some people were asking for a actual and i can never pass up an opportunity to procrastinate so here’s just a couple of things i always need to remind myself of…now back to my paper :(
This is the ADHD turn-around glow-up we needed this year.
I did a Bachelors degree by having all my study up, plus at least one game. Twenty minutes of study meant twenty minutes of game. Because starting at a screen for 2 hours is useless. I found it so much easier that way.
I also found it helpful to just read everything, all the info for the assignment /essay about a week before it was due. Then after a couple days percolating in my brain I had enough ideas to actually write the damn thing.
Most were still finished a few minutes before handing it in. xD
A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the river. “Do I look like a fool?” said the frog. “You’d sting me if I let you on my back!”
“Be logical,” said the scorpion. “If I stung you I’d certainly drown myself.”
“That’s true,” the frog acknowledged. “Climb aboard, then!” But no sooner than they were halfway across the river, the scorpion stung the frog, and they both began to thrash and drown. “Why on earth did you do that?” the frog said morosely. “Now we’re both going to die.”
“I can’t help it,” said the scorpion. “It’s my nature.”
___
…But no sooner than they were halfway across the river, the frog felt a subtle motion on its back, and in a panic dived deep beneath the rushing waters, leaving the scorpion to drown.
“It was going to sting me anyway,” muttered the frog, emerging on the other side of the river. “It was inevitable. You all knew it. Everyone knows what those scorpions are like. It was self-defense.”
___
…But no sooner had they cast off from the bank, the frog felt
the tip of a stinger pressed lightly against the back of its neck. “What do you think you’re doing?” said the frog.
“Just a precaution,” said the scorpion. “I cannot sting you without drowning. And now, you cannot drown me without being stung. Fair’s fair, isn’t it?”
They swam in silence to the other end of the river, where the scorpion climbed off, leaving the frog fuming.
“After the kindness I showed you!” said the frog. “And you threatened to kill me in return?”
“Kindness?” said the scorpion. “To only invite me on your back after you knew I was defenseless, unable to use my tail without killing myself? My dear frog, I only treated you as I was treated. Your kindness was as poisoned as a scorpion’s sting.”
___
…“Just a precaution,” said the scorpion. “I cannot sting you without
drowning. And now, you cannot drown me without being stung. Fair’s fair,
isn’t it?”
“You have a point,” the frog acknowledged.
“But once we get to dry land, couldn’t you sting me then without
repercussion?”
“All I want is to cross the river safely,” said the scorpion. “Once I’m on the other side I would gladly let you be.”
“But I would have to trust you on that,” said the frog. “While you’re pressing a stinger to my neck. By ferrying you to land I’d be be giving up the one deterrent I hold over you.”
“But by the same logic, I can’t possibly withdraw my stinger while we’re still over water,” the scorpion protested.
The frog paused in the middle of the river, treading water. “So, I suppose we’re at an impasse.”
The river rushed around them. The scorpion’s stinger twitched against the frog’s unbroken skin. “I suppose so,” the scorpion said.
___
A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the
river. “Absolutely not!” said the frog, and dived beneath the waters, and so none of them learned anything.
___
A scorpion, being unable to swim, asked a turtle (as in the original Persian version of the fable) to carry it across the river. The turtle readily agreed, and allowed the scorpion aboard its shell. Halfway across, the scorpion gave in to its nature and stung, but failed to penetrate the turtle’s thick shell. The turtle, swimming placidly, failed to notice.
They reached the other side of the river, and parted ways as friends.
___
…Halfway across, the scorpion gave in to its nature and stung,
but failed to penetrate the turtle’s thick shell.
The turtle, hearing the tap of the scorpion’s sting, was offended at the scorpion’s ungratefulness. Thankfully, having been granted the powers to both defend itself and to punish evil, the turtle sank beneath the waters and drowned the scorpion out of principle.
___
A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it
across the river. “Do I look like a fool?” sneered the frog. “You’d
sting me if I let you on my back.”
The scorpion pleaded
earnestly. “Do you think so little of me? Please, I must cross the
river. What would I gain from stinging you? I would only end up drowning
myself!”
“That’s true,” the frog acknowledged. “Even a
scorpion knows to look out for its own skin. Climb aboard, then!”
But as
they forged through the rushing waters, the scorpion grew worried. This frog thinks me a ruthless killer, it thought. Would it not be justified in throwing me off now and ridding the world of me? Why else would it agree to this?
Every jostle made the scorpion more and more anxious, until the frog surged forward with a particularly large splash, and in panic the
scorpion lashed out with its stinger.
“I knew it,” snarled the frog, as they both thrashed and drowned. “A scorpion cannot change its nature.”
