2026-01-09 20:16:00
“Oooh, nooo!!”
And then, a loud noise.
This happened yesterday. I was sitting at a quiet café, working on the Bearming theme. All of a sudden, the calm was replaced by a yell and pure chaos.
It turned out an old man had fainted. The scream came from the woman he pulled down with him when he fell.
Moments later, ambulances and paramedics arrived.
They took good care of both people. The man spoke incoherently and seemed to drift in and out of consciousness. The woman had either broken or badly sprained her leg, so they had to stabilize it.
Half an hour later, the sirens faded away and everything was back to normal.
Once again, I was struck by a humbling reminder of life’s unpredictability. Everything can change in a split second. You never really know.
I find myself reflecting on this more and more as I get older. Probably because I’m getting closer and closer to death. Most likely, I’ve already lived more years than I have left.
But I also think it has to do with the fragility that comes with aging, and I don’t mean the body. I’m talking about another shell. It’s like the strong shell of identity you often carry when you’re young starts to crack open.
You become more receptive to your surroundings. The environment, other people, the atmosphere.
The shell breaks apart, and life breaks through.
2026-01-09 17:31:00
this morning, i went to bear's discovery feed as part of my morning routine and stumbled upon this entry: BRING BACK EMAILS AS A FORM OF COMMUNICATION (hi peige!). reading it makes me want to scream I MISS THE OLD TIMES SO MUCH.
i remember being in elementary school and having two things: bad english, and the privilege of occasional internet access. i don't even remember how i found out about the existence of websites that allow you to find pen pals and connect with them, but i did, and i still think it was one of the best things i did during my childhood. didn't matter that my english sucked and i couldn't form one sentence without messing up the grammar - i TALKED to people and found joy in it.
being able to connect with people worldwide when i was just a kid who lived in a third-world country with few friends was a huge thing for me! i would have never imagined that i could talk to people, get to know someone who lived in australia, and have lovely conversations with them about nothing and everything. (hi jason, if you're reading this, i hope you're doing well. thank you for sharing those songs you made and the stories on your end of the world. it was a truly memorable experience for me. i have no idea how you're doing these days but i hope things are going well for you.)
i really miss talking to people in great length about random things. we're all too used to texting now, and while it can be convenient, but it just isn't the same. nothing can replace the feeling of actually taking the time to sit down, composing an elaborate email to a friend, receiving an email back, reading it and thinking about what their reply means to you and how you can add to the conversation, and so on. what an experience! i miss it so much. it just feels much more genuine and thoughtful in a way that texting can't really replicate.
all this to say that i should start sending emails to people! (and i will be!) i'm quite sure my real-life friends would look at me weird, but here in bear, people seem to welcome this form of communication, and so i will start from here.
if you're reading this, i would love to be pen pals with you! feel free to say hi and i promise i'll do my best to write you back soon. we can talk about anything, really; i'd love to hear about what you're currently interested about (i love hearing people geek out about things they're passionate about!), any current events in your life that you'd like to share, or anything about you. alternatively, you could also see this list of random things i enjoy and start from there.
looking forward to chat with you and i hope you're having a lovely day!
💌 [email protected]
2026-01-09 05:01:00
If you've been paying attention to the news you probably are aware of the murder of Renee Good at the hands of ICE.
And unfortunately, this is where the useless apathetic takes come out. The useless commentary of people who want nothing more than to self-aggrandize on how little of an opinion they have.
It must be nice being so damn obtuse to the situation at hand that you can sit in a nice place of privilege and arrogantly try and claim both sides as just as bad.
Both sides aren't killing people, both sides aren't violently harassing citizens, both sides aren't justifying lethal use of force from the state.
If all you're gonna do is stick that fence post firmly up your ass and "both sides" the situation to death, then your best course of action is to shut the fuck up, because your "commentary" is about as useful as a broken refrigerator.
If you have nothing intelligent to offer besides surface-level observations, your opinion has already been done to death by mainstream news outlets.
Your apathy is at best cowardice, and at worst evil. If you're the type of person to think how Renee was "insignificant" and thus you don't care. Let this be a reminder that you are a piece of shit. How many people need to die before you realize you're just a sociopath masquerading as an intellectual?
You're not enlightened for being a "centrist". If you're ignorant of the situation, that's fine, but don't go trying to act like both sides are equally bad in this situation.
If you watched a woman getting murdered in her car trying to escape a bunch of fascist-backed thugs and think "bOtH sIdEs" you need to find a proctologist to have your head surgically removed from your own ass.
