The Psy of Life
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thepsyoflife.bsky.social
The Psy of Life
@thepsyoflife.bsky.social
2K followers 2.7K following 5.6K posts
I'm a snarky sarcasticky profaney political psychology blogger trying to explain this mixed up muddled up shook up world since 2016. Also, an expat, teacher, husband, father, runner, autistic

Read my blog!
https://thepsyoflifeblog.com/
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thepsyoflife.bsky.social
Not an easy one today. But, on a wild hair I decided to try one of my favorite words, and it hit. Luck be a lady all day because it's been between negative three and eight all week, the pond is frozen over, and there's a light dusting of snow on the ground.

Wordle 1,604 3/6

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Pics
November 9, 2025 at 3:55 PM
thepsyoflife.bsky.social
Don't let them gaslight you. Kimmel didn't disrespect Kirk. He's remarks were directed at Trump and Republicans. Nothing wrong with what he said, unless you're a power-hungry thin-skinned narcissistic, would be dictator.

#QuoteKimmel
September 19, 2025 at 3:18 AM
thepsyoflife.bsky.social
Charlie Kirk, still destroying lives from beyond the grave. What a guy.
September 14, 2025 at 2:19 PM
thepsyoflife.bsky.social
My proudest moment in thirty years of teaching university, high school, and middle school came from getting 25 five and six year olds to make these butterflies. How do the teachers of young children do it?
A butterfly made from a cardboard tube, pipe cleaners (legs), pink construction paper (wings), and toothpicks (antenna). All glued together with a hot glue gun. A butterfly made from a cardboard tube, pipe cleaners (legs), pink construction paper (wings), and toothpicks (antenna). All glued together with a hot glue gun.
July 16, 2025 at 12:59 PM
thepsyoflife.bsky.social
A lone dark low-lying storm cloud makes its way over the Royal Palace, Royal Temple, and waterfront of Phnom Penh as the sunsets. Dense greenery from the trees outside the Sofitel are in the foreground and modest buildings populate the skyline with the occasional twenty+ story apartment building
July 15, 2025 at 2:47 PM
thepsyoflife.bsky.social
The Moon Illusion over Phnom Penh on 7 July at 7:20 PM. Not bad for a phone
July 11, 2025 at 12:23 PM
thepsyoflife.bsky.social
July 10, 2025 at 6:39 AM
thepsyoflife.bsky.social
We must all join the resistance. We must all do everything in our power to stop the Republican fascist machine anywhere and anytime we can. These 10 commandments are based on the Danish resistance in WWII. Look for your opportunities.

#Resistance #CivilDisobedience
A BW photo of Austrians lining the streets of Vienna as the Nazis arrived in WWII. Three women and someone else can be seen giving the Sieg Heil salute. To the far left of the photo is a woman who looks ecstatic. To her right is a woman staring into the camera looking concerned. And to her right is a woman absolutely weeping into her kerchief she is so distraught. It is one of my favorite photographs.
July 7, 2025 at 10:19 AM
thepsyoflife.bsky.social
And then the queen (?) goes out for a stroll?
July 6, 2025 at 9:13 AM
thepsyoflife.bsky.social
Got these ant photos with my phone today helping La Petite Fille with a biology project.
July 6, 2025 at 8:44 AM
thepsyoflife.bsky.social
The monsoon has come to Cambodia! The wind is out of the west, it rains EVERYDAY, and wildfires burn in the open ocean.

It is the best time of the year!
May 24, 2025 at 8:29 AM
thepsyoflife.bsky.social
A meme that leaves you both laughing and wondering how stupid you have to be not to have thought of it already.

Thanks to friend-of-the-blog @tengrain.bsky.social at mockpaperscissors.com
April 22, 2025 at 2:06 AM
thepsyoflife.bsky.social
@katherinepemberton.bsky.social
I've got some tree photos for you from our birdwatching safari on the Mekong River this week.
I love the exposed roots growing on this tree. They start about a third of the way up the tree and are reaching down to the ground with the same intensity as the branches reaching upward. A very old, tall broad-leafed evergreen towering above its neighbors outside of a small overgrown pagoda outside of Phnom Penh. Although a palm tree isn't a real tree, this one stood out as towering above the surrounding banana trees (also not real trees), bushes, and other vegetation. The exposed roots of this tree have caught enough debris to make them look like a small elephant in profile. The Mekong's depth varies quite a bit during the year due to Chinese dams interrupting water flow and the rainfall during the monsoon. The tree and its root system show that variation off very clearly.
April 15, 2025 at 12:48 PM
thepsyoflife.bsky.social
This is the end of the dry season, so it was blazing hot the entire time and the Mekong was super low with rapids running everywhere and lots of low islands dotting the river.

