kawaiidaigakusei wrote: but I would always attribute that joyful feeling to "nervous laughter". Laughing or smiling at inappropriate times sends out a mixed message that others might translate as a lack of empathy, or a desensitization to other's feelings, but I think it is a defense mechanism during times of high stress.
The smile and even the laugh is supposed to reassure the individual who is suffering that everything will be fine. One of the best things to do with someone who is suffering is to make them laugh because laughter actually lessons physical pain and continued laughter speeds recovery. Having been the guy who calls 9-1-1 as the dumbass security guard a smile and a gentle joke puts everyone at ease in a stressful situation.
When falling down the elevator shaft I broke up laughing after my face smacked the central piller because I realized my face really had broken my fall. It was so patently ridiculous that I laughing the whole time and it didn't hurt so much even thought I was pretty banged up. Even dark gallows humor can work to brighten up someone experiencing a nasty event. "Look I made you smile."
And suddenly everything isn't quite so bad. Certainly better than coming in and falling down in a mess of tears. You laugh and there goes the endorphins and adrenelin and you can do stuff like help. Remember one belly laugh is worth ten thousand syllogisms. and H.L Mencken really did say that. Not philosophy but been there, and holy shit, I really did do that.
Hi Ayes! Wow, that's so cool! You're in another country! … or the US but with a difference. I hate hotel internet… it's so slow these days. A few years ago it tended to be pretty good wherever you were but these days public internet tends to be crap. I suspect it might be because of the growth of tablets and smartphones.
There's a LOT in this thread to catch up on! Kawaii- thanks, I'm glad the WA accent apeals to someone :D Kroatz - I will seeeeeee if I have time in my horribly bussy, scatterbrained life for a play script. I'm co-writing with PitFace and Tantz Ariene at the moment, but not much of that's re-printable. It gets a little ruacious at times, to say the least. If we cleaned it up it might do pretty well on Amazon.com though…
Kroatz wrote: There's nothing wrong with a drink every now and then, depending on your age and health of course, but it should not be needed in times of great joy or great sorrow. Alcohol numbs, and even the slightest bit of abuse will take both the highs and lows out of your life. Nietzsche has some interesting thoughts on the subject, worth a google.
Whoa, steady on there old boy! Had I not been drunk at the time, I would never have spoken to that girl and would subsequently have missed out on all the highs and lows of my life.
Why would anyone give a hoot for Nietzsche's thoughts on alcohol? If you want expert advice, consult an expert - speak to your local publican. He has seen more of joy and sorrow than we will ever know.
Was working on a story for Star Trek Online's Foundry (where you can create your own missions to share with other players) and I found myself asking this… Is an ideology or religiion really such when your ability to make the choice to practice it or not is taken away? There's a part in the mission I'm working on where the player does research on the antagonist aliens.
During the mission they find out that the aliens are locked into their beliefs by a microchip that's planted into newborns. Any deviation from the beliefs of the alien's leaders… ANY DEVIATION… will cause the chip to destroy the brain it's implanted into, making it appear that anyone who has even the slightest rebellious thought will be struck down by the powers that be.
A similar situation occurs in the Street Fighter Alpha series. One of the characters has set out to create his own military nation. At the end he gains a device that can control the minds of a lot of people. He thinks a bit, then destroys it. Something about how ideology has no meaning if no one can think for themselves…
This is all a bit lively… I like it. Work has been shit lately. Well, people off sick, holiday and so on. Small specialised team who are all new to the position so as most experienced the pressure has been on me. Fuckdammit I need a holiday.
So many people to repond to! And you guys actually think about what you say. Or… You know… Type. I'm just gonna respond to Ironscarf, and come back for the rest of you wonderful thinkers later.
So… Dear Mr. Scarf. You most likely met Mrs. Scarf at a time in your life that was average. You were neither very depressed, nor completely and perfectly happy. The alcohol helped a little, giving you one less mental threshold to cross before daring to speak to the unknown love of your life. Had you been very unhappy at the time, you most likely wouldn't have. Had you been very happy at the time, you possibly would have, even without the help of partial inebriation. So, yes. Alcohol can numb a little, and that can be helpful. But no, it is not necessary to have been drinking to guarantee positive or negative results.
