By order of preference:

• water
• lemonade, iced, sweetned, with a mint leaf
• iced tea, home made
• ginger ale, again, home made

(stay with me, people, I’m just that annoying)

• ginger beer, non-alcoholic, again, home made
• a store brand energy drink and that drink alone; other drinks taste like disappointment and industrial solvents
• sparkling water, chilled, but only if Pedras Salgadas; it’s slightly bitter and acidic
• gin & tonic, in a chilled glass, for a late afternoon drink
• moscaranja, a mixed drink with Moscatel wine and fresh orange juice, high ball glass, with ice
• Pisang Ambon and orange juice, with ice, same presentation as above
• sangria, and this implies red wine, not champagne, sparkling wine, rosé, etc. Just a nice strong red wine, poured over fresh fruit, a bit of orange juice, sugar and a bit of sparkling water. With ice.
• chilled white wine. No ice. Watered wine tastes like dish water and sadness.
• coke, over ice, with a slice of lemon
• beer, if nothing else available and I’m walking home

I do that as well but for some reason it doesn’t have detrimental effects on me.

I often hit myself on the nose with the phone because I fall asleep. In the morning, it helps get my brain gearing into motion.

So swearing is the natural human booster and it is scientifically demonstrated?

This is as close to the definition of a shitty idea as it can get.

First, write for yourself.

Not what the trends or market may be pointing to or wanting but what you would like or want to read yourself.

Second, just write.

Does not matter when, how, where… Just write. Let the words flow, sentences build, paragraphs form.

Third, write with no concern if it makes sense.

Our uncouncious mind has a voice of itself. Let it out. Most times, what is holding us back is something underneath the surface needing to get out.

Fourth, write now, read later.

Put it out now but allow yourself time to let whatever came out to cool and only then go read it again. It may not make it any further, it may be worthy of picking it further. Regardless, it will remember you of how were when it took form. Learn from it.

Fifth, write what you live in your mind.

We may be able to take someone on a journey with what we write but we are the only ones that know the minute details behind the veil and where all the threads left unravelled lead. We know the worlds we visit in a way no one will. Enjoy that privilege.

Sixth, write down a map of your stories.

Put down a framewire of what your work is supposed to grow into. Set the guidelines for yourself, how many chapters there will be, small ideas to insert into the story. And review it as the story build and evolves.

Seventh, write organically.

No story is set in stone, no matter how cristalized it may be in our mind. A sentence may throw the flow of the story in a previously unseen direction, a line of dialogue create entirely new branchings. Allow the story to tell itself, to grow, expand and evolve. Don’t try to hold it to a fixed, predetermined form or path.

Eighth, and final, ignore what others tell or advise you.

They know nothing, of you, your work, your mind. Devise a science of one. Explore your mind, discover what makes it work optimally, how to tune in, at will, into that specific mindset. And, above all else, be a little bit delusional: you are the best writer on the planet and what you write no one else can.

Go barroque. As in absurdly elaborate on what you throw at people you dislike.

Spanish have a saying that gets thrown at people that like to run their mouth. Very loosely translated it says something along the lines of “May you swallow a peacock and every every feather turn into a straight razor”. Takes some time to put it out. Gives a person time to get their blood settled.

But please don’t forget insults have always been basic and directed or sprouting from prejudice. I understand and respect what you are trying to put forward but it will not be am easy task.

We are basic creatures. We still go for what superficially differentiates one from another. It’s about anger and fear. It’s primal. Spinning this off and putting something elaborate and as personalized or generic as possible is a tough endeavour.

I personally find amusing to insert some nonsense into my speech when letting out an expletive and for some obscure reason I tend to go for vegetables and gardening.

You can be asked to go tend your cabbage patch when you miff me and I would really want to see you go away.

But this works very poorly outside my language.

Good luck on your quest and have fun.

No, it’s not my point, although there is a difference between expressing ideas, no matter how contrarian or controversial they may be, and spouting hate or other positions detrimental to advancement.

I am aware of what you mention of companies sniffing for the social media of employees and potential applicants. It is a shameful practice. And if it is illegal in my country, has it is viewed as trespassing on one’s privacy, it should be as welll any and everywhere.

Nobody should be ashamed nor afraid of expressing their opinions and ideas. Unfortunately, freedom of expression is often confused with the hability of saying whatever one feels like it, which is not.

What you describe (and fear, I take) is persecution. And that already tells whatever system an individual lives in is already deep into veering towards blatant suppression of rights. The US case is so off the rails it deserves an entire category to itself but it is only one among too many.

