Gathering thoughts…
A world of little thoughts.
we hung out with a new sailor today; well, new to us, not new to sailing. and we did NOT hit it off. at some point i could feel that he was trying to leave. it was like he was waiting for us to say something that we never ended up saying. what was it that he wanted us to say? i wonder what it is that made me hit it…
As a child, it felt that entertainment was prioritized over love. Not the commercialized love but the true essence of caring for one another. True love, for some, lays at the end of a long path of healing from childhood trauma as well as adulthood trauma. How can one show compassion to a world that has only made it…
“Women are so keenly aware of the male experience because our entire existence had to be kind of through that lens. Whereas men have never had to understand the female experience in order to exist in the world.” Here the comedian Sarah Silverman sums up a feeling at the root of so much of our hatred for outsiders.…
I’ve been on a bit of a journey with JavaScript recently, and stumbled upon a simple, yet game-changing tweak—using Boolean(). I used to do the standard stepCompleted != null checks. They worked well enough but left room for surprise with values like 0 or ''. Switching to Boolean(candidate.stepCompleted) was a small…
I can be very restless and impatient; and sometimes surprise myself with my patience while watching birds. Watching birds going about their chores assiduously pleases me like nothing else. It's fascinating to watch a swallow build its nest drop by drop of mud, a lammergeier soar high with a bone and drop it on a rock…
Step 4 - There are some things you keep ready in advance, like 2 finely chopped tomatoes, a bunch of coriander leaves, and half lemon. Now add them all to the the cooker. And stir them well. In the figure of eight..? Yes, try. The tomatoes will release a lot of water. Keep stirring well to mash the tomatoes…
Hoje uma amiga querida me deu apoio em duas situações. Uma sobre um caso que ela sabia e outro que ela não fazia ideia. O caso que ela sabia diz respeito a falar inglês. Com anos de estudo, eu consigo entender 80% do que falam, escrever bem, mas a fala ainda arrasta numa performance medíocre. Hoje, especificamente,…
UPDATE: on plagiarism in book - https://christinaluo.substack.com/p/writer-enough In February 2023, there was a prompt topic - Celebrating Tiago - in the BASB (Building a Second Brain) Circle community as Cohort 16 was closing. EXCERPT "To commemorate an end to this era, we would like to invite all members to share…
one thing i’ve been thinking about a lot is what i’ve thought of as “what-the-fuck art” that is, those artworks that are so weird and so confusing that you can’t help but go “what the fuck, why is this… like this? what series of decisions and beliefs led the artist to think these make sense together?” — i suppose any…
Next time… a promise that was never fulfilled. As a kid, whenever I ask my mom for something she’d say “maybe next time?” Or whenever i ask if we can play a game together “next time?” I didn’t think much of it snd always hold onto that “next time” Now turning 16, I realised it was just empty promises. It was just a…
Hot pot is like a culinary treasure hunt, with bits of delicious food hidden in a simmering broth, waiting to be discovered and enjoyed. The spiciness mimics the pain of digging, making the reward all the more satisfying. Each bite brings both the heat of the broth and the joy of uncovering something new, blending…
The internet has given rise to a new genre of humorous content and I personally love it! The ones I find particularly amusing are around wine and comparing it to life. ''Yoga Class? I thought you said Pour a Glass''. You get the drift. When did wine become such an ubiquitous part of corporate lore? I for one of course…
People bother me all of the time with a great idea. "You'll love it, and I really think you can something with it," they say. I can tell they are excited. They're ready to tell anyone who will listen. They tell me about their great idea, as though I don't have a stack of ideas at home that I've been ignoring. Stuff I…
I am less afraid of artificial intelligence than I am of the artificially intelligent.