2026-01-09 04:00:00
I check the recent discovery feed often, sometimes several times a day. I really enjoy seeing the variety of posts and knowing that most people blogging here are regular people sharing insights into their daily lives or throwing their thoughts and feelings into the void.
I frequently upvote posts that I find interesting as my (small) way of saying thank you for sharing. I wish I could see a history of what I upvoted, because unless I bookmark a post, I quickly forget which ones were most interesting. If there’s a way of doing this, please let me know!
If a site has a layout or theme I find attractive, I’m more likely to look around a bit. Yes, I’m tempted by pretty things.
I gravitate towards certain themes - I usually click links that contain the following:
I’m more likely to click on posts that are clearly titled so I have an idea what I’ll be reading about. That’s not to say I don’t click on ones that don’t, but if I’m short on time or not in the mood for reading much, I’ll be more likely to pass over them.
There’s a few topics I almost never click on - there’s nothing wrong with any of these, they just aren’t my cup of tea.
I don’t look at the Trending tab very often. Because posts can stay there for a few days, it’s not necessary. However, I do like to browse a few pages in and discover posts that have had a few upvotes which I missed on the Recent tab.
I’d love to know what interests other Bear bloggers have and how you like to browse the Discovery feed. Feel free to comment in my guestbook, reply with your own post or just pop me an email if you want to keep it private.
Carlos commented via the Contact page:
Hey Becky,
I just read your post "Navigating Bear's Discovery Feed" and enjoyed it. My initial thought on seeing your bookmarking question was that a potential solution could be a postroll.
I wrote a brief note about your piece and mentioned that, but realized my notes are not discoverable by default and wanted to drop in and send you that link and potential solution!
Creating An Automatic Postroll With Bear's Powerful Embed Feature
Take care!
2026-01-08 20:33:00
This thought popped into my head last night. Ever since starting Bear Blog, I've been receiving emails from fellow bloggers, and it reminds me of my ==penpal== days, when we used to send snail mail to complete strangers—usually on the other side of the world—simply to connect.
But before starting this post, I did a quick search on Bear Blog's discovery to see if anyone else has written on the subject. Sure enough, Sebastian wrote a post titled, "Emails Are Making Me Happy Again," which perfectly summarizes all of my thoughts. So rather than just repeat what he wrote, I'll add on another take:
We have many forms of communication at our disposal today, and I believe each has its purpose. Texting is great for casual chatting or even long-winded conversations. ==But texting really fails at sending useful chunks of information.== In fact, if I received a bunch of links and info via text, I might find it overwhelming, but I'd mostly just FORGET about it. I mainly use Whatsapp, and while you can star specific messages, it's not the best at saving information, and most of the time, I simply just don't remember that it's there.
You could send all that info in one go. It could be a list of links, an essay, or even span multiple threads. But it's all there, bundled together by an appropriately titled subject line. Emails are there forever, and even for an unorganized inbox, one can simply search via keywords, which isn't as easy to do on Whatsapp.
I'm one of those people with only one email for everything. I mostly shop online, so I appreciate emails when my order has shipped. I worry that if I had multiple accounts, I'd forget to to check them. And if I forwarded all of those emails to my main... Well, what's the point of having multiple accounts in the first place?!
On the topic of emails, I am also keen on de-Googling my life. However, it's difficult and will take some time. I would also need to do some research, and right now, looking into email clients is not on my priority list.
So, echoing the words of my fellow Bear Bloggers who love receiving emails, I love them too! I used to spend time organizing my inbox, but ever since it fell by way of marketers, I stopped caring. Now, I feel motivated to do so.
Also, remember when we used to send email chains? I don't miss that format, but that's when I first started seeing content like, "25 facts about me," etc. etc.
Not only are more and more people yearning for the analog life, we're also collectively yearning for the early days of the internet, back when it was messy, imperfect, and clearly made by humans.
2026-01-08 13:09:00
I first saw this lovely lady when I visited Chiang Mai back in 2014. Yesterday, I saw her again and asked if I could take a photo.
She was still sitting in the very same spot. A small street-side shelter made of bamboo and tarps, where she runs her sewing business.
I have no idea how old she is, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s close to 70. It felt as if she hadn’t aged a day during the decade that had passed.
She was just sitting there, looking genuinely content and peaceful, sewing away. As if nothing needed to change or happen for her to be truly happy.
Maybe that’s the secret to true happiness, being thankful for what we have, here and now. We may have plans and ambitions, but we don’t let them overshadow the value of the present moment.
After all, this is all we have.