On the question of banning access to pornography I am completely against it. Yet I can not and will not deny the amount of evidence that supports that early and easy access to it is in fact tainting how people in general and kids in particular understand how relations are constructed. Pornography is really good at teaching wrong things. Nothing against it per se, it can be fun, but it should be consumed just like sugar, tobbacco and alcohol: in moderation and knowing of its ill effects.

I personally started reading erotic books much sooner than it was supposed. I recognize that curiosity towards sex and sexuality is ingrained in what makes us humans. I’m not advocating for banning adult material of any sort. What I would like to see would be clear boundaries for that specific content, for it not reaching those who are not expected to access it unware. It can’t be written off to caveat emptor. Even less because a lot of it is “free”.

The web is as it is today in great measure due to porn. There was a lot of money being poured into technology to facilitate access to it and in high definition. Let’s be thankful for it but that is it. It can be almost ubiquious nowadays, along with casinos and crypto. It’s too much and too much of a good thing is bad for everyone. Remember death by snu-snu.

I have no illusion we, as a species and a civilization, are going through a very dark period. Again. All the prior should have been able to sink in the lesson but we are either too sttuborn or too stupid to learn. Censoring, wide spread control of ideas, knowledge and thought is detrimental to a fair and free society.

Excuses like “protecting children”, “fighting terrorism”, etc, are, as you correctly said, excuses to make advances on individual rights and liberties. But we should be as concerned by now that companies do whatever they can to reach their goals and we are being force fed too many things that are not good for us. Two wrongs don’t make a right but something has to change. Perhaps ceasing to be afraid of being responsible by one’s own ideas and words would be a good start. Maybe stop feeding social media would be another. And perhaps reigning in companies on bad practices could be another.

It should. Seeing in low light is a very useful thing. And we could dispense some of the light polution we create.

That’s the point.

You, as a common citizen, should not have to. But the moment you feel like to share your thought or opinion, you should be identifiable and made responsible for it.

The current social media outlets shield behind the argument they act solely as channels while at the same time fostering and allowing for “anonymous” groups or individuals to spout whatever views they want, often views that deter from advancing social and civilizational progress. Hence the current state of the world, with authoritarianism on a rise and hight like there wasn’t in nearly 70 years.

When the internet was made of individual websites, the person behind it was automatically made responsible for whatever they put on it. That was fair and reasonable.

Pushes like this, is assigning suspition/guilt before any wrong doing.

I will grant the overall facilitated acess to pornography is damaging the kids. There are already enough studies showing how the early access to porn is related to bad interpersonal relations on social, emotional and sexual level.

But this does not imply you should be identifying yourself to access adult content or anything on the web. Just impose curation. If it’s available to the public, you’re responsible for it.

Old school “dirty” books and magazines stores had controlled access and the really hardcore stuff was well out of reach of who should not get to it. Free porn is nice but there are things available that should be behind pay walls or at least registry, with identity verification.

Try reading it instead. Go old school. And while you’re at it, write yourself and share it. Bring back the times of hand to hand banned knowledge sharing.

But now seriously: that is completely stupid.

As anyone considered the amount of money that “industry” generates. Considering the US is so economy driven and concerned with jobs, maybe that argument can raise concerns.

Low light vision.

I was always very sensitive to bright lights and sincerely fear I’ll go blind at my last years but I can see at higher definition under low light conditions.

My vision stops processing color and I get higher definition of contrast. I’ve walked through dark areas with no difficulty, where others simply said they could not see a thing.

At some point, it will be easier to just not have a phone.

It’s achieveable if enough alcohol is added to the subject looking at the said painting. And with some exotic chemistry they may even start to taste or hear the colors.

It was an abomination.

Dark bread (wheat/rye mix), homemade, mustard, mortadela, cheese, letuce and a slice of tomato.

Fit it’s role.

It would be funny to see the karma converted to currency usable to buy awards to give away.

Interactions like:

“Take my hard won [insert currency name here] in the shape of this award and get out!”

Nothing for nothing, get your things for free.

I want to but many artists are abandoning the format.

Personal preference.

I like to buy and keep something. So beside the network coverage issues I face, I prefer to buy and keep my copies in my home, to listen wherever and whenever I want, without the need for an app or something alike to make sure the music I paid for actually plays.

Call me old fashioned.

Magnatune is no longer a business. They stopped offering new memberships.

For reasons unknown, I’ve had 3 separate accounts on that site shut down. I’m done with them.

There is one artist on Bandcamp whose work I want to get but I understand Bandcamp is more geared towards indie musicians.

Is this true?