We came across the huge gathering of cormorants and egrets just chilling together. There are three species of egrets.
The cormorants are skinny diving black birds that literally swim through the water after fish. They were submerged up to their heads in the water to stay cool. Some of them are taking off as we passed by. There are two egrets on the left side of the picture, a grey egret and a white one. They are tall elegant birds with long necks. They move slowly and gracefully through the water. While the cormorants all took off and circled around to this spot on shore, the egrets just calmly waded over to join them. They really did act for all the world like they were having a meeting of some kind. This is a picture of the cormorants and egrets before they took off. It was taken earlier in the sequence as we came upon them. You can see various plants sticking up above the water's surface and a rock the white egret was standing upon. A picture of the conclave of egrets and cormorants without being zoomed. It shows how wide the river really is. That is an island in the middle of the river. The river up here is very wide.
April 15, 2025 at 12:17 PM
thepsyoflife.bsky.social
Ma Petite Fille is the birder in the family. We went on the trip as her birthday present and as our last big trip in Cambodia. So, I don't know much about the birds, but the guide was very enthusiastic and assured us that we were seeing high quality sightings. MPF was very happy, too.
MPF thinks this is a spotted dove. It is some kind of dove. A great picture through the scope of a very round bird body with a very round bird head on top. Grey in color fairly evenly across both. The owl in profile preening itself. This one threw me for a bit because it looks like a headless bird. Zoom in to see two black birds that aren't the ubiquitous mina birds that are everywhere. Still, very clear picture of two smallish black birds one sitting above the other in a tree. Given the amount that birds poop, do you think the upper one bombed the lower at some point? Is that a bird thing, do you think? Our experience on the bird safari matched our experience on wildlife safaris in Kenya: the animals don't cooperate and when they do, the camera doesn't. A great picture of bird in profile, but out of focus. The species has been forgotten, but the stubby pointed beak is clearly visible. Otherwise, the bird appears to be black, but not of the same variety as the ones in the previous picture.
April 15, 2025 at 12:17 PM
thepsyoflife.bsky.social
We went on a birdwatching safari in a national park up near the border with Lao. It was all pretty fun and amazing.

Here are some pictures. Check the alt text for explanations.

First up, through the spotting scope. Some of these are better zoomed in.
We got extremely lucky to spot this spotted owl. The guide noticed it as we were driving past. The owl is sitting on a branch looking at us looking at it, or at least creating the illusion of doing so. Another shot of the owl from the previous picture. They live in pairs and tend to stay in one area. This one's partner was nearby, but we never got a clear picture of them. The great thick-knee paid us a visit while we had our lunch on this sandy island in the very low Mekong River. The thick-knee has a great white ring around its eye and a very long black bill. Other features are a black head and back with gray wings and breast. It is a medium-sized tall bird when standing. I believe these are the great thick-knee's tracks that were on the island when we landed. They are a long line of four-toed tracks, three to the front and one behind, over a sandy surface with shallow pock marks left by the receding water of the Mekong.
April 15, 2025 at 12:17 PM
thepsyoflife.bsky.social
Doh! I HATE it when that happens. Okay, first attachment is the result of my click on your link in your original post. The second is my search for your name. It goes on like that for pages. I'm trying to find your writing, but issues.
March 31, 2025 at 11:28 PM
thepsyoflife.bsky.social
Enjoying the phnomenal sunset over Phnom Penh with the fam at the Peninsula Hotel on a staycation
February 26, 2025 at 11:45 AM
thepsyoflife.bsky.social
I met this chap on my walk today. They say "Hi, y'all!"
Picture of a lizard in silhouette clinging to the side of a tree. Almost perfectly camouflaged against the bark. Barely visible. Picture of a lizard in silhouette clinging to the side of a tree. Almost perfectly camouflaged against the bark.
February 20, 2025 at 3:25 AM
thepsyoflife.bsky.social
On the streets of Phnom Penh
February 15, 2025 at 2:30 PM
thepsyoflife.bsky.social
I know the numbers are small -- so is my readership -- but it is extremely gratifying to know that I'm making a difference.

Thank you so much to those who visit the blog and contact their members of Congress. I am grateful.
February 4, 2025 at 12:53 AM
thepsyoflife.bsky.social
Rule by tweet idiocy mucks up good governance and risks people's lives and livelihood AGAIN. Trump fucks everyone for his photo op and gaslighting campaign.

JFC, he really will kill us all just for his ego.

www.latimes.com/environment/...
February 1, 2025 at 5:19 AM
thepsyoflife.bsky.social
Another bout of "very unhealthy" air in Phnom Penh. We're second on the list of cities with unhealthy air behind Lahore. Man, I've never seen it this bad in the four years I've been here. It feels like living in China.
February 1, 2025 at 12:41 AM
thepsyoflife.bsky.social
The sun setting through the polluted skies of Phnom Penh. The air has been ghastly due to low wind speed letting the exhaust build up and burning fields preparing for planting
January 25, 2025 at 10:46 AM
thepsyoflife.bsky.social
The worst air I've ever seen in Phnom Penh. You can see it and feel it burn your eyes. It's like living back in China. I guess with F47 and the oligarchs, we'll all be enjoying the sights, smells, and burns of air pollution soon.
January 22, 2025 at 11:25 PM