Gemini* and Gopher

• Personal/Opinions

  • Ham. Words, words, words.

    C.S. Lewis wrote a whole book on this, "Studies in Words" (1960), and you can probably find Roman and older sources complaining about the kids these days. Future generations (assuming they exist) will doubtless continue this tradition, alongside the tradition of drifting the meanings of words in the most abhorent and unnatural of ways.

  • A place to hide myself

    This is a little story. The story of myself in a very remote place. A remote place in time. A brief and austere thought that crosses like lightning, the sinuous lines of eternity. A nook, a corner, or a furniture drawer, where you can keep a diary written with an invisible pencil. A hiding place for ideas. A shelter that protects them from the imminent catastrophe. A home where I can be safe and secure, next to the warm fire in the fireplace, sitting in my armchair and accompanied by a million-year-old book. The perfect place to hide.

  • getting older

    after a certain age time gets really fast and it does not seem that far away, when you were 17, but now you're almost 37 and you think you still can run fast or pedal for hours but the body has been taking all these years and the long hours sitting behind a screen, that's not good for you...

    now I make an effort, almost painful but better than real pain, in order to sit correctly, to not hunch over the keyboard, to drink more water, to eat less greasy stuff, to sleep better, to walk a bit every couple hours. maybe a short ride in the morning before my daughter wakes up (I haven't yet, but sounds good).

  • A door opens...

    ... and then it closes.

    What do you want to know about me?

    I don't know who I am, but I know some of the attributes I have and want.

    There's so much concrete around me that I struggle to breathe, even if I enjoy the canvas.

    My cat's trying to make biscuits on me. Sometimes, that hurts, but I love her. Do I eat biscuits? Only if I make them myself.

    Do you enjoy being on-the-line? I don't anymore. I was hesitant using my key to register here because why would I want to publicize myself if I could remain in emails?

  • statement

    i used to hang out on talk.bizarre a fair bit, and it struck me when i found this site that it might be a good fit for the same kind of contribution. you know, odd musings and tangents, stuff that's slightly off-kilter.

  • new face

    here i am. i applied a few months ago and lurk occasionally. it's good to finally meet everyone. to be completely honest, i don't have a whole lot to say at the moment, but i wanted to say hello sooner rather than later, so let me tell you my plans for later today. i think i'm going to go out to nature and maybe take a friend. what are the other regulars' plans? :)

  • To Learn What Something Is, Learn What It Isn't

    I hold to the idea that we can learn more and better about a thing by learning what it is not. To that end, we would be best served when we understand what a thing is and what it is not, and what other things are that are not a particular thing.

    This idea comes to me from being in an Afro-Cuban religious context, where we try to be careful about not ending up with "sancocho" (Spanish for "soup"), which is what happens when you blend practices and ideas from various traditions that aren't compatible with each other even if they might seem like it. Whether or not these things are compatible on one level or another, they're all part of different "reglas", different protocols and practices that are independent, clearly-defined, and which support themselves by themselves without needing anything from an external source. As someone initiated in an African diasporic religion (ADR), where we keep firm and clear well-defined boundaries between different ADRs as well as ADR and non-ADR practices so as to neither dilute one tradition or another, neither the one being borrowed from nor into. Admittedly, this is not an approach common in a lot of modern occult contexts, where everything becomes not just a soup of various bits but a blended smoothie of esoteric sludge. Boundaries are healthy. It's good to have them when discussing or thinking about the things we do.

  • Farkled

    Terrible luck playing Farkle[1] today. Such farklage occurred. It was the farkliest. I filled twice, and farkled each time on the next roll. Those are the only times I’ve *ever* farkled with 6 dice.

  • Eternal November

    There has been a long line of people waiting just outside the pub for quite some time; ~bartender and myself have been putting off re-opening the door for quite some time now. 135 days, to be precise. Perhaps it's because the pub is quite small. Or maybe it's because people scare us a little. But as the trees in Nightfall are all starting to fall and the air gets colder, opening the door feels like the right thing to do. To all the new people out there: welcome! This is your pub. To all familiar faces - thank you for sticking around. Let's get a round on the house!

  • My city is sick

    Today, in the very center of Warsaw, the grand opening of the Museum of Modern Art takes place. A celebration of art, a joyous day for the artist, you definitely need to be there, see, participate, experience.... Well, only that it's not quite like that.

    This is just a short morning note, I don't have time for more. But I think it's an important topic to cover, so I'm writing. Everything written below is my personal feeling, I don't write final truths and assessments. This is how I see and feel this thing based on experience.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Severe Storm Trami wreaks havoc in the Philippines; at least 26 dead

    Rescuers were racing to reach people stranded on rooftops and seeking help via Facebook.

  • window

    It's nice to see some activity back in the pub. They even opened the windows!

    The difference is quite noticeable. Just the other day the tables were filthy, the floor was sticky with dried-out pools of beer, the place was dark and filled with smoke. The bartender seemed to be busy at the backstore, or so it seemed, I couldn't find him to fix me a drink. On top of that, there were a few passed out patrons on a few tables. It kind of reminded me of The Mended Drum, only missing the occassional brawls -that would break a few occassions per day-.

  • Unarmored

    It’s the willow in the storm

    It’s the pebble in the pocket

    It’s the snow on the pine

    It’s the moth by the moon

  • Night trains of Europe

    Electric trains need to be part of our transport transition to a survivable future and night trains can allow us to replace needless flights.

    This map is both practical in telling you how you can book night trains but is also a way to see where you can go on them and also interestingly where you cannot.

  • A late night

    I'm in my living room. It's late, it's dark. The lantern candle on the balcony is lit. I sit with my guitar and bass, trying to fiddle around with them. But I need to learn. I've got way, way far to go on both of these instruments. I barely even know things to play for the bass at all, I just pluck around at whatever. I'd like to gather up a collection of things to know how to play, to build my vocabulary on this thing.

  • Wandering In

    I moved here just today! The weather is nice for this time of year. I love wandering around new places searching for cozy spots to chill. This place looks like it'll be one of the new spots I hang out at often, if life doesn't get too busy. It's nice to meet new people as well! Hello everyone! It's nice to meet you! I'm Ou, wanderer and not so human human! Let's get along well. ^^

• Technology and Free Software

  • Internet/Gemini

    • How to contact the maintainer of gemserv?

      I also didn't figure out how or even if I could open an issue in the corresponding sourcehut repository. If anyone knows how I could get in touch with the maintainer, please contact me via email at either frankseifferth@posteo.net or seifferth@tilde.club. Also, if you run gemserv yourself or if you maintain a fork of the repository, feel free to get in touch.