherished land #this picture is a lot more emotional in its temporal context huh #Toronto looks so beautiful and so ordinary from this distance #you can’t see the pain or fear #the impotent anger at reckless neighbours #”two point two percent” whispers an all-too-fresh memory #(a memory of reading a news release from Public Health Ontario) #(they’re taking blood draws that were done for other reasons and additionally testing them for COVID-19 antibodies) #(that’s the figure for Toronto) #((it’s about one percent averaged over the province)) #I was just talking about Mars being a safe distance #tag rambles #covid19 #illness tw

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

hip-shop:

hot new tumblr discourse

put in the tags your opinions on wearing shoes in the house and why

Tags:

#in my own house: nothing against it unless the shoes are in quarantine‚ but I normally don’t #in other people’s houses: I’m not willing to die on this hill so I go along with the taking-your-shoes-off norm #but I would rather keep them on #taking off one’s shoes is an expression of vulnerability #(partly Touching Their Floor and partly Making It More Difficult to Leave Abruptly) #and it’s frankly presumptuous that everybody and their brother demands it of me #this is *your* space‚ not mine‚ and the fact is that I will not be as comfortable here as I would at home #what next? #are you going to expect me to eat your finger foods without hand sanitiser? #groom my face?? #take off my utility belt??? #we play this game of pretending to trust each other #but I don’t trust your house and I don’t trust you #you want my trust‚ fucking earn it #tag rambles #is the blue I see the same as the blue you see #illness mention

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

gnabrie:

it’s for science; what’s your age and do u know how to burn CDs?

 

phenomenal-eggplant:

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Tags:

#26 #it’s been probably 8 years since the last time I did it but I expect I could pick it back up easily enough if for some reason I needed to #(and certainly I know what the verb ”to burn” means in this context which I suspect is a large part of what you’re asking) #but why *would* you need to we have smartphones now #(okay yes optical discs are likely the single best option for ordinary citizens who want #to leave a whole bunch of data to gather dust for decades and still be able to read it afterward) #((particularly if you burn multiple copies and access by feeding them all through ddrescue or whatever ddrescue has evolved into by then)) #(so yes future-me may very well have a reason to burn discs but that’s not where I’m at right now) #(and I do think smartphones (and the occasional USB stick) have taken over every niche for CDs *except* cheap decades-scale data storage) #tag rambles #surveys #101 Uses for Infrastructureless Computers

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

nudityandnerdery:

Wink Pulls Ultimate Dick Move By Forcing Users Into Mandatory Subscriptions

Another strong argument to avoid getting caught up in “smart devices”…

 

ms-demeanor:

Please, please stop getting IoT devices.

Tags:

#fuck! cloud! dependence! #this is like my third fuck-cloud-dependence post this week but it’s still fucking true #(also‚ semi-relevant lifehack: if you want a smart TV get a old cheap laptop and an old cheap TV and wire them together) #(add a Bluetooth or remote-USB mouse and keyboard so you can operate the laptop from the couch) #(bear in mind that you’re not using the laptop’s monitor so #if you can find one that’s been discounted because of monitor problems all the better) #(hell maybe even use a desktop if you don’t care whether it fits in the DVD-player section of your entertainment-system shelving) #((in our case we actually had an old laptop with a broken monitor lying around already)) #((*knew* it would come in handy someday!)) #(this won’t protect you from Netflix ceasing support for your device† but I expect it’s a more robust setup overall #plus the upgrades are cheaper) #†as indeed Netflix did with our TV’s prosthetic brain a while back; we still use it for YouTube and #once the roof’s not falling apart anymore we’ll consider shelling out the ~$180 for a new(er) prosthetic brain #tag rambles #and arguably #101 Uses for Infrastructureless Computers

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

90377:

Memories of April 2020 by 90377
Instagram | Etsy Shop

Tags:

#…so uh I’m *strongly* legally discouraged from going outside more than the absolute minimum #(legally I have to treat every allergy attack like it might be COVID-19 and go into full lockdown for two weeks) #(surgical masks aren’t always enough even when you can get them and cloth masks are untested and presumably even less perfect) #I think I’m starting to go a bit astronaut #plants #covid19 #allergies #(every year it gets worse‚ my ability to just go enjoy the outdoors ever more restricted) #(I’d wondered what the escalation would be this year‚ hoped that #perhaps the allergist I would visit in January would help me *de*-escalate instead) #(but there was nothing she could do for me and I guess now I fucking know what this year’s escalation is) #tag rambles #(P.S. over dinner today Mom told me the forsythia in the backyard is blooming) #(and I should go appreciate it seeing as how it was my idea in the first place) #(so after posting this I went and opened up the back door to look at it) #(I held my breath) #(and when my lungs began to burn I shut the door again and quickly walked away)

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

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thejogging:

Unique Key Rendered Useless by Removing the Unexceptional Half, 2013

Artifact

´´´

Tags:

#I know what this is *trying* to say but it is saying something very different #it’s *trying* to make a statement about underestimation and foundations and the importance of ordinary things #but what it comes across as is something about the importance of experience and mentorship #the information in you can remain useful even if your body has given out to the point you can no longer make use of the info *directly* #even if you can’t use this key *in its own right* you can use it as a guide to how to make a functioning copy #in fact you can use *this image* as a guide to how to make a functioning copy #ceci n’est pas *encore* une clé #(remember folks‚ treat images of your keys with as much caution as you’d treat the keys themselves) #(you do not hand them out to just anybody) #art #keys #aging cw? #tag rambles

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pengychan:

rumbutt:

screenageralex:

Being 18-25 is like playing a video game where you’ve skipped the tutorial and you’re just sort of running about with no idea how anything works

Being 25-30 is like later on in the game when you’ve figured out how things work, but have made poor leveling decisions along the way and are now horribly underpowered for what you’re supposed to be doing.

Being 30-35 is coming to the conclusion that if wildly swinging a sword at random while screaming has gotten you this far, may as well keep at it. 

Tags:

#I’m 26 and #yeah pretty much #sometimes I wonder if sending a message back to 18-year-old me telling her to major in accounting would actually result in a better timeline #or if I needed to take the long road to that realisation #maybe I should just tell 18-year-old me to take up MMO merchanting as a hobby and trust her to come to the appropriate conclusions herself #still‚ though‚ maybe there are universes out there where I figured it out sooner and took fewer fallthrough courses #I can see her now‚ sitting at the dining room table with a work-issued laptop‚ remotely updating their databases #until it’s safe to return to her cubicle #meanwhile here I am preparing to go out there #and serve rotting food to those few assholes who insist on getting takeout in the middle of a plague #spraying everything down with sanitiser after each one #(except sometimes they show up one after another and there isn’t time) #go home and spend 40 minutes carefully decontaminating #wipe down the laundry basket with store-brand Lysol after I put my uniform in the wash #every time I hug my mom I wonder if by doing so I am sealing her fate #(she insists that I not lock myself in my bedroom until and unless I start showing symptoms) #tag rambles #in which Brin has a job #covid19 #illness tw #death tw? #adventures in University Land

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

1rakus:

1rakus:

what kind of cookie are you

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Tags:

#I gave multiple responses containing phrases like ”panicked paranoia” and ”doomsday prepper” #and my result admonishes me to ”try not to trust people so easily” #what the fuck #were you even listening #food mention #meme #(okay to be *completely* fair I do not *literally* own a spare container of gasoline) #(I would much rather use solar power for the apocalypse: #sure solar panels break occasionally but I’m pretty sure you’d go through them slower than you’d go through gasoline) #((also less fire and pollution hazard!)) #(but I feel that I fit the *spirit* of that answer) #((my result was oatmeal raisin btw)) #tag rambles #anxiety #101 Uses for Infrastructureless Computers

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

englishproblems:

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Tags:

#so apparently handwashing memes are a thing now #which feels… #it feels like a piece of set dressing you’d see in a work of apocalyptic fiction #a little poignant note about coping mechanisms #did you ever see that post about memes people would make during the apocalypse? #there was a meme from a world where an asteroid was about to hit #took an artist’s conception of an asteroid hitting Earth #added a then-perish image on the asteroid and a guess-I’ll-die image on the Earth #this feels disturbingly like that #tag rambles #death tw #apocalypse cw #illness tw #covid19 #Shakespeare