A miracle

is that we humans have managed to survive for so long all the while happily slaughtering each other to gain wealth and power, destroying children of other people and our own, doing unspeakable horrors to anyone who is weaker than us, all the while mainting hope and the illusion of the good in man.

Strangely this view that people are basically good is not supported by the laws and the commandments who peculiarly somehow have to remind the man that he should not stab his neighbour in the face, steal his wife and have sex with his cow, and of course he should NEVER EVER plant his shrubbery so that its branches might cast a shadow over his neighbour's garden - one of the cardinal sins.

This dichotomy is very peculiar, giving us hope in the times of big crises, causing us to unite against our common shrubbery-wielding enemy, but as soon as the crisis is over, the units, who were so happily congruous just a minute ago, start bickering who gets a better seat at the table and a bigger piece of the pie and so on.

As long as we have nothing there is always hope and as soon as we have something we fight for it.

It is easy to sacrifice your possessions and give everything you own for the good of the family/society/ant hill when you have nothing, but when you reap your rewards, if you survived of course, it is much harder to share them with others who have nothing (probably because you took it from them in the first place).

The Gospel of Zandi

It always amuses me when people get upset over something someone else has said, like only they have the right to an opinion but not anyone else. This is especially prevalent in the fields of religion and the meaning of life in general, everyone keeps forgeting that the point is not to find an answer for everyone, but an answer for yourself and as soon as they find a vaguely satisfying answer, they start pushing it onto others, hoping that if they make others believe they will believe as well.

Sadly there is no credibility in numbers and such faithful fanatics continue their restless drives of converting people, Mormons are especially notorious for that, and so are Scientologists (don't sue me).

With conversions religions and meanings of life get street cred, that is why Christianity is generally accepted and belieiving some guy who existed for ever created the universe out of nothing, breaking several physical laws in the process and is now sought by the physics police, is not (don't sue me).

Anyway, when you find a sense of purpose in your life please do not try to force others to follow it, by all means, announce it from the rooftops, revel in it, test it through debate, just don't try to validify yourself by forcing others to follow your will.

Dogs look like their owners

and since like father, like son, it follows that many people get dogs to fulfil their desire to have somebody to be dependent on them and to view them as gods (one of the main reasons why people have children), that is also one of the reasons why people treat dogs like children, feeding them too much, spoiling them and doing things that are not really healthy for dogs.

They produce extremelly fat dogs who can barely walk and their owners saying 'you're so fat, here have some chocolate you naughty doggy I can't resist your puppy look'. They are just giving to the dog what they would have liked for themselves. This is damaging to children as well, as fanatical parents use children as vessels for their own failed ambitions, mass producing unhappy sports stars, doctors, lawyers, who most often, too terrified to throw off their parents' yoke, yield and then find solace in drugs and other means of escape.

Who cares if their child wants to study biology, they are going to study medicine because mummy dearest had hidden aspirations to be a doctor but was too afraid to study medicine since blood is icky.

If you are unfortunate enough to have a parent, or both parents, like that do try and distance yourself from them as soon as possible, and then think about what in your life so far is the result of your own desires and wishes, and what was decided for you by your parents. Then try to fulfil your wishes and expectations first and only then your parents', it is extremely rare that you can do both at once.

Many people with such parents end up slaving for 40 years in a job they literally despise but are too afraid to quit because 'What will my parents say, I am a 30 year old man/woman still afraid of my daddy and mummy, wah'. Get some guts, you are living primarily for yourself, precisely because your parents are so good at provoking guilt in you, you should realize there is something wrong here and you should get the hell out of Dodge.

Primal fears

Cycling home in the dark without a light today was quite exciting, it soon brought out various primal fears partly genetically imprinted and partly imprinted by various cautionary fairy tales and anecdotes.

