The above the line/below the line contrast here is good. I'm also perversely hoping that the first couple people to comment on the post aren't sober, but Emerson doesn't appear to be around and I have to go to sleep.
yeah, where my becks-style peeps at? goodnight w/d.
Sharing: I never drink. Never never never. I like the taste of good beer, so I have a beer... about once every three months, with pizza. I once got totally debauched and had two beers... in two hours.
The prospect of being drunk terrifies me. I have problems with vertigo from time to time and I really dislike it, and I have problems with hallucinatory dreams that I can't tell from reality and I really hate it, and I have a huge anger problem that I shoved in a closet instead of resolving (I had an unhappy time of it in jr. high and high school), and I'm afraid that they'll all get out of the cages I keep them in at the same time if I drink and I'll do something awful and only half-remember it and then get dizzy and pass out.
NBarnes: your not drinking plan seems sound. the whole doing awful shit that you only half-remember, getting dizzy and passing out thing? that actually happens to drunk people all the time, and if you think it might happen to you, why not avoid the whole problem?
but also, the seething repressed anger that you fear will eat out of its containment like some livid acid? talking to therapist/psychiatrist types about it can really help. neither drugs not talk therapy are cure-alls but both/either can be very helpful, especially for specific problems like "I'm afraid if I let myself get angry the monster inside me will come out." just my 2 cents which you can feel free to ignore on the grounds that I'm crazy. poorly-adjusted--like a fox!
I'm glad you recognise that people don't really think you're boring, no matter now much they may feign nonchalance.
In the cold light of dawn -- actually not even dawn yet:
My sister -- who weights about 100 lbs. (up to size 4 now) and is white, white, white -- counsels some hard cases, such as guys who have to go into drug treatment in order to get out of jail a year early. She has lots of stories, like the guy whose introductory statement was "When someone starts telling me what to do I'll snap their neck in a New York minute."
She has to intimidate them without making them mad or stigmatizing them, and she succeeds. Only in part because she can send them back to jail. most of her clients do have enormous emotional vulnerabilities and she probably fills their mom niche, which might be empty. Though perhaps you fit their femme fatale niche, no offense intended.
She has a M.S. in psych, but her most important job training came from being married to a near-sociopath for 18 years.
The guy mentioned above did well in the program and dropped his hostility. Unfortunately, he's trying to make it in a hostile environment and his future is uncertain. He's in a white community where everyone's suspicious of him, but if he goes home he'll run into all his old crime partners, or the surviving ones.
"sometimes the agents go rouge"
Freudian slip or intentional?
It's interesting to think about other people's self-perception. It's so hard to get an accurate picture of how other people see you--I, for one, have no idea. I feel like I come off like a big ol' bitch, but people have repeatedly told me otherwise.
I had a funny experience last week where I was sitting with another student in a professor's office, and the prof was looking for something, and quietly said, "fuck!" Then he turned and apologized. I said something like "you don't have to apologize to me" (friendly tone) and he smiled and said "I know I don't have to apologize to you, I'm apologizing to [other student]." We all had a good laugh. The thing is, I'm pretty positive I've never used profanity in front of this professor, 'cause I have a policy of not doing so. On the other hand, I generally have a quite foul mouth. I was baffled by his reaction; it was like he somehow knew. My friend upon hearing this story was totally not confused--he said that while some girls seem "sweet," I seem "salty." I'm baffled that this is apparent to everyone else but me.
No colon pictures, thank god. It was really hard to click the link that extends the whole post...
if you stare into the barrel of a snub-nosed .38 revolver you can see the bullet glittering down in there
It's even better view with a .45. and hollow-points. I've spent a few nights staring down a cocked & unlocked Colt, thumb on the trigger, fingers pressing the grip safety. I'm still here so I must not have twitched.
I've speculated about low-power telepathy but my money is on subtle body language and something in the voice tones. People can tell when I simply no longer care about consequences.
7: I meant rogue. I changed it.
9: it would have been pretty fucking funny if I had put a picture of my colon up there. just when you thought it was safe to go back in the weblog...
