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Philosophy:

• Move
  • Have confidence
  • Etc.

You can try and fail, but you're unlikely to succeed if you don't try. So, you can fail regardless of whether you try, but you're more likely to succeed if you try. Try away! :)

Kreyol seems far more efficient in some regards than French. Far fewer unnecessary rules. Easier grammar. I think even more logical than English!

C'était "liberté, égalité, fraternité", pas "fascisme, égalité, fraternité" !

I'm aiming to act more socially now. I started off life somewhat introverted. During my travels I became somewhat more extroverted. During some periods, like pauses from travels, I've become more introverted again. I think there's value in each approach, depending on one's personal situation and the broader situation.

Be you. Beyond.

It's ok to take risks! Do be aware that you're taking them, and consider them beforehand, but without excess fear! :)

Whatever comes up: just adjust! :)

It often makes sense to force yourself into uncomfortable yet valuable situations.

We need innoculations for the mind, not vaccines for a cough.

I think/feel that if you're actively working on self-development, then you may often go through difficult yet rewarding transitions, which require some mental processing. Even if you're not actively working on self-developments, I think there are probably many events to adjust one's life to. So I think it makes sense to expect a bunch of these big-seeming personal events, rather than seeing them as rare exceptions. (Written after/during a series of personal upheavals.)

Things develop through tons of small accumulating events that suddenly seem like a huge event. Seems like if you gradually work on the small events you can contribute towards enhancing the big events. Also seems like sometimes you need a large dose of effort to break through, rather than only the collection of smaller events. Like pounding open a coconut with a hard smash rather than a series of weak hits that don't break the tough husk.

And there's tons of knock-offs/copycats/aping/cloning/etc. along the way. :)

I'm trying to learn some more Kreyol. I've made a few Haitian friends here in Guadeloupe. I feel like I'm making some progress. I think that there's a threshold where I'll have enough grammar, phrases/vocabulary, and listening comprehension to get by in practice. As of now I'm in the struggling-to-keep-up stage.

I think there are fairly steeply declining marginal returns on many things that make people feel good. E.g. alcohol, caffeine, sex. A drink or two and you feel great, but several drinks later and you feel terrible, and over the long term it can ruin your life. Some things, like exercise, seem to offer better rates.

Go through one language, go to another! Learn a language, maybe reach a slower part of the learning curve, move on to another.

Langauge (n.): how you evaluate someone's speech. Not just which language they use, but intonation, pronunciation, etc. Says a lot about a person.

"Did you say 'hassles' or 'assholes'?"

From the desk of some crazy writer… :)

There are numerous events in our lives that are annoying and may make people feel like responding to the frustration with anger. Often it makes more sense if one can control oneself enough to act with positive emotions anyways.

I'd had some difficulty describing summer ("été") in French recently to some friends here. It only dawned on me a few days later that it may have been at least in part due to their not having seasons here (or rather, having only wet and dry seasons rather than summer/winter/fall/spring), rather than just due to my pronunciation. :)

Most or all of the "Coronavirus victims" were old or had severe illnesses. As such, the bureaucrats have taken advantage of weak people's deaths to advance their own careers. Sick.

People get carried away with their winning streaks. The Greeks, Romans, fascists, communists. Anyone who's ever spread fast and had a series of victories eventually goes too far. This goes for other areas than politics, too, e.g. musicians, athletes.

The politicians who found Coronavirus as a propaganda tool -- largely by accident -- found a tool to scare people and force tons of insane regulations. Eventually, however, after Delta variant, fifth wave, and whatever other BS, the politicians go too far and people refuse the crap.

I think you lose a bit of general confidence while talking in a foreign language, as you're struggling to understand or convey information. On the other hand I think you also gain some confidence, as you don't feel tied in to the normal conventions of your culture.

I think that making explicit commitments to action has worked well for me in comparison to other attempts to enhance my actions.

It sort of sucks to get old but there are good things about it, too. Weaker, slower, but also more competent in some regards.

I think it's fairly common to feel like you've often had your desires stymied. I think that life has numerous frustrations. Keep working towards achievable goals, appreciating the positive surprises, managing the disappointments.

The psychology of humans, and even the underlying physical laws, include ups and downs. It's not necessarily through some mistake or fault of your own or someone else's, when things seem unfair or go wrong -- but that can happen too. :)

I feel extremely fortunate to have had so many genuinely desirable experiences. I think that I've seen an unusual selection of places, people, events. For my unusual personality. :)

Don't feel too bad about the failures, it's a lot harder to do things than it seems!

I think there's a reason why nobody says "I can't wait to be middle-aged!" :)

It's a sad time, but at least you can do what you want often.

Don't look for the easy way out, look for the tough/beautiful/effective way up! :)

Go to the communists' parties and the fascists' business meetings, not the other way around. :)

No caribou in the Caribbean!

COVID: the mass psychology of stupidity.

A thing (any thing) is just a useful label, basically. For example, there's a computer. It's a bunch of parts that provisionally work together to compute. The parts can go into other machines, or be discarded. The computer doesn't start and cease to exist, except as a useful label.

Regulate politicians!

Fund slogans!

If you went walking around in public with a loudspeaker and a chemistry set making motorcycle noises and emitting toxic fumes, you'd be arrested and prosecuted, and rightfully so. There's no solid reason why riding a motorcycle should be exempt from the same.

Coronavirus is more relevant to the social sciences than the medical sciences.

What's the difference between a groove and a rut?

Often a different place, time, or context reveals things that seem obvious but weren't.

Mwen ap appran yon ti kras plis kreyol. Se anka difisil, menn akounya mwen a mwen ka pale ak zanmi m nan kapeste.

Wòch ak woule! :)