Invitation

“All learned professors and doctors are agreed that children do not comprehend the cause of their desires; but that the grown-up should wander about this earth like children, without knowing whence they come, or whither they go, influenced as little by fixed motives, but guided like them by biscuits, sugar-plums, and the rod,—this is what nobody is willing to acknowledge; and yet I think it is palpable. I know what you will say in reply; for I am ready to admit that they are happiest, who, like children, amuse themselves with their playthings, dress and undress their dolls, and attentively watch the cupboard, where mamma has locked up her sweet things, and, when at last they get a delicious morsel, eat it greedily, and exclaim, ‘More!’ These are certainly happy beings; but others also are objects of envy, who dignify their paltry employments, and sometimes even their passions, with pompous titles, representing them to mankind as gigantic achievements performed for their welfare and glory. But the man who humbly acknowledges the vanity of all this, who observes with what pleasure the thriving citizen converts his little garden into a paradise, and how patiently even the poor man pursues his weary way under his burden, and how all wish equally to behold the light of the sun a little longer,—yes, such a man is at peace, and creates his own world within himself; and he is also happy, because he is a man. And then, however limited his sphere, he still preserves in his bosom the sweet feeling of liberty, and knows that he can quit his prison whenever he likes.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther @temursolief

Give people bread and circuses, and they will never revolt. I don't care if we win or not. I wouldn't care if we played in the World Cup. That wouldn't change a thing in a regular civilian's life other than boosting some officials' national ego and spending our tax money on titles and accolades. Which are supposed to improve the country's face in the global arena to some extent, but do almost nothing here within the borders. Yet now I see, that is not even happening. At least, not this time. This is nothing more than chasing status games. Last time who won? Germany? France? Argentina? I don't know. If they win, so what? Of course, this sounds harsh, especially if you have bet a huge amount of money on a certain team, and it loses. Football is one of the most popular and simultaneously the "cleanest" ways to gamble, isn't it? If your team lost, so what? If you care about your national pride so much, learn something today, improve your community and contribute a bit, instead of crying like girls. I AM interested in sport. But I'm interested in DOING it more than watching as a spectator. Let alone being a viewer. With this post, I don't want to brainwash you, deterring from watching. Though I wouldn't encourage it either. I'm just trying to say that being a fanatic doesn't make sense to me. Discussing about it and spending so much of your precious time on it, while your own life here sucks, is retarded. Get life, bro. @temursolief

Tarjimonlik oson ish emas. Ayniqsa, kitob tarjima qilish va uni bosmadan chop ettirish. Hamkasbimiz ustoz Abdulqodir aka arab tilidan Ahmad Shuqayriyning "40" kitoblarini tarjima qilibdilar. Yillab umrlarini sarflab, kitobni o'zbek tilida o'zbekzabon xalqimizga taqdim etibdilar. Ajr-u savoblarini ko'rib yursinlar. Biz uchun ham mahsus dastxat va xatlari bilan kitoblaridan bir nusxa hadya etdilar. Buning uchun ustozga ulkan tashakkurlar aytamiz. Kitobni o'qishda davom etib, kelajakdagi yangi tarjima ishlarini ustozdan kutib qolamiz. Kitobni Qamar kitoblar do'konidan xarid qilishingiz mumkin. https://t.me/qamarbooks/22142 Bu post reklama emas. Xolis tavsiya. Kitob uchun yana bir bor rahmat, Abdulqodir aka ☺️ Bundan a'loroq tuhfa bo'lmasa kerak ⚡️ @soliefs #tavsiya

When you mistreat somebody, even if you were right, you feel uncomfortable. Of course, if there is conscience still living inside your heart. I have made many mistakes so far, saying the sharpest things I didn’t need to say. I could say that I don’t care, but my soul always said otherwise. I can be right in a certain situation, but what benefit do I get from being right if I upset someone? Or hurt them? If the matter is on business or religion, then I understand. If it’s not, then what’s the matter with being right? Even if I’m well-intended, does being right actually serve those people or my own ego? Nassim Taleb on this: “If your anger decreases with time, you did injustice; if it increases, you suffered injustice.” [The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms] Untamed for some time, our nafs starts blindfolding our conscience. If we don’t take necessary measures, we’ll always be right. But, of course, at the cost of a clean heart. Take note, Solief. @temursolief

Two Angels Two angels were sent to the Babylonian lands back in the ancient past with the knowledge of magic, of course by the will of Allah. Before teaching magic, they warned the interested against learning it. Yet people still wanted to learn it and use it on their foes. They used it to break families apart and destroy the lives of their enemies. All happened because Allah swt willed it. But what benefit did those people get from doing it other than satisfying the very thirst of their nafs (if they satisfied, of course)? More money? Higher social status? A sense of victory? And at what cost? @temursolief