I also am routinely told, as it were confessionally, after time and experience have softened the impression, that I am intimidating. Which surprises me, because I also smile often. Maybe this comes across as teeth-baring, I don't know.
10: yeah, I guess if someone's attitude somehow says "I seriously don't give a fuck" that could be intimidating.
Change it back. It's obviously a play on "Khmer Rouge".
The birth of an idiom.
Let's also note, alameida, that you descend from a long line of ass-kickers and you're wicked smart. Then there's all that philosophy. And your methods are sound.
That combination might be intimidating. (Some place other than Unfogged, obvsly.)
I totally want to photoshop a big bullet into that colon pic, but I don't have time. Could you just imagine it? Thanks.
And of course you won't seem the same to everyone. I know people who've been told they're inscrutable by some, and that they wear their emotions on their sleeve by others. Ditto for "complicated" and "shallow," etc. That said, just about any smart person is going to be intimidating to some people.
"[I]f you stare into the barrel of a snub-nosed .38 revolver you can see the bullet glittering down in there like a fascinating copper snake."
This is a fun sentence. You ought to write a spy novel. Beginning with this sentence.
I get told that I'm intimidating until you get to know me reasonably often; for me I think it's shyness. Until I warm up to people I'm very cold and stiff.
Then he turned and apologized. I said something like "you don't have to apologize to me" (friendly tone) and he smiled and said "I know I don't have to apologize to you, I'm apologizing to [other student]." We all had a good laugh. The thing is, I'm pretty positive I've never used profanity in front of this professor, 'cause I have a policy of not doing so. On the other hand, I generally have a quite foul mouth. I was baffled by his reaction; it was like he somehow knew. My friend upon hearing this story was totally not confused--he said that while some girls seem "sweet," I seem "salty." I'm baffled that this is apparent to everyone else but me.
This is funny, because I get the opposite reaction -- I'm the one people turn to and apologize for swearing, which is kind of silly because I'm foulmouthed and don't care. But I apparently radiate an (absolutely illusory) air of decency and purity.
an (absolutely illusory) air of decency and purity
Me, when I think LB I think "driven snow".
"I'm glad you recognise that people don't really think you're boring"
I'm glad you recognise that it really doesn't matter whether people think you're boring or not.
"Me, when I think LB I think 'driven snow'."
like, the kind that cars have been driving on?
For better or worse, I am almost always read consistently, and in a way consistent with my sense of myself. How I feel about it depends on how I feel about myself, but I somehow seldom give anybody a misleading impression, even if I might like to.
19: it sounds like you could be my sister.
All three of my real sisters, and me most of all, have gotten this sort of thing from guys: "why you so serious? Smile, baby!"
I have no idea how I appear to others.
I don't really know how you appear to others, either, alameida, except that to me you appear to be an excellent writer.
I once owned a .38 police special--not the snub, slightly longer barrel--and was curious about whether you could see the round down the length of the chamber. Well, why not just look?
I was holding it in my right hand, swung the nose around to look down it, and when it got to about 30 degrees off the line of sight--say, pointing over my left shoulder--all the gun-safety classes kicked in and I just couldn't point it at my face. In fact, I gave myself a verbal ass-kicking for even *thinking* about pointing a loaded gun at my face. (For a brief moment it hadn't occurred to me that "looking down the barrel" equals "aiming to shoot yourself in the face"--one of those weird equivalences which is obvious but miss-able.)
Too many sad endings start with a stupid move like that. I know, biohazard, you're the one with your finger on it so it won't go off unless you want it to. Except when the cat jumps on your lap or the dog jostles you or any stupid thing. Any stupid thing combined with the stupid thing of having a loaded gun pointed at your face can be one stupid thing too many.
What was especially upsetting was the possibility that it would look like suicide. I have never been a suicidal person--self-laothing, sure, depressed to the point of paralysis, yes, but not suicidal--and I would never want other people to worry that I had offed myself.
Details people. What kind of revolvers? Smith? Colt? Hold on to those Colts, they don't make revolvers anymore. My wife's got a .357, and I've got a .454, both Rugers, but I've never thought to look down the barrel while it's loaded.
s&w of course--surely the most widely issued police special, innit?
yeah, smith & wesson, although my dad has an old colt revolver I think. and gswift, looking down the barrel of a loaded gun is a dumbass move, so I don't recommend it. strangely fascinating though. mmm, deadly.
