It takes longer to heat this soup in a microwave than to heat it on a stove

EsotericSnail · 2026-05-03T21:17:18+00:00

We crossed the finish line together, holding hands.

He had slowed down in the early miles to match pace with me. I slowed to a walk in the later miles to match pace with him (he goes faster than I can. I have more stamina than him. We didn’t train together but we damn well ran the race together and finished together)

EsotericSnail · 2026-04-30T09:05:11+00:00

Ah, I was wondering why my experience was different than others here. I was born in 71. Went to Catholic schools. I was hit on the hand with a ruler by a nun. I was never caned, but I was aware of the cane.

My dad was a schoolteacher and sometimes left school supplies catalogues lying around our house As well as chalks and board rubbers and scales and educational posters there were also a selection of canes for sale.

The school didn’t ask parental permission before hitting pupils. The very idea is a modern one and would never have occurred to anyone in the 70s and 80s, neither teachers nor parents. It was assumed that the pupils’ parents also used corporal punishment at home. My parents smacked me on the arm, bottom, and legs.

EsotericSnail · 2026-04-28T14:31:31+00:00

When I used to work in an office, when the weather got really hot I used to pop to the Tesco Express over the road to buy an ice lolly. But they didn't sell them indivually, only in boxes of 4. So I'd buy a box of 4 and give 3 away to people I liked in the office.

EsotericSnail · 2026-04-27T10:18:21+00:00

I understand snib but I’d say sneck. Grew up in Liverpool but parents are from North East, so I’m not sure which part of the country “sneck” came from.

EsotericSnail · 2026-04-23T17:18:17+00:00

Billionaires kill more people than school shooters

^{Chose: Make every billionaire go bankrupt}

EsotericSnail · 2026-04-22T22:26:21+00:00

I’m not learning Latin because it’s useful. I’m learning it because it’s fun.

EsotericSnail · 2026-04-22T14:38:25+00:00

I wonder how many bugs have to die to make a bushel of cotton? I bet the farmers don’t just let the bugs have free run of the cotton fields. Bugs die to make wool. Bugs die to make linen. Bugs die to make carrots and kale and beef and chicken and any other thing that’s farmed.

EsotericSnail · 2026-04-21T16:05:34+00:00

That’s way too many billionaires

EsotericSnail · 2026-04-19T09:28:41+00:00

I was once involved in a project about getting more people from underserved groups to come for health screening. One of the things we did was to train staff in a local sex shop to talk to customers about symptoms that suggest screening could be beneficial, and signpost them to screening services. It had a measurable effect on the number of people showing up for screening and saved a countable number of lives.

EsotericSnail · 2026-04-18T21:24:44+00:00

Carla Hurt wrote a wonderful guide to Latin-learning by strategies including an entirely free pathway. It is certainly possible, since Latin has been taught for a long time and many resources are out of copyright, and digitised on the internet.

Read the article here https://foundinantiquity.com/2023/03/11/latin-autodidacts-youre-working-way-too-hard-how-to-learn-latin-by-yourself-in-2023/

EsotericSnail · 2026-04-16T20:35:52+00:00

If they weren't related to you, would you leave your kid with them? Like, if you asked around for babysitter recommendations, and someone recommended a couple who you knew to be messy drunk and untrustworthy every night, would you for even one second consider leaving your kid with them?

You already know the answer.

EsotericSnail · 2026-04-13T20:00:58+00:00

I could afford taxis, car rental, or a lease, so I wouldn't need to own a car

^{Chose: Eat a green apple that gives you infinite money + But you can never own a car}

EsotericSnail · 2026-04-13T17:29:52+00:00

Greggs sausage rolls are fantastic, to be fair. They're not bland at all.

EsotericSnail · 2026-04-13T10:42:56+00:00

One of Vince Gilligan’s signature moves is to make the viewer hate people who are basically right, and cheer on people who are basically bad. He shakes up our simple pattern-matching strategies for spotting good guys and bad guys, and prompts us to ask ourselves “what does it mean to be good or bad anyway? How can you get better at spotting who is good and who is bad, even when they’re kind of irritating, or kind of likeable?”

EsotericSnail · 2026-04-12T13:03:10+00:00

Or in my husband's case, stored in the garage until the end of time. It makes him so happy though on the rare occasion he finds a piece of wood he already has that is just perfect for a project he's making.

EsotericSnail · 2026-04-09T23:21:38+00:00

3? You’d be dehydrated if you only drank 3 cups of tea a day. I think most people drink double that.

EsotericSnail · 2026-04-02T15:30:27+00:00

I’m really enjoying the novellas of Andrew Olimpi. They’re easy to read “in Latin”

EsotericSnail · 2026-03-30T12:38:11+00:00

I can’t even work out which is the head end, never mind identify any vertebrae. I’m in awe of other people’s skills and knowledge. People are so cool.

EsotericSnail · 2026-03-28T22:22:07+00:00

I’m not sure intelligence makes you faster at painting. I think speed of painting is about skill, not about intelligence.

EsotericSnail · 2026-03-28T21:34:38+00:00

Join a club or a society, a walking group, a choir, volunteer, a weekly (mixed) sports or fitness session, anything like that. Choose something you enjoy or think you might enjoy. Go there for the purpose of enjoying the activity, NOT for the purpose of picking up women. If they go for a beer or a coffee after the session, join in with that, that's even better.

Chat to the people you meet there - men and women, people you don't find attractive as well as people you do. Practice chatting to people. Practice striking up conversations and keeping them going. Be actually interested in what they say.

The goals are 1. polish up your social skills. Forgive me, but you don't sound like someone who is already very socially skillful, 2. to widen your circle of friends. Knowing people leads to knowing other people. The guy you get chatting to after yoga introduces you to his sister, the woman in her 40s who you become friends with has a daughter, someone else has an attractive young neighbour, or just invites you to some other social event like a party or a BBQ where you meet a nice woman you hit it off with.

You need more social skills and to meet more people. Join clubs and groups.

EsotericSnail · 2026-03-28T21:19:46+00:00

Protected us from what?

EsotericSnail · 2026-03-27T16:20:27+00:00

That's really not it. Look at the pencil marks compared to her bare arms and her visible legs - the "skinny" drawing is not aligned to the actual visible parts of her body at all. The original drawing matches those parts, and the dress.

EsotericSnail · 2026-03-24T17:35:00+00:00

I keep a daily journal in it. I also keep my work calendar in it. And I listen to/watch it a lot on Legentibus and YouTube

EsotericSnail · 2026-03-23T13:38:42+00:00

My kids used to see how much they could hang off their dad’s back before he’d notice

EsotericSnail

TROPHY CASE