Also, as an explanation of my original point, I offer you the following scenario:
You have a nice house, and your happiness level is 5. Your house burns down. Your happiness level is now -5. After you discover that your house burns down, you go get a drink, to numb the sadness. The happiness level then goes up a little, from -5 to a -2. The alcohol numbs a little.
After a while, during which you continue drowning your sorrows, you build a new house. Your happiness level then becomes a 3. It would have been higher, most likely a 6, but the fact that you didn't feel how bad your situation used to be to the fullest extent, makes the euphoria and happiness of building the new house less powerful.
I guess what I'm trying to say is: If you don't know how bad things can become, you won't experience the good times as much either.
God, this stuff is so much easier in the real world, and so much harder when writing, in another language, without seeing someones expression, getting a direct response, or knowing much about their frame of reference.
Kroatz wrote: So many people to repond to! And you guys actually think about what you say. Or… You know… Type. I'm just gonna respond to Ironscarf, and come back for the rest of you wonderful thinkers later.
I resent that implication! Just because I type a short and pithy response with a humourous undertone, that doesn't mean it's any less relevant or thought out than the more lengthy, serious sounding replies from the wonderful thinkers. I could have edited that response down from the original 23 page draft.
Anyway, here's my frame of reference. I come from a drinking culture. When the adults would drink at family occasions, us kids would be given cider to practise on. By the time I was old enough to enter a pub with my friends (18 over here) I was already a seasoned drinker who knew his limits. There was no need for excess - the novelty had worn off years earlier.
My father came from a working class background and spent his life making things in factories that only machines know how to make now. He and his friends worked shifts and at weekends, they'd go out and enjoy themselves, sometimes together and sometimes with their families and the beer kept flowing, steady as the Nile. His parents and his parents parents did the same. Our ancestors drank beer all day as they worked the fields, because it was much healthier than the water and one of mine, possibly my great great great grandfather, averted a stagecoach robbery by being too drunk at the reins to see the highwaymen in his path. He simply rode his coach straight over them.
Later of course, I became aware of those who abused alcohol. They would drink alone, in secret, which seemed bizarre to me. Like most of you I'm sure, I have personal experience of the damage alcohol abuse can inflict on individuals and those around them, but you can no more blame alcohol for that than you can blame food for the obesity epidemic we are now experiencing.
Alcohol is just what we do on weekends and special occasions and sometimes just for the hell of it, but I can promise you, without it I would never have approached the young Mrs Scarf at all, let alone with enough bravado to secure her phone number. Now some people may think it sad that I needed Dutch Courage (why do they call it that?) to achieve the above. Good luck to those superior beings. In the words of the great John Lydon, there are many ways to get what you want: I use the best - I use the rest!
@ Ironscarf: After re-reading what I wrote, I can see how it may look like I tried to exclude you from the 'wonderful thinkers' category. Please know that that was not what I was trying to do. The: 'I'm just gonna respond to Ironscarf' line, was only meant to announce that yours was the only post I was going to answer. 'Just' has some subtle meanings that the closest Dutch translation does not have.
Any implication that you are in any way lesser, or your opinions are in any way less valuable, were not meant at all and most likely stem from a combination of tiredness and a slight language barrier. I am sorry I offended you, and I understand my mistake. I will make sure I pick my words more carefully next time, because the last thing I want to do is insult or alienate any of you.
In response to your actual post: I realize that alcohol is a very big part of a lot of people's lives. I come from the Netherlands, there's stuff available to most of us that would cause lengthy prison sentences even a few kilometers across the border. In the Netherlands we recently raised the legal drinking age a few years, and there were protests. We value our freedom of mind-alteration.
But even though I have extremely easy access to drink, pot, shrooms, or even some of the harder stuff, I choose not to partake. If I am happy, I don't need any of it to remain happy, and if I'm sad, I won't be helped by any of it either. And I do not think that alcohol- or drug-abuse is in any way caused by the products themselves. Too much of anything is wrong, and usually the fault of the consumer.