Except when the cat jumps on your lap or the dog jostles you or any stupid thing.
Or somebody hands you a plate of fried chicken.
Oddly, I've just been discussing this intimidation issue elsewhere. I think a lot of it has to do with not really knowing how we come across to people and how they are interpreting our actions; I'm sure I intimidate a lot of people, because I don't talk much and seem to have an air of aloofness. It's actually shyness, but they don't know that.
I think this idea of scary women is really interesting. I think I come off as a big softie in person until I'm crossed or insulted, when all that friendly cheer hardens into a cool, distant regard as if from down the barrel of a very big gun. Living in New York, I've managed to perfect this look on the street and on the train, and no one messes with me. I have confronted a few crazies aiming for a fight, and though they could probably have kicked my ass, I freaked them out enough that they left me alone.
Being a scary woman keeps you out of all kinds of trouble.
And of course you won't seem the same to everyone. I know people who've been told they're inscrutable by some, and that they wear their emotions on their sleeve by others. Ditto for "complicated" and "shallow," etc.
Ogged, I get this sense that you're not always as confident as you like other people to think you are, but that you're most (not all) of the time honest with yourself. If you pay me $100 I can come up with some other insights into your personality.
Me, when I think LB I think 'driven snow'.
"I used to be Snow White, but then I drifted."
looking down the barrel of a loaded gun is a dumbass move, so I don't recommend it.
Yeah, not real tempting. Beyond the death thing, I'd really, really hate to go out as a Darwin Award.
I am like LB - people tell me I am angelic and innocent and always, always, always apologize to me for swearing though my kids can attest to the fact that I swear all the time. I see myself as sarcastic and more like M. Leblanc's image. I always assumed it was the headscarf that was distorting my first impressions. The other thing that is annoying is that people always seem to either really think I am a lot younger than I am, or insist on pretending that, which is very irritating. I am 38 and I went through a lot of experiences in that 38 years and for me it is not a compliment for people to act as if I am a kid fresh out of college or something.
Alameida's post made me really want to see her in person though. To see if she is really that scary.
People regularly tell me they were scared of me, which I don't get at all, 'cause I am always smiley and goofy.
If you pay me $100 I can come up with some other insights into your personality
Money is nice, but wouldn't you rather make a simple trade? dsquared, I sense in you a doleful yearning for the love of a strong, smart, and ugly woman. Someone who will not break in the face of your sadism, and whose ugliness will establish to the world that your libido is invariably vigorous.
"I'm sure I intimidate a lot of people"
and I myself am very sure I instill just a tinge of fear, along with admiration, love, concern for my well-being, appreciation for my taste in hats, warmth, comfort, joy, sincere thankfulness for my choice in deodorant, along with several more indescribable good things. This sureness, it is nice.
I wonder if the look on the face of a "scary" woman is not that different from the look on the face of a man who knows he's extremely handsome.
"always smiley and goofy"
jesus, no wonder people are scared of you.
apostropher--I read the fried chicken link. That makes my point very, very well.
Can we have a consensus here that, whatever alameida and her friends say, you really, really, should avoid looking down the barrels of loaded handguns? Maybe even extend that prescription to firearms in general?
(by the way--any of you who enjoy firearms have *got* to go look at the "box of truth". It's a web-site devoted to shooting at things and seeing what happens. A perfect mixture of hillbilly empiricism and dumb-fuck laughs. Hilarious, and very informative. E.g., they demonstrate pretty convincingly that the old thing about putting rock-salt into a shotgun results in a load that cannot possibly hurt you at more than about ten feet away.)
is that to say that "scary" women are women who know they are extremely handsome?
Can we have a consensus here that, whatever alameida and her friends say, you really, really, should avoid looking down the barrels of loaded handguns? Maybe even extend that prescription to firearms in general?
I doubt alameida and her rehab friends are actually encouraging this behavior.