___
A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the river.
The frog agreed, but no sooner than they were halfway across the scorpion stung the frog, and they both began to thrash and drown.
“I’ve only myself to blame,” sighed the frog, as they both sank beneath the
waters. “You, you’re a scorpion, I couldn’t have expected anything better. But I knew better, and yet I went against my judgement! And now I’ve doomed us both!”
“You couldn’t help it,” said the scorpion mildly. “It’s your nature.”
___
…“Why on earth did you do that?” the frog said morosely. “Now we’re both going to die.”
“Alas, I was of two natures,” said the scorpion. “One said to gratefully ride your back across the river, and the other said to sting you where you stood. And so both fought, and neither won.” It smiled wistfully. “Ah, it would be nice to be just one thing, wouldn’t it? Unadulterated in nature.
Without the capacity for conflict or regret.”
___
“By the way,” said the frog, as they swam, “I’ve been meaning to ask: What’s on the other side of the river?”
“It’s the journey,” said the scorpion. “Not the destination.”
___
…“What’s on the other side of anything?” said the scorpion. “A new beginning.”
___
…”Another scorpion to mate with,” said the scorpion. “And more prey to kill, and more living bodies to poison, and a forthcoming lineage of cruelties that you will be culpable in.”
___
…”Nothing we will live to see, I fear,” said the scorpion. “Already the currents are growing stronger, and the river seems like it shall swallow us both. We surge forward, and the shoreline recedes. But does that mean our striving was in vain?”
___
“I love you,” said the scorpion.
The frog glanced upward. “Do you?”
“Absolutely.
Can you imagine the fear of drowning? Of course not. You’re a frog. Might as well be scared of
breathing air.
And yet here I am, clinging to your back, as the waters rage around us. Isn’t that love? Isn’t that trust? Isn’t that necessity? I could not kill you without killing myself. Are we not inseparable in this?”
The frog swam on, the both of them silent.
___
“I’m so tired,” murmured the frog eventually. “How much further to the other side? I don’t know how long we’ve been swimming. I’ve been treading water. And it’s getting so very dark.”
“Shh,” the scorpion said. “Don’t be afraid.”
The frog’s legs kicked out weakly. “How long has it been? We’re lost. We’re lost! We’re doomed to be cast about the waters forever. There is no land. There’s nothing on the other side, don’t you see!”
“Shh, shh,” said the scorpion. “My venom is a hallucinogenic. Beneath its surface, the river is endlessly deep, its currents carrying many things.”
“You - You’ve killed us both,” said the frog, and began to laugh deliriously. “Is this - is this what it’s like to drown?”
“We’ve killed each other,” said the scorpion soothingly. “My venom in my glands now pulsing through your veins, the waters of your birthing pool suffusing my lungs. We are engulfing each other now, drowning in each other. I am breathless. Do you feel it? Do you feel my sting pierced through your heart?”
“What a foolish thing to do,” murmured the frog. “No logic. No logic to it at all.”
“We couldn’t help it,” whispered the scorpion. “It’s our natures. Why else does anything in the world happen? Because we were made for this from birth, darling, every moment inexplicable and inevitable. What a crazy thing it is to fall in love, and yet - It’s all our fault! We are both blameless. We’re together now, darling. It couldn’t have happened any other way.”
___
“It’s funny,” said the frog. “I can’t say that I trust you, really. Or that I even think very much of you and that nasty little stinger of yours to begin with. But I’m doing this for you regardless. It’s strange, isn’t it? It’s strange. Why would I do this? I want to help you, want to go out of my way to help you. I let you climb right onto my back! Now, whyever would I go and do a foolish thing like that?”
___
A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across
the river. “Do I look like a fool?” said the frog. “You’d sting me if I
let you on my back!”
“Be logical,” said the scorpion. “If I stung you I’d certainly drown myself.”
“That’s
true,” the frog acknowledged. “Come aboard, then!” But no sooner had
the scorpion mounted the frog’s back than it began to sting, repeatedly,
while still safely on the river’s bank.
The frog groaned, thrashing weakly as the venom coursed through its veins, beginning to liquefy its flesh. “Ah,” it muttered. “For some reason I never considered this possibility.”
“Because you were never scared of me,” the scorpion whispered in its ear. “You were never scared of dying. In a past life you wore a shell and sat in judgement. And then you were reborn: soft-skinned, swift, unburdened, as new and vulnerable as a child, moving anew through a world of children. How could anyone ever be cruel, you thought, seeing the precariousness of it all?” The scorpion bowed its head and drank. “How could anyone kill you without killing themselves?”