But to me, and this is a personal opinion, any amount of mind-altering, mind-numbing, mind-expanding, or mind-improving substances has the potential to be too much. If I meet you after a few drinks, and you behave completely different from sober-scarf, then you are not the same person. If it would not alter you much, then what's really the point? And this is completely seperate from the effects it has on your own life. Anything enjoyed under the influence has less value, it would be more beautiful if you had been sober, because you would have seen it, felt it, and been able to think about as it really is, instead of the blurred, softened image that alcohol sends to your brain.
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@Lonnehart: If everyone in the world, in the universe, would be forced to worship Flubbert the powerful, or die, then I personally do not believe that that would be true worship. At the very least it would call into question if independent thought, and free will, actually exist.
But are a lot of religions not doing the same, or even worse things right now? Worship Sponk, the smelly, or you will burn forever in his rancid sex dungeon. If a religion can force you to believe in their particular afterlife, and then tell you that you can only reach it if you do what they say, that's as bad as a microchip to the brain.
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@Bravo: Dollar - Daalder. Which was an old form of Dutch currency. Yankee - Jan Kees. A typical old Dutch name. (Two, really) Cookie - Koekje. Which means biscuit. Wall Street - Wal straat. Means wall street, but was Dutch first. Boss - Baas. Means the same, Dutch first. Brooklyn - Breukelen. A name most likely meaning forest town. Coney Island - Konijn eiland. Rabbit Island. Decoy - De kooi. Meaning the cage. Luck - Geluk. Means almost the same, but geluk has happiness attached to it.
I looked it up, and around 1% of all english words have their origin in Dutch. Which is probably much lower than the amount of English words in Dutch.
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@Vladimirmasters: Drink as much as you feel comfortable with. I am not someone you should be taking much advice from. (Except if I recommend books, I have good taste in books.)
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@Cutecollegestudent: 1984 is the most depressingly uplifting book I know, and I read it about once every two years. Even in the 'free' world, we're halfway there. We're being monitored, told lies, cut up into a ruling class and a working class, and being slowly forced into a few big regions that are constantly at war with each other. In a way, our reality is a bit worse, because our subjugation is mostly voluntary. One horrible tragedy every once in a while, and the ruling class can push any new laws they want. Even a real Newspeak is slowly being fleshed out, starting with rofl omg lol, and ending with no concept of freedom.
It's cool that you have a personal link to the subject matter, and living in a communist country for a while should, if not pleasant, at least be interesting. And no, the original idea behind communism will never work. Just like the pure forms of democracy and capitalism will never work. It's human nature that gets in the way of human hope. All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others. We'll always want more than everyone else, which is the reason why we're at the top of the food chain, and also the reason why we'll not remain there forever.
On chairs: That's not a chair! This is a chair! *Throw chair, storm out.*
On Nietzsche: The übermensch thing is actually misunderstood by most. Most of the negative connotations are because Hitler, who was on friendly terms with Nietzsche's sister, adopted the term but not the meaning. I guess I haven't really delved into the subject enough, but I understand Übermensch as a man or woman that makes the most of their life, mostly in the realm of intellect and philosophy.
And finally, everyone in a group should be on the same level of intoxication. My preferred level is just a lot lower than the one that others appear to prefer.
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Hippievan: The French language, even though I have never spent a happy moment in its vicinity, is something that I wish I was better at. The lessons I had in high school were forced, and I did not feel the need and importance back then. That is why hearing that your dad is learning French, at a later age than, is very inspiring. I truly hope I still have the will to learn when I get to my late 40's, early 50's. (Which is the age I would guess your father to be. Mine have reached that milestone, and are dreading the next.)
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@Ayes: I hope you have a wonderful holiday, that feels longer than they usually do. And that you make at least three new memories. (Quality over Quantity)
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@Ozone: Any help you can offer is welcome. And I think it's extremely cool that you're writing with others. My last writing partner had to go back to India, and we haven't done much since then. I guess I should give up hope that that story ever finishes.
Kroatz wrote: @ Ironscarf: After re-reading what I wrote, I can see how it may look like I tried to exclude you from the ‘wonderful thinkers’ category. Please know that that was not what I was trying to do. The: ‘I’m just gonna respond to Ironscarf' line, was only meant to announce that yours was the only post I was going to answer. ‘Just’ has some subtle meanings that the closest Dutch translation does not have.