36: It's probably all the throwing stuff off of roofs.
by the way--any of you who enjoy firearms have *got* to go look at the "box of truth".
I second the greatness of the Box O' Truth.
25: The stupid thing was being suicidally depressed, the rest of it was really well thought out given the faulty premises.
43--
yeah, fair enough. she didn't intend to encourage it, and i didn't intend to accuse her of doing so.
Do handsome men scowl a lot?
I don't scowl more than usual, no.
41, 42: No, and no. I think arrogant, extremely handsome men have a way of walking around observing the world as if it exists for their pleasure. They may smile to themselves, but that smile is not a communication for anyone else. It's a smile for the self.
I have a tendency to act this way in my better moods, but it's not because I'm envisioning myself as a super-hot person whose world is her oyster. I'm pretty middlingly attractive, except to a weird cadre of perverts. What's odd, I think, is that arrogant, extremely handsome men seem to recognize immediately that we have something in common. They don't want to date me, but they very often want to be my close friends. That is, instead of being scared of me or wanting to impress me, they sidle up to me as if we already share a secret.
45--
man, I should have known that gswift would be all over the box o' truth. Great place.
And this really makes me think that the next meet-up should take place in an abandoned quarry or gravel pit, or anywhere else we can blast away at some inanimate objects with a variety of calibers. (probably not including Manhattan).
a weird cadre of perverts.
Which cadre is that?
my kids can attest to the fact that I swear all the time
Audrey said her first swear word yesterday! After dropping a book that she was holding while her mom was carrying around, she calmly looked down and said "Oh, shit!"
"I'm pretty middlingly attractive, except to a weird cadre of perverts."
what specific category is this? ursine fetishists?
I always forget that. maybe that's why they keep turning down the offer.
Audrey said her first swear word yesterday!
Congratulations, Audrey! Noah has picked up "goddammit" from me.
39: Smirks are not scary to me. Just very irritating. Or is that not what handsome men do? Perhaps the handsome men you know are more mature?
52: Sally went through a weird period learning to talk when she was parroting whole sentences with bell-like clarity but not so much apparent understanding. This reached a high point when, at about 2, she toddled into a room, looked around distractedly, slapped her pockets (or where they would have been if she'd had any) and said in my voice "Oh, shit, I forgot my wallet."
And this really makes me think that the next meet-up should take place in an abandoned quarry or gravel pit, or anywhere else we can blast away at some inanimate objects with a variety of calibers.
We could call it the Unfogged Penetration Seminar.
I've been told I'm intimidating, and I translate that as 'not easily ignored.'
Did we go down for a moment there? Everything went dark.
The other day caroline and her friend K-K were reading an alphabet book with K-K's mom. K-K's mom at one point said, "can you think of any other words that begin with F?" and Caroline helpfully piped up "fuck!"
I was so proud--she knew her phonics! After all, no one had ever told her "F is for fuck!" She realized on her own that fuck begins with an eff sound, so it must start with the letter F!
64: I went down for a while there, but I thought it was the drugs.
61 is an incredibly cute story.
strong, smart, and ugly woman
dsquared, I'm available.
My mother would be so horrified if I had children who cursed the way I do when I'm not around my mother.
alameida, biohazard: it notches up another step with roulette. Again, in no way a recommendation.
69, have you interviewed others to determine how your mother curses when you're not present? Have you interviewed your mother to determine how she curses when no one is around?
Dude, my mother once giggled for two straight hours after (mostly inadventently) using the word "shitty." I'm pretty confident that she doesn't have a secret life in which she talks like a sailor.
1. Don't give fried chicken to armed men in wheelchairs.
2. Putting a beer can on top of your head so a bowhunter can play William Tell willonly get you runner-up in the Darwin Awards,
My mom and I were watching SVU while on vacation a couple of weeks ago, and I drunkenly described the difference between SVU and CI criminals as, "On CI, there's usually an underlying sense to the crime, but on SVU, they're just fucked up." There was a long pause as it settled in for both of us that, at the age of 27, I finally said the F-word to my mom.
"To your mother, AWB? To your mother?" she said.
