A 50-something French dude that's old enough to think blogs are still cool, if not cooler than ever. I also like to write and to sketch.
I understand that but my question remain: do you really think you need to worry about what a random person can think about you? There are 8 billions plus people to worry about, then.And if you think you should, have try to understand why?
I know a few people, I could name them, that would like to slap me in the face (because I dare live a different life) and I have little doubt that many perfect strangers would also not like me because of that live. I know many others would not like like me because they think I'm too bald, or too bearded, too tall or too thick maybe. Or because I don't talk enough, or too much. Or because don't like bananas. Because I don't have a TV at home, no Netflix, and so on.
There are as many reasons to not like me (or hate me) as there people willing to waste their time finding reasons to not like me. And like I said, I'm fine with them not liking me, why should I not be? But I will not waste a second of my own precious time worrying about their opinion. They're strangers.
There is this thing called 'Stoicism', an old Roman philosophy that could be grossly summarized like this: it's a waste of one's energy to worry about things one can't change. It happens one can't change other people's opinion.
If you're confident you did nothing to deserve that anger, why worry about some stranger having a bad day? Even more so: why let that ruin your evening?
I know plenty people who don't like me and that's fine. At least, I'm fine with it.
Preparing?
I mean, if there is a 'collapse', what use will there be to stock pile some food/medications? If those are not stolen by raiders (aka other people believing they ought to survive... a side note to those of our American friends who worship the holy gun: no, you won't own enough bullets to shoot them all). Those stocks they will only last so long, right? Then, what?
It's even simpler in my very personal situation: I'm alive today thx to constant medications. Stop the inflow of those medications and I will last a couple years at most (dixit the same doctors that have been keeping me running for many years now). And that is in the best conditions, which probably won't be what we will all be experimenting.
So, I prepare by being fine with knowing things and I will end. Which they will, even without any collapse. And by knowing other things will replace them, with or without that odd human species that once ruled the planet.
On the short term, as my humble way to try reduce the risk of such a sad collapse happening, I do my best to reduce the resources I consume, and by encouraging people (me included) to rediscover there is an alternative path to self-destruction through constant anger and hate against the other(s)... and against oneself.
Maybe check your wallet too? I'm quite gifted ;)
As a visual person, I have a hard time imagining (no pun intended) what it is to not have images in one's mind. I will go read this, thx for sharing.
As fresh (and as spot on) as it was... 37 seven years ago.
Nous regardons la saison 3 de Twin Peaks sur arte.tv. Toujours aussi décalé ce qui est déjà un exploit en soi, à mon humble avis. C’est aussi une des séries qui me donne le plus l’occasion d’admirer le talent de certains des acteurs. Sérieusement : leur jeu est souvent absurde, inévitablement, mais aussi époustouflant. A croire que toute cette 3e saison n'existe que pour leur pemettre de faire ce qu'ils font.
Don't get me wrong it can be disturbing… like a lot of Flaubert's work (go read 'La tentation de Saint Antoine' for example). It was already very disturbing when it was first published in the XIX century. So much so that Flaubert went into trial for this novel where he dared honestly describe a woman committing adultery.
Its sincerity is part of what makes this novel so powerful despite being 150+ years old. That coupled to Flaubert’s mastery as a writer… Like Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, another essential book imho, whose very first line should be enough to draw anyone into the novel. With ‘Mme Bovary’ one will probably need to read the first few pages, though, describing how 15 years old Charles Bovary enters a new classroom. But that should be enough to give a good idea of how finely tuned, how well crafted, the entire novel is.
The other reason it can be difficult to read today is that, well, it’s an old novel which means it was written for the readers of back then. Readers that were much more used than us to read more demanding texts. OI mean, suffice to read Jules Verne’s own novels (which are not literary master pieces, unlike Flaubert or Tolstoy) to realize how downhill the expectations have gone as far as we, readers, are concerned: some of Verne’s stories that were written for younger readers would be considered demanding read for more than a few adult readers nowadays.
