Calamity Jan 🐍 @vjgoh@octodon.social

@NFG There's certainly that—some instances are going to be garbage heaps, but it's nice that they're mostly siloed off.

But ultimately, you can't dictate quality content on these networks, and we'll all have to find our own paths there.

For my part, I think what I mainly miss from birbsite is authoritative sources. I can follow a journalist there, or a pro athlete, or an artist I like. Those people may be here, but they're needles in our multiple haystacks.

@Averly Yeah, at this point, there's some network effects that Mastodon is going to lack simply by its relative paucity of users. For all their problems, twitter and facebook work because there are just SO MANY people. They're fairly busted in other ways, but discovery of those communities is substantially easier. I think I just need to be okay with visiting once a day and following the people that I like for now, and picking up someone new here and there. It's not a race, right? :)

Basically, we've got 500 characters to actually type interesting things out and talk about what's going on and have discussions, and I mostly see it used for things less meaningful or interesting or educational than what I'm getting on birbsite.

I DEFINITELY get that my white, male, privileged experience of most of the internet is that I get to pick what I see, so I'm happy to have to sift through a little more noise to find the signal I'm looking for here if it means other people are safer.

And then there's the problem of maybe TOO many CWs? At this point, it's probably better than too few for a lot of things, but I see CWs for random stuff, and it starts to make me wonder if it's worth clicking on or if I'm just going to see another 'bloop' with nothing else meaningful behind it.

And if you're unhappy with capitalism or your government or whatever, I don't think that's CW-worthy, honestly. But everyone has their own line there that they're comfortable with, so I get it.

I don't use Mastodon much now that the shine has come off, and I think it's largely because it's hard to find the kind of content I'm looking for. There are some great people that I've followed and I'm happy for that and that's why I'm still here, but there's a lot of noise and for some people this noise IS the signal.

Like, I'm not interested in random posts with noises and emojis in them day in and day out. It's cool if you do it, it's just not what I'm into.

@Damage I got the tip from my friend who's a power lifter. She absolutely demolishes chickens after working out.

@Damage Maybe you just took care of yourself better than I did afterwards. If I eat a lot of protein after it usually helps, but I got lazy and went home and slouched in a chair with a cat and my iPad. :P

@Damage The cycling team/shop I ride for is called Bikurious. :D

We don't get cool names like that, though. :(

@Damage I lifted weights on Saturday and I feel like I was hit by a truck. I always get bad DOMS.

@Damage I feel like it’s particularly hard to have a strained relationship with one’s mother. Of all the relationships you’re told must succeed at all costs, it’s that one, and it’s really not true. It’s great when it does, but it’s as arbitrary as any other connection between two people.

@Damage some people are just hard to have relationships with, and that includes parents. Even if your mother were totally average and normal (whatever that means), you might still have a hard time with her. Parents aren't any easier to get along with just because you've known them for longer; it's okay to find that relationship stressful, the same as any other. I have kinda the same problem, and my mom is pretty ordinary.

@tcql @CobaltVelvet that is the most awful thing I've ever read. (Canadian; my French is terrible, but I know how stuff is pronounced)

I'm not completely anti-social. I talk to my swim teammates on deck for a long time after practice. Really, I think there's nothing like a desk job to make an introvert be happy about two weeks where he sees almost nobody.

My partner has been away for a couple weeks, and I've been on vacation for most of that, and I'm really not lonely at all, despite being alone for most of the time. I miss her, of course, but I feel pretty content to just do my thing and talk to my cats.

This is even more amusing when you consider that I'm poly—what kind of poly guy is happy when he's alone? Well, now you can say you totally know a guy who is.

@CobaltVelvet What's interesting is that if you get familiar with philosophy/theology, Jewish and Christian descriptions of God basically devolve to the entirety of creation; they acknowledge that using positive descriptors (e.g., God is graceful, benevolent, green, whatever) make no sense; one can only describe God by what it is not (God is not cruel, red, human, gendered, etc.)

Basically, personified depictions of God are inconsistent with a lot of Judaism and Christianity itself.

@CobaltVelvet there are actually two axes here:

Theist vs. Atheist
Gnostic vs. Agnostic (knowing vs. not knowing)

You can be one of four things, gnostic/agnostic theist, or gnostic/agnostic atheist

Always ignore anyone that purports to be gnostic; it's an impossible and irrational position. A gnostic atheist (one who is certain there is no God) is just as obnoxious as a gnostic theist.

I was going to go out, but Taco has taken up a spot on my leg and I can't.
https://octodon.social/media/aU6COGTq9MYx-5G6wD4

@CobaltVelvet that’s sometimes how I judge the lack of quality of documentation. Emacs has dozens of really obtuse functions that are useful, but you need three different sources of documentation and examples before it’s clear what’s going on, and it’s usually just one really well written explanation on stackexchange that does it.