If you distance yourself from them and try to observe them analytically they are much easier to control and can be debunked much more quickly. It is fun to observe your brain trying to inject sense into the more or less dark grey shapes your eyes are transmitting to it. My brain mostly focused on natural predators, and never got away into fantasy, probably because I did not cave in to fears and just kept going.

So next time you feel you might succumb to your fears try observing them rationally and analysing them, it might help.

Head under the blanket

Creating your own constructs of the world to protect yourself from the harsh reality is a very common practice in life, we all need our illusions, whether that our friends like us more than they do, or that we smell less than we do or that we are prettier ...

These illusions are generally not harmful, as society functions on the cogs of small innocent lies which only exist to help us keep our constructs in existence. That is why telling the direct cold truth is something not really welcome among people, sometimes not even among closest friends.

In the past the most common blanket of hope was religion and God and of course the blanket of fear were the devils, witches, black men from the forest, tax collectors and so on. Now that God is not fashionable anymore people are in droves starting to believe in aliens, cosmic energy, astral planes, maths and are afraid of aliens, cosmic energy, astral planes and homeless people.

These blankets become bothersome when they are so out of touch with reality that they impede your life (like various OCD people, who believe they will die if they step on the line between two tiles - incidentally this is true, if you step on the line you will die in 5 days, just a friendly warning SEE THE SQUARE)

It is virtually impossible to face thebare reallity, as anything we percieve is filtered through our senses but it is much better if we try not to impose arbitrary mechanisms and rules on a world that does not give two shits about our precognitions.

Change

People are very resillient to change, which can of course be a good trait, but when someone wins the lottery or gets a promotion or a degree it can hurt them plenty. Suddenly a big focus of their life is gone, and they are 'promoted' into the next social circle, worried about how to act and behave.

They cannot depend on routine anymore, they feel that now that they are rich/more educated they have to change their lives to suit their new social position. Sadly they often look to the TV to see how rich people should behave, and often quickly fritter away all their money, forgetting that the rich people on TV are often just children of rich people who are most often spoilt attention-craving brats, otherwise they would not be on TV anyway.

Those winning the lottery under the pressure of all the money which haunts their thoughts often forget that the rich people have a sustainable income and use up their one time windfall for stupid luxury items which are mainly expensive to maintain as well, such as cars, yachts or filipino teenage wives.


Most people only see to their goals but not beyond, so when they start reaching their goal, they start wondering and worrying what will happen afterwards, that is why so many people pass all their exams and then never finish their degree and graduate, since they are afraid of this step in the next realm of life. So it is always good to have at least a general life plan and a few contingency plans just in case.

Hoping against hope

This ties in with the people who fall for scams but often people hoping against hope actually do not do anything to bring about the realization of their wishes, they just hope in their silly intense way that some higher power will grant them their wish. This is very prevalent in social relations, especially romantic ones, where shy, reserved people keep hoping that the object of their affection (which is usually unattainable if you only consider looks) will suddenly realize what a great person they are inside and fall for them.

This is of course a pretty hard feat to accomplish, as these hopers usually hide behind facades and when confronted with the person they have a crush on they are often left stammering nervously. Strangely enough, the persons they adore do not see through this bumbling appearance into the heart of gold filled with shame and jealousy hiding inside these special people.

The most common victims of this cognitive dissonance (believing you have a heart of gold even though you are a fat jobless slob still living with your parents) are those marked as 'less desirable' by society, i.e. anyone that does not look like the people on tv, essentially forcing whole generations of teenagers to try Dutch courage to help horniness overcome their shyness when trying to ask people out.

Of course it is not only love such people are hopeful about, any day now their boss/parents/friends/strangers/movie directors will realize just how golden and special they are inside their grease-stained shirt and give them plenty of money and a mansion to boot.

It would of course be better if such people would get off their asses and start actually doing something to achieve their (often unreasonable) wants and of course also make their wishes more realistic.

In life, I have found, the old adage 'you get what you give' is much closer to the truth than 'you get what you wish for.'

