Speaking for the back row without realising it, especially when I’m passionate about the subject.
I still haven’t figured out how to prevent it, people frequently tell me that I start bellowing after a point in my discourse. And that’s on top of having a naturally resonant voice…
Honestly, I’d go the full cyborg route, like in Ghost in the Shell. This would be my first step toward adjusting my consciousness to existing within and controlling an artificial environment, ultimately aiming for fully uploaded consciousness. I’d want to exist as a cyborg for a couple of decades, then I want to be uploaded into an autonomous space probe with as many sensor types as possible and left to explore the Universe (+/- relativistic speeds, I don’t really care). BUT I’d also want the possibility to erase myself, because I most certainly wouldn’t want to live forever. At least, not as I see it now. This is the purely sci-fi version.
In the realistic version, a cybernetic eye and a logic co-processor to increase my background process bandwidth. Sure, a brain-computer interface would also be nice, but I somehow suspect I’d get nostalgic for the clackety-clacks and would most likely revert to analog interfacing after a point (for which I’d like that “fingers within fingers” prosthetic from GitS).
Unless, of course, Musk (or any other such) will be handling said cybermods, in which case none, thanks. I’d rather just decay and die as a basic human being than have such people tinker with my bits.
Not even close. Take Foundation, for instance. The show is ok in itself, but when compared to the books, it neglects so many vital details (in my opinion) that it became downright frustrating to watch after a point, subtitles or no. As a positive example, The Shining the movie and The Shining the book are both brilliant works of art, but are very different all in all.
As for brushing my teeth, after breakfast/coffee (I serve both immediately after waking up, because I usually wake up starving and groggy).
I once fell out of the attic of an abandoned house because an owl scared the living crap out of me - it was huge and it made itself look even larger, must’ve been the largest bird I’d seen IRL by that age. Does that count?
Sorry, based on principles, the removed upvote… uuh… stays?:))
Not just that, but even works with general tension.
Had this neighbor at my old place, she loved to replicate a full cinematic experience at 1 AM, played music very loudly during the day, sorta’ calmed down after I started knocking on walls, but not really (she’d still go full blast with the movies up to midnight, still generously shared whatever she was listening to with the rest of her neighbors, etc.)
So, being the socialite that I am, I started responding in kind. Not with blaring movies at night, but with trying to compensate for her concerts with my own, singing poorly and loudly around the house, stuff like that. And we kinda’ settled into that routine of mutual annoyance.
Thing is, though, I was attracted to her, but in a purely lustful way. And I’m pretty sure she had something similar going on her end, because the tension was palpable every time we met face to face. And, lemme tell ya’, that wasn’t the “I want to strangle you” kind of tension. Well, maybe some strangling, but not the main focus.
What I tried to explain through this venting of unspent frustrations is that sometimes you just get the hots for someone you don’t like as a person, and that would most definitely not stop either of you from bumping uglies. Quite the contrary, the interpersonal tension usually amplifies the sexual one. The wonders of biological imperatives at work!
As a Romanian, tipping here does very much help Hospitality/Delivery workers, as our wages are deep down the toilet.
Our tipping culture is (or was, at least) pretty similar to the US’s, 10-15% as a standard tip, 20% if you’re flush and the service was notable (checking up on you occasionally, helping you make sense of things if need be, polite, nothing over-the-top). Same thing goes for delivery people.
Nowadays, I suspect people have somewhat maintained the ratios, although this comes mostly as an anecdotal observation - I started tipping 20-25%, or even double that if I’m ordering groceries (because I stock up for weeks, so it’s quite a bit to carry), and a LOT of delivery people have remarked that it was the largest tip they’d ever received (as an average example, about a 20RON ~ $4 tip to a 100RON ~ $21 food order).
Thank you! Yeah, it hit us pretty badly… Well, to be fair, every loss wrecked us, because we never treated pets as pets, but as family members, but that was the first death I ever experienced in my life. Taught me a very valuable (although unfortunate) lesson about human beings, too…
I always choose based on personality, or let them choose for themselves if they’re especially chatty.
Some examples:
Screech, male cat, got him after weaning and the only things he could vocalise were variations of screeches. So, Screech. Also worked well with the fact that he had a full black coat, so you’d always hear him first.
