Category: FYI

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It Ain’t Fair, I Tell Ya!

N.B. It is fair to note that I have actually viewed very little of the entire “Friends” opus. I have only caught bits and pieces before changing channels to avoid vomiting. Yes, every single bit I have seen is just that disgustingly stupid.

I have sometimes dumped disapprobation (OK, that’s far too mild, but just go with it) on the Joey character from “Friends,” as being a prime influencer of the degradation of English usage in our society. While I think it’s fair to say that the popularity of “Friends” has had a huge negative impact on the generation that – largely – grew up sucking down its stupidity, lumping all the blame on Joey isn’t exactly fair, though he makes a good emblem for the show’s stupidity.

A generation raised on the language, ideas (such as they are), and thematic elements of “Friends” has emulated its stupidities well. Heck, they have become the dumbed down version of Ortega’s “mass-man,” and that’s damning.

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Too Much?

Maaaaayybe. . .

Had to remove the backpack and weight vest, cos between them and the 10# ankle weights, it was starting to feel like work. *heh*

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Ah! The Burdens We Bear. . .

Are most often those we choose.

Speaking of which, 60 extra pounds (weight vest, backpack, and ankle weights) makes doing chores around the house more. . . profitable as exercise. And as an added benefit, the backpack actually seems to lessen a persistent (60-year) lower back pain, strangely enough. Pressure in juuuuust the right place, it seems. Sweet!

The burdens we choose to bear are often life’s little pleasures, in the end.

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Don’t Trust, But DO Verify (or Falsify) Anyway

I’m told that the reason phishing “attacks” work is that the phishing email/phone call seems to come from a “trusted source” like a CC company, insurance company (that one does business with), or government office/agency. Really? I mean seriously, to begin with, who trusts ANY of those sources, even when they are determined to be genuine? That alone, quite apart from all the other reasons to hang up/report SPAM, report to authorities, etc., anyone who trusts ANY call/email contact, formulated as a typical phishing contact or not, without AT LEAST verifying the source simply deserves to get what they have comin’ to ’em. *smh*

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Culture Tip

“Ducktail beard.” How a subliterate grup who is also culturally illiterate regarding anything more than 15 minutes old describes a particularly poorly-trimmed Van Dyke.

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Book Blurb Sadness

It’s a bit. . . weird, or weirdly sad (or sadly weird?) I suppose is the word, when a book blub has to include “Note: This book does not contain any coarse language, harem elements or sexual situations.” *smh*

Of the three, at least two serve no useful purpose, unless, I suppose, prurience is the end sought. OTOH, “coarse language” does have legitimate, though limited, uses, but it’s almost never _necessary_ to further a plot or “enrich” a characterization – more effective, IMO, to “coarsen” a character via action. But. . . yeh, verbiage is easier. *shrugs*

Of course, the definition of “coarse language” varies from the merely (usefully and appropriately!) vulgar, which is primarily objectionable to subliterate Neo-Victorian Bowlderiizing “Karens,” to the obscene and even actually profane. So, “coarse language” is a particularly squishy term, and not really useful at all, at all. It’s just a way of saying, “I avoid words that offend some people,” and that road leads to blank pages.

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Comparatively Speaking. . .

Glitter is often so horribly misused that, at times, it seems to have been spawned from hell, but any reasonable person would prefer a “whoop” of preschoolers tweaked on a sugar high and given unlimited bags of glitter at a funeral to a drag queen show in kindergarten.

That’s all I’m sayin’ about that.

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No oven, no stove, just. . .

Reason # 4,967 why I love cooking meals in my pressure air fryer: 1. Sauteed a seasoned roast. 2. Pressure cooked it. 3. Added veggies and slow-cooked it all for a MUCH shorter time than I’d ordinarily need to to have the meat just fall apart the way I wanted (this time — other times? *shrugs* depends on my whimsy).

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October Chores

Today’s “most fun chore” was repotting nearly all our houseplants (almost all brought inside last week from their summer vacation), including a pot full of “outdoor plants” (marigolds and onions – yeh, they like each other). They all enjoyed their summer vacation so much, that the 8 inch pots graduated to 12-inchers, and the lone 4-inch pot graduated to an 8-incher. They’ve been sitting near the French doors and under a couple of grow lights for the past week, and seem to already be happy with their larger “rooms.”

We’ll just see if we can keep from “brown-thumbing” ’em over winter. . . *heh*