I decided to go for it. "Come on, mom, they're pretty fucked up. How would you describe them?"
"Sigh. I guess you're right."
Snake-handling, like they do with them big rattlers in Pentecostal churches tucked deep in the mountains of Tennessee: similar sort of thrill. Stare the motherfucker right in its eyes, just daring it to bite you.
75: Yeah, I do a lot of snake-handling in my line of work, too.
70: Roulette is another game entirely and especially so with a semi-auto. I'm not recommending any mind-clearing exercises with firearms but if one does get to that point the clarity attainable is unbelievable (no matter which way it goes, I guess).
And this really makes me think that the next meet-up should take place in an abandoned quarry or gravel pit, or anywhere else we can blast away at some inanimate objects with a variety of calibers.
Sounds totally fun. I'm in.
75 to the idea of pointing a loaded gun at your face, not to the idea of cursing in front of your mother. Although oddly applicable.
I'm in, too. I haven't fired a weapon since I realized I needed glasses; maybe my accuracy will have improved.
79: I know, Brock, but wasn't it time for a cock joke?
Audrey said her first swear word yesterday!
My sister-in-law, hearing a noise she couldn't identify, asked my 4 yr old niece, "Victoria, honey, what's that noise?"
From the next room, Victoria called back, "I don't know, Mommy. I think it's that goddamned cat."
Did I miss a cock joke? What line of work are you in, exactly?
"wasn't it time for a cock joke?"
can this be the new scroll-over?
83: It's too early in the day, I guess. I never think of snake-handling without thinking "Heh."
"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep."
I sense in you a doleful yearning for the love of a strong, smart, and ugly woman
stop trying to set me up with your relatives.
face it folks, everyone's self-assessment of their outward appearance is likely to be wildly at variance with what others think of them. Robert Burns wouldn't have bothered writing the bloody poem otherwise. The only way to truly find out whether your friends and neighbours think you're "unassuming" and "mild mannered" or not is to kill a lot of people and then watch the news.
you mean everyone doesn't appreciate my hats? but I was very sure of it.
That box o' truth site is incredible, and reminds me waaaayyyyyy too much of my dad who, last time we visited Virginia, showed us an hour of videotape of things being shot, including a Rugrats clock and remote control truck. He regularly sends me e-mail with photos like this.
My eldest nephew, when he was 2 or 3, picked up the phrase "oh, shit" from his granny - the grandmother who is not my mother. He used it all the time. We were a family that never, ever cursed - I can count on one hand the number of times my father has said "hell," "damn" and "ass," collectively - but it just amused the fuck out of us to hear him do it. I recall weeks of sitting around trying not to laugh our asses off at him because my sister was afraid it would only encourage him. There were a lot of scenes of all of us sitting there laughing into throw pillows, looking for all the world like a group asphyxiation fetish party, while he happily banged things together and then cussed at them.
"everyone's self-assessment of their outward appearance is likely to be wildly at variance with what others think of them."
Sure, if only because the feedback you get can be ridiculously at odds with itself. I've been led to believe for most of my life that I'm a hideously unfuckable dog, but then, by a few others, that I'm excruciatingly lovely. What's a girl supposed to make of this? Are the AWB-haters just doing it to be mean, while they secretly know I'm a total beauty queen? Highly unlikely! Are the AWB-lovers just doing it because they think I need a pathetic little self-esteem boost? God, I hope not!
Maybe the problem is that most of the feedback we get is way too polarized. No one ever tells someone, "You are passably good-looking." This is why my old roommate and I came up with the 0, 1, 2 system of rating attractiveness. 0 means "no, I wouldn't." 1 means, "Yeah, sure, I would, if the opportunity presented itself," and 2 means "I'd actively make efforts to get it on with her/him. It's important to allow for 1s.
Is there a way that we could get someone to photograph the barrel of a loaded gun so that I can get a sense of what it looks like without having to experience any of the actual danger?
I can definitely be intimidating. My enthusiastic questioning is often perceived as grilling, and--outside of the Unfogged/super-elite academic settings--I'm generally considered pretty smart. Being smart and caring about ideas with any sort of intensity is intimidating to a lot of people.