Psychology textbook diagrams never cease to amaze me
ok y'all this isn’t a psych textbook gaslighting you into thinking it’s normal and ok for your boss to yell at you, it’s specifically about understanding that other people’s treatment of you is usually more about them than you.
If your boss is pissy with you, it’s absolutely more healthy to understand that behavior as a reflection of his mental state rather than of your worth as an employee.
It’s not a psych textbook’s job to advise you how to improve your workplace or say what is/isn’t acceptable treatment by a boss. It’s an example of detaching your own self-worth from how other people treat you.
^^THIS!
In fact, if you let yourself think of other people’s treatment as a reflection on YOU more than it is on THEM, it can prevent you from getting things done.
It started when Peter moved next door. It started unexpectedly and immediately. The boy’s – young man’s, Tony corrected inside nor wanting to be the kind of old man to whom everyone is a child… Well, in any case, his dog doted on Tony.
It was quite evident the very first time they met. Tony was tinkering in his garage and left the door open as was his habit. The only warning, he got was the clutter of the watering-can knocked over by the dog’s wriggling tail and the loud hissing coming from above him where his cat rested on a shelf.
The next thing Tony knew was a huge, fluffy dog rubbing its head against his hand.
“He-ey,” he greeted with a chuckle, crouching down to pet it. “Where did you come from?”
“I’m so sorry,” came the voice of a young man. “I don’t know what got into him, he’s normally very well beha-,” he broke off when Tony looked up at him. “Well behaved, I mean,” he added, flustered and blushing.
Tony smirked and rose up. “No harm done.” He held out his hand and offered, “Tony Stark.”
“Peter Parker. I uh, I just moved in next door. But I promise that Bear won’t be a problem.”
“Sure, he won’t, because he’s lovely, aren’t you? Aren’t you?” Tony cooed, crouching down again to stroke behind the eager dog’s ears.
Tony wasn’t much of a dog person, but Bear, as the boy called him, was undeniably adorable – though nearly not as much as his owner. Peter seemed relieved by Tony’s reaction, but the blush didn’t leave his face. He looked everywhere but at Tony and his cheeks flushed red again when the man flashed a smile at him when saying goodbye.
“What do you say about that?” Tony asked Rogers, his grumpy old ginger cat after the unexpected visitors left. By then, the cat has settled back down after the initial fright the dog gave him. He barely deigned to open one eye.
“Not impressed? You’re too picky,” he remarked, then turned his attention back to the project he was working on.
He didn’t expect to meet Peter again so soon, but the next morning the same scene repeated, except that this time Bear was on his back, ready for a belly rub before Peter could have caught up with him.
“I’m so-” Peter begun, but Tony cut in.
“Don’t worry about it. My fault, really. I always leave the garage door open. Bad habit.”
“Come on, Mr. Stark, you shouldn’t change your habits on account of us,” Peter hurried to say and Tony couldn’t fight his smirk when the boy blushed again. He decided to add fuel to the fire.
“Call me Tony,” he offered. He had to look away to hide his grin as Peter’s face turned crimson at that. He started fidgeting in an endearingly embarrassed manner all the while Tony played with his dog.
When they left, Tony turned to Rogers. “Hope you don’t mind putting up with him, old sport, because I have way too much fun making that kid blush.”
Things went much the same for the next few weeks, until one evening Tony heard scratching at his door as he was sitting down to eat his dinner. When he went to look who it was, he found a very embarrassed Peter and an equally eager Bear on his front porch.
“Sorry, Tony, he wouldn’t come home without seeing you again. I really don’t know what’s up with him…”
Tony laughed at that, already patting Bear’s head.
“Nevermind, Peter. How was your day?”
The question seemed to be too much, however, as Peter could only managed to stammer good, thanks before looking away.
“We’ll be on our way, no, Bear come, I said come,” he said firmly after a few minutes. “I’ll take him back to training, I swear,” Peter promised. Tony only chuckled as he watched them walk away.
After that, Tony often heard scratching at his door, and Bear’s whining when Peter put his foot down and forced him to go home without meeting Tony for a second or third time in a day. He meant to tell Peter that he doesn’t mind but had no idea how to convince his neighbour about it.
The next step in the weird neighbourly relationship was exchanging numbers. It happened at the end of a rainy day. The weather was so unfriendly that even Bear preferred to go straight home after their evening walk than to stop by Tony’s place. Tony waited by his bedroom window until he saw the lights turn up at Peter’s place, then, he put on his raincoat and went ringing at his neighbour’s door.
“Tony!” Peter exclaimed in surprise. “Come on in,” he invited, stepping aside.
