Superstitions

~ Veselin ~ 8 Comments
Daily writing prompt
Are you superstitious?
View all responses

I grew up in communist Bulgaria. When I was ten, the Wall fell, and the floodgates of civilization opened—bringing a tsunami of dubious beliefs with them. We got the best of it: horoscopes, psychics, poltergeists, fortune tellers, obscure religions, Eastern spirituality, hippies, numerology, the Knights Templar, UFOs, Kashpirovski—you name it, we got it blasting on us from the TV screen and the newspaper stands. Even the army believed and started digging a hole, guided by a psychic, who promised they’ll find an alien aircraft.

I was no stranger to all that stuff. I read books on horoscopes and checked mine daily. I hoped aliens and poltergeists were real. But one by one, those beliefs faded away. The aliens never landed and I could read anyone’s horoscope and it would feel as accurate as mine. Today, I see these all as thinking errors, used by clever people to farm wealth.

Am I 100% free of superstition? Maybe not but pretty close. Show me proof that any of this works, and I’ll gladly change my mind.

Fluff

~ Veselin ~ 1 Comment
Daily writing prompt
Which animal would you compare yourself to and why?
View all responses

Probably not a cat but I mostly take photos of cats and birds, and our very persistent Jay rarely visits these days.

Let’s say, the above photo represents me when it’s 10pm and is my reading time.

The News Nobody Talks About

~ Veselin ~ 11 Comments

Okay, this is my personal news—it’s all incredibly important, so bear with me.

The spring is here

Winter kept coming and coming and here we are.

My beloved headphones Quantum 400 unglued

They can be glued back but the consumerist in me wants a new pair of some other headphones with a cable. Here’s a full update. In case you use some very good wired headphones under $200, please drop a comment.

Walking shoes++

I wrote an enthusiastic post about Nike Wildhorse 8 in September 2024. Since then, I switched to a pair of very comfortable Grisport boots, and now to a pair of simple and cheap Adidas sneakers. The second pair of Wildhorse 8 lasted about 3 months of intense walking before it started disintegrating and causing pain at the same time. That was disappointing and I’m done with Nike Trail.

The pigeon mystery is now solved

Two weeks ago I posted about a pigeon gathering I see almost daily. Here’s a solution to why these pigeons stay where they stay.

The pigeon paradise is because of a food and water source, and they’re also protected from cat attacks because of all the cars around.

I unfollowed the Starship development

I consider myself a rocket and space travel nerd and I watched most of the Starship flights live. I don’t want to see more of this Musk dude, I want less. His flying Pepelats is cool in principle but we kind of need healthy competition and some reality checks.

Find the cat

~ Veselin ~ 7 Comments

I did an evening walk today, trying to catch up after several days under the goal of 10k steps/day. I visited Iztok, a popular and calm neighborhood with good sidewalks. Took exactly one photo, and it has a cat.

I find it difficult to meet my 10k steps goal this year.

What snow?

~ Veselin ~ 7 Comments

It’s hard to believe that just days ago we had temperatures of around -10°C.

A whole different question is why I find more life in the bushes outside of the park than within the park where the plants are taken care of. The first photo is within the park, the second is outside.

The little blue flower is Veronica