Luring people in

After I wrote the nightmare article google deemed it necessary to offer me a dream interpretation, being bored I took it, answering the stupid questions which left out most of my dreams but intensely focused on things that average middle-to-upper class people from the western world would dream about (stage fright, performance anxiety, stress ...). After I told it that I had a recurring (which to them means more than 4 times) dream about things chasing me, they told me

Jesus, the recurrent theme of your dream life is Divine Inspiration

You're dreaming about feeling deeply connected to the universe and to those around you. This means that you're likely tapping into a sense of uplifting freedom and awe of the greater things in life.

Dreams are the stories your unconscious narrates each night as you sleep. To find out which of your dreams revealed your Divine Inspiration dream theme, get your Dream Interpretation Report now!

Oh wow, that must mean I am special! GIVE ME MY DREAM INTERPRETATION REPORT NOW! HERE ARE ALL MY CREDIT CARD NUMBERS AND THE KEYS TO MY HOUSE.

This same principle is used by most online sites which have little to no credibility. It is also employed by clairvoyants working the phones and so on, while in real life the fortune teller often warns about impending doom or a curse which only she can unjinx if you pay her a certain amount of money, this is especially popular among gypsies, while other such gifted people perform the job of a sort of a confidence raiser for such people.

And in this day and age of low self-esteem and general anxiety, it is no wonder that so many people turn to them for reassurance, some even make all their decisions based on what fortune tellers tell them, which often leads to (hillarious) disaster. People more easily believe what they want to and they easily delude themselves into thinking that really clairvoyant people would waste their time telling people that they will meet that special person, that they are good on the inside, that they will pass the exams and ...

Nightmares

Last night I went to bed with a slight headache and I think I woke up 7 times totally, after dreaming that something big and alive (not fleas, gnats and other assorted relatives) is with me in me bed, making me jump out of bed and turning on the light, when it happened the first time I was totally sure that it is true, second time as well, third time, as I jumped out the bed I thought 'not this silly dream again' but still turned on the light.

Fourth time I went to the toilet, fifth time the dream escalated so I had to check again, sixth and seventh time I didn't even completely wake up, knowing already in my dreams that it is just a dream and then I slept peacefully until morning. So if you are plagued by nightmares just make yourself realize it is a dream and it should help you break its spell.

The creatures I dreamt about were 1. a rat, 2. spiders, 3. insects and a giant bonelike structure, 4. wasps, 5. lizards climbing on walls, 6. and 7. I am not sure but probably something in the vein of the previous 5.

Anyway it is also good if you start writing down your dreams, as you then remember them more clearly and you have a bigger measure of control over them. Good luck and sweet dreams.

p.s.: Don't bother with dreamcatchers, this is the best one:

Help

People always proclaim how they like to help people, but they forget that wounded people, much like wounded animals, often strike out against anyone nearby, no matter whether friend or foe. The helpers then usually raise their noses in a huff and leave the wounded person alone, confirming their belief that they are not worthy of any help and attention, thus cementing their stagnant position in the cesspool of self-pity.

It takes a special kind of person to try and help somebody who expresses their displease and anger with them openly, especially since it is hard to decide whether such help is warranted and if helping against the wishes of somebody is being a saint or being a pushy idiot who wants to force their own way of life upon others.

Especially since ordinary people are not equipped to deal with problems that are deep enough to make people lash out and hurt others, as mental scars can run as deep as the esophagus, sometimes even the liver.

It is often best to leave such people to paid professionals who are equipped with proper tools and knowledge of how to help them, but what to do if such a person does not want to see a shrink? Where is the line between forcing people to do things your way and leaving your loved ones to die in the arms of drink/drugs/etc.

I saved a wasp from drowning in our kiddie pool today even though it stung me in the finger when I foolishly tried to coax it onto my arm, thinking 'it surely won't as it's got bigger fish to fry' but I managed to not drop it or kill it and it is now probably busy not drowning in our pool.

