oddtail @oddtail@meow.social

So, hey, I'm a translator. And I'm pretty much *always* looking for more work.

I translate to and from Polish.

Not the most in-demand language in the English-speaking world, but if you need a translation done or know someone who does, hit me up.

I'm good at what I do, I have low rates, and I can work pretty damn fast if that's what you need.

I am also pretty versatile, I've translated everything from literature to marketing to technical stuff.

#introductions

Might as well do this.

Hi! I'm a leftist, furry nerd from Poland, 32 y.o.

I'm shy/socially inept, but always vaguely hope to talk/befriend new people, esp. online (so talk to me about whatever). Both online and IRL, I default to treating everyone as a friend unless given a reason not to.

I'm a cis guy (pronouns he/him), but if you're a furry - I'm vastly more comfortable and less prone to anxiety if you assume I'm a woman (she/her) and if we interact as such online.

If/when Brexit goes through and Scotland decides to go it alone, UK will be forced to change its official name to "United Kingdom of Lame Britain and Northern Ireland".

I'm sorry, I don't make the rules.

(or is it the opposite, and pissing off Scotland enough that they leave is a way to Make Britain Great Again?)

(build that wall! Hadrian's, specifically.)

(OK, fine, I'll stop now)

I've pretty broad (if sometimes shallow) interests. I try not to have narrow interests, and I like to learn.

But working on translations, I've learnt bits & pieces about 20th century sculptors and what drove the creation of their art. About railway privatisation in Britain & what a shitshow it was. I now have some knowledge about composite materials designed to withstand extreme temperatures. Recently, I've translated a few books about stage magic.

None of that I'd likely study on my own.

The cool thing about a translator's job is that you get to learn about things that you wouldn't normally have any interest in. Things that not only you wouldn't think to pick up, but things you'd actively reject given the opportunity.

Anyone can pick up a new book or even read a Wikipedia article to learn something new, outside their usual ballpark. But translating stuff has this neat effect of kinda "forcing" you into curiosity. And it can be pretty neat.

Here's something I found in a book I'm currently translating:

"The one lie people will always believe is 'you're right'."

The line is in a book about stage and close-up magic, but it's a surprisingly insightful and universal observation.

Random controversial (?) opinion:

People get hung up on the Extremely Sixties music video and the sheer novelty of the "Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" song by Leonard Nimoy and make fun of it, but taken on its own merits, the song is pretty much a perfect adaptation/retelling of the book. The events, the tone, Nimoy's vocal - it's flawless. It's not "LOL so random", it's exactly as silly as an adaptation of the children's book needs to be.

I love martial arts, I trained for about a decade total (although in the past year and a half or so, I've been on an extended break).

Sometimes I want to pick up a new art, or at least try something new for a change.

The problem? Martial arts are super cool, but I do not necessarily want to have much to do with the kind of people that train the particular arts that potentially interest me.

Which is kind of a problem, seeing as martial arts aren't exactly solo activities.

My point is, the right and the far right do nothing to help the poor, demonstrably so.

But they are not the main reason why the left is in decline in much of the Western world, I don't think so.

I think the reason is largely on the centre-left to centre-right, who are tolerable policy-wise, but absolutely abhorrent narrative-wise. Centrist parties are not evil. But they participate in a discourse that prop up the right far more than the left. To the centrists' own detriment.

And poverty's in no way shameful, but it is nearly universally framed as such, often even by those concerned about the poor.

Nobody in the centre of the political spectrum - politician OR voter - is willing to admit povery exists, is a systemic problem and needs a solution.

Everyone always pretends they are lower middle class. Because they don't want to be condescended to or shamed.

I mean, I have no proof for this, but have you SEEN how mainstream media talk about poor ppl?

I am starting to think poor people voting for right-wing parties in many countries is not as much about them not being educated as is sometimes claimed (although that is undeniably *a* factor).

I'm starting to think this is an echo of ridicule and condescending attitudes towards poverty not just from the right, but also the political centre.