Any implication that you are in any way lesser, or your opinions are in any way less valuable, were not meant at all and most likely stem from a combination of tiredness and a slight language barrier. I am sorry I offended you, and I understand my mistake. I will make sure I pick my words more carefully next time, because the last thing I want to do is insult or alienate any of you.
In response to your actual post: I realize that alcohol is a very big part of a lot of people's lives. I come from the Netherlands, there's stuff available to most of us that would cause lengthy prison sentences even a few kilometers across the border. In the Netherlands we recently raised the legal drinking age a few years, and there were protests. We value our freedom of mind-alteration.
But even though I have extremely easy access to drink, pot, shrooms, or even some of the harder stuff, I choose not to partake. If I am happy, I don't need any of it to remain happy, and if I'm sad, I won't be helped by any of it either. And I do not think that alcohol- or drug-abuse is in any way caused by the products themselves. Too much of anything is wrong, and usually the fault of the consumer.
But to me, and this is a personal opinion, any amount of mind-altering, mind-numbing, mind-expanding, or mind-improving substances has the potential to be too much. If I meet you after a few drinks, and you behave completely different from sober-scarf, then you are not the same person. If it would not alter you much, then what's really the point? And this is completely seperate from the effects it has on your own life. Anything enjoyed under the influence has less value, it would be more beautiful if you had been sober, because you would have seen it, felt it, and been able to think about as it really is, instead of the blurred, softened image that alcohol sends to your brain.
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@Lonnehart: If everyone in the world, in the universe, would be forced to worship Flubbert the powerful, or die, then I personally do not believe that that would be true worship. At the very least it would call into question if independent thought, and free will, actually exist.
But are a lot of religions not doing the same, or even worse things right now? Worship Sponk, the smelly, or you will burn forever in his rancid sex dungeon. If a religion can force you to believe in their particular afterlife, and then tell you that you can only reach it if you do what they say, that's as bad as a microchip to the brain. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
@Bravo: Dollar - Daalder. Which was an old form of Dutch currency. Yankee - Jan Kees. A typical old Dutch name. (Two, really) Cookie - Koekje. Which means biscuit. Wall Street - Wal straat. Means wall street, but was Dutch first. Boss - Baas. Means the same, Dutch first. Brooklyn - Breukelen. A name most likely meaning forest town. Coney Island - Konijn eiland. Rabbit Island. Decoy - De kooi. Meaning the cage. Luck - Geluk. Means almost the same, but geluk has happiness attached to it.
I looked it up, and around 1% of all english words have their origin in Dutch. Which is probably much lower than the amount of English words in Dutch.
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@Vladimirmasters: Drink as much as you feel comfortable with. I am not someone you should be taking much advice from. (Except if I recommend books, I have good taste in books.) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - @Cutecollegestudent: 1984 is the most depressingly uplifting book I know, and I read it about once every two years. Even in the ‘free’ world, we're halfway there. We're being monitored, told lies, cut up into a ruling class and a working class, and being slowly forced into a few big regions that are constantly at war with each other. In a way, our reality is a bit worse, because our subjugation is mostly voluntary. One horrible tragedy every once in a while, and the ruling class can push any new laws they want. Even a real Newspeak is slowly being fleshed out, starting with rofl omg lol, and ending with no concept of freedom.
It's cool that you have a personal link to the subject matter, and living in a communist country for a while should, if not pleasant, at least be interesting. And no, the original idea behind communism will never work. Just like the pure forms of democracy and capitalism will never work. It's human nature that gets in the way of human hope. All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others. We'll always want more than everyone else, which is the reason why we're at the top of the food chain, and also the reason why we'll not remain there forever.
On chairs: That's not a chair! This is a chair! *Throw chair, storm out.*
On Nietzsche: The übermensch thing is actually misunderstood by most. Most of the negative connotations are because Hitler, who was on friendly terms with Nietzsche's sister, adopted the term but not the meaning. I guess I haven't really delved into the subject enough, but I understand Übermensch as a man or woman that makes the most of their life, mostly in the realm of intellect and philosophy.
And finally, everyone in a group should be on the same level of intoxication. My preferred level is just a lot lower than the one that others appear to prefer.