So the best thing you can do for people who need help is to convince them to see a professional, most often the lashes are only a form of a cry for attention and help anyway, so they should be more or less easily coaxed into seeing a shrink.

p.s.: anyone got any bandaids?

Depeche Mode concert in Ljubljana

It was fun, I am not a great fan of live concerts but I enjoyed myself just listening to their music and avoiding the spastic Italians and Slovenians trying to dance while not moving. The crowd was lukewarm and only became more animated at the end, with the classic Enjoy the Silence (probably because it was the only song whose lyrics the audience knew). DM singer was a maniac prancing around stage, arms flailing, screaming for cooperation and twirling the microphone stand as a cheerleading baton.

I was also fascinated how lighters, which used to be a staple of concerts, are now being replaced by mobile phones dilligently recording or even broadcasting the show around. It was quite an experience seeing a tall Italian man dancing and trying to hold the mobile phone straight so he could record the show.

The blue glowing dots are mobile phone screens:


This raises the old issue, whether it is better to let go and participate fully, but risk forgetting the details later, or recording and thus remaining a detached observer, since you are watching through another eye so to speak.

My beef is with the organizers, who started to let people in an hour and a half later than first promised (luckily I was an hour late myself :), in the end around 3/4 of the stadium were filled), then made us throw all our drinks away (even those still closed), explaining that you could buy drinks inside (half a litre of water, 2 euros).

It was still an enjoyable experience, even though Placebo's songs to me seemed like one and the same replayed over and over. Oh and the seats in the stadium suck.

Greed

Just today I noticed that Google provided me with an ad for the monkey bank and a link to its webpage where some monkey bank boss person offers us a chance to earn at least $100 a day with his foolproof never-before-seen system of cashflow cashflowization.

Of course this raises many questions, first, "Why isn't this a sperm bank instead of a money bank, I sure could use $100 worth of sperm every day?" and second "Why is this guy, who claims to be earning $1500 a day, advertising his silly little cashflow deflowization system on the Internet?"

His innovative new cashflow defoliaton webpage surprisingly features many of the old scammers' favourite elements, such as testimonials, a PHOTO (which is actually just a screenshot) of his supposed bank statement, repeated assurances that this scam is infact not a scam, that any lazy idiot with no experience (the more naive the better) can do it, time pressure (LIMITED TIME OFFER), a 100% satisfaction guarantee and pictures of money.

There is also an option to listen to the great inventor of the cashflow defenestration system but I sadly had to pass on that option as I have a sensitive stomach.

Anyway, it is always amusing to read such webpages, but also a bit depressing, as they would not exist if it were not for the people who fall for it. Greed is a very powerful motivator and the idea of getting something for little to no work is a great producer of fools parting with their money. From people selling speakers and clothes that fell off the back of a truck (they should start making better trucks, really, if you believe all the scammers then last year alone 5 000 000 speakers fell off trucks).

The Internet is a great tool for scammers, as it is easier to lie with all the visual and audial clues removed, and people tend to more easily fall for what they want to believe, so many greedy people, especially people whose cultures teach them to idealize material wealth, who want to climb the society's rungs, readily believe that the population of Nigeria is 30 % widows of rich army officials, 25% rogue army officials, 20% bereaved children and 25% corrupt government officials who need to be bribed so the money can fly over the rainbow right into their pocket.

Many refuse to believe they were scammed even after they are arrested for trying to spend their family's or friends' money, after running out of all their own, some are even lured into Nigeria where they are robbed and even murdered.

So in the end the old adage still proves true, "If it's too good to be true, it's not". Now excuse me while I send my creditcard info to this nice casflow degustation man, he gave me a MONEYBACK GUARANTEE so it must be legit.

A sliver of hope

"Temper, temper," said
the temptress, walking along
the untroden path.

"I want to see behind
the walls and the icebergs,
where the spring waits."

