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  • German Lion Tamer

    German Lion Tamer

    Come up with a crazy business idea.

    There is a feature on Duolingo that allows you to listen to a story and answer questions. In the story titled “I Want To Be Like You,” Junior, Eddy’s son, thinks Eddy is a lion tamer. Eddy is an average father, and he is out of his element.

    Junior comes home from school one day talking about the job fair they had at school that day. Well in my world this plays out in German because that is what I am studying in Duolingo. When you are learning a language, you do not always trust your instincts and you wanna make sure you are hearing the story right, but this is how this story plays out.

    Junior comes home from school, and his father Eddy starts asking what he would like to be when he enters the work world. His father assumed he would be a soccer player or another noble profession. Junior tells Eddie that he would like to become a lion tamer. Not only a lion tamer, but he would like to become a world, famous lion tamer.

     

    His father appears non-plussed and naturally his father starts asking about the profession of being a lion tamer, and how he came upon wanting to become a lion tamer.

     

    Gefährlich – in the Story, the German word for dangerous is introduced. Most people agree lion taming is a dangerous profession. Junior insists it is not dangerous, and he reiterates that he is gonna be the world ‘s best. He does not mention that healthcare in Germany is cheap. And then he tells his father where he got the inspiration, he said he just wanted to be like his dad.

    Eddy blushes and then is confused for a second and asked how this is being like his dad. Junior tells his dad that he found a whip and a cape in his closet. A bird flies overhead, and a bee hovers around his nose.

    There was then, an awkward silence taking up a lion share of the dialogue between them.

     

    That is your family friendly Duolingo. Yes, beside the obvious gamification the app only teaches German to an A2 level. It would be nice if DuoLingo went to a higher level in German. It is more likely they develop an app in a more useful skill. Might I suggest Lion Tamer or Master Gardener.

  • Rule Of Thumb

    Rule Of Thumb

    Describe an item you were incredibly attached to as a youth. What became of it?

    I was a thumb sucker. It was a habit of mine well into my fours.

    I don’t remember the exact mechanics but I remember enjoying a damp pillow case during the ritual.

    There must have been shame around this from my parents or my brother as there came a point where I needed to quit in my own mind.

    I remember it stressing me out. I don’t remember how I quit but I did.

    Full Circle

    Our kids had better coping mechanisms. My daughter had an elephant named Puffy, my son, a blanket named Lolly, the middle daughter, a bear. I believe the Bear’s name was Alex.

    Another Concentric Circle

    I watch my grandson who now sucks his thumb. Unsolicited advice it’s a pet peeve of mine. I trust the daughter with the bear and how she will navigate this.

    I also trust the daughter who had a puffy elephant to navigate those issues with her daughter. She sucks her thumb occasionally.

    Puffy elephant has moved to Germany
  • Admission of a lack of a Mission

    Admission of a lack of a Mission

    What is your mission?

    Mission I will define here as a strongly felt aim, ambition, or calling. I keep stumbling over the word calling.

    The calling has to come from within. The world is an unfair place and my mission is to make it a little fair and defend those with less resources than myself.

    I may get criticized for this but I see that mission in the eyes of humans and animals. I will harm neither.

    Come Clean

    The world could be a cruel place. People lean on religion as a crutch with little definitive action helping humanity.

    And I’m guilty of this as well. What’s happening in the United States is not that much different than Nazi Germany. And I have no fucking idea what to do.

    I lack a mission.

  • Sofa King Peaceful

    Sofa King Peaceful

    On many an evening
    we sit reading 
    me on the couch
    a cat or two and
    Luna our dog on
    my lap.

    My wife sits content doing crosswords or 
    lost in a book in
    a chair much different 
    than mine

    She is sleeping
    now and now
    I
    sit in her chair
    reading 
    because I rarely 
    venture here
    and it is a
    unfiltered completely 
    different view of
    this room where
    we both sit.

    I get it