Greetings from the Philippines! The fact that you are seeing this post is evidence that I survived yet another Hash Monday. Let’s get On-On with the photos:
More beverages and camaraderie at the after-Hash gathering at IDM, then we were homeward bound after another fine day amongst the living.
Lots of lefty tears about the people being fired for their deranged celebration of murder. This sums up my sentiment quite well:
When I left the States for Korea in 2005, it was my first time being exposed to the unique beauty of Asian women. There was a time when I considered Korean ladies the most attractive, but now I find Filipinas to be the ones I like best.
There was a time when darts were a big part of my life. In the July 2013 LTG archives, there is a post highlighting the dart events I attended during the preceding twelve months. And now I can’t remember the last time I even picked up a dart. Times change, passions fade, and yet, life goes on with new adventures. I’m glad for the memories, but don’t regret moving on.
From Facebook memories, on this day in 2019, I linked to my blog post entitled “Comma-tose.” Guess what, all these years later, I’m still a dunce when it comes to punctuation. Still, I’m happy to be adding value as a bad example for Kevin Kim’s Substack grammar lessons.
I came across today’s YouTube video somewhat randomly, but I liked what I heard. The vlogger says that if you do these five things after the age of 70, you are on track to live to 100. Hmm. I’m kinda sorta doing all of them, so maybe I’ll make it to my goal of 85. I’m still finding it difficult to shake this feeling of impending doom I’ve been experiencing. Welp, I’ll just keep living one day at a time and see what happens next.
And you know what’s coming next:
Another day of blogging about yesterday is now complete, so I’ll get on with the rest of this one.
I came across today’s YouTube video somewhat randomly, but I liked what I heard.
So that’s the same AI monk as was on that video I’d hosted on my blog here. Since you’d seen the video on my blog, the YouTube algorithm probably fed you this other video. All hail the algorithm!
Sounds like the reaction to my blog posts.
Come on—have I ever been that harsh? You’re basically a good writer in terms of content and tone, but you keep making the same damn technical errors again and again and again because you refuse to make the effort to study, always with the excuse of “old dog, new tricks.” And you’re only going to get “behinder” on my Substack course the longer you resist studying. It’s sad to see. But to be fair, I guess we’re all lazy about something. And being technically poor at English doesn’t mean you’re a zero at everything. There are ten thousand ways to be smart, and technical proficiency in written English won’t determine whether you go to heaven or hell. But stubborn adherence to mistakes, in English and elsewhere in life, might determine the nature of your hoped-for “do-over life.” Don’t get trapped in a samsara of lameness.
Ain’t that the truth!
My buddy Charles and I argue back and forth about whether Frodo cheesed at the end of the story. I tend to think he did, that he succumbed to the ring’s temptation, and that it was, ironically, Gollum who inadvertently became the world’s savior. Charles, meanwhile, gives Frodo a lot more credit than I do, and there’s a whole host of LOTR fans out there who argue that “Frodo got the Ring 99% of the way to the chasm, and that’s got to mean something.” To me, it means nothing if Frodo fumbles and screws the pooch right at the very end—which makes Gollum’s theft of the Ring a great example of evil inadvertently destroying itself.
By the way, if you ever want to review your quiz answers (I hope you used the “take a snapshot” function; you can email the PDF of your quiz results to me), just shoot me an email. I’m not some guru on a mountaintop, glowering down at you and waiting for you to climb to the summit, expecting you to get everything right on your own. This Substack project isn’t meant to be an arrogant, “You come to me” thing. I’m actually in the valley with you and willing to help you to the mountaintop. Obviously, I won’t simply give you the correct answers, but I can help channel your thinking toward the right answers. If you’re willing to make the effort. Big if. Lemme know.
Re: chart of Asian females
Kind of a weird combination of countries. I am guessing someone asked AI to show what a “typical” Asian 20-something female would look like and that was what was spit out.
Not sure why Timor Leste would be included and not Indonesia. Why Brunei and not Malaysia, no Thailand, etc.
Re: House on the beach
Does seem pretty pricey, especially from what it looks like from the outside. The place you are renting; what would you estimate to be the selling price if it went up for sale?
Brian, yeah, I posted that “wanted poster” of Asian women for humor, not because I thought it looked real. Their choice of countries to depict was a little strange, I agree.
Yes, that house isn’t very big and needs some maintenance, that’s for sure. A commenter on Facebook said there is a similar house in his neighborhood selling for 4 million. The price difference is all about location. I’d enjoy sitting on that upstairs deck and sipping a beer while taking in the beach/bay views, but only if I could rent it.
My subdivision is also overpriced, but I expect my house would be listed in the 15 million range ($260,000).
Kevin, please know that I take no issue with your criticisms when I fuck up. On the contrary, I appreciate that you care enough to try to help me improve. I may be unworthy of that effort, as I don’t seem capable of retaining what I learn when I read your lessons. I think at this stage of my life, I’m a lost cause. That won’t stop me from continuing to make an effort, but I have no expectations of reaching that mountaintop.
Yeah, I thought that AI monk looked familiar. When I first viewed it, I thought he might have been in one of those medical videos, but it makes more sense that it was a play on Buddhist-like principles rather than health.
That “reaction to my blog posts” was directed at you or referencing my grammatical shortcomings. I was referring to the readers who find my posts redundant and boring. They miss the good ol’ days when I had all those exciting “transactional” encounters to write about. As far back as high school, I would get an “A” on content and a “D” on execution. For whatever reason, my brain just doesn’t seem to be wired to follow the rules.
I reckon I’m in the camp that poor Frodo did the best he could and probably better than any other Middle-Earther would have managed. Gollum inadvertently saved the day, but he would not have been there but for Frodo. Still, what Sam said in the meme wasn’t wrong!
That “reaction to my blog posts” was directed at you or referencing my grammatical shortcomings.
!!!!!! I knew it !!!!!
Damn, it just keeps getting worse and worse.