ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝

A geologist and archaeologist by training, a nerd by inclination - books, films, fossils, comics, rocks, games, folklore, and, generally, the rum and uncanny… Let’s have it!

Elsewhere:

  • Yrtree.me - it’s still early days for me in the Fediverse, so bear with me
  • 5 Posts
  • 222 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 11th, 2023

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  • It’s an artform, like perfectly baking a poo. If you time it right you can basically fall straight asleep without your brain going “hey, I just thought of something!”

    I messed up last night when I hit the wall after 9 days solidly on the go - I thought the bed looked nice and a little lie on it wouldn’t hurt but I still had shit to do before bed. So I dropped off but my brain kept prodding me back to near consciousness and I kept on having weird sleep paralysis/false awakening dreams - including one in which I heard a woman murder a friend outside my bedroom door but I couldn’t force myself off the bed to intervene.


  • You can do something cathartic. After getting dumped, I once pushed a tree down in my back garden and carried it around to the front of the house for disposal. My muscles ached and I was cut and bruised but felt a lot better afterwards. Other times I’ve just gone out drinking with friends. There are sater more controlled ways of doing it - try exercising to exhaustion, get away for the weekend and GI hiking, drive a tank, go to one of those places where you can smash things up, organise a big paintballing session, etc. Something that breaks you out of your routine, preferably gets you out of your local area, needs all your focus and tires you out. It should take your mind off things, get you so focused and tired you aren’t brooding about it and provide a symbolic break so you can leave your baggage behind on the other side.

    It’s not an instant cure, this will all take time but it’s a decisive first step.










  • As had been said - practice. It’s how native speakers of a language get good at it.

    You can improve your vocabulary, comprehension and accent by watching TV shows and movies (I remember meeting Dutch kids on holiday who I thought were American as they learn so much from the screen), and grammar and the like can come from reading. However, that ease of conversation and the speed of your recall of words just comes from talking a lot. Try finding an intermediate to advanced language class where they insist on people talking in that language all the time.




  • I am very laid back (my Dad always said I was nearly horizontal) and I never get angry, I rarely even get flustered or impatient. My Dad was a very good man and I try to follow his example as much as possible. As his health declined and I started caring for him (a real privilege as he helped so many it was only just that he got help in return when he needed it, even if it couldn’t possibly fully pay him back) and, as I picked up some of his slack I did wonder where he found the time or energy. Since he died, I have felt like a sheepdog without a flock and have found myself adopting various people - I helped a friend through her cancer journey and her son start university, I took another friend to hospital sufficiently often that she just told the staff I was her “hospital husband” (which did stop them asking questions, usually with a roll of the eyes) and, as I don’t drink, I ferry people home from the pub.

    However, I can be… thoughtless and this can be really annoying, especially to the easily angered - I’ve lost a friend over it and my brother isn’t exactly my greatest fan (the other year, my niece asked if I wanted to know all the nasty things my brother said about me and I declined - if we knew what people thought about us, we’d tear each other apart). I can also be rude to people but just where it’s funny, you just have to know your audience (it can appal any bystanders though). I’m also not very emotionally expressive and I suspect at least one friend thinks I’m a sociopath.

    So am I nice? Although it might depend on who you ask, I’d say no. However, I try to do as much good as possible - if anyone needs help, I’ll drop what I’m doing and pitch in.