“Nah, kid I don’t want to intrude. Just wanted to ask if you happened to come across my pair of Wellingtons by any chance.”
The confusion on Peter’s face suggested that he hadn’t, but Tony’s suspicions were confirmed when, instead of running to Tony, Bear kept sitting at the other side of the hall, looking almost guilty.
“No, I haven’t, why would you think…?” Peter started, then followed Tony’s gaze. “Oh… Oh!” he uttered with dawning realisation. “Bear? What have you done? Let me just look for them in the garden. Please, do come in, Tony.”
This time, Tony accepted the invitation and waited patiently in Peter’s hall as the boy ran out the back way. Bear stayed indoors, his eyes glued to Tony, looking definitely guilty.
“Found them,” Peter shouted as he re-entered the house. The ends of his curls were dripping water and Tony felt a sudden urge to push them out of his forehead. He resisted, though and took the pair of boots from Peter. “I’m afraid the water got into them,” Peter said, hanging his head.
Tony chuckled at that, shaking one boot and listening to what probably was half a litre of rainwater. Peter burst out in laughter at that and Tony beamed at him.
“Fine, I’ve got another old sneaker to ruin tomorrow while it dries out,” he said jokingly, but he could tell that Peter took him way too seriously.
“I can buy you another one tomorrow,” he offered and Tony couldn’t resist touching him on the shoulder as he reassured him that it was completely unnecessary.
“You could give me your number though, so that I don’t have to spy on you to know when you arrive home, should Bear fancy taking any of my stuff again.”
Predictably, Peter blushed, but quickly gave Tony his number. The man considered his bright, chocolate brown eyes and cherry lips before naming the contact Cutie Next Door.
As if Bear had sensed that Tony was looking for an excuse to talk to Peter, he stole a few other things over the past couple of weeks. At first it meant phone calls in the evening with an embarrassed Peter at the other end. Then, the boy started texting Tony during the day, worried about Bear’s latest shenanigans.
Tony enjoyed talking to Peter so much, that when winter came around and he locked up most of his outdoors equipment, meaning that Bear couldn’t steal any more of them, Tony severely missed their daily texting. Of course, they still met every morning, because Bear couldn’t start his day without a belly rub from Tony, and also because Tony took to brewing Peter’s morning coffee himself. At first, Peter protested, but he came around rather soon. The man could only hope that it was more due to Peter enjoying their conversations than Bear’s dogged habit of invading Tony’s workshop every morning.
Peter Parker was everything Tony – well, he didn’t exactly dream anymore, being quite the confirmed bachelor for decades now, but still. Peter was bright and behind his shyness he was one of the friendliest people Tony knew. Apart from managing its mysterious attraction to Tony and his things, Peter was great with his dog, too, and after a couple of months even Rogers let him pet him once.
Most importantly, however, Peter didn’t seem to find Tony weird or annoying. He knew about Tony’s enthusiasm bordering on obsession about technology and shared a genuine interest with him. Even though he fussed a bit when Tony admitted to working all night, he understood and it meant more to Tony than the kindest expression of his concerns.
So, when they were back to one short conversation a day, Tony suddenly felt empty. He thought hours on end about texting Peter, just asking him about his day, but he always found a reason not to do it. The strongest argument the more rational part of his mind came up was the fact that Peter didn’t text him once since his dog stopped invading Tony’s property. It even managed to silence the uncertain voice inside him that pointed out how shy Peter was.
No, Tony resigned to wither await alone during the holiday season and could only hope that spring would not only bring back the mild weather, but also Bear’s predilection for stealing his stuff. Until then, Tony would have to survive on ten minutes of daily conversation with Peter.
Not even the sight of Peter’s ridiculous knitted hat managed to cheer him up. Not when all he could think about was how Peter’s cold, soft skin would taste if he was to kiss his jaw. Thoughts like this invaded his mind more and more often and fighting them back became ever so harder as Peter grew more confident about holding Tony’s gaze and occasionally even touching him.
Every morning when Peter left, Tony stood for a few minutes with the boy’s empty mug in his hand and stared at the spot where he stood. He tried to imagine what would happen if he stayed – but to be honest, he didn’t need his fantasy for that. Tony already knew from months of texting that he could talk to the boy all day long. When he got to this point, he sighed, shook his head and turned to put the mug into the sink. He stroked Rogers’s head, then set to work with a dispirited air.
It was when Rogers began acting uncharacteristically kind towards him that Tony realised how badly he must have been pining.
“Don’t worry, old boy, I’ll live,” he sighed and scratched behind the cat’s ear as he purred in his lap.
