hesgen @hesgen@social.cleverlibre.org

"Does he paint? he fain would write a poem—
Does he write? he fain would paint a picture."
One Word More

Robert Browning English poet of the Victorian age was born #OTD in 1889. His most popular poems include Porphyria's Lover, How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix, the diptych Meeting at Night, the patriotic Home Thoughts from Abroad, and the children's poem The Pied Piper of Hamelin. via @wikipedia

Books by Robert Browning@ PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/146

#books #potery #literature

COP28 Update:

“The good news is that we all agree this text is shit.”

Rachel Cleetus,
Union of Concerned Scientists.

#COP28
#ClimateAction

Long Covid symptoms:

It's getting to that time of year again, when Covid cases are going to skyrocket, so is worth posting this:

I have Long Covid, and have had since early 2022 (I got my first dose of Covid in the first week of Jan 2022).

A slight change in phrasing and how I talk about it, which may have more cut-through (my phrasing in most the below is quite deliberate, and is designed to provoke)

A lot is talked about about fatigue and brain fog, which feels like things one can just power through if one just "mans up" about it, or "powers through" (which we all think we can do)

Cool, cool.

This is a non-exhaustive list of things which have changed:

I can barely tolerate coffee. I drink mine black with no sugar and drank a LOT of it, like all Proper Men,. It now sends my heart rate through the roof, and if I have too much, I get nauseous.

I can barely tolerate alcohol (of any kind), and if I do drink, I get ill very, very quickly. So, going out for "beers with the lads" lie a Proper Man is pretty much out of the question.

Neon Junior (*cough*) sometimes misbehaves and doesn't perform when called upon. As a Proper Man, this is clearly unacceptable.

(yes, I hemmed and hawed about whether to include the above, as it's a *very* awkward thing to admit. I made a joke about not being able to get it up a day or so ago with reference to some plants of all things, but...almost every honest fella has had it happen at least once, and it's massively embarrassing. Covid is known for causing it)

So, y'know, Covid has stopped me from being a Proper Man.

-----------

Less provocatively now.

I'm really starting to lose "myself", and a lot of what makes me "me", and that I took pride in.

I made barbacoa today, a multi-hour dish that normally I'd have posted every step, with some joy at the process. Instead, it's been a real chore, and I really had to force myself to not just through the fucking thing in the bin, and actually follow through with cooking it. This, for me, is not good news.

I'm having to use funnels, sometimes, to add spices into jars, because my hands shake so much that I need a wide area for them to shake into. If I just use a teaspoon, there's a reasonable chance I'll have a shake and scatter everything across my kitchen.

I've noticed I make a *lot* of typos (sometimes changing the entire meaning of a post). I used to be a good typist, and I was sharp enough to spot when I mistyped or wrote "could" when I meant "couldn't"

I sometimes read posts, and misinterpret them (through cognitive decline). Coupla days ago, I replied to a post having literally misread it, to the point that the OP must have looked at it and thought "what the fuck is he talking about? That has no bearing on what I just said lol"

(luckily, it was pretty mundane, but still. He was talking about lobsters and I "read" oysters, so replied with a complete non-sequitur)

Most importantly I'm struggling to take care of my birbs. I'm sacrificing everything else needed to ensure that I still have the energy needed to clean their perches etc, make sure they're fed, watered, played with and cared for. Above everything, this is my absolute number one priority.

------------

I think that if people realised just how *diminishing* Long Covid is, and how it ruins your life and everything you once took pride in and cared about; and the chances are high of catching it (I did *everything* to avoid it, and I still got it because other people weren't), I hope they'd take more care, and more precautions.

Please do.

Today’s poem is called ‘Haiku in Praise of 12th December’.

English clergyman, physicist & astronomer James Challis was born #OTD in 1803.

He is best known for the part he played in the search for Neptune: during routine observations, he actually recorded the planet on 4 Aug 1846 but failed to recognise its true nature. The discovery was eventually announced on 23 Sep 1846 by J. G. Galle & H. L. d'Arrest following a successful search carried out from Berlin Observatory. via @SocHistAstron

James Challis at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/32563

#books #astronomy

When the invasion from the fourth dimension came, it had unexpected benefits. The new overlords were surprisingly mild. They only wanted the Earth for Qling, a substance we neither understood nor needed. They filled enormous eye-warping four dimensional tankers with a cargo we couldn’t even perceive, then left us in peace. A few stayed, having found human friends and even lovers.

My neighbour is one such. We met when xe returned my lost cat. “I don’t know how she keeps getting out”, I said, “all the doors and windows are shut”.

“What about that gap there?”

“Where?”

“Oh of course, it’s invisible in three dimensions. Here let me close it up.”

The cat is still furious about this.

#Tootfic #MicroFiction

Johnson and Sunak prevaricating about WhatsApp messages is reminiscent of school boys telling the teacher that the dog ate their homework. Unless you turn off chat back up or delete messages, it’s impossible to lose them. LIARS.

Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka
Credits: Digitized Sky Survey, FITSLiberator, Skyfactory
#nature #space #astrophotography

There is a guy at work who, when having a conversation with me, will start sentences with something like, “Well, as an engineer, I think of things like…” or “Well, being an engineer, I look at things from that perspective” like we’re not both engineers. I wonder if he does this with the men in our group, too? 🤔

just watched my wife roll up this cereal box like a bag of chips -- in front of me, after 4 years of living together -- and i am not ok

Stop talking about leaving the nazi bar while you continue to attend the nazi bar (but you go there just to tell everyone else you are leaving, soon, almost now, just a moment… “hey have I told you I’m about to leave this place?? Well, I am”).

You obviously give them money because, hey, it’s a bar, and you’re there, what are you supposed to do? Not drink and don’t pay the nazi bar owner? Sheeshh, be civilized.

Just don’t go there anymore. Don’t talk, just do it.

#XLast #X #Xitter #Twitter

The need for meaningful inheritance taxes -- steep ones above some heirs-are-still-absurdly-rich threshold -- has never been more clear.

Banker-for-the-rich UBS data shows that family dynasties are becoming the primary system by which the ultra-rich come about their money.

It is completely unearned income but they pay minuscule relative taxes.

https://www.ubs.com/global/en/media/display-page-ndp/en-20231130-the-great-wealth-transfer.html