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.

And all that happens not because anyone in particular is particularly homophobic or biphobic around me. Most ppl I know are p. chill.

I don't think I even know any people who are biphobic specifically in any way, shape or form.

But biphobia in culture in general still gets in my head, gets under my skin.

Worse, I feel like any mental turmoil I have is such a "first world problem". I know rationally I'm *allowed* to feel bad & process things my own way, but it's hard to believe that.

Real talk - I'm comfortable most of the time with the fact that I'm bi... and then I sometimes get impulses to "prove" to myself that I'm not straight. I get worried that I'm not bi "enough", or bi "correctly".

My identity doesn't hurt anyone and in the grand scheme of things, doesn't really matter that much. But I still struggle to be completely at peace.

I mean, I first came out when I was like 17, I think? And in my twenties, I actually went back to the closet for a like a decade.

Today I'm annoyed, for no particular reason, by the fact that bi erasure exists. Not just in media/popular culture, not just among straight ppl. Even LGBT ppl sometimes pretend like bi ppl are not a thing.

I know I'm in a position of priviledge, being primarily attracted to another gender, but even so. Bi erasure's still caused me a lot of headaches and self-doubt and I still think it's just not cool at all.

Plus, there are people who've been hurt by bi erasure MUCH worse than myself.

Speaking of Pride - in case anyone missed it, Costa Rica recently (26th May) legalised same-sex marriage.

It's not huge news for most people in other countries, I guess, but still - more equality for a country of about five million people. Always a reason to celebrate.

Happy Pride Month.

I know - the world ain't what we want it to be.

I know it's tough and scary right now. It's dangerous for anyone currently attending protests in the US & solidarity protests elsewhere. My heart is breaking for you (and I *know* a lot of LGBT folks are protesting out there, b/c we know a thing or two about solidarity, not just for LGBT issues).

But it's not permanent. Things will get better. We'll force things to get better, and y'all out there are strong AF.

Back from my self-imposed Internet exile.

I feel better, I have more energy and more importantly, time to do things. I'll be back to using *some* social media, but cutting back drastically on most. I can't begin to tell you how much of a difference cutting down heavily on the horrible trio (Reddit, FB and Twitter) is. I intend to keep it up, even as I gradually return to using them a *little* (because they can be useful and fun).

(2/2)

I need a recharge and a reset (again). I'm giving up on Reddit, Birdite, Facebook, as well as Mastodon and various forums for at least a week. Things like Mastodon are not as mentally taxing, but I fear if I go to one social media-y place, I'll end up going to others. And I need to focus on "me time" right now.

See you later, I guess =)

(1/2)

I went to bed yesterday in a good mood, full of energy and excitement before the weekend.

It took like five minutes on Birdsite to completely erase that in the morning.

I spent much of today (most of it already) on Birdsite and Reddit, and I'm mentally and emotionally exhausted. And that despite people reacting almost entirely positively to what I wrote (I even got my first-ever Reddit award for a comment!). I'm anxious and tired and it sucks.

But seriously, I have so many emotions over the last season. ALL THE EMOTIONS.

It was amazing. I can't properly convey it in several hundred characters, and I doubt I'd be able to convey it in a twenty-page essay. The season was moving, satisfying and sometimes just plain awesome.

Watched the last season of She-Ra.

It's pretty amazing. I like the way it wrapped its plots, with minor reservations. It all feels very rapid-pace, and I prefer TV shows going a bit more in-depth and slowly, but it was still done well.

But even if plot-wise the show works fine, I think it absolutely NAILS IT on the emotional level. It's a fitting conclusion for the series, and I'll miss this show. It definitely got better with each season, and even Season 1 was pretty great.

Apparently back in the day, multiple Victorian English missionaries in Africa wrote letters home making fun of African "savages" who stayed away from swamps and wetlands in order to protect themselves from malaria.

See, those DUMB SAVAGES believed malaria was caused by bad spirits from the swamps, while the educated Christian missionaries knew that it's actually caused by bad air (hence the name)!

Aw man, hindsight's a bitch =D

(for the record, the quote on IMDB is with the plural noun. Which again - it's much less funny than what I always thought the line was.

And when I rewatch the scene, it still sounds to me like the f-word is a verb here - from the context, and from the intonation of the sentence as well. Am I being stupid?)

(3/3)

But most places seem to quote the line as "watch me, f*ggots!", or at least "watch me, f*ggot!". Which makes the word unambigiously a noun. And then... it's just an insult. The joke becomes "ha ha, let's offend gay men!". Which is offensive *and* not even remotely funny.

Did I overhink the line and invent a joke in my head that's funnier than what's actually in the script? Or do so many people not get the joke at all? Help me out here.

(2/?)

I always understood the f-word as a verb here. As in "watch me dance properly", but phrased offensively and in a homophobic way.

As in, dancing like this is gay, and the director is pissed off that the dancers can't do it properly.

I have a dark confession. The line's bad and offensive and it hasn't aged well. But understood that way, that's also my favourite, by far the funniest, line in the movie. Verbing the noun makes the line funny.

(1/?)

OK, so I have a question to people who watched the movie "Blazing Saddles".

Y'know the scene in the Hollywood studio with the dancers? The director comes on the stage and corrects them, throwing homophobic slurs around.

Brace yourselves, because to ask my question, I have to use one of the slurs.

I'm referring specifically to the line "watch me f*ggot!".

Fun fact: "botulin toxin" in Polish *can* be called "toksyna botulinowa", but it's much more commonly called by a less fancy-sounding name "jad kiełbasiany", which in English would be "sausage venom".

Granted, "botulus" does mean "sausage" in Latin, but I imagine the literal translation must feel jarring to a native English speaker, used only to the Latin-borrowed term.

A Notepad++ extension would also work, as whenever I take notes just as text files, I end up with a bajillion tabs in Notepad++ and no idea what went where.

I need recommendation for (ideally web-based) software for making and organising notes.

As it is now, I either use Evernote (which sucks) or just start a new text document on Google Docs.

I need something with fast and convenient navigation between notes, simple interface, and an overview of notes that's legible at a glance. Being open-source/free and useable on a phone/tablet is a plus, but not necessary I'll be 90% using it on a desktop PC.

Any suggestions?

Also, I refreshed the page, thinking it might've been an error or whatever, and that particular topic isn't even on the recommended list anymore.

For crying out loud...