My First Post. Been A Long Time Since I Was On Tumblr. Suppose I Should Say Something Portentous And

Reading through "manliness" discourse and websites, and I'm wound up dumbstruck.

So the takeaway from more left leaning wisdom givers seems to be the Alan Alda style of manhood, and is definitely geared towards the mythical Millennial tech worker. Bits of advice like "don't learn to fix things, learn to code" or "don't learn to defend yourself, learn to meditate" along with the assumption that you can always hire someone with these "outmoded" skills to do stuff for you. Not only is that classist as fuck, but why would you want to purposefully helpless in a good portion of your life? Sure, cars are getting more complicated all the time. Doesn't mean that you couldn't do basic repairs and maintenance with a basic tool set and some five minutes of YouTube. I personally saved us around $5k in repairs on the Vic with basic tools and videos. I changed out the whole cooling system-new radiator, new water pump, new hoses, new serpentine belt, even changed out the oil cooler with aftermarket because it was leaking into the coolant. I certainly couldn't have afforded that paying someone to do it for me. But I've got a running car that I only paid for parts on.

The flip side of this is the right leaning adviser that basically want to turn you into Heinlein. "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects". I'm perversely proud that I can do almost all of that, but I've led a weird life and I'm almost 50. Mix that mentality with the prevailing streak of neo-Victorian thought, toss in a soupçon of anti-intellectualism, and yearn for the magical time of the imaginary 50s that has no basis in reality.

I'm kind of the mind that all knowledge is good, and you never stop learning. Over the years, I've taught myself stuff that runs the gamut from picking locks to sewing, to formal table manners. Because I found them useful and interesting, not because of what manly men do.

I dunno why, but since around 2007 or so, I'm not quite sure, the mark of a modern horror movie is somebody vomiting. Usually within the first act, quite violently and with all the sound effects.

He liberated Wallachia is what he did. He impaled 10,000 turkeys or whatever the FUCK they're called, and in this house, Vlad Dracul Tepes is a hero, END OF STORY

‘Legging’ was a method of moving a boat through a canal tunnel, especially in the early days of canal construction when tunnels were often built without a towpath. Such a path would have required a much larger tunnel cross-section and thus increased construction costs.

Before the introduction of motorised boats, ‘legging’ was one of the few ways to manoeuvre a boat through a tunnel. This technique involved the boatmen lying on their backs and pushing against the tunnel walls with their legs to push the boat forwards.

One thing all the cottagecore types either obfuscated or ignored: living in the woods in a cabin is work. The forest is perpetually trying to reclaim the cleared area. Firewood never lasts as long as you think it would, and it's heavy. We just had a really bad windstorm blow through, lost five white pines, and now I have to take a chainsaw and limb & buck them out. On top of that, there's cabin repairs to be done. Not much time for Instagramming bread or knitting.

The punk on the bus was Kirk Thatcher. He was an associate producer on the movie, and he wrote and performed that song with his band Edge of Etiquette.

what gets me is the idea it is a "boomer" thing to think it's trashy to be listening to shit over a speaker in public.

I mean...no, no before a decade ago this was not a problem humanity had. People listened to things on headphones or tiny transistor radios you had to hold up to your ear practically.

The idea that no one wants to listen to your shitty fucking music is not some "boomer" thing it's basic human decency.

And unlike say--swimsuits getting more revealing or other social trends, blasting your shitty fucking noise over a speaker is directly harmful to everyone around you.

Honestly the idea this needs to be explained at all is enough to make you give up, because it should be self evident--no one wants to listen to your fucking noise. The idea this must be explained is fucking insane.

The idea it's a "boomer" thing to hate is fucking insane. In my day it was trashy to force others to pay attention to you. It was attention whore behavior and it was universally repugnant.

Rodrigo A. Branco

I love the lanyard.

Boatswain’s call - Bosun’s call with sailor-macraméd lanyard, 19th century