Making a nice meal for friends and family.

Which reminds me I haven’t made buttermilk fried chicken in a while…

For some reason, I thought of Reverend Dexter from Babylon 5

“Every day, here and at home, we are warned about the enemy. But who is the enemy? Is it the alien? Well, we are all alien to one another. Is it the one who believes differently than we do? No, not at all, my friends. The enemy is fear. The enemy is ignorance. The enemy is the one who tells you that you must hate that which is different. Because, in the end, that hate will turn on you. And that same hate will destroy you.”, followed by the hymn

It still hits me hard, one of the best juxtaposition scenes in a series. Chilling and beautiful.

That was also realistically powerful. I am glad I made it through the picture, if only to be reminded of the horror of sending young men to kill each other. Saving Private Brian is a masterpiece, but most of us aren’t capable of more than a single viewing.

The opening starts with D-Day and it destroyed my emotions. I was ricocheting from terror to grief back to terror and being drowned in sensory overload. Twenty minutes of cinema around the horror of war and the mass infliction of death was unbearable. I cried for an hour afterwards and I can never bring myself to watch it again. The movie was definitely a masterpiece, and it’s a story that should be told, but it is brutal.

Corralary would be “It’s fine to admit I don’t know”. Being open to my ignorance and blind spots allows me to learn. This is good advice to everyone, but especially to those who are used to having a lot of knowledge, or at least think they do.

Clothes in general. Sure, you can get and Old Navy T-shirt for ~$3-4, but they break down quickly. However, even a mid-level shirt from someplace like Land’s End or Eddie Bauer on sale can last year after year. Same with pants, jeans, coats, jackets, belts and other clothing. It’s also why it sucks to be poor. Needs need to be met immediately, but since you’re needing to keep food on the table and a roof over your head, so you buy what you can afford, even knowing that it’s more expensive in the long term.

Bill Gates and the Rothschilds, of course. Duh…

“Hand daddy his washing rag!”

Back in my reddit days, there was a guy who did AMAs about vacuum cleaners that was actually incredibly informative. After talking and analyzing many machines, he suggested s couple vacuums. For my needs we got a Miele canister C1. It wasn’t cheap, but 8 years later it is doing very well. No fancy circuit board, straightforward, solid manufacturing, 8 year warranty, a dial controller for the suction. No problems at all. Probably will last another 20 years. It’s a great machine and has paid for it by not needing replacements. The closest thing to a complaint is that I wish the cord was about 1.5 -2m longer so I didn’t need to unplug it to change outlets 2/3 of the way through, mostly because I’m lazy.

To add to others here, anger is neither good or bad. It is an emotion. It is okay to be angry at people causing pain and suffering. It’s how you deal and use anger that matters. As others said, let it be energy to create positive change and don’t allow it to burn you out from the inside.

So allow yourself to be angry, to feel the hurt and to be sad. Then do the work to make the necessary changes to make the world better.

Hugs

Is this why he stands like a toddler about to make poopie pants?

There are no answers here. The truth is you, and the entirety of the Czech Republic were grievously injured in your collective soul. Whatever the motives of the shooter was, it is a senseless crime whose goal was to paralyze your heart.

Grieve first. It’s necessary. However, don’t let this cruel, twisted soul poison you. They win if you let it happen. Use your pain. Start by being with friends, classmates and family. Offer little kindnesses. A cooked meal or a timely errand, even pausing to listen to another person who is working through the same pain you are. It’s doesn’t seem like much, but it is your humanity that will get you through this.

When you finally begin to not feel so frozen, maybe invest time into social action to prevent this from happening in your country again. Work to be sure our American disease doesn’t get a hold of your body. My country is broken here and the lesson you need from us is not let it infect you. Fight for it if you can.

Again, my condolences for all of your losses. They’re probably inadequate, but know you are not alone.

Take care, stranger.

I was just thinking that!

The “We want your money but get outta here” stools. Just seeing them in a restaurant is enough to make me want to leave.