The long branch is the long arm of altruism, the short branch is the short arm of altruism.

That sounds absolutely mental in the most wholesome way haha.

I trained most of them to aim their tail feathers away before they do, but yes, sometimes it just gushes out when it gushes out. They're wild birds, it's part of the package. But I do put a towel on my lap, so that makes things easier. Also no scratches on the legs if the birds decide to fight each other on my lap. They do that especially in spring, when the hormones are fluctuating.

I call all of them goobers, so "Mr Goober" is called Derfred. It is the goofiest bird I have ever seen. I suspect it might've hit a window or car or something at some stage and stayed a bit silly. Derfred even bites and climbs on other birds, just playing. But the other birds aren't always prepared to put up with it haha. Poor thing. But Derfred is healthy and happy.

Here are names I've given to some of the other birds:

• Signore Salieri (has an unusually large beak and high "hair line")

• Mr Faith No More (actually a girl, but looks a lot like Mike Patton. Sounds dumb but I swear it's true).

• Mr Roy (has a rainbow-ish pattern on the head. Full name is Roy G. Biv).

• Cleopatra (a lady bird who gets a lot of attention from the boys, and takes no prisoners. She's always very nice to me, though)

• Mr Blackbottom (he has a large black patch on his lower beak - completely harmless. Beaks are black as juveniles, then the black gradually fades as they get older).

• The Scream (a girl bird who enjoys landing on my arm, staring me square in the eye, flapping her wings and screeching at me. No other reason than to chat/play. Weirdo).

• John Deere (when I sing or talk, this goober stares at me like a deer in the headlights. As if I am threatening it. It knows full well I'm not threatening it, just a bit of a drama queen).

There are more but I can't remember them right now.

I leave food and water out for the local birds, and sit outside under a beautiful big tree, and birds come up, eat the food, have a drink and a bath/splash around, then some of them land on me and we have a chat. I actually get a lot more sense out of those interactions than I do with any human where I am, so it really helps. One little goober gets a crazy look in the eye, then (most of the time) gently bites my finger and half rolls over. So I roll him/her over and tickle the belly. It's hard to stay grumpy when you start your day like that!

The thing that helped me was "let go or be dragged".

Death will happen whether I stress out about it or not. Stressing about it just contaminates the time you have. So I gradually learned to focus more on the "isn't existence weird?!" than "death is coming". And when you really get into the swing of it, your limited time becomes timeless.

Aha. When tech geeks meet theology. I like it!

Yes, I don't mind "Living God" as long as it remains abstract and not attached to whatever religious organisation.

Haha that's very concrete and abstract at the same time.

Why "number"?

"All I said was that piece of halibut was fit for Jocular".

Ah yes, The Potter too.

Not what I was looking for, but I did chuckle. Would probably look good on a t-shirt.

Are "God", "Jehovah" or "Allah" anything like the examples I provided?

I've been trying out the other fediverse platforms, based on how cool Lemmy is, and they all pale in comparison. It really is a neat little thing we've got going on.

Lemmy.

I worked in rail for a bit, and almost got hit once. Saw many many near misses. People think “how could you not notice a train roaring towards you?!”. But these things can happen with alarming ease.

Well, that doesn’t work for sexual consent, and I guess it would be similar regarding this issue. Informed consent requires the person to be of such an age that their consent is valid. I’m no expert, that was just my initial thought.

What do you have in mind?

I joined Mastodon when Musk took over Twitter. That didn’t really work out. So I stuck to Reddit. Then spez started up with the API nonsense, and I kept seeing stuff about Lemmy. Checked it out, and here I am.

Haha I had a similar experience with an Asian lady several years ago. I was lost and asked her for directions into town. She had the prettiest face, and a dainty little physique. She answered me in a sweet manner… then turned around to her family… and screeched in a loud, twangy, pitchy yelling voice. It completely changed how attractive I found her, but I thought a similar thing about earplugs.