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Hippievan: The French language, even though I have never spent a happy moment in its vicinity, is something that I wish I was better at. The lessons I had in high school were forced, and I did not feel the need and importance back then. That is why hearing that your dad is learning French, at a later age than, is very inspiring. I truly hope I still have the will to learn when I get to my late 40's, early 50's. (Which is the age I would guess your father to be. Mine have reached that milestone, and are dreading the next.)
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@Ayes: I hope you have a wonderful holiday, that feels longer than they usually do. And that you make at least three new memories. (Quality over Quantity) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
@Ozone: Any help you can offer is welcome. And I think it's extremely cool that you're writing with others. My last writing partner had to go back to India, and we haven't done much since then. I guess I should give up hope that that story ever finishes.
I was actually just kidding with my opening paragraph and wasn't offended at all. I should have made that clearer but always forget how difficult it is to interpret these things online. I also admit to not drafting a 28 page reply and editing it down!
We'll have to agree to differ on this one. I can't view a reasonable amount of alcohol as dulling the senses. It may dull one or two, but others are heightened as a result! Some people are having a wonderful time all the time without the aid of stimulants and I envy them their brain chemistry. Others require constant medication just to remain on an even keel. If a little of one can help you to join in with the other then all the better! Of course, non drinkers should not be pressured to join in with the drinking and no serious drinker would attempt such a thing. Someone has to do the driving after all. They are worth their weight in gold.
I must say, your handling of English is far better than most of the natives!
Kroatz wrote: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - @Bravo: Dollar - Daalder. Which was an old form of Dutch currency. Yankee - Jan Kees. A typical old Dutch name. (Two, really)
That is one alternate derivation of Yankee. It could also come from a Pequot term used in Massechusetts. Jan Kees probably postdates the Pequot. The true origin is obscure. I got this from a recent history of the Puritan-indian wars so this research may not have filtered into the internet yet. Amazingly according to some sources Dollar passed into English through the Spanish! But considering Holland was once the Spanish Netherlands the connection is understandable. It was the Spanish dollar which was a currency used in the New World that probably directly passed "dollar" into English but the Spanish dollar derived from the Dutch currency. Little convoluted, so some references forget the Dutch connection.
The further back you go the more words there are in English from other languages. According to Noah Webster and Washington Irving the Dutch influence was purely on the American language. Hence it being cookies in the USA and biscuits in Britain. The first use of "cookie" in print supposedly was a cookbook from around the 1780s.
Since the Norse predate so many other influences fully 25-33% of modern English derives from old Norse and then comes Norman French (being spoken by guys only two generations removed from being Norwegian) Mix in a pot for and cook on high for two centuries and you get Chaucer. Lower to a simmer and wait two more Centuries and you get Shakespeare. Let stand a century, season with lots of dictionary writers and grammarians and serve.
Just a question for your military types (because I'm too lazy to sift through Wikipedia and because I like getting info from those who know the subject)…
How are military groups organized? I hear like things like "group", "wing", and "squadron" tossed about. Sometimes I'll hear the words used to mean the same group of pilots, and sometimes they'll be used to refer to some larger group.
I'd like to get my groupings right before some air force/navy nutcase starts unloading on me about how wrong I am (for the comic I'm trying to draw)… :)
Over the last few days, I have been analyzing why I have a penchant for being joyful at the expense of someone else's misfortune. Chalk it up to schadenfreude, or as bravo puts it, shaleasure.
Then I realised that three of my favorite comedians: Louis C.K., Conan O'Brien, and Woody Allen (circa Annie Hall and Manhattan), have all poked fun at themselves in their jokes that I have no other reaction, but to laugh. The act of witnessing a comic debase himself has uplifted my mood on several occasions and has reinforced what ozoneocean said, "in English the proper word for (laughing at misfortune) is "comedy".
@bravo- It would be interesting to see a drawn diagram of the elevator shaft that you keep mentioning. How many floors high was the fall? It sounds like an emotionally distressing event from the details you have mentioned like your face smacking the central pillar.
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Oh and for anyone living in colder climates. I just started using an electric blanket tonight and it is one of the most amazing investments during the winter.