I sat there, silent.
Observing, waiting, hoping. No.
stay, come, stay, go, stay.

Alone, in my spring
I shut and lock the gate, again.
Happy, sad, alone.

A ray of sun shines
Sitting in the green garden,
I watch it die and live.

High Art

In the world of high art the prices are now made and destroyed through the word of various critics who have taken upon themselves the task of deciding what exactly art is or isn't. Deep sounding phrases such as 'the music here takes on a new life' or 'with this bold new painting the artist is not afraid to transcend the plane of existence and reach for heaven' - about a white canvas spattered with green and yellow colour stains.

Modern world of high art has now more than ever become a world of high bullshit, the market has opened to the nouveau rich who have no idea what art is except that they need to have it in order to look good. They check the Internet for a few reviews and buy the item whose description lays it on the most.

The Internet also makes it easier than ever to write any bullshit you want and present it as fact (just look at me for instance), you are not responsible to anyone, you have no editors, no journalistic code, nothing to keep you from writing exactly what you want without feeling bad since you pulled it out of your own behind.

Even though my blog is a shining exception combining the styles of hemmingway, freud with the wit of Pratchett and Balzac, it manages to create something new in this area saturated with pale copies, lifting it above the ordinary and surely making into a new role model for a whole new avantgarde generation of post-blog culture. The mysterious, touching words created by the keyboard of the tortured mind that is Zandi will surely convince you of the sincerity of his feelings if not of the truth of his words. He has wrung his soul dry while striving to create this unique creation.

This could easily be a description for any writer, musician, painter etc who is still trying to bullshit his way to the trough where he can start gorging on the sweet money of the idiots who buy things based on how they are reviewed and promoted and not on their own taste.

So if you have money to spare, send me some, err I mean buy things that will make you happy because you own them, not because the review says you should.

Dragon

Once upon a Wednesday the king was not in a good mood. The queen was sulking, the princess was away on a royal date and the prince was busy chasing maids through the orchards, trying to get them to give him more chocolate or lipstick.

The king sighed, consoling himself that at least the kingdom was still in one piece and that he has not yet been killed by his evil visier, who he had preemptively tossed in jail. But then, a giant shadow glided over the countryside, spewing fire on a barn conveniently, but not strategically, placed on a nearby hill. The barn combusted and all was well again for the farmer who had a latent fear of heights.

Soon after the dragon landed on the still-smouldering ruin and roared. "Fuck!" thought the king, that means I'll have to call that stupid homosexual hero again.

Dreading to see the look of disgust on his wife's face - almost as much as the look of joy on his son's - he called for a messenger and sent him forth to summon the noble hope of the realm.

As the hostage rescue team was negotiating with the dragon to release the donkey which was in the barn at the time of the terrorist attack, the dragon demanding media coverage and international recognition of its struggles as a part of a civil war to overthrow the tyrannt, and not terrorism, the sound of hooves rang in the courtyard.

"The hero has arrived!" sang the pages and the king hurried down to meet him. While shaking the king's hand, the hero was peeking around hoping to catch sight of that delectable young prince, alas he was nowhere to be seen.

However there was the queen, still with ice in her eyes, like it was his fault she had a manly figure and he mistook her for the prince in the dark. Anyway, he thought to himself, there is sure to be a public ceremony after I get rid of the dragon, again, and me and the prince will have some time for ourselves.

Off rode the brave hero, to slay the dragon and save the realm, winning half of the kingdom (after this stunt he would become the largest land owner in the realm) and hopefully the prince's hand in marriage (civil of course).

Thus he rode upon the hill, as wrath itself given life, as vengance in flesh ensconced, as death reincarnate. He reached the dragon who was just finishing the last of the negotiation team, and spake thusly: "Hey dude, you did really well, the king is annoyed the queen is bitchy and the lad will soon be mine. Here is a map of the next coal mine I hope you enjoy it as I enjoyed working with you."