If I may, Dumas won't be disturbing. Or only to the most sensitive readers. The novel tells the story of barely older than teen boys in 17th century Paris. Young men that, while trying their best to act rightfully, are not afraid to fight in duels using their swords to maim or kill people, that are also not afraid to use their brains (with the same energy they put in using their swords) to find workarounds to their constant lack of money, and that are not ashamed to quickly and madly fall in love with women. It's a a fun and easy read while being so very well written (it would make for an excellent suggestion to anyone willing to quickly improve their French, plus it’s fun ;)
- log off all services you can (no iCloud, no Apple Mail,...)
- use Free Software alternative as much as possible (Thunderbird instead of Mail, LibreOffice instead of Apple Page/MS Word, Firefox or some fork of it instead of Safari or, worse, Google Chrome for which you may consider chromium based-alternatives: Vivaldi and Brave being the first two I can think of).
- Install a firewall like LittleSnitch to monitor what's going out of your Mac... believe me, there is a lot. Sorry, I forgot the name of the free alternative to LittleSnitch which is paid for and not open source (but is still a great little app).
When I was using one of those Mac with soldered on storage (I have been using Apple since the mid 80s, up until a few years ago) I also booted from an external thunderbolt SSD drive. Doing so I was pretty confident I would not be writing anything personal on the soldered-on internal SSD. Doing so, I was sure I would be able to get all my data of the system if I ever needed to sent it back to repair or whatever without hoping that the secure erase was indeed working as expected.
I recently dusted my 'old' M1 Mac and tried Ashai Linux on it. It worked quite well but I will wait for more apps to become compatible to give it a more serious look.
If someone wanted to engage you in conversation, what topic would you be happiest to talk about?
Nothing. Allow me to explain.
I don't come here for 'happiness'. I mean, if I want to be happy I will spend time with my spouse, open some poetry or any good book. I will feel as good reading Alexandre Dumas 'The Three Musketeers', or Flaubert 'Madame Bovary' today like I felt good reading them for the time some 40+ years ago (replace Dumas by any of your favorite writer, just don't replace Flaubert). I may also listen to Beethoven, Bach, or the Pink Floyd...
When I meet people here, I'm more into 'is it something interesting they're discussing? And are they doing it in a stimulating way?'
And about what topics? Well, the ones we probably already have in common since we are subscribed to the same communities ;)
Hi & welcome to all new users.
If you feel intimidated or jarred, it's normal. Just keep in mind it's OK make mistakes while trying new things out. There is only very kind moderators around here, well, a few are nice ;)
Don't be afraid to ask questions about anything you find confusing (there are quite a few, to be honest).
And to those that have been here for a while, how has your experience changed over the year(s)?
- I stopped worrying about the few things I did not like and focus my attention on what I think is great around here.
- I learned to filter the default feed by showing only 'Subscribed' and learned to use keywords to filter out the many types of content I have zero interest in. It instantly made the experience much better.
So much this.
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Small Web is still a thing, one still needs to search for it. Maybe just a little deeper than they used to ;)
The hardest obstacle to finding it, imvho, is that most people can't be bothered to begin searching for it: FB, X and all the other corporate turds are way too simple to use and way too shiny, why bother with anything else, right? Which is sad.
As someone who focus on low/no-tech (edit: and older stuff in a general manner), I must say it's a tricky question. But the answer is still obvious for me: medications.
I should have died many years ago, and if I'm still alive today (nearing my 60s) it's thx to constant innovations in the medical fields and research in pharmaceuticals (and also thx to radical life changing decisions, but those would not have been an option at all without new medications to begin with).
As far as I understand, nowadays in France customers will be targeted/harassed by the police, not the prostitutes themselves. Not anymore, at least.
I have no opinion. Never tried it.
I do worry more than a few prostitutes may not be that willing to do that, though.
Do you use the ability at all?
nope. I'm getting old enough, and my health is not that great, to not be keenly aware of how short life is. No matter the ratio of the exchange. I'm definitely not an Achilles ;)
subscribed! edit: because of this:
;)