Instinct — when the house burns down one forgets even one's own dinner. — Yes: but one retrieves it from the ashes. Crisis lifts us from our petty needs. Survival and the processing of trauma take over, and the mundane concerns feel irrelevant. Yet once the shock wears off, the "animal" self returns. We cannot live in a state of crisis forever. This is the desperate, and perhaps grotesque, reclamation of normalcy. One never forgot the dinner. It is just that the house burning down acted as an amnesia. As a result, the hunger was suspended. @temursolief

In praise there is more importunity than in blame. Why? Blame is a finished transaction, but praise is the beginning of a negotiation. Blame usually creates distance. Once the argument is over, or the compensation has been made, the interaction is mostly over. Blame allows for growth or at least gives you a "nothing left to lose" freedom. Because it is direct, it tells you what's wrong. Praise, on the other hand, creates a social debt. When you're praised, you're expected to be humble. You now have the reputation to keep, which is already a new sort of pressure. It also traps you into a specific identity. When praised, you're getting a lable in a way that doing something against that label seems like "a betrayal of your own character". Praise is also a delivery mechanism for a request. It demands a continued state of being that sometimes serves the person giving the praise. The worst happens when it turns into flattery. I don't like being praised for the reasons above, and also I don't know how to respond to it. So uncomfortable is it that I'd rather run a half-marathon, soaked in sweat, instead. P.S. "Importunity" means troublesome persistence or hidden demands. The very first line in this post is of Nietszche. More on quotes and citations later. @temursolief

You know what you experience; you run through life like a drunken man, and occasionally tumble down some stairs. Thanks to your drunkenness, though, you do not break a limb: your muscles are too limp and your head too confused to find the bricks of these stairs as hard as we others do! For us, life is much more precarious: we are made of glass - woe to us if we're jostled. And all is lost if we fall. ~ Friedrich Nietszche @temursolief

Less is more Less input* to consume Less friends to open up Less commitments to stress about Less screen time to waste Less goals to pursue Less grudges to hold (better if there is none) Less unsolicited opinions to listen to Less social media accounts to run Less possessions to carry around Less promises to deliver Quality over quantity (as cliche as it sounds). It is not that we need more. But we need less yet quality ones. More adds more noise rather than giving us a signal. Confused? Decrease the number in the aforementioned aspects of your life. More takes away clarity. You don’t find the needle by putting in more hay. You find it by taking out the most. * books, lectures, courses @temursolief

Everybody, but for couples, is so overwhelmed with the wedding. Life after that oh-you-will-never-have-this-day-in-your-life-anymore-and-its-only-one-day-come-on ceremony is interesting for nobody. OK, for very few people. Most of those asking you when you’ll marry are not necessarily interested in you reaching fulfillment with your significant other through marriage, but mostly in the wedding party you’ll throw so that they can entertain themselves a bit because their own lives suck. As someone expected to have a wedding soon, I have realized that weddings are not for couples. They are social events, disguised as the announcement of the start of the marriage of the two, but hidden beneath is the party for the already-fed. I get it. I am a part of this collective society. I am obliged to follow the culture. Wait, really? Am I? The hardest part is the fact that I have to follow the customs, knowing that the tradition they call does not make sense. At all. Except the meanings they thought up because they like telling fairytales to each other. Starting a marriage should be simple and easy enough for couples, but not in Uzbekistan. Isn’t tying the knot legally and Islamically enough? Those two marrying to each other think they match each other. Why do we complicate the process? When is the wedding? Why are you asking? Since when has my singlehood become your problem? Pardon my satirical pen. I'm just fed up with the "wisdom" of NPCs. @temursolief

Failure is a rule of life. It prevails from the very first moments of our lives till the last second. So don't be upset when you fail. It is a built-in feedback mechanism that teaches do’s and don’ts. Winning on the other hand is exceptional. Exceptional achievements call for exceptionality in us. Something very rare. Failure is a precedent for winning. As abnormal as it sounds, “fail more, fail faster” makes a lot of sense. That helps chart the territory faster. Something not everybody is good at. Uncommon in a sense that not all normal NPCs would understand. @temursolief

I'm Taking a Break @temursolief

I do agree that aesthetics and muscle building are vanity metrics, though muscles are also functional. Yet I think it is better than sitting in front of a computer all day long, living a sedentary lifestyle. Also, it is worth flexing them on the internet because they are hard-earned since it is physically challenging to grow muscles naturally 😂 P.S. Yes, some steroids don't require any intense workout or better meal plan. Yet they will kill you. Slowly. Dying and killing yourself are not necessarily the same. @temursolief