I'm definitely intimidated by a lot of you, though I think you're all very nice people. I can't for example keep up with a ton of blogs, because I'm not a fast reader. I can't handle reading a long essay of the sort that often shows up on Obsidian Wings online. I certainly can't read a bunch of right-wing sites too. I skim a smattering of lefty to moderate blogs, but mostly I just rely on you people to privide me with the cliff notes version and to point me to the important news items. It turns out that I wind up knowing a lot more than a lot of people I meet on the street, even fairly educated ones, by this method, but I still wish that I had ogged's ability to read quickly (to say nothing of Brad deLong's) coupled with Labs's precise thinking.
I'm totally envious of Cala too. Cala, I wasn't being sarcastic at all in the admissions thread when I said that you were clearly smarter than I am and that you should have been admitted to Harvard. I really do think that you are smarter than I am.
AWB, the obvious solution is to post a picture and let us vote.
No one ever tells someone, "You are passably good-looking."
Taking "unfuckable dog" totally out of context, I'd just like to point out that with Santorum out, dog-fucking is in.
I've been led to believe for most of my life that I'm a hideously unfuckable dog, but then, by a few others, that I'm excruciatingly lovely. What's a girl supposed to make of this?
Lemonade, I think.
The problem with the system in 91 is that alcohol makes all the 1s into 2s, and all the 0s into 1s (and, if things get desparate, 2s). Even sober dry spells can shift things around. The rankings are unstable.
Is there a way that we could get someone to photograph the barrel of a loaded gun so that I can get a sense of what it looks like without having to experience any of the actual danger?
try looking at the barrel of an unloaded gun, and then looking at a bullet, and blinking really fast.
97: They're supposed to be unstable. For instance, a 1 can turn into a 2 if he says something funny or if he makes really interesting eye-contact. The flexibility is good.
Plus, it makes for really interesting discussions of people's attitudes toward strangers. For me, about a good third of the men I see are 1's, but there are very few 2's. For someone else, it might be all 2's and 0's.
I've had a similar version of ratings, but always thought of it as 10-80-10. There's about 10% of the people out there who are hideous enough that you don't want them regardless of what they're like as people. And another 10% who are compellingly beautiful enough that it doesn't matter what they're like, they're still desirable. And for the rest of us in the middle, it's not that you couldn't set up a complicated ranking system of who's prettier than who, but you're attractive enough that other factors mostly take over.
98: Damn you, I just choked on the apple I was eating.
For me it's usually been "no," "maybe," and "out of my league."
93- wasn't there some art exhibit (French artist?) in the mid-late 90s that was exactly this? You sat down in a chair and found yourself staring down the barrel of a loaded shotgun. I remember hearing about this, but can't seem to find it now on google.
really interesting eye-contact
?
I assume that "interesting" here doesn't mean "creative" or "unique".
93 Can't you just point a loaded gun at a mirror for the desired effect.
Dammit, now I'm singing to myself
"Sweet and plain / unfuckable dog // that rings in my mind..."
Potential for seven years bad luck?
I have described my thoughts on eye-contact before here, but I am late for a meeting and can't go down the Mineshaft's hoohole right now. Later!
Has anyone else ever tried to estimate the total number of people on earth they would want to have sex with, if the circumstances were right?
Depending on how my mood, and rough estimates of various demographic groups, there are somewhere between 500,000,000 and 1 billion people on earth that I would be happy to sleep with, all other things being equal.
The adorable son of the RHs of a dorm I lived in in Chicago for a few years once reportedly said to his parents, "I left my goddamn sippy cup in the lounge".
93: I'll try it this weekend. I've seen that sort of shot on several of the all-too-many forensics show on TV but Google images has turned up dry.
Noah has picked up "goddammit" from me
Sylvia, angry at her father (and in the middle of a fairly beg fit) about a year ago, said/sobbed "Dad, you're fucking weird." I haven't heard that word from her before or since. Actually either of those words ("fuck" and its forms or "weird" at least to describe a person) come to think of it.
105: I have no training in handling guns. I'd be extremely dangerous doing anything with a laoded gun.