The dragon, the mighty destroyer of life, the eternal hate given form, the reaper of sorrow, snorted, and spake thusly: "You are accurate indeed, it was a very profitable venture and the capital gains have surpassed the operating expenses tenfold. However there has been an unexpected happenstance which rather complicates the situation. I have been partaking in industrial spionage and have received word through confidential yet trustworthy channels that you have conducted your own industrial sabotage mission in the next coal mine, lacing the coal with mercury."

The hero went pale and stuttered: "I, I, I ... Who said this? It is a damn lie!" The dragon motioned his wing and from the shadows, the prince appeared. "You!" roared the hero, "but why!? I gave you everything!"

"Yes," the prince replied, "but you know, dragons, they are, like, soooo big, you know? and their well, you know, those are also big. So big, and dreamy."

And thus the dragon partake in the hero and was sated and he took the prince under his wing and entered into an unholy civil union with him.

Thus peace reigned again in the realm, the king was happy, as the prince stopped hogging the bathroom for hours every morning, the queen, as the hero was gone, and the princess, because the prince left behind his make-up supplies.

And they all lived happily ever after, except the hero, but he died happily ever after so it is ok.

Resentment

People so quickly grow to resent their more successful or even happier friends. There is this need in us to pounce and maul a friend who shows up elated about their new success or source of happiness. This bitter envy, preventing people to rise in the world without losing their friends.

Of course this is dressed up in 'growing apart', 'losing touch', ' different interests' and so on, and yet, is it really so hard to be a friend with someone you share no common ground? I believe not, as long as there is understanding and tolerance you can empathize with your friend's motives and interests, appreciating them not for themselves but for the influence they have on your friend.

This is distressingly common among addicts, as they see anyone who gives up the addiction as 'trying to be better than them' and they often do a lot to try and reel them back in, it is easy to be bad in company of bad people, but when someone shows you that you do not have to be bad, it is much easier to drag them back down than to pull yourself up.

So be prepared that, when you make major changes or advances in your life, there is a possibility that you will lose a few friends, even those really close who seem like they will be a fixture in your life until you die.

This desire to hurt someone happier/better than you is actually a cry for help, a lonely shriek of a hurt beast, striving for (spot)light and attention. Such impulses should be considered seriously, as they are most often a sign of low self esteem and a sense of valuelessness.

Polarity

It is strange how people like to polarize things, either something is good or bad, there's rarely anything in between, we start conditioning people to think so in the early years with fairy tales with good pig farmers (who never touched a pig indecently) going against evil princes (who touched everything they could indecently). It is of course much easier to live in a monochromatic world, but it can become a burden, as you swiftly start dividing the world into 'us' and 'them'. Hating them and loving us of course. This complex world division sadly forgets all those in between, the ones I like to call the 'I-don't-give-a-shits'.

The 'I-don't-give-a-shits' are often not recognized by 'us' and 'them' as they would unneccesarily complicate the situation, so the 'I-don't-give-a-shits' are often classified as 'them' by 'us' and vice-versa and sometimes are seen as source for new recruits.

This sadly inconveniences the 'I-don't-give-a-shits' as they are suddenly attacked or recruited by someone for something they don't give a shit about, they are often not fully aware what the commotion is all about, since who gives a shit about the religion/football team/beer preferred by 'us' or 'them'.

Then they are either flattered or threatened, their sense of patriotism is appealed to (Man you LIVE in Ljubljana, how CAN you not CARE that UNION is better than that shitty laško beer). Or they can just beat you up for not prefering Union or Olimpija or whatever. Such activities are highly counter-productive, as they are a detriment to society and to the individual.

The good side of seeing the world in black and white (quick decisions without too much moralizing and worrying about the cubs of the bear that is trying to eat you) has since been eclipsed by various bad forms of polarization. I believe that unless our lives are in danger we should not give into polarizing the world (no matter how the media would like us to) and try and objectively see any problems that arise, that are not immediately life threatening.

