Filler post

So yeah, my last post was about a week ago and concerned school and the sucky teacher. I really haven't been in the mood to post since then. But now I remembered that I have readers (all 4 of them) and I have obligations towards them, so I grabbed myself by the neck and decided to force a blog post out of myself.

So, since I don't have anything specific to rant about today, I'll be talking about life a bit.
Life's good. School's out since last Friday, and I got a translation gig as a summer job from an acquintance. With the wage he's paying, it threatened to be really a paying one! Well, I soon found out the truth is not that rosy. There are only ten documents to translate in total, and they are WAY shorter than I'd like. So basically the job will be enough to pay the bills during summer and maybe buy a vacuum cleaner and a microwave oven (two things I desperately need) but not much of a buffer for winter.

Oh, about the microwave: My flatmate moved out. I thought he was only going for summer, but judging by the subtle signs (him packing everything he had here, his microwave included; him returning his keys to the landlord; his name having been removed from the door) he actually left for good. While I miss the microwave, it's great to have the apartment all for myself. I just hope my next  flattie(/s; there are two free rooms now) won't be worse.

Come to think of it, he was pretty much an ideal flatmate. Didn't spend much time in the apartment, never brought anyone over, hardly ever listened to music, and left my stuff alone. Bye bye, Rapids (that's his pseudonym; the people who know him, may know why)!

Lily's (in case there still is a stray reader who doesn't know, she's my gf) moved away from town for summer (she got a summer job). I'm counting days till she comes to visit the town again (5 and half, including today).

I'll get back at you with a rant about stupid people later this week. I promise.

I also decided to try to make this blog a bit more reader-friendly by adding pictures. I don't have much yet, but here's a motivational text. The picture (and most likely the pictures to come) is from weheartit.com.

You either take the feedback, or you drop it.

Dear teacher,

I hardly ever bother with hate. Mostly I feel it's waste of time and energy that could be used better by directing it to liking, maybe even loving, important people. The people I don't like usually receive indifference or mild dislike.

It is quite evident that you love the subjects you teach. Your enthusiasm shows in the way you speak in class. It also shows in the way you deem anything not concerning you or your subjects "unimportant".

I think you are incompetent. The way you handle your lectures turns the students away. You cannot take criticism. You are completely unable to look at anything from any other viewpoint than your own (I think it's called "empathy"). Your methods, general conduct and favoritism are unprofessional. The last straw was the way you decided to give me individual feedback today in front of class. It was humiliating, and I took it as a personal insult.

I hardly ever hate people, and I thought I could never bring myself to hoping a death of another human being. You proved me I'm a worse person than I thought. Congratulations.

I hate you, and I hope you'll die soon.

Bitch.

-Reno

Not Always Studying

Yeah, nothing new to rant about lately. Except school. School sucks.
To make it less sucky, I've found several websites I can spend my school hours in. Because I am such a swell guy, I decided to share them with y'all. No need to thank me!

Let's see...

Kuvaton.com
They add funny and/or unusual pictures daily or almost daily. Many of the jokes are only understandable for Finns.

Feissarimokat
Facebook Fails in Finnish.

Cheezburger / Memebase websites:
Very Demotivational
For your daily (de)motivational poster needs, Very Demotivational is the place to go. The continuous onslaught of memetic posters ensures that every now and then a real gem will emerge.

Comixed
Comixed is like Very Demotivational, except that it contains (usually) four-frame comics instead. Try it out, you know you want to. (According to a few memebasers, this is where memes go to die. So go give them a funeral they deserve.)

Failbook
All your Facebook fails, gathered under one domain. Twitter and Google+ also make recurring appearances. Warning! May cause severe facepalming.

Pokememes
Pokemon memes, nuff said. Any original joke about Pokémon will be beaten to death and beyond here. Beware of the gen wars. It has been going on since forever and it Will. Not. Stop.

Not Always websites:
Not Always Right
Not Always Right is the place where customer servants vent off about their annoying and idiotic customers.

Not Always Working
For all your funny and stupid employee/coworker stories, Not Always Working is the place to go to.

Not Always Related
Don't let the name fool you, stories in Not Always Related are always, heh, related to, another heh, relatives. Think your family is crazy? Check it out, you're not alone!

Not Always Romantic
You guessed it, this website contains all your more or less romantic funnies. You'll love it, trust me.

Blogger
Yep, I update my blog at school. Hey, it's not like I'm missing out on anything important, exception being my gf's Tumblr feed. You can follow her here, if you're into Tumblr. She follows funny people and has a great sense of humor.

Webcomics:
Least I Could Do
Wacky antics of psychotic manchild Rayne Summers and his friends. The jokes are funny and art is good, at least since Lar DeSouza started drawing it.

