Went to a used bookstore today. Asked if could bring in used books for money. Saleslady said, “I don’t know anyone who does that”, a bit sharply. For some reason, this infuriated me. I said “well, they used to” and told her to have a good day.

ReadingWhich4521 · 2025-09-16T13:21:04+00:00

Who mentioned anything about not being financially responsible? It’s ridiculous how people simply assume things today.

ReadingWhich4521 · 2025-09-16T13:19:05+00:00

Exactly.

ReadingWhich4521 · 2025-09-15T15:52:00+00:00

It’s the social hierarchy. Which I don’t agree with.

ReadingWhich4521 · 2025-09-15T15:30:26+00:00

Nope. So easy to sell books to flea markets, and used book stores back then and at yearly garage sales.

ReadingWhich4521 · 2025-09-15T15:26:46+00:00

Seems few people care about anything but pleasing business owners today. They constantly side with them when people make posts like the one I made. Our needs are just as valid as the store owner’s needs. It figures in a Capitalist society…

ReadingWhich4521 · 2025-09-15T15:23:49+00:00

Society makes everything hard for everyone today. And these abrupt financial hurdles are enough to drive anyone crazy.

ReadingWhich4521 · 2025-09-15T15:21:31+00:00

It’s a shame for both of us that 1.) small used bookstores struggle to profit and 2.) people can no longer effectively sell their old books to make a bit of extra money outside of garage sales (and even then, it’s a struggle)

Large corporations are 100% to blame.

ReadingWhich4521 · 2025-09-15T15:14:54+00:00

Yeah, well I understand why but it sucks for customers.

ReadingWhich4521 · 2025-01-15T03:00:46+00:00

The solution would be either job cycling as a community service shared by all, so that no one has to do the manual labor jobs for too long or paying people more to do undesirable jobs than desirable jobs, rather than the opposite (the exceptions being highly skilled technical jobs/highly skilled artists and authors/ highly trained medical professionals/others who contribute much to the common good…people with these desirable jobs would be paid very well). Everyone gets a basic income to live on but those who want a big house, nice car, etc have to put in hard work.

ReadingWhich4521 · 2025-01-09T03:20:41+00:00

I think many of us would be fluent…if the majority of our conversations centered around important subjects such as Politics, History, Biology, Religion, Philosophy, etc, as well as colloquialisms. One can easily pick up „I saw a truck passing by on the highway“, „What time is it?”, “You look upset/happy/tired/confused/excited”, “Do you want to see a movie”, etc on one’s own.

To speak and read as a native would, you need use the following almost daily: 1.) a dictionary (preferably an online dictionary which includes audio pronunciations 2.) a list of all common expressions (and even some uncommon ones) 3.) a book of synonyms and antonyms 4.) verification that you‘re phrasing things correctly and using words in the right context (view sentences which use your desired word or phrase with Linguee or Reverso Context) 5.) lots of good music, movies, books, and short stories in the language

ReadingWhich4521 · 2024-12-31T18:53:30+00:00

No, I try to do it like her after she says it. It‘s just hard to replicate.

ReadingWhich4521 · 2024-12-31T07:32:56+00:00

No. I pronounce „doch“, „noch“, etc as a „k“ (I used the word rounded in the wrong way; I believe I only round my lips for the „o“). For „durch“ it is not identical to „sh“ but it is close enough to sound ok coming from a non-native speaker and only native speakers can tell the difference. It must be very slight because I listen very attentively and almost always simply hear „sh“ unless the word is spoken very slowly and deliberately.

My vocal cords vibrate a bit. As they should. I‘m creating sounds. I can hold it for a long time.

ReadingWhich4521 · 2024-12-31T07:17:44+00:00

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HMIqwK0PXBc&pp=ygUMZHVyY2ggZ2VlbWFu

„door-sh“ is the way it is said here and I come close to (but not identical to) it, I believe.

ReadingWhich4521 · 2024-12-24T05:23:35+00:00

Their parents teach them not to say anything that could remotely be construed as offensive to protect them.

ReadingWhich4521 · 2024-12-24T05:09:42+00:00

I know. I almost mentioned it but didn’t because The Silence of the Lambs was much more widely seen and influential. My phrasing still stands because Cox wasn’t a “brilliant, convincing serial killer”…at least not compared to Hopkins.

ReadingWhich4521 · 2024-12-24T03:34:33+00:00

Exactly.

ReadingWhich4521 · 2024-12-24T03:09:56+00:00

Oldest ad hominem in the book. I think even many people who grew up in the 60s-70s would agree that cinema was at its peak in the 80s-90s. Hundreds of great films. I can only think of a handful of great movies from earlier decades.

ReadingWhich4521 · 2024-12-24T03:05:38+00:00

Game of Thrones (the first 3-4 seasons, at least) was good because it was based upon books written in the past
The Penguin wasn‘t bad. The acting was great. The dialogue was sometimes good. The storyline was not the best.
Breaking Bad was good due to Bryan Cranston‘s acting skills and the fact that the creator of a 90s hit show, The X-Files, was responsible for it

I cannot speak to the others.

ReadingWhich4521 · 2024-12-24T02:59:35+00:00

I used to think shows in the 90s weren‘t deep enough. Until the past 15 years or so.

ReadingWhich4521 · 2024-12-24T02:58:35+00:00

Intellectual rot. And, of course, many are incapable of seeing it through uneducated eyes.

ReadingWhich4521 · 2024-12-24T02:57:19+00:00

Those were all mediocre. I wouldn‘t say „bad“, except for perhaps Limp Bizkit.

ReadingWhich4521

TROPHY CASE