Mimi, female cat. Found by one of my former coworkers next to an apartment building stairway, asked her what she’d like to be called. She said: “meeee…” in the cutest, squeakiest way imaginable. I asked and what else. “Meeee…” again, so that was that. She ended up earning it, she was exuberantly inquisitive and playful.
Maia, female cat. It was the most feminine name to also have a sort of benevolent but tired aristocratic aloofness. She was always bothered by your unrequested presence, always complaining with a bored chain smoker’s croon of “mmmmaaawwwww…” She also obsessively groomed every living thing she had in her proximity, including a chicken (the only one dumb enough to not run away) and a hamster.
Lord, male dog. He was fucking majestic, looked like a miniature lion with black, white and copper stripes (about as large as a Golden Retriever). And he owned that name, always lording over the place. Ironically, got poisoned by an envious neighbor (I’m serious).
Ralph, the (happy) exception, male dog. So, this guy, had been my brother since I turned 10. First time I met him, he was slobbering. And he was a German Shepherd / Alsacian mix, these guys don’t usually drool a lot afaik. But my guy was dripping. So, naturally, I wanted to call him Spit. I mean… naturally! Luckily, mum intervened with this one and declared him Ralph, because it was the friendliest* German name she could think of at the time. And he wore it well, he was always vivacious, but calculated.
As long as I’m the first one through, the rest is set dressing.
Oh, I type out a full list every time on my phone, check it about 3-4 times when starting, then I get cocky as “of course I remember what’s on the list, I read it 5 minutes ago…” and proceed to forget about that one thing.
I usually forget to buy something while grocery shopping, whether it be in person, or ordering. There’s no pattern behind it, the items are completely unrelated to a theme (eg. coffee, soap, mouthwash, bread, milk, eggs, potatoes, salt, etc.) as far as I can tell, I just forget to buy something.
As a guy who used to have long hair, this. If it’s long enough, you could also tuck it underneath your shirt collar in a pinch.
Disclaimer: I’m midway through my coffee, so I apologise if this ends up meandering toward a point.
First off, I’m sorry you’re going through depression, it’s draining and it sure seems to have done a number on you.
Secondly, yeah, it’s a pretty bad sign… But it’s a bad sign which can serve as a wake-up call, depending on how you look at it and how you choose to react.
I can understand how frustrated and spent one can feel while going through it. It drains not only social batteries, but emotional ones as well, making it really easy to lash out at others out of pain. Your example seems to fit. But there are other ways to go about it. I know it’s hard to make an extra push when all you seem to be doing is pushing that boulder uphill all day long, but you have to realise that, unless your friends are toxic and abusive (which they don’t seem to be from what you’ve offered) thus basically one of the reasons which keep you stuck in depression, they’re not to blame for it (and if they are, you should be reconsidering your friendship with them in the first place).
As such, it’s unfair to react aggressively toward them for trying to socialise with you. They’re just trying to do what friends do, to connect and be with you. In this case specifically, it sounds to me that you had an expectation about how your friends should approach these attempts at interacting with you, but you’ve not said anything about communicating it to your friends before reacting to a perceived disrespect of said expectation. What your friend did is a pretty natural and normal reaction when faced with random hostility from others. They are not obligated to just sit there and take it because you’re friends, it’s quite the opposite of what a friendship is supposed to be.
So, now it’s up to you to choose how to deal with it. If you’d want to try to salvage the friendship and maintain it from now on, my advice for this would be really taking some time for yourself for a week or two, disconnect from socials and try to do some digging around how you’re feeling and why, to put things in perspective for yourself. And keep it contained, give yourself a set deadline, because isolation and depression are best friends…
Before that, though, I’d recommend writing out a short and sincere apology letter to the one who blocked you. If you have no way of otherwise reaching out to her digitally, make it a physical letter and actually deliver it. Tell her how you’ve been feeling - be honest and open about it, really - and inform her of your planning to take some time for yourself and be specific about the amount. Even if you’ll end up needing more time for yourself, it’s better to communicate an extension than to leave it vague from the start.
The most important aspect of the above is not expecting a reconciliation. Apologise for the sake of it if you do feel inclined to apologise, but your friend is now fully within her right to decide for herself whether or not she wants to give you a second chance. And regardless of what happens with this friendship, try to keep in mind what I said about people not being to blame for how depression makes us feel, and I mean with everyone. Again, if they’re toxic, the priority should be establishing boundaries and increasing the distance between you, but that’s a different situation.