Ontem almocei num restaurante daqueles bonitos de ver. A comida tinha boa aparência e o atendimento é do tipo que morro de saudades todos os dias. Simpático, às vezes até demais. Na mesa, eu, a Raquel e o Bruno. Passei a semana fazendo reuniões com o objetivo de criar pontes entre SP e Berlim, duas cidades irmãs, que…
It sometimes baffles me just how much a walk or hike in nature can boost my mental capacities. Being at home or work surrounded by books, notes and brilliant people just never get the cogs turning like the sound of birds chirping, water flowing and life happening at it's own pace. So, there I was in my local forest…
It's a toxic question. We like to press ourselves with it all the time. We use it to police each other. Diagnose the problem. Administer medication. It's how we like to handle problems. The question points our attention inwards and focuses on the mess we're swirling in. A better question is: What matters to you? This…
Doomscrolling is a lot like venture capital. You spend countless hours on it, most return nothing. But once in a while, a single post returns the entire fund. Last night, I hit one of those rare jackpots. It was a painfully obvious observation made by a writer I had never heard of. Three dots, sitting in plain sight…
Let’s not be toxic towards yourself & to others Be loving Be better Broaden perspective Meet more people That comes from confidence Confidence comes from discipline You found yourself not feeling toxic anymore (she’s supposed to be feeling against me, etc etc) Which in fact Is there a spoken rule or a written one?…
There's a lot to learn from watching an ice skating class. Let me paint a picture so you can imagine what I see. A big round ice rink with about 50 people with varying levels of skill. There some who skate as if this were the Olympics and there others who resemble penguins trying to maintain their balance. You have…
Hello, As a kid I spent many hours gaming and one of my favorite genre was "RPG" (Role Playing) because these game were open ended and played out based on the choices that the player makes based on internal & external considerations. The effects of these choices are consequential. Everything in a good RPG effects the…
Taking a shower does nothing if you put on dirty clothes afterwards.
Therein lies comfort in the anguish of avoiding one’s true potential. Some of the most destructive lies we tell are told in silence—in the vastness of our own minds, where the stage is set and the seats are filled by a public of one. There, beneath the noise, we rehearse our excuses like monologues, perfect our…
Trick or treat Smell my feet Oh my god I’m so sorry I’ll go wash them right now
Just had an appraisal. My Project Manager predicted I’m just going to be a senior planning engineer in 35 years. That’s crazy, I don’t think I have the time for that. What I realised is no matter how good you be at; your position will only dictate you to be at certain levels. Set clear on your goals; remember:…
Every self contains multitudes. It can be helpful to sort these elements of self into defined parts. This can help you conceptualise these competing and contradictory bits of you. One distinction that’s been super helpful to me is the child and parent, the maiden and knight, the experiencer and the agent. Separating…
O título do texto anterior ficou estranho. É porque eu coloco o título antes mesmo do texto. E quando eu comecei, eu queria falar sobre pessoas que vivem com câncer... E que é uma doença cada vez mais comum por conta do estilo de vida humano. Não estou culpando pessoalmente ninguém. Estou falando que os…
On our first day in Washington, D.C., we woke up to rain. My family turned to me. “What are the plans?” I love planning. Vacations, menus, my daily schedule, planning my new Substack newsletter, any kind of planning. There’s satisfaction in looking at all the possibilities. Plans make me feel safe. Details and options…
My older son (see photo) is starting to have serious homework every day. Serious means: if he did it on time, it would be 30 min max. But he doesn't, so I need to check and check and check. Today he was playing Minecraft on his laptop... Instead of doing fractions, learning a song for Music class or reading about…
Sim, ontem tomei alguns muitos shots de tequila. Vim pro litoral para comemorar a formatura de um amigo querido e passei o dia todo muito tranquila. Fiz saladas com a mãe e tias dele na cozinha, almocei, fui a praia com eles, conversamos, rimos e me senti confortável para beber. Só bebo assim: se 1. Sentir vontade e…
realistic fiction for adults that are uplifting & humorous & exciting: does this exist?