Tony stared at the Christmas tree in the corner, then around the empty living room. There would be just enough space for Peter to curl up next to him on the couch and for Bear to rest in front of the fireplace. Christmas dinner would taste better shared by Peter, even if it was only Tony’s usual cheeseburger menu. Boxing Day could start so much merrier if he got to unwrap Peter from his undoubtedly ridiculous pyjamas.
Tony groaned, wondering how could he possibly get to a point in his life where he’s a lonely cat owner pining after his twenty year old neighbour while drinking unflavoured tea at ten o’clock a day before Christmas Eve. When he couldn’t come up with any reasonable explanation, he put Rogers down from his lap and went upstairs to bed.
The next morning, he woke late. He cursed under his breath for fear of missing Peter and Bear’s morning walk. Tony didn’t expect a happy holiday, but not seeing Peter would make it downright miserable. He checked the time as he dressed and saw that he still had two minutes.
He ran down to his workshop and opened the door. In winter, they usually knocked, but now Tony wanted to check the street to see if they had perhaps already left. When he saw, that they didn’t, Tony closed the door and proceeded to make coffee.
It was only as he poured himself a cupful that Tony noticed something was wrong. He cursed under his breath. How did he not realise before?
“Rogers? Rogers!” he called as he ran back to the kitchen. He searched frantically all through the house but couldn’t find him. By the time he checked all of the cat’s most impossible hiding places for a second time, Tony got truly worried. He went back to the garage, convinced that Peter must have arrived by then. He had half a mind to ask Peter to help looking for Rogers when he saw that the garage was just as he left it: empty.
Tony looked around him, lost and upset. He tried hard to think straight, but he was too distressed to come up with a useful idea. He jumped when his phone started buzzing on the counter. He ran to pick up and was relieved to see it was Peter calling. At least he was all right.
“Tony?” came the boy’s voice. It sounded as if he was fighting a giggle.
“’m here,” Tony mumbled. It was hard to get out words.
“The thing is… I don’t know how it happened, but… You should come over.”
“What’s wrong, Peter?” Tony asked, his chest tight.
“Nothing, it’s just that I have an unexpected guest. Come on. There’s a key under the doormat.”
“Is it…” Fuck, it would sound stupid, but Tony had to ask. “Have you perhaps seen Rogers?”
Peter let out a cheerful laugh at that. “Come and see,” he teased and hung up.
Tony didn’t bother with putting on a coat, he just ran as he was to Peter’s house. The key was where the boy said it would be. Bear greeted him in the hall with what looked a positively mournful expression. It didn’t help with Tony’s confusion at all.
“Where are they?” he asked and followed as the dog reluctantly started up the stairs. Bear didn’t enter Peter’s room but barked lightly to indicate Tony where he should go.
The sight that greeted him made Tony want to cry with relief and laugh out at the same time. There Rogers was, curled up on Peter’s chest, purring loudly and staring up at his owner with his smuggest expression.
“I don’t know how he got in,” Peter explained, blushing but smiling widely as Tony stepped closer.
“You son of a bitch,” Tony swore eyeing the cat. It blinked slowly, then turned haughtily towards Peter as if saying “Don’t bother pretending this is isn’t what you wanted”. And Tony couldn’t have pretended, even if he tried. Seeing Peter with his tousled hair and sleepy eyes, looking teasingly up at him was the best Christmas present he could have asked for.
“You could have just brought him over,” Tony remarked searching Peter’s expression.
The boy blushed but held his gaze. “I thought you might want to see,” he admitted, worrying his lip.
Tony stepped closer at that, but he still didn’t dare sit down or touch Peter. “Yes? And why is that, Peter?” he asked hovering over the bed.
“I thought you’d be happy, Tony,” Peter answered simply, then added, “and I think Rogers did, too.”
“Dirty old bugger knows me better than I’d like to think,” Tony huffed, sitting carefully down at the edge of Peter’s bed. He reached to pet the cat, but he jumped off the bed at the same moment. For a second Tony sat there, hand outstretched, not daring to move, nor to look at Peter, until he felt the boys soft touch as he threaded their fingers together.
Peter sat up and when Tony finally lifted his gaze, he saw the happiest of shy smiles on Peter’s face. He mirrored the boy’s expression, his heart overflowing with warmth as they leaned in to meet in a kiss.
When their lips touched, Bear barked cheerfully from the doorstep and they both laughed before moving closer to each other and deepening their kiss.
Wow. The company that has had parks open for over 60 years on four different countries has had more recorded accidents than the company with three parks that have been open since the 90s.
amusement part discourse
id like to state for the record i didnt remember hop (2011) at all before this post
this post has everything… parade ratings… disagreements about day trip nourishment… flawed statistical analysis… hop (2011)…