Also, always keep in mind that human beings absolutely suck at mind reading, so you’ll need to communicate expectations from the start. You really don’t need to feel bad about setting expectations, because relationships are a two-player game at a minimum and the other person can always choose their own reaction. But it’s important that you contextualise yourself for them, tell them what works and what doesn’t work for you, what you need and don’t need, the works. And it’s 100% ok if you need some space, or some time to yourself, or you’re not in the mood to chat right then and there, or you have other things going, but it’s essential that you communicate that. The only type of bad texter is the texter who doesn’t communicate their pattern (or lack thereof). A short “can’t talk now, will drop a line when able” is more than enough to call a break.
As a side note, the other end isn’t much better in terms of maintaining relationships, and I’m referring to the vanishing act. That’s the one I used to pull back in my early twenties when dragging myself through depression, I’d just vanish off social media and would not respond to anyone for months. They even used to joke that they were placing bets on whether or not I was still alive “this time,” which is just as cruel a thing to do to people who are invested in your wellbeing…
You messed up. And it’s ok that you did, seriously. It’s how we calibrate ourselves to the world around us. The important thing is what we learn from messing up and how we apply the lesson moving forward.
I genuinely hope you’ll be able to find some inner peace and clarity! And don’t hesitate to ask strangers for their perspective, seriously. If you’re not clear about an aspect of what you’re going through, drop a post on one of the mental health boards, or relationship advice communities. And try to be honest about it with yourself first and foremost, give yourself some grace and compassion. Human life is a collective learning experience, literally not a single person who has ever lived on this planet has ever had it all figured out.
Just don’t, y’know… like, doxx yourself, or something:)) And try to take everything with a grain of salt, actually think about how much sense one piece of advice makes when taken in the context of who you know yourself to be.
Some things off the top of my head would be the more dance-y contemporary side of Synthwave - something like Occams Laser - With You, or maybe more toward the Electronica side of things, like Birdy Nam Nam - Defiant Order. Daft Punk also work as a sort of Euro Disco kinda’ distant cousin, too. At least these are the more upbeat proxies I know.
There’s always Darkwave (The Neon Droid - Braindance), but it’s like going from mild Indie to Nu Metal, so YMMV.
As a side note and potential rabbit hole, the first thing which popped into my head when skimming through that playlist was The Birthday Massacre - Science. I don’t think they fall under Synthwave, but I find they do a wonderful job at incorporating the “synth” part into their unique voice!
Edit: oh and give The Octopus Project a try! The Mythical E.L.C., for instance. Bit different, but very peppy and fun!
You’re very welcome! Genuinely glad I wasn’t too far off the mark!:))
Ooh, those aspects are well beyond my capacity for comprehension or visualisation! I feel like an ant watching nuclear explosions.
From what I’ve managed to find, they seem to be on the same wavelength, yes! There is a lot of melancholy and nostalgia in “mi-e dor de tine,” it’s an ardent longing to interact with that person, or to simply have their presence around again. And it’s not just related to people, it’s used whenever referring to someone or something which generated profound satisfaction in us, like food, activities, music, etc. And I’ve noticed that few people use it outside of its intended emotional context (like “awesome” became a generalised superlative for “good” when it initially meant “awe-inspiring”).
As for the number of speakers, I didn’t manage to find a lot of concrete or up-to-date information (although I am researching this halfway through my morning coffee, so I may have missed something), but Wikipedia (with this article from 2013 being cited as a source) states that about a quarter to a third of all Romanians spoke English a decade ago.
Anecdotally, I’d say that number has remained relatively unchanged, as while more people have been exposed to English in one way or another, we’ve also seen a significant uptick in emigration during the same period. Plus we’ve started dubbing a lot of cartoons in Romanian, which I suspect has contributed to fewer children picking it up early on.
As an addition to my initial comment, in which I focused specifically on people who have Romanian as their primary language, we also have significant portions of the population who speak Hungarian, Ukrainian and Roma as their primary languages, accounting for about 9% of the population (again, the numbers are taken from the sources listed above, so I take them with a grain of salt in terms of absolute accuracy).
There are two (in terms of “every song on them is my favourite”):