110: When I was very little, I was babysat by a rather gruff friend of my parents who was married but childless and fond of smoking cigars. Apparently, I wanted him to read me a story, and since I had pretty much memorized the story, I pointed out the bits where he got it wrong. So, he muttered under his breath, "Aw, go to hell," to which I replied "No, you go to hell." He told my parents rather sheepishly because he was afraid that the might be upset that I had learned foul language from him, but they thought that the story was charming.
Having met AWB I can testify to her hottness. Anyone who perceives her to be an "unfuckable dog" has some seriously warped ideas about female beauty. JFTR.
AWB might not be pleased to have been endorsed by The Journal of Fucking Tramps and Rednecks, y'know.
116 -- Oh that's right I forgot to mention my new position! I'm associate editor. Congratulate me.
93: I'll try to get a picture this weekend. Now that I think of it, it's an interesting lighting and depth-of-field problem.
50, etc.
In Oregon the rock quarry game is played by seeing how close you can shoot to each other without hitting anyone. In the most famous case, the kids had to drive to the store for more shells before the guy finally killed his best friend.
The triggerman's father, mayor of Sisters OR IIRC, was quoted as saying "Everyone seems to be making a big deal out of this."
I suppose thousands of RH's have adorable kids, but I still feel a nagging need to ask: Lower Flint?
"No one ever tells someone, "You are passably good-looking."
Unfortunately, I do. I don't know whether that's the origin of my no-relationship policy or the outcome of it.
I have also given inadvertant compliments which I had to back away from because I wasn't really hitting on her.
looking down a barrel of a gun photos are kind of lame.
Are "RH"s similar to RA's, except married and bechilded? I never experienced somebody who lived in a dorm who was not a student and single -- are these some kind of adults hired on from outside the college, or just grad students who happen to have families?
This one is courtesy of my wife who was brought up in England. When she was 4, she and her mother were invited to have lunch with the vicar. Having been drilled on manners, the child behaved herself, not fidgeting or speaking out of turn. After lunch the vicar's wife said to her, "What a perfect little lady, you cleaned your plate!" The child replied, "Well, we didn't just come here for the hell of it, you know."
125: grad students some of whom had families; RH = resident head & RA = resident assistant (an advanced undergrad); chicago used both.
124: Indeed, few people stayed in that dorm for several years. I don't remember too many other resident heads having children, though, and this one's picture is in my mental dictionary next to 'adorable.' Not his name, though, which I can't summon up for the life of me.
125: At Chicago, anyway, undergrad houses (subdivisions of dorms containing, what, 50-75 students?) all have grad student Resident Heads, who have a lot more responsibility than RA's, in both senses of the word.
127 -- Oh. Our RA's were Advisors, I'm pretty sure.
I'd just like to say that thanks to Unfogged, I am now wearing a brassiere that fits me properly and have a beautiful loaf of Mark Bittman/Sullivan Street knead-free bread awaiting me at home.
Excellent -- I am planning to mix up a batch tomorrow for cooking on Sunday, practice run for Thanksgiving.
I made a loaf with half bread flour, half rye flour, and forget about it in the refrigerator (after the 18-hour rise) for a day or so; it turned out great.
Ooh, a cold rise -- nice thinking!
Yes, clownę, but are you wearing a well fitted brassiere?
134 -- I am letting it all hang out.
132 -- did you do the whole rise in the fridge or a warm rise and then transfer the dough to the fridge (and forget about it) before proofing?
My trial loaf, baked last night, didn't turn out super-well, but the key flaws were both identifiable and fixable.
1) Timed thermostats in cold climates do not allow for a full rise. Of the 18 hours on the first rise, the average temperature in the house was probably 60 degrees.
2) Don't take it out based on crust color but rather on a hollow sound when thumped.
That said, the crust was fabulous and the wife and I did manage to eat the whole damn loaf in two sittings. I have another loaf rising in a bowl right now.
Also, a sturdy circular cake pan with tin foil allows for a nice boule shape if you're looking for a dutch oven substitute.
hear ye hear ye
I want everyone to read 78 again, because it looks to me like an event that is *both* certified m-fun (certified by m!), and also one that ogged would almost certainly consider fun.
