I try to be happy with whatever happens and do not happen. Not just by being by myself. That’s the secret. At least, that’s mine.

I’ve happily been sharing my life with my spouse for 25 years and counting, I have a lifelong best friend (like a real best friend, since we were 14, now nearing our 60s) and I do enjoy meeting interesting people (provided they’re not the kind to be constantly sweating hate and anger toward the rest of the world) but, at the exact same time, I love being alone by myself. Meaning I never feel bored or lonely (there are too many things I want to do, and not enough time to do them). I also don’t feel any need to always be in the company of people: I enjoy time for myself. But when I’m not alone I will do my best to enjoy the company, at least at small doses ;)

I live in a large city, I reckon most languages must be spoken by at least a few people around me. Not even considering so-called dead languages.

That being said, I would love to learn Chinese. I think I’ll see next year if I can enroll in one of the few courses available in said large city (Paris). I’ve just started learning Russian something which, I imagine in our so incredibly nuanced times, coupled with me also wanting to learn Chinese, will make me quite suspicious. That’s fine ;)

The reform of (many/most?) of Western public education systems.

It has turned what was among the best tool to prepare young people to become adults and citizens into a sad joke, into many wasted years during which those kids don’t learn much, if anything. Reading (books), writing and even doing simple math are quickly vanishing skills. Let’s not talk about history, sciences, the art of listening to and even to have an articulated dialogue, not insults or hatred, with anyone one doesn’t agree with.

I feel devastated realizing how badly theses reforms have screwed up so many of the younger generations. What worse is that those reforms don’t show much sign of being phased out, quite the contrary.

So either I write clearly then, but won’t be able to free-flow, because I strain on the writing, or it’s unreadable after.

From a shorthand user to another, don’t try to force those two things in the same process: free flowing, aka letting it go, and taking exact notes.

• don’t try to write everything down. Exactly like when taking notes during a lecture or when doing an interview. Don’t transcribe: summarize, synthesize. When doing an interview, let the audio recorder do the absolutely boring (but still essential) job of being true to what the person is saying, allowing you to fully focus your attention on getting the important ideas jotted down as well as your own reactions to whatever they are telling you.
• As far as that ‘free flow’ state of mind is concerned: use it to, well, free flow which implies to not worry at all about transcribing it, at least imvho. Once again, only jot down key words, ideas, notions. Most of the time complete sentences won’t be your friends at this moment. If you really fear losing that one good sentence (why bother? If it’s good it will stick and if it is not good riddance) you may want to write and talk aloud at the same time, recording it as a backup.

Would love to see RAM price drops like Bitcoin ;)

thx :)

I don’t see much spam or ads, thx to ad-blocking and most likely thx to a narrow selection of websites I allow myself to visit, and I never click on ads: this ad-filled version of the Internet only deserves my disdain, certainly not a second of my time.

Nearing my 60s, very satisfied Linux Mint user. Obviously, it all depends what the user expects from their computer.

So what should one do when they have an image they don’t care for?

If one doesn’t care, why bother?

Thx. Looks like We’re on the same lane :)

There are many things not requiring the use of any laptop, powerful or not.

• Read books. There are billions of books out there waiting to be read. New ones, old ones, fictions, essays, in whatever ‘genre’ you may fancy. You can even read them for free, by borrowing them from your local public library.
• As suggested: a #2 pencil (HB, for the non-US world, but I would suggest 2B myself: a slightly fatter/darker type of lead), a few sheets of paper or a sketchbook (for portability) and start sketching. You can sketch daily life objects. If don’t believe me (and why should you?) go read/look at ‘Everyday matters’ by Dany Gregory (he also has a YT channel, if you prefer watching moving pictures instead of turning pages but I think are way more… complete and interesting than most of his videos). You may even throw in a small and cheap set of non-pro watercolors (it will be much cheaper than artist-grade ones, and you need needs hundreds of colors either: a set of 12 is more than enough, heck even just 6 colors would be excellent), as they can help you realize you’re more interested in painting than sketching. And since they’re water-based, you wont get nasty smells like with oil painting, eve when doing it at home ;)
• Find some craft, DIY activity you enjoy? Younger I was into little scale models (plastic planes and tanks that I glued and painted), now I’m much more into crafting things we will use at home.
• Play chess? A great way to make people IRL: chess clubs, cafés, any places where (amateur) chess players like to meet. Unlike most video games it’s not ‘limited’ to a few hours of fun and excitement: people have been playing chess for thousand of years and they’re still playing it with the same excitement today: it’s challenging and there is no end to it… and every one can play (even little kids, and even bad players like myself) ;)
• Exercises. I do long daily walks. It changed my life at least as much as learning to read changed it when I was a child.

Ive thought about many of things but im unsure if i should try them

Why would that be? There is no harm in trying things out.

As a child, I was taught to eat what was served and to finish what I was served, Whether I liked it or not.

It’s even simpler as an adult because 1) I like to try new things and I know I will often need more than a single bite of anything to really appreciate anything new 2) I want to show some appreciation to the person cooking (I simply don’t cook things I know don’t like, myself ;)

can’t be compared. They don’t play in the same league number-wise. I got a lot less interactions here on Lemmy/piefed than I used to have on Reddit, but since I don’t want to use Reddit it doesn’t matter much: I’m here, not over there anymore ;)

I purchased 2 sticks of ram yesterday. Even used, like the ones I purchased, it’s overpriced.

subscribed! edit: because of this:

For people sick of everything requiring Internet connections, online accounts and subscriptions

;)

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.

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 ;)

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 ;)