*scrolls through my instance’s # Trending timeline, noting the various hot topics of the moment.
Human Rights for refugees.
Rise of fascism.
Holiday driven capitalism.
Human rights for trans/queer people.
Pandemic
Human rights for humans.
Unemployment.
Poor healthcare.
War.
…. And sitting up the top of the list, trending at # 1, is my stupid joke about not being bitten by a werewolf.
It’s a stupid joke, and holds zero real importance. I didn’t write it. I found it on the internet somewhere. I have no idea who the original author is. It’s copypasta like almost all the jokes and memes I toot. But when I arrived on Mastodon over a year ago, silly jokes seemed to be rare, so that’s what I’ve endeavoured to provide. Silly jokes and dumb memes. Good ones though. Usually tasteful. Always with AltText. And with the aim of lightening the mood and lifting the spirits of this incredible community. Usually. Mostly.
I still sometimes get a little uncomfortable that they out-trend all that serious important stuff though.
If GH can stand for P as in Hiccough,
If OUGH stands for O as in Dough,
If PHTH stands for T as in Phthisis,
If EIGH stands for A as in Neighbor,
If TTE stands for T as in Gazette,
If EAU stands for O as in Plateau,
All are acceptable and have the same meaning. (The final two are alternative spellings, though dreamt is far more common.) "Dreamed" and "dreamt" may have equivalent meanings, but they don't have the same … feel. I suspect speakers/writers where English is a second language don't hear it the same as native speakers. Dreamt has a certain panache.
Yes the constant meta (and Meta) discussion here is tedious, and often much worse, but what you have to realize is that this isn’t just a social network, it’s a left/progressive political project. I don’t know how many left/progressive political orgs you’ve been involved in, but let me tell you, they are kind of known for endless, agonizing talk about process, factions, outside threats, inside threats, strategy, grievances, etc. And if you have a solution for that, you just might save the world.