When I first came to Tashkent and started working at a learning center, I used to have a one-meal-a-day diet, which was quite hard to get used to first after a 3-meals-a-day lifestyle. I simply didn't have a chance to eat when I was hungry throughout the day. When I had the chance, I didn't have an appetite. Then I started losing weight. One meal a day was something typical after a year or two. Yet that affected my whole energy and of course body. After several "Are you eating something?" comments made by my granny whenever I went back home to Fergana, I decided to gain some muscle. I had done sports before, but it was just martial arts. I had no idea about how to properly lift weights. So in November 17th, 2024 I started attending the gym with a trainer. Interestingly, I didn't know Russian, but the only trainer available in the morning at 6 was a Russian man. For three months till Ramadan, I worked with him. He was very supportive and guided me on what to eat and how to feel my muscle while lifting instead of relying on joints or just skeleton. At the same time, I bought a number of online courses on how to make a proper meal plan and plan my workouts. First I was counting the days, but then I stopped because it became a habit. Now if I miss my workout, it starts feeling odd already as it is a lifestyle now. What's great about it is that it gives me an opportunity to check my pain tolerance. "Can I do more" is always a question when you are commanding your hands to push the rope further in the last rep. Initially, I was 61 or 62 kilograms. Now I weigh around 71 kilos. Perhaps for 6 months, excluding Ramadan since I stopped at that time, it is not a big result, but I have gained primarily muscle instead of just water or fat. As you know, gaining meat is hard. Quite hard. To successfully gain muscle, I learnt three things are important: proper meal plan (not just supplements), short, but intense workout, and good sleep, the latter being a frequent problem with me, though :( Oh, one more thing: genetics is also a key factor ;) After Ramadan, I bought 1Fit subscription. Previously, I was radically against Push30 and 1Fit because I thought they would not build a routine for an individual, which, I still believe, is crucial for consistent attendance. Then sport became my life. So I decided to go with it. Variety is the spice of life :)) Oh yeah, I'm 100% natty. I only use L-arginine and citruline consistently before my workouts for better blood circulation. I also take multivitamins and zinc as well as omega 3. I think I need to add magnesium separately to this list as recently I started to have blister lips for no obvious reason. Something is lacking. My protein and gainer are on my shelves just in case I miss some of my meals. I don't take them regularly. I hate their taste. Most importantly, no longer scrawny anymore. No longer hearing those "Don't work too much. You're getting thinner" comments by my caring family members. Whatever I wear sort of suits me well, too, now :)) Yeah, that's all. Yes you, do sports. @temursolief #sport #lifting

Almost a year before, we had been to Bukhara! We went there on a bus, and it was a pretty terrifying experience, especially for a control freak like me, as our driver was driving the bus at 100 km/h, and my foot was not on the brake pedal! This speed might seem nothing in a light vehicle, but from the seats of the bus, situated 3 meters above the ground, the experience was something that can easily make you incontinent :)) (By the way, I once chided Firdavs for driving fast in his car when I was on the front seat, lol) We pilgrimed to many different places, including Baha' al-Din Naqshband. There were many ponds in Bukhara to keep the city cool because the weather of its territory was quite arid or scorching hot. Another thing I discovered in Bukhara is its food. People there seem to eat square food as I felt I had overeaten after two Gijduvan kebabs. As for the main language, Tadjik language appeared to be the most dominant since people around me were mainly communicating in a Persian-like language. The whole travel was great because of the companions—colleagues and students. I still remember the tiny details of that travel. The quest we organized around Labi Havuz despite other visitors complaining about us because of the chaos we made there still fires my brain cells from the neocortex :)) Oh yeah, I was quite scrawny back then. Sort of lanky, huh? Since then there have been good many changes, but they are a story for the next time. Overall, it was a great travel. Soon i will be back to Bukhara. But when and why? I'll tell in the upcoming posts. @temursolief #travel #Bukhara

Isn't it ironic that this blog is called "TS Experience", but you don't necessarily get to read "experience" posts. Huh. In late April this year, we (my students and I) decided to spend Saturday in the Botanical Garden, enjoying the nature and have a little escape from the daily life of concrete-made city. Because it was a weekend, there were many people. Too many people. We had a modest picnic there and played a game or two. Saved the moments for good and returned back. Interestingly, one of our students went astray though he was the one helping us navigate the park. After several hours, we found him. It's good that he had spent his time with one of the Australian guys, practicing English. @temursolief

Questions are very effective communicators of who their questioners are. @temursolief

Well, this could've been "lemme brag about what i got a little" post, but it is not. I've taken the test for the third time after 5 years since my last attempt (an overall 8.5). It is interesting that my speaking score has not changed, but I also know the…

Well, this could've been "lemme brag about what i got a little" post, but it is not. I've taken the test for the third time after 5 years since my last attempt (an overall 8.5). It is interesting that my speaking score has not changed, but I also know the fact that I underperformed during my speaking exam. I don't know for sure. But I didn't prepare for the test at all. I prepared for writing for 2-3 days, and then I realized that I was not giving enough attention to my students—it was stealing my whole world; so I stopped the whole bootcamp. Writing was a surprise. I was not expecting higher than 7.5, but here we go. As a matter of fact, I couldn't finish editing my writing task 1 because first I couldn't get used to the test's keyboard, and second I had not prepared that much for the productive sections of the exam. Now I am thinking. If there is a bit of preparation, a 9 is already looming on the horizon. InshaAllah. Whatever happens will happen and has happened. I am not gonna make a big deal out of this. Just Alhamdulillah. I just need to go back to the lab! Now peace. @temursolief #update