A Grimm Tale about obedience, by me and chatGPT

Once upon a time in a small, humble village on the edge of a vast forest, there lived a poor miller and his three sons. The miller worked tirelessly to provide for his family, but despite his efforts, they lived a life of scarcity. The three brothers, though strong and capable, were known for their differing personalities: the eldest for his pride and boastfulness, the second for his disobedience, and the youngest for his humility and kindness.

In a distant kingdom, a beautiful and wise princess was captured by a wicked witch with a heart as dark as coal. This malicious sorceress locked the princess away in a tower hidden deep within an enchanted forest, guarded by a fearsome dragon and surrounded by a maze of thorns. The desperate king, who loved his daughter dearly, announced that whoever could rescue his precious child would receive her hand in marriage and half the kingdom's wealth.

Hearing of this great opportunity, the three brothers decided to embark on the adventure, each hoping to change their family's fortune and prove their worth. They prepared for their journey, bidding farewell to their father and the villagers who cheered them on with hope and excitement.

The eldest brother, driven by his pride, ventured into the forest first. He encountered the witch who guarded the path to the princess. She looked deep into his eyes, her voice a raspy whisper, and said, "If you wish to rescue the princess, you must follow m...

How to find a wealthy Husband

I had this little joke with my friend that you can spot a wealthy man for yourself by finding guys who play magic the gathering (the cards are super expensive and I wish I could afford the cards to play) or warhammer which is just, also stupidly, stupidly expensive. I would love to buy the little figurines and paint them and play with them but your girl broke as shit.

I finished my first self-published book today and it was awful

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Okay, honestly, I'm all for self-publishing. I think it's really cool that there are people out there who maybe didn't train as writers for half their lives but can still get their story out there. However, I think there is some merit as well behind publishing houses. They edit your books so that you don't end up publishing incoherent garbage.

Anyways, I read Private Dancer by Stephen Leather. I also happen to be Thai and my family also happens to be from the Isaan region, a place which he really just tears apart in his book. He essentially depicts us as incestuous, unfeeling, barbaric, uneducated, unwilling to change, lazy etc. The fact that this book was so highly touted by the Bangkok Post and others is really shameful. I guess the foreigners aren't depicted as really the good guys either though, so I guess in a sense, Stephen Leather just hates everybody.

Other than that, the writing is....bad. Really overly dramatic, changing the perspective is a weak veil over Stephen's poor writing skills. All in all, I can see why it didn't get that good of a rating on good reads. I actually didn't even realize that it was a self published book until the very end, and then upon realization, well....everything made sense. Ugh it's...it's so bad

Stanczyk: A Self-Portrait of Our Times

I recently came across the painting "Stanczyk" by Jan Matejko, and I must say, I'm truly captivated by this piece and many others by the same artist. In fact, he may become my new favorite artist, possibly of all time.

I believe Stanczyk represents many of us in these tumultuous times. We often feel compelled to put on a happy face and maintain a cheerful demeanor while, in reality, we're quietly losing our sanity and suffering in silence. The outlook for people these days is far from optimistic. In the post-pandemic era, we're now grappling with war, inflation, and the potential loss of all jobs and humanity once AI takes over. We are all Stanczyk – sitting, slumped in our chairs, burdened by this realization as others around us dance away, seemingly oblivious to the impending doom. We feel helpless to change our fate.

We are all Stanczyk.

Note: If you ever get the chance, check out Matejko's paintings at the National Museum in Warsaw, Poland.

Did you know that chimpanzees have better short term memory than humans?

Let it go by Elsa the Icequeen

A few days ago my boss told me „to let go“. Like don’t be too harsh to myself and others. Especially the children at my workplace. I think he meant something like don’t feel responsible for everyone and everything. But how can I do this if I have this feeling in my gut that I can do better than a lot of other colleagues. It’s like finding a thin line between responsibility and let five be straight (weird to translate German sayings into English). I’m really trying my best and I know I‘m really good at my job, but it leaves me exhausted at hell. So as part of a homework for myself I try to let it go. Leave the opportunity for others to do shit I always do.

fruit bats are the correct choice for reincarnation

Have you ever thought: if I was to be reincarnated, what would a good choice be?

my bet is for fruit bats.

why? they're super adorable, arguably the cutest most boopable snoot in all the animal kingdom. secondly I think they are the most safe.

what do I mean by that?

in Buddhism, one is reincarnated due to karma accumulated due to wrongdoings to others. And well, what wrong could a cute fruitbat do?

think of their diet. They only eat fruit. plants want you to eat their fruit. that's what it's meant for. It's to help spread their seeds and proliferate. It is a symbiotic relationship.

but what about other herbivores, you might think

well, many other herbivores are also opportunistic carnivores. Furthermore, one could argue that by eating plants you're still hurting them and that the plants as spiritual sentient beings do not wish to be eaten. That is why many plants developed self defense mechanisms such as needles, poisons, and unpleasant flavors (for example, caffeine is toxic to many critters!)

that is why my friends, when given the chance for reincarnation, the fruit bat is obviously the correct choice

Why France sucks - a serious post/talk about a topic everyone else refuses to speak about

Intro

yeah, I get it. Hating a country is pretty controversial nowadays, especially in the woke era. And to be clear, I think racial injustice/gender inequality are totally valid things to speak about (and in fact will be the two things I discuss here), but I fear we have gone into the opposite direction: basically now we can't criticize anything. It appears, at least to me, nuanced is dead, and you're either far right or far left. I think rather, we should be able to criticize things otherwise you come out with people who go way the opposite of the spectrum (dudes like Andrew Tate).

Why am I qualified to talk about this? I lived in France for 3 years, so yeah, I have some experience. I lived in both Paris and the south in Nice, and I promise you this is not just a "Paris" problem. I will post some links to other articles too, to make my point.

Racism

if you're not white or black (and a man), stay the fuck out of France, because you will have a really bad time. Hell even if you are white and black, make sure you don't get caught in the "wrong" hood. I have heard from many colleagues about the harassment they can receive if you enter the wrong neighborhood, with many people usually shouting at you but also there is a real risk of getting jumped.

When I lived in France, I literally could not leave my house for a single day without having racist remarks shouted at me. Not. A....

Double Banana I Found in Thailand

I bought flip flops to wear around the house and it changed my life

Okay so I actually grew up in a house with carpet, so I never realize how much this carpet...cushioned my feet? I guess. And other times when I had a hardwood floor I would wear slippers

well for a few months when I was walking around my apartment barefoot I noticed I was having pain in my feet.

I thought it was because I was wearing shoes that were about a size and a half too small. So i got new shoes, and while this did help, I did have some pain remaining anyways.

My partner kindly pointed out that I should be wearing shoes inside the house. Because we live in a place with hardwood floors, so walking around barefoot only in socks was putting a lot of pressure onto my feet.

Once I realized and spent about 7 pln on shoes, the pain began to subside. I pace a lot more around the house now because I don't have pain in my feet. Anyways this has really changed my life. Thought I could put it out there for other people to know that if you have hardwood floors, it really is necessary to wear shoes throughout the house.