Poor people are ashamed to support politicians who propose policies that help themselves, because that entails admitting they are poor.

Specifically, I am obsessed with the fact that I don't (anymore) enjoy A Song of Ice and Fire books, and that dislike translated to me only watching the first season of GoT.

I can actually pinpoint what I dislike about the books/show, but I wish those reasons were NOT there. I know "not everyone has to like the same things" etc. etc. But for this one, I really, really want to like it and, for not particular reason, am unhappy that I don't.

It's a stupid feeling, but kinda inescapable for me.

Ever look at a piece of entertainment and be like "Everyone seems to be enjoying this. They're so excited about it and find so many ways it's cool to them. I want to enjoy that too. But I don't. But so many awesome people I know think it's cool. Why can't I enjoy this? What am I missing?"

...just me? Alright then.

And on some level, it's not even just about my game. There are more skilled and talented people out there, who definitely deserve to have their projects seen. And judging by how it works, most never will. It's kind of a bummer.

None of this means I'll stop making my game. I'm stubborn. And my low estimate was *always* a grand total of zero copies sold ;). I'm not being coy, I understand the first game a person ever makes will NOT be a success.

...but still. Y'know?

In my free time, I work on a video game. I've no experience making game,s but I have an idea and a hope to finish the project one day.

It's for fun, but I did consider selling it.

Today, I made the mistake of looking up how well itch.io (which seemed like a good place to start) games tend to do.

I know I shouldn't think about selling something that isn't nowhere near ready. And it's not like I planned to make any big money from the game.

But, irrational as it is, I'm kinda bummed out now.

Here's a good thing that my favourite political cartoonist drew:

https://thenib.com/strike-out?t=recent&fbclid=IwAR2pVeQVb6MEpAHx8532wpzEetzQ044RSFJU2MfKkDgkEkuXLe48EsWRR3A

@claude I base my arguments on my experience and knowledge, and I'm happy to be proven wrong. My experience is that it'd be extremely difficult to lose Internet access. Maybe it's my privilege as a person living in a city speaking. But I know people from smaller towns who've had issues with Internet access,and those issues could be fixed or circumvented, too.

@claude I disagree with you, and you're being increasingly hostile. I am not trolling you, I am not insulting you, and I frankly don't understand why you seem angry. Did I say something that was improper or rude? You're free to disagree with my point of view, but right now I feel like you're very upset by what I said, and I'm not entirely sure why.

As a result, I envy any person who can just drink a coffee (or a strong tea, whatever) every time they feel tired and need a boost. I can do such a thing maybe once per day. Any more and I'll be useless.

Which means that if I'm drowsy and I've had my can of Coke or two that day, tough shit, I'm gonna be drowsy if I want to preserve a semblance of good physical well-being.

To give you an idea what I mean. I tend to avoid drinking more than the equivalent of one strong coffee in a day. Every time I've ever drank more caffeine than ~3 reasonably strong coffees contain, the results were not pretty.

I know the body develops resistance to caffeine SUPER-fast, but ppl who drink like 5 or 10 coffees/day and SURVIVE seem like superheroes for me. If I drank four regular coffees in a single day, I'd do nothing for the rest of the day, and not sleep the next night (or 2).

One of the shittiest things about my body is that it's extremely susceptible to caffeine. On the one hand, I can drink a Coke or whatever to easily wake up. On the other hand, when I'm working and overdo caffeine even a little, I get at an energy level where every individual atom in my body vibrates at high enough speeds to open portals to other dimensions.

Caffeine, if I don't watch it, makes me irritable, unfocused and uncomfortably energetic. And therefore relatively unproductive. Lame.

So, hey, I'm a translator. And I'm pretty much *always* looking for more work.

I translate to and from Polish.

Not the most in-demand language in the English-speaking world, but if you need a translation done or know someone who does, hit me up.

I'm good at what I do, I have low rates, and I can work pretty damn fast if that's what you need.

I am also pretty versatile, I've translated everything from literature to marketing to technical stuff.