Start living, see the world in colour.

Appearances

I have a photocomic (www.antiwisdom.com) and countless people have commented: "Wow, you guys are totally taking pictures in the middle of the city." Why is it so unimaginable to think about someone doing something completely harmless if it is not common and every-day.

Similarly a person I know online was shocked when her father reported that someone had "Frog wedding" played at a funeral.

I understand the need to generalize the world in simple rules and mechanisms which can help us process and understand it faster, but, when such rules become so ingrown that we are shocked when they are proven to be only arbitrary, I believe that it is high-time to get rid of them and start a new.

I quite treasure adaptibility and tolerance, as they not only make others like you more, they also make you enjoy life more, as there are less things to be afraid of and to be angry with, leading to a less stressful life filled with fewer annoyances and conflicts.

I believe religious people are especially guilty of this (alongside mothers and old middle-class stereotypical biddies), as their arbitrary rules are actually given to them by Santa Claus (or God, I always mix the two up), giving them an extra reason to try to conform and to convert others into conforming as well.

Decency in general is such an important issue in large parts of society that numerous books were written on how to properly behave oneself, which fork to use for salad (if you use the fish fork for salad you get angrily stared at by Metatron), who is to say hello first and so on.

These rules were first meant to make lives easier for everyone, but soon they morphed into a complex choreography of moves and countermoves, similar to fencing, but instead of getting stabbed you only get ridiculed by people more superior than you since they know what to do if a lady next to you drops her hankie and it falls into your wineglass (hint: do not eat it).

This is another problem of culture clash, as when Christian missionaries went around the world they mistakenly though that it was polite to try and convert everybody, and regretfully the pagans though it would be polite to roast and eat them, that is why it is important to learn at least the rudimentary good manners of the country you are visiting (wearing a burkha, not looking people in the eye, looking people in the eye ...).

It would be peachy if everyone were just a tad more flexible and tolerant and just not give a shit how other people behave as long as it does not directly influence them.

(In this post I made fun of God a few times probably pissing a few people off. Advice to those people: "Do not get mad because of what some idiot on the Internet writes about your imaginary friends.")

Attention

Is what people most often want from others, I think attention is even more demanded than help, as a lot of people whining about their problems do not really need help, just a pat on the back and a sympatetic ear. Since such ears are hard to come by (unless you have a sharp knife), a lot of people resort to dramatizing, blowing their problems out of proportion, and even making them up.

This is also a problem on the Internet, where it is even easier to lie and cheat, as you don't have to keep a straight face when doing it, you don't even have to be particularly coherent. You can also add a paypal donation box, and you earn while you whine.

There are of course such cases in the non-virtual world as well, people claiming they (or their children) have leukemia and then asking for donations and so on.

Attention is actually such a commodity that people are starting to charge for it (psychiatrists, then there's the various help hotlines), I am sure you could earn plenty of money just running an ad saying "I'm a good listener, and I will listen to everything you want to tell me with interest and compassion", then just make a recording of you saying 'yes, mhm, that's interesting' and set it so that it runs one of those whenever there's a lull in the conversation.

It is important to have a person or persons in life who are there for you when you need to vent your feelings, explain your problems and feel wanted and loved. So do not shut yourself from society, you can try and turn anyone into a friend, even in this day and age of isolationism and alienation.

Of course, the main rule of friendship is still you get what you give, so try not to have a relationship that is too unequal, as it can quickly turn from friendship into a degenerate patient-doctor relationship, or even confessor-confesser (blame dictionary.com), which is usually sooner or later abandoned by the 'doctor' person, unless they also try to satisfy a martyr complex.

Whatever that may be, the most important is that you become aware of your own desires, needs and complexes, and try to turn them to the positive side, as most of them can be either good or bad (like the 'doctor' person, who can do wonders for society), and to limit them to keep them in check and satisfiable.