volvoxvsmarla

There is a documentary about the "it started out with a wank because I broke my arm" guy??

My dad is... complicated, and I could tell a lot of insane stories. But the memory that is haunting me is how he said "we won't wait when war starts", in Russian. It made no sense. I overheard it as a part of some conversation with my mother (maybe other grown ups as well) when I was a kid and I asked what he meant and he claimed he didn't remember saying that. I believe him that he didn't remember. But it was odd, it's not something he would say. Neither he, nor my mom, nor their friends are political people talking about war, ever. It was said casually, but no one ever casually talked about war or politics over here. This was 25 years ago. I kept thinking about it for years and years again, trying to grasp what it meant, what it might have meant, and why it stuck with me so much, why I couldn't get it out of my head, why I couldn't let it go.

It was also painfully screaming in my head when Russia attacked Ukraine in 2022. It's like it was an eerie foreshadowing but I still don't know. I have so few memories of my childhood, why did this one stay? Why do I see and hear him say this? What did he mean with "we won't wait"? Did he mean we won't wait for the war to start or we won't wait when the war will have started? Both are possible interpretations in the Russian wording. What are we waiting for? Are we still waiting? What should we be doing?

I keep going back to this one stupid sentence and this memory is ringing in my ears. What does it want to tell me to do? I know I need to do something, I just can't figure out what.

Thank you. I was really confused and had to read it a couple of times. A first read made me think the dad started jerking off with an octopus and this went downhill.

especially a nonfiction book

I'd argue this is at least as relevant for fiction books. Most books that are considered "good" or "masterpieces" haven't earned that from the story but from how it is told, from the language used, the writing style, how a greater picture is painted. Any German student who had to go through the pains of reading a Thomas Mann novel will know what I am talking about, that dude could have written a 150 page book with 90 sentences. Of course you can read an analysis of symbolism and style characteristics used and the plot summary, but it isn't the same as reading the novel, as the story will not grasp you in the same way. It's not about the content, it's about its presentation. (In the case of Thomas Mann the pain is a vital part of the presentation.)

There is no such thing as a bad reason for not wanting to drive a car. Any reason that makes you not want to drive a car is valid.

I am rather susceptible to hating actors because of some role they played. I literally hated Hugh Grant for no other reason than him being an asshole to Bridget Jones. I am now scared to watch Gladiator.

Meryl Streep. Oh God Meryl Streep

I know that I need to migrate, nevertheless thank you for making sure I know. What I meant with

How this matters

Is that honestly I don't see how I am connected to the instance to begin with. I'm trying to find a comparison that expresses what I feel but I fail to find a good one. Like a browser choice? No, there are differences in using firefox vs chrome. Like an email provider? Nah, also a huge difference. Like a remote control? I have come across weirdly designed remote controls though.

But the instance - I have no connection to it whatsoever. It is just a random thing that provides me access to (all instances of) lemmy. I'm not sure I could care less about it.

Maybe the closest I can come up with is the difference between a gmail.account ending in .com or in .de .

But again, maybe I am missing something important here. I'm really tech illiterate and it is not the area I have an innate grasp at. (I used to drop that I have no idea what a router is, how tf the internet works (there are cables at the bottom of the ocean?!) or how code is even doing stuff. The problem is that I always end up with an inbox of people thinking they will be the one to make me understand.)

I'm an absolute noob when it comes to tech and I don't even know what instance I am on and how this matters to be honest.

That was part of a joke at the start of an episode. Everyone complained that their boss didn't like them and Joey (working at the Central Perk at that time iirc) pointed out "yeah I wonder why none of your bosses like you. Maybe it's because it's Wednesday 12 pm and you are hanging out at a cafe".

Yeah, well, if a cheese sandwich was good enough for my grandparents and parents, it’s good enough for me.

My sibling in Christ, your grandparents smoked and drank whilst being pregnant with your mom and dad.

(This isn't supposed to be a diss, I'm just trying to point out that this might be some survivor bias and that our ideas of what is healthy or not change over time. Which is great, we always add knowledge. It's not so long ago we discovered vitamins. My former supervisor discovered the first biotin receptor. God, a couple of years ago keto was the new hot shit.)

(The Netherlands, moreover, does have a lot going on that plays into its citizens' health. Doesn't it? You seem like a solid social democracy and you got more bikes than people. Maybe it's that and not the cheese sandwiches :P)

I'm not sure you know how much a euro is worth if you think 30 euros a month is enough to feed a kid?