Yesterday I‘ve finished a first draft of my thesis. Today I spent the day fine-tuning it. Once again I noticed how much more I like the process of bringing something from 50 to 100 percent, vs. starting from scratch and creating a first version. I am definitely better at perfecting, fine-tuning and finishing. If I…
One of my summer experiments as a child included learning to bake and assemble an ice cream cake. Bombay's summer heat, even in the 1980s was oppressive enough, that I was always experimenting with ''cooling'' recipes! My maternal Uncle, Bunny Mama, as we fondly called him, would indulge me with my kitchen…
Let's do a thought experiment here. There's an ultimate all knowing being. It's the source of what makes us aware. It's the entity that's looking out of your eyes. It's job is to experience as much of life in this universe as possible. The place it calls home is a place of infinite possibility. Infinite options…
Woke up around 2:20am feeling impending doom. Worries about taking care of people. Worries about not being able to do what I want. Worries about always being at others' beck & call. Watched some food & self-help videos on YouTube. Got back to bed better listening to train "chu-CHUNK=chu=CHUNK" noises to distract me.…
You enter the cage alone. Whatever happens within, you and only you are responsible. Athletes do have teams and coaches. But when the door closes you are alone. Your team can shout instructions, but you are the only one at war. You need to enter the fire alone. To be a combat athlete, you need to mentally strong.…
As small as it is, do as big as it can ever be. Especially the small things. The smallest detail you have to know. You need to know people - know the little details You need to put your best, even if you're booking restaurants, even if you're going out with someone... know the little details GO to the furthest Don't…
There's a famous story of a group of blind men who wanted to know what an elephant was like. These men had heard a lot about this majestic creature, so they travelled together to the king's palace to visit an elephant. Since none of them could see, each man had to use his sense of touch to feel what an elephant was…
A spiritual advisor said "gratitude is an action." So as we send text messages and, for the special ones, phone calls of gratitude to those in our life, it is time for me to reflect on how I display gratitude, rather that a simple admission of being "thankful." To my wife and family, I am grateful. She has a full time…
Incrível como não tem um manual de como se relacionar efetivamente com as pessoas. Estar a mercê da vontade e disponibilidade do outro as vezes é realmente uma poça de água sendo invadida pela roda de um carro em movimento e te molhando no farol enquanto você está de roupa branca indo atrasada pro serviço. Sim. Muito…
We often look to this quote with fondness and admiration. We often use this quote to inspire and motivate. For a new skill. For a promotion. For a healthier lifestyle. Yet we are often baffled and surprised when we see the other side of the same coin. The ugliness of how negative small changes can add up too. For…
Being good at small talk is to be present at the moment. Being good at job or work is to move fast or reply instantly and tackle the problem without any wait. You can see based on people’s reply speed… those who reply slow are tend to have lower work capabilities (because they think replying is hard, they choose to…
Philosophers have been saying this for centuries. But never before was it more vital than today. You can't not know yourself because there are companies striving to know you more than you do.
AHHH... seeing a similar quote by more than one creator who i admire is like an epiphany. there is hidden meaning within their words that many do not see. "create because it needs to exist" everything else will be erased...
- a girl who i talk to who is doing her best to be nice to me and listen to me - a boy who i talk to who is doing her best to be nice to me and listen to me it's like they're kinda trying to be - deep - interesting - thoughtful but they lack that quintessential thing. what is that quintessential thing? it sounds a bit…
Pari, you have an issue: 1. You assume for yourself where other people's boundaries lie, and tend to not believe them when they say where it is 2. In your intense need to people please and avoid conflict, you automatically regulate your own emotions and actions as per where you think their boundaries lie. This is…
i realize i've attributed the idea of nostalgia to a negative form of idyllic memory. like the only difference between memory and nostalgia is that wistful and picturesque filter we view our own memories through. i didn't think it was possible to look back on unhappy times through the lens of nostalgia without…
never have i actually made an elevator speech. in my past life as an insurance sales exec, we learned the art of the elevator speech--a succinct product pitch short enough to share with a stranger in an elevator. i want to believe i've honed the art of brevity in anything; i am, after all, writer of flash and micro.…