There can be no humor without at least a tiny bit of victim. Any joke is at the expense of someone, be they real or fictional. My favorite 'funny' writer started his series of books with two books about a completely failed wizzard. The whole book was poking fun at his inadequacy. But there was no mean-ness involved, the writer was not hurting anyone real with his words. And I think that's important, make jokes that are not meant to hurt people, and you're good.
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Radioplay 2015 needs volunteer judges! Radioplay 2015 needs volunteer writers! Anyone that wants to write, but doesn't feel too sure about their skills by themselves, PQ me, and I'll see what I can do to help.
There are two scripts so far. The first a complete story about two time travelling brothers, that have an adventure through time and space! The second is the first episode of a fantasy series about a strict and noble captain of the guard and an unlucky adventurer with a great destiny!
We want more! It's easy! Anyone can write! Free help is offered!
As much as I like my university, it is incredibly slow in getting final grades to us. It's been over a month since I took my final exam last semester - how has the senate not had time to review the grades yet?
A squadron is part of wing and a wing is a subdivison of a group. At least in the RAF. Subdivisions of squadrons are called flights. In between group and wing are stations. Usually a bunch of wings are based at a specific station and under one commanding officer.
The USAAF usually has squadrons as part of group. Groups are part of an Air Force and Air Forces are regionally organized into air divisions. The various Air Commands are more for doctrine and force mission statements like putting all the bombers and missiles into the Stategic Air Command. Though squadrons from SAC and ADC and TAC are all put together in air forces and air divsions. SAC, ADC, and TAC have all had their names changed in the Post-Cold war era.
Somehow I dreamt that I was on the Worst Cooks of America. Now I consider myself a decent cook. I'm not bad enough to burn the stuff I cook.
So here I am, boiling water for a dish. As it is cooling a cat comes up, sniffs the water, and dies on the spot. Tyler Florence kicks me off the team right then and there. And I do a smack facepalm… which is how I woke up…
Now why did I dream I was on that show? Because it was playing on TV… O_O
Thanks for the info, Bravo. From what your info says, most of the story I'm writing will take place at the Flight or Squadron level. I take it the Navy works that way too? Can't say that the ship is a carrier. It's way too large I think (nearly 2,500 to 3,000 meters long). It's meant to be a "Battle Fortress" class vessel.
Think a battleship on steroids. With a large number of fighters at its disposal (normally 50,000 fighters, but the ship's circumstances will drastically reduce that number), and armed to the teeth with weaponry. And a powerful "main gun" that can be fired in a variety of ways… Short burst shots that can be fired rapidly to one powerful all or nothing shot that leave the ship somewhat defenseless due to the enormous power drain.
And I don't intend for the thing to transform (it has no need to). Meanwhile the Super Dimension Fortress Macross HAD to transform. Thanks to the circumstances surrounding its first launch it lost vital circuitry that was needed to fire its main gun. Transforming was the only way to reconnect the remaining components in order to charge and fire the weapon.
kawaiidaigakusei wrote: Oh and for anyone living in colder climates. I just started using an electric blanket tonight and it is one of the most amazing investments during the winter.
I've been planning to form a psychedelic blues power trio for a while now but couldn't come up with the right name. The Electric Blanket might just do it.
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Accursed washing machine has broken down and can't be fixed. I hate domestic appliances. I know everything is built to self destruct in three years now, but these things are such a hassle to replace.
The cold here is getting genuinely hard to bear. -34C right now. It's at the point now where even momentary contact between the outside air and my skin is literally painful. It's hard not to get down in the dumps this time of year, even for those of us who don't suffer from SAD. I was standing at a bus stop the other day, freezing my pants off and thinking "I hope it warms up soon." And then realized that no, of course it won't warm up soon - there's at least another 3 months of this before it even starts to warm up, and then who knows how long after that before the snow melts and we get lovely things like grass again.
Also, if someone found me a pair of boots that will keep my feet warm (or at least not freezing and wet) and won't make me a social outcast, I would love that person forever.
