my journal: various subjects, opinionating, CW at times
The title explains itself.
If you're interested in the ramblings of a middle-aged man with chronic conditions who, at times, sees things a little too clearly for his own good, then read on.
Sometimes I get political, but it won't be all the time.
I don't mind comments in general but if you're going to differ with what I write, that's fine--as long as you can explain your position clearly & reasonably. Rants, shouting & general incoherence will be ignored or flagged, depending on the situation. Try to remember that not everyone else in this world holds your beliefs.
Every so often I may post art or snapshots of projects I'm working on.
If you're still interested after reading all the above, great. (I do wonder at how much time you have on your hands, though)
Tommy: "So why the big secret? People are smart. They can handle it."
Agent K: "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals & you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was flat & fifteen minutes ago you knew that humans were alone on this planet.
"Imagine what you'll know...tomorrow."
- Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones), Men In Black
No, I don't have any new year's resolutions.
If you've been reading the journal up to now, you know I bought raw land a few months ago & you know what else I deal with. I already know what I need to do.
As usual, I'm awake...
"The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite declined 1.1% and 1.2%, respectively. U.S. stocks had also tumbled on Friday, erasing most of the gains posted earlier during the holiday-shortened trading week. With one trading session left in December, the S&P 500 and Dow are each on pace to record their biggest monthly losses since April, as a big post-election rally has faded.
"Apple (AAPL), which has been on the verge of becoming the first company to ever have a market value of $4 trillion, slipped 1.3%, while Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META) and Broadcom (AVGO) also lost ground. AI investor favorite Nvidia (NVDA) rose 0.4% and was the only Dow component to finish the session higher.
"Boeing (BA) was the big Dow decliner, falling 2.3%, after a 737-800 operated by South Korea's Jeju Air crashed over the weekend, killing 179 people. Boeing shares have lost one-third of their value this year as the company has faced a series of aircraft quality problems and a cash drain following a nearly two-month strike by its union machinists."
- from Investopedia
For the reader: If you think this is bad news...not necessarily. (Except for the plane crash. Terrible for the passengers & crew) When stocks--or any financial asset--go down far enough in price, that is when it's time to buy! Market drops are the best times to invest, whereas you unload assets when the market is soaring.
It's the 31st of December, & I'm having a rather mild flareup.
I hate vestibular disorders in general...I really f***ing hate them. If vestibular disorders were people then I would advocate their being rounded up & shot. If that wasn't feasible, then I would strenuously insist on their being denied citizenship, voting privileges & that they should not be allowed to own firearms of any kind, & requiring them to sit in the back when riding any form of public transport. Or private/corporate transport, for that matter.
In a convo in another journal here, the Israel-vs-puppets* conflict came up...in one of the young'uns commenting about her parents' attitudes toward it. I gave her a summary of the conflict, & tried to keep it as brief & objective as possible.
...hope I succeeded.
New year...same problems. "Happy New Year" my pale hairy a.s.s.
I will do something about them when I have enough energy to get up...that's for today, however. Starting tomorrow, there will be a s**t-ton more to do. Who knows how often I will log in here.
2025 will bring great changes. The key is to remain calm, & to get used to it.
@slowdecline48
): I get it :’) ik there’s not a lot i can do i jst feel so bad :’) tw religion but insha allah this year will be better for u ♥️ ik we’re rlly different and I definitely can’t relate to the things u cld be going thru every day but i understand and i understand what it cld feel like when everyone around u is all happy nd theres not rlly anything new to be happy abt. or atleast to u. It’s jst a day that marks a new year it doesn’t change anything other than the fact that it’s a new year, it could’ve gotten better any point of the year but suddenly it hits 12am and everyone’s ignoring anything bad that’s literally still going on as usual. or maybe I’m jst yapping too much nd idk what I’m talking abt 😭 I’m jst trying to say i get u :’)
@iloveyouxx I appreciate the thought, little one. B'ezraat haShem,* this will be a good year for everybody. ("Insha-Allah" works too. 😄) I have plans...big plans. They will require a lot of work; I just hope I'm up to the task. If I do everything right, then 2026 will be a good year indeed.
*transliteration of Hebrew which means, roughly, "by the will of God"
@slowdecline48
oh I was just abt to ask what that meant- never heard that before :0
❤️
woah, I’m excited. for you xD it seems like a lot of work but also exciting, I think u can do it <3 also u don’t always have to be active on here 🤍 it’s understandable to have ur own things going on irl and not always being able to hop on here so often. but I will try and ask for updates nd check in every once in a while because I don’t think I might be able to be on as often anymore either, nd u can reply any time u can ❤️
"Maximin, though born on the territories of the empire, descended from a mixed race of barbarians. His father was a Goth, and his mother of the nation of the Alani. He displayed, on every occasion, a valour equal to his strength; and his native fierceness was soon tempered or disguised by the knowledge of the world. Under the reign of Severus and his son, he obtained the rank of centurion, with the favour and esteem of both those princes..."
- Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
The clock is ticking...and. Not only did I wake up too early (0845!) after nightmares disrupted my sleep, but now I'm having a flareup. Phucksticks. 😤
In more positive news I downloaded a different app for tracking markets, stocks, commodity prices, etc.
...I need more sleep...more energy...can't do much without it...
Snapshot from the new app, adj. for color:
the NASDAQ index, from Jan. 2024 to today
...have gotten to the point where I hate this late-night s***. Because it's chronic health issues that usually keep me up, & make it hard as H€ll to get anything done during daylight hours.
@slowdecline48 Those super saiyan powers will get you every time lol
@mytwistedsoul super-saiyan methane & sulphur emission... 😒
Yes.
If we're going to have any amount of democracy in our governance, then yes. And someone like Fauci saying "I am the science" does not qualify as earning the public trust. After all, in China the government has the last word on all scientific statements...& look what happened in Wuhan.
Decided to fast for a short period, so maybe my guts will calm down & do their d∆mned job the way they're supposed to... So as of now I haven't eaten anything. Didn't drink any water when I woke up this morning because I wanted to stay in bed...until a few minutes ago, I was doing just that.
Whenever I abstain from food & go back to sleep, the dreams start to be....creative.
Sometimes they get intense, too.
If this is what hunger does to one's brain when one asleep, that might be a clue as to why some devout Hindus are into starvation, exposing themselves to extreme temperatures, etc. In conditions like that, whenever you sleep your dreams must be phantasmagorical to the max.
I wouldn't consider that a route to enlightenment, however...assuming there is enlightenment to be had.