The Gutters
Comic-sized approach to the newest news in comic industry. Often right on the spot. Various artists.

Looking For Group
Fantasy webcomic loosely based on World of Warcraft, or so I hear. Has been progressing slower lately, but the archives are a thrill. "I'm afraid your position as my closest and dearest companion has just been replaced by the fellow who just leap-tackled a dragon."

Ctrl+Art+Del
A nerd webcomic, has been running for years now. Most of the jokes only appeal for nerds, which you probably are, if you got this far on the list. Give it a shot!

And, last but not least, Penny&Aggie and its spin-off, QUILTBAG
A humorous, insightful take on teenagers, high school, college and sexual minorities. If you give them a chance, be sure to check out the forum. It is an oddity; a nice place in the internets. Quite refreshing, actually.

So yeah, quite a lot to do at school. All in all, it's not my fault I can't study. Blame the Internets!

Nice, Kind and Friendly

This one has been brewing for a while. It all started one leisure afternoon when I was chatting with my girlfriend. For some reason or another, I told her she's not a nice person. She'll never let me forget it.
So anyway, I do think nice is a different thing from kind and friendly. Those of you who are already aware of Nice Guy Syndrome will probably find nothing new here. Those of you who aren't, please google it. It's quite enlightening.

Where was I? Oh, being nice. See, there's the thing. The Nice People (tm) are, in fact, not really nice. They are being nice. Acting nice, if you will. They are acting in a certain (nice) way in order to gain some kind of a payoff, usually some kind of influence over the people they are Acting Nice towards.

Don't worry, this will start making sense in a moment.

The next group is the Kind People. Now, how do you tell a Kind Person from a Nice Person? Usually, you don't. The way they behave is (at least publicly) really similar. The difference, however, lies in their motives. Where Nice People seek power over the people around them, Kind People do Kind Stuff because it's a Right Thing To Do.

I'm having way too much fun Capitalizing Things.

And the last group, the Friendly People. They are really similar with the two other groups, but whereas Nice People aim for Payoff, and Kind People try to do Right Thing, Friendly People treat other people in Friendly Way... for no reason they could explain. Maybe that's the way they were brought up, maybe they just are genuinely good people without any specific reason.

There are very few Friendly People, and it's very difficult to become a Friendly Person. The Kind People are a bit less uncommon. It's great to be a Kind Person (or so I hear). If you can be a Kind Person, please do. Nice People, however, are seemingly dime a dozen, if anyone ever wanted to buy them on a bulk discount.

How do you spot a Nice Person, then? Almost everyone has met one, at some point or another. Some giveaways are that when you need something from them, they will make sure you know they are making you a favor. Expect to hear phrases such as "You owe me one", or "You'll pay me back some day." And when they need you to do them a favor, they will remember the favor you did to them, and they will bring it up.

If you are lucky enough not to owe them a favor, you may hear them complain about an acquintance they did a favor, and who didn't do anything for them in return. This is a warning sign.

Mind you, I am not saying you should ditch a friend if they prove to be a Nice Person. Just keep an eye on them, and if they prove to be one, give careful consideration to whether you need a friend like that.

Fat Kid Issues

The WrestleMania-trip is safely behind us. I figured I won't delete this blog, but rather finally start to write down the random ravings that cross my mind every day, in hopes they could amuse my (possible, future) readers as much as they amused me.

This first one is actually not written by me, but a forumite I know as Captain LeBubbles. It does, however, portray me, and apparently many others, quite well. Thank you, Captain.

"What are you laughing at?"

Try to keep your voice calm, add a curious note. Leave out the accusation, don't get their defenses up. Let your voice tell them you just want to share the joke. It's not about you, it's not about you. You're not making it about you, you just want to share the joke.

"Don't worry 'bout it."
"Oh."

Casual disappointment. Put it in your voice, show them that you don't get to hear the joke but it's not the end of the world, you don't care. Don't let them see how you really feel. Stop making it about you. It's not about you. They're not laughing at you.

They are laughing at you. Don't let them fool you, they are. You're just here for their amusement anyway. Why are you so bothered? At least they noticed you. As long as they're laughing at you, you're not invisible. You should be glad.

"Okay then."
*laughter*

Stop laughing at me.
why are they laughing at me?
Because you're just a joke to them.
i didn't ask for this
It doesn't matter.
please just stop
just stop
stop laughing
It doesn't go away. It never goes away. The voice just gets quieter, is all. Easier to ignore. But it's always there, whispering. They all hate you and if they say otherwise they're just humoring you. Laughing at you. Over and over, every day. People make it easier to silence. If someone tells you they love you enough, you'll start to believe it. But it doesn't go away.