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[jojoceanman]

I've been trying to find ways to relax. I'm not really any good at it. Just came back from being at sea for two weeks, isolated from society. It was extremely pleasant.

[ and around this point there some links to show photographs he had taken. all very pleasant... if you ignore the starfish eating a fish at the end. ]

Now I'm back and I find myself lost in society and its stresses. I work 12 hour days and sleep about 6 to 7. Research is my only outlet, my field being in Marine Biology. That and watching too much true crime dramas, but watching serials about betrayal and murder might not be a healthy way of de-stressing. Allegedly.

So I'm fielding suggestions. I'm sure you're all a very calm and collected bunch who can be of help.

[ ... ]

On an unrelated note: fish don't smoke. And never will. Evolution doesn't work that way.

[ callout because that's just one of his recent stresses. ]

Comments

[drizzle]

I can imagine not. No one would, I guess. But by the pictures, you can tell it looks really natural, which I heard is the key ingredient to great picture taking!

[Haha. She would ask about who was currently tormenting him, but knowing the way he tends to attract attention -- it was clear it may be best to avoid the subject.]

Yeah! I usually do it under a tree because it'll feel like you're floating up in the air. Also, you'll be under a comfortable shade without the sun getting in your way! But if you're not too keen on being under or climbing a tree, maybe you should go somewhere with a hill and meadow, away from the city to do your cloud watching . Make a picnic for yourself! I think your mind and body will appreciate the gesture.

[jojoceanman]

A picnic? Good grief. You don't think that would look a little absurd. I'm 6'4 and my resting face makes people scared of me. The idea of sitting on a picnic blanket with a basket of food is bizarre.

But, perhaps that's what I need. Something outside my comfort zone could bring new discoveries. And I suppose I can't live out on the sea. Not until I get the funds for a houseboat. Then I really will just be an ocean man.

[drizzle]

Now you're starting to get it! Who cares about any of that stuff? Like people staring or whatever. You got to do things for yourself without worrying about other people so much. It'll be good for your health to let stuff go.

Oh? Houseboat? What are they like? I don't think I've ever heard of anything like it before, not even from Archie.

[jojoceanman]

It's a custom house built to be stationed at a dock, though some can be taken out to the open water if designed for mobility. Unlike your standard fishing boat, it's better designed to be lived in for long periods of time, no different than a normal house.

At the risk of sounding like a hermit, I prefer the silence and calm of the sea to being in normal communities. I've never done well with people - though you already saw that first hand when we met.

[ the whole "screaming at people who bother him" thing to be exact. he isn't as bad as he was at that when he was a teenager, but sometimes his nerves get too frayed and he lashes out unreasonably. ]