These days, I feel hard-pressed to post anything related to work. Is it because I am resting? Is it because I am trying to sweep all my thoughts of work under a proverbial rug? Beats me...

However, one thing is for sure: no matter where I am, half of the time, I think in English. The reason is simple—I read in English a lot.
At the moment, I am reading two books.

One of them is "Everything is F***ed: A Book About Hope." It's a real page-turner, as you can never expect what the author will delve into next. Talk about a Polish man who managed to infiltrate Auschwitz and then escape it relatively unscathed? Why not? Maybe give a step-by-step algorithm for organizing a cult? Sure thing.

I adore the unpredictability of the book as well as the lexis the author utilizes. As seen from the title, he definitely does not shy away from using profanity from time to time, which makes the narrative quite lively.

The second book is "It" by Stephen King. I truly like it. The author is a master at making you feel what the character is experiencing on a very deep, subconscious, almost instinctual level.

But that is what makes the book a tough read for me. I am extremely jumpy and easily spooked. After each spine-chilling description, I have to close the book and try to gather my scrambled wits. It sometimes takes a while.

And it's a behemoth of a book - more than 1k pages! If I hold it up for more than five minutes, my wrists get tired! I shall persevere, of course, not because I have to, but because I want to.

❓❓❓ What are you currently reading? Any recommendations? ❓❓❓

P. S. I used Chat GPT to correct my typos! It helped quite a bit 😌

#books #freetime #hobby

STAND-UP

I guess it’s time to share my Stand-UP experience as both a performer and a part of the audience.

In June I had a chance to take part in an amazing educational event – Rozetka in Saint-Pete. It was great to see so many like-minded and enthusiastic teachers! I was chuffed to bits to make acquaintance with a lot of them.

What’s more, there was an open-mic evening for those who consider themselves relatively funny. Relatively is very relative, I was in stitches half the time as the people performing hit home. I also took part and was really excited, but petrified at the same time. People actually laughed at my jokes!

Can you imagine that? - Personally, I still can’t.

Will I do it again? – If the chance arises, that’s a loud, resonating YES.

Yesterday I went to a Vika Skladchikova’s concert (If you don’t know her, there is a link in the comments). The decision to get tickets was a spur of the moment thing – my colleague and I are travelling around the south of Russia at the moment, and, incidentally, there was a concert on the day we arrived to Novorossiysk.

It was entertaining, but my expectations were probably too high – I reckoned I would be literally rolling on the floor laughing (as much as leg room allowed, of course). I wasn’t. The performance did strike a chord, it was amusing, it was fun.

However, I left the concert hall with mixed feelings, because what Victoria joked about is not actually very laughable. Alcohol addiction is not funny, for instance, neither is domestic abuse. The core of her humor is self-deprecation, and it resonates with the audience. But this response tells a lot about our traumas and deeply (or not so deeply) rooted issues.

To sum up, in both cases (when I tried to be a stand-up comic, when I was in the audience) the jokes were about what brings us problems, and laughter made them seem relatively small. But again, relative is very relative.

❓ Do you laugh at or about your issues? Does it help in any way? ❓

P.S. Once in a meeting with the Elegant speaking club (by Natalia Egorova), we discussed humour and decided that the funniest comedians are those who have had a lot of problems in life. What’s your take on that? ❓

#humour #random_musings

🔥🔥🔥 BEING ON FIRE, BUT NOT BURNING OUT 🔥🔥🔥

I've got several tricks up my sleeve that help me fight burn-out. I mentioned most of them in my mini-podcast in Russian here https://t.iss.one/random_musing_s/201

But there's one of them that I enjoy more than the others and it's...

Drum roll...

Dressing up!

Yesterday I spent more than an hour (an hour I could've been sleeping - please, be awed by my dedication!) researching different styles trying to put some kind of labels on my preferences. It was tough, but I've managed to pinpoint some: sporty, boho and romantic.

Dressing pretty (by my standarts) is the push (or shove) that helps me crawl out of my house each morning before work.

❓ Do you have any preferences in regards to clothing styles?❓

#clothes #burnout_resistance #style #beingawoman

I’ve got itchy feet and am gearing to go! That’s why I am starting my speaker jig much earlier this year, and on August 24th I will be participating in this conference in Voronezh https://back-to-school.tilda.ws/

I met Liliya Ayatskova, who is the event organizer and the esteemed leader of «Тичер ПРО» center, at Rozetka in Saint-Pete and we immediately hit it off 😍

I am positive it’s gonna be great fun! 🔥If you per chance want to join me there, let me know.

Шило в одном месте – это когда учебный год еще на начался, а Юлия Андреевна уже работает… В этом году начинаю свой спикерский год гораздо раньше, 24 августа. Буду вещать о том, как начать год без особого напряжение и весело провести первые уроки на этой прекрасной конференции https://back-to-school.tilda.ws/ в Воронеже.