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I have to go to a wedding this weekend for a couple friends of mine. I haven't been to one since I was eight or so and I'm totally dreading it. I've only been invited to the ceremony and not the reception which has me a little bit bummed out and puts me in a weird position where I'm not sure if I'm meant to get them a gift or not. To any parents on this site: please explain these aspects of grown-up life to your children. There's no note on the invitation so I have no clue what I'm expected to get them, or where I'll put it when I get there, or anything. So far the internet has not been helpful.
HippieVan wrote: I have to go to a wedding this weekend for a couple friends of mine. I haven't been to one since I was eight or so and I'm totally dreading it. I've only been invited to the ceremony and not the reception which has me a little bit bummed out and puts me in a weird position where I'm not sure if I'm meant to get them a gift or not. To any parents on this site: please explain these aspects of grown-up life to your children. There's no note on the invitation so I have no clue what I'm expected to get them, or where I'll put it when I get there, or anything. So far the internet has not been helpful.
The following fron The London Economic - full article here.
If you’re invited to the actual wedding ceremony, give the bride and groom a gift. No ifs, no buts! If you’re invited to the evening reception, or a party after the actual ceremony has occurred, you may or may not wish to give a gift, but many people do anyway. If you attend the ceremony, it’s the pit of bad manners not to give a gift. Even if the bride and groom insist that they don’t want a gift, give one anyway. Clair Hart from wedbay.co.uk said “One of my married friends warned me ‘not everyone will buy you a gift, and you’ll be acutely aware of who didn’t for the rest of time’. I thought it sounded extreme, but post wedding, when writing down names next to gifts, ready to start penning 150 thank you cards, the absent names of some close friends were as disappointing as that engagement ring sized box containing a fridge magnet I was once given.” In a pole conducted by the website, 98% of users said that you should provide a gift if you’re invited to the wedding ceremony.
HippieVan wrote: As much as I like my university, it is incredibly slow in getting final grades to us. It's been over a month since I took my final exam last semester - how has the senate not had time to review the grades yet?
Seriously! They need to get their act together. The ideal is that final grades get sent out before Christmas Day so you can spend the remaining days of the holiday not stressing out over GPAs and mentally prep for the next semester. Nice professors take about a week after finals to submit grades.
On the topic of weddings- I assumed it would be the opposite. The reception is the part that costs $$$ money depending on the number of guests. The ceremony is practically free or at a fixed rate. If you do buy a gift, don't overspend. Money is always appreciated to cover wedding costs, but kitchen appliances are also affordable and practical. I still believe that weddings are really just one giant goodbye party to your former life and single friends.
Hilarious about the winter boot photo! That was the type of boot I imagined would work. I managed to get through Ontario's polar vortex last year using FitFlop boots. Water never seeped into them and I could just double up on socks for extra warmth.
Ironscarf wrote: I've been planning to form a psychedelic blues power trio for a while now but couldn't come up with the right name. The Electric Blanket might just do it.
You have Iron Scarf and Electric Blanket. Now all you need is the Robot Tie and you'll have a trifecta of metal awesomeness.
Before the US Army developed a love of hot, dry places they used to send everyone to cold, wet places. So a good pair of shoes is a necessity unless you like frostbite and trenchfoot. I've seen frostbite in damp at nearly 50 fahrenehit. It was the damp. So anything to keep your feet warm and dry is the right choice. The Danner Fort Lewis. What a magnifcent boot. Warm, dry even snuggly. And worth every penny.
kawaiidaigakusei wrote: I still do not get how so many ladies are able to wear high heeled, leather boots in the snow. Slippery ice and ankles do not mix.
Gotta lace it really tight so there is lots of support for the ankle. But then the secret to not slipping is rubber heels.
True story, went to a medieval event in my East German officer's boots. Long black boots with a wonderful molded rubber sole. It was rainy and snowy and I saw several ladies in the long leather boots slip. I'd help them up and show them the underside of my boot. Gripping rubber sole. I had also mink-oiled the boots to make them waterproof. I got rid of them when I sold the rest of the East German uniform. Some guy has the whole outfit on a manniquin.
But those boots weren't nothing compared to my Danner Fort Lewis boots. Still have tehm and after years of neglect I shined and mink-oiled them and they look as good as new after over 20 years. A good pair of boots is an investment, not a mere purchase like so may other types of footwear.
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