it is bitter -- bitter, but i like it.

I was lying in the leaf litter today when some moss spoke to me. "Excuse me, do you know the species of this fallen log beneath me?" asked the moss. "Hmm. No. Sorry, I'm a little fuzzy on logs," I said. "What a coincidence," said the moss. "I'm a little fuzzy on logs too."

this is in yiddish too!! shm-reduplication, so phrases like "fancy-shmantzy" (implying mockery). and not only in hindi ("chai-shai" for tea and snacks) but it also filtered into english used by hindi speakers—e.g. my mother-in-law would always say "party-sharty" to mean a party and then the afterparty/hangout following. it's so beautiful :')

@lingthusiasm i don't think we've had an episode on this? ::wiggles eyebrows::

English also had a nicknaming form in the late 18th-early 19th century like this. it involved switching the first letter of a consonant-led name with a P and hyphenating it; the most common example is Peggy and Polly as nicknames from Margaret (Margaret > Meg > Meggy > Meggy-Peggy > Peggy and Margaret > Moll > Molly > Molly-Polly > Polly), but I've also seen "Sal-Pal" and "Sally-Pally" in c. 1810 letters from one specific family here in Boston

Mongolian does it too! Which is not a shock as such since it's related to Turkish... "Go to the shop and get lemonade, memonade..."

If you become friends with someone they might offer you shelter or sources of protein

“Loneliness epidemic” this and that. You’re in a machine that produces loneliness brother. What about the loneliness machine

Not to be like "the orientals don't experience loneliness" because of course we do, and it's not like capitalism doesn't exist here, we're speedrunning it even and it's shit to be sure. But every time I come back home and spend enough time here to readjust I'm struck by how hostile north america is wrt sociality in many little ways. The built environment, the valorization of car travel at the expense of public transport, the sterilizing regulations around what you can and cannot do in public spaces (& the apparent pleasure regular people get out of strictly policing these spaces), the massive "convenience" industry built on the idea that you never have to leave your house if you have enough money to pay to exploit the underclass, the "work from home" white collar fantasies, the "I never want to talk to my uber driver, five stars if you don't say a word" shit, everyone and their mothers on their little "mental health" walks with their noise cancelling headphones, not to mention the circle jerk self therapy talk that sells people the fiction that you can "fix yourself" in total isolation, the paywalling of friendships, people referring to their therapists as their friends..I feel like it all adds up. The loneliness is not a bug it's a feature. Is it any surprise then that tourists from such places holiday "over here" and can't stop going on about how "lively" and "chaotic" cities are in a way that's almost fetishizing normal ass human behaviour and the friction that exists as a basic part of life

It's almost like the eradication of any and all discomfort is not only exceedingly profitable it's also increasingly isolating

They really need to invent a watched pot that boils

if magic was real I'd get really into wizardry long enough to learn like 3 spells then move on and 4 years later id be like oh yeah I remember how to summon flame. probably. and then id do all the hand motions out of order and explode

you're cute and it's tuesday

the cambrian period was like 10 years ago

the cambrarin period was like 3 years ago

This is an anti-despair checkpoint! You must share something you're looking forward to before scrolling on.

puttering around the house is an underrated form a self-care. make some tea or coffee. put on a podcast. sort the mail. tidy some pillows and fold some blankets. start the laundry. thaw some soup. just casually wander around aimlessly doing little things to make your space and life a little nicer. who cares if you get distracted or only do a little. you aren't being productive. you're puttering.