С Лилией Аяцковой, руководителем центра «Тичер ПРО» в Воронеже я познакомилась на Розетке в Питере, и мы моментально нашли общий язык 😍

Я на все сто уверена, что мы зажжем 🔥 Так что если я вас заинтересовала – пишите.

#conference #speaker #CPD #ELT_event

Ok, English it is... But I love you all too much to let you suffer if you want to read in Russian, so the Russian version will be in the comments 🥰
Выиграл английский, но по-русски тоже будет, в комментариях. Люблю вас просто сильно 🥰

THE INAPPROPRIATELY NAMED BOOK INSIGHTS BULLET POINTS

First of all, Mark Manson (the author) is a master of weaving words together in a way that hits all the right spots for me – poignantly, hilariously and punchy. The book is riddled with knowledge about historical events and facts about various psychologists. I won’t go as far as to claim I cross-checked the information, but it all looks quite believable.

Disclaimer: everything that comes further should go with “according to the book”. If I mention it, it doesn’t necessarily mean I agree with it. On the other hand, it doesn’t negate that I actually might be on the same page. LOL, mysterious much?

BULLET POINT ONE (and only)
Throughout history, people have thought that emotions cause all our problems, and our rational mind has to swoop in akin to a hero in a bright-red cape and save the day.

“The Classic Assumption says that if as person is undisciplined, unruly, or malicious, it’s because he lacks the ability to subjugate his feelings, that he is weak-willed or just plain f***ed up”

However, if that was the case, the would be no hate crimes, no such thing as «She killed her husband in the heat of passion” in the eyes of the law. But in some cases it’s actually a mitigating circumstance.

Turns out, we have two “brains” that should be partners – The Thinking Brain (supposedly, the boss of our life), and The Feeling Brain (its meek subordinate, a scapegoat to beat into shape). Seems like an abusive relationship, doesn’t it? It is one, but the abuser is The Feeling Brain.

Why, you might ask? Because there is no reasoning with The Feeling Brain. We want to do something, like, eat something sweet, we will do it. Some time later? – Sure. Something with with less calories? – Of course! A safer option, like fruit? – Absolutely! But we will get ourselves something sweet in the end.

And here’s what the abuse is all about, I’ve just provided you with an example, a relatively innocent one. The Thinking Brain, in the end, just rationalizes what the Feeling Brain wants.

It turned out to be one long bullet-point… So I am stopping here. Having finished typing, I am now looking at the text and thinking: isn’t it obvious? It might be, but it doesn’t make my spiel any less interesting (at least for me).

If you want more, do react to this post, pretty please with a 🍒 on top. Love you! 💜🩷🩵

#books #hobby #amateur_psychology

Любопытно, любопытно...

"Заряжен (хорошо хоть не заражён) ИИ" напоминает конец советских времен, когда люди ставили воду перед экранами телевизоров в надежде зарядить ее, а потом выпить и стать - счастливым, богатым, удачливым и т.д. Выберите, что нравится.

Маркетолог от бога или "слышу звон, не знаю, где он" 😅😂

Ну что ж, ребята, мы уже в будущем.

Интересно, как это дезодорант должен работать? Там есть нано-частицы, которые сначала определяют твой естественный запах, потом подстраиваются для нейтрализации неприятных "нот"? Как этот ИИ-дезодорант поймёт, какие оттенки запаха неприятны человеческому восприятию?

Я теряюсь в догадках...

❓❓❓ Друзья, есть варианты?

#ии #ai #funsies

🔤🔤 🔤🔤🔤🔤 🔤🔤🔤🔤🔤🔤🔤🔤🔤 (picture based)

So here is another one https://www.memecam.io/, and I like it much more as it allows you to add your own photos. You can also add context, just put in some key words and Viola! A funny meme.

Well, not side-splittingly hilarious, but a tad bit better than the ones Predis (the previous post) generates. Mostly because it’s personal.

And I loved the cute little warning:

Be careful with what you do with the generated content, as it might touch upon taboo topics and come across as offensive.

Unfortunately, though, there’s a limit of 10 memes an hour.

I am posting all the generated memes in the comments. If you find one funny, please react with 🔥. If it’s not up your alley – any other emoticon.


ИИ – Генератор Мемов (по фото)

А вот и второй генератор. Мне понравился больше, потому что работает он на ваших фото. Можно и нужно добавлять контекст. И вот, пожалуйста, смешной мем.

Конечно, не такой, чтобы животики надорвать, но забавнее, чем в Predis. Вероятнее всего, причина проста – когда на меме ваше лицо или фото, сделанное вами, он сразу становится релевантнее.

К сожалению, у этого генератора есть лимит – 10 мемов в час.

Очень понравилось милое предупреждение:

Будьте осторожны со сгенерированным котентом, и делитесь только тем, которое не затрагивает табуированных тем и, в результате, может кого-то обидеть.

В комментарии закинула все, что нагенерила. Если смешно – ставьте 🔥 Нет – любой другой смайлик.

#AI #memes #funsies