When ogged was complaining about not wanting scheduled events and pre-planned activities as "fun", he just wasn't thinking about things like, say, buying several boxes of various kinds of ammo, and blasting tin cans to smithereens.
It's pre-planned, it's scheduled, it's m-fun, but, damn, it's *fun* fun.
kb -- I remember having lots of fun at quarries but somehow it never involved firearms.
well then it wasn't as fun as it could have been.
(it was also not as horrendously sickeningly oh my god he's bleeding un-fun as it could have been, too.)
This may be the thread on which to mention the collection of Beanie Babies that my wife's colleague used for amateur ballistics testing and then nailed to his office door while he was in Iraq. Or there may be no such thread.
oh my god he's leaking small plastic pellets.
yeah, I'd say this is the thread.
Belated cute swearing kid story:
The other day, PK was reading (he is learning to read) the box of crayons. "A - ss - aw -- r -- t -- ed --wait a minute, that has the word "ass" in it!" "Yeah, I say, that's how ass is spelled."
He's v. excited, of course. Later he brings me a note (which is a favorite game of his--often it's the black spot, which means I am going to die soon).
The note says:
SOME ASS YOU ARE.
I'll try to get a picture this weekend. Now that I think of it, it's an interesting lighting and depth-of-field problem.
I tried it just now with a 4'' GP-100 and my little 5 mepapixel Sony. Looked awful. Lordy that camera is not designed for close ups.
yeah, just be careful about which device you activate. Click snap squeeze pull. Flash bang.
and B? he was really trying to write "come as you are". Just misspelled it.
He just pointed out to me that "Butterfinger" has the word "butt" in it. And yet, he is eating one anyway.
148: No, he made quite a point of asking me to read it out loud and then saying gleefully "some ass you are!" and giggling.
>em>he was really trying to write "come as you are". Just misspelled it
And forgot to append "ATM".
And screwed up his HTML tags, to boot!
I wonder when he'll realize that "motherfucker" has "fuck" in it.
And yet, he is eating one anyway.
This augurs well.
I wonder when he'll realize there's no rat in Socrates.
139 - You know, the jokes about my fun and my parties are mostly funny and stuff, but I never thought the differences were so big as that post and that thread presented them.
And, I'm bugged about being called hostile and superior about parties yesterday when that perception is largely a result of how Ogged framed that discussion and not what I wrote.
I keep letting these jokes go because I hate being meta and am not looking to re-hash that discussion and I don’t mind fair jokes at my expense and I’m not looking for people to defend or condemn me and I don’t even want to derail a thread about kids swearing. But I’m hoping that you guys are exaggerating for effect here, not that you really think that an occasion where we would all have fun is rare.
Not that I speak for everyone here, or that it would be possible to do so, but I think it's just turned into a running gag rather than there being any real residual bad feeling. (Well, barring the actual hosts of the particular party you attended who seemed to have some genuinely ruffled feathers, and to be resisting efforts to smooth them.) But other than that I think it's mostly exaggeration for effect.
LB's right, I think. The m-fun thing is just a lighthearted joke at this point.
and speaking only for myself, I can tell you that beating dead jokes after they have long expired is among my most tedious sins. Not among my worst, but among my most tedious. I am sorry to have done it once again.
Also, I should say that I would never have even made it if I had thought about it as a joke "at your expense". A joke at ogged's expense, probably, but he invites them.
You seem like a very nice person, and I feel bad now for having taken your name (or initial) in vain. Please accept my apologies.
I mean everything I write in this forum very personally.
But regardless of apologies, you're probably stuck with the running joke. So long as you comment here, you will probably be "Megan who throws scary parties and makes people have fun. RUN AWAY!!! RUN AWAY!!!" But all meant warmly.
I'm good with a running gag, and have joked about it myself. Some of it is very funny. But I think some of the way I was characterized in that thread was based on an unfair presentation of my ideas.
The actual hosts I should deal with directly, or not, at their discretion. I'm happy to do either.
I don't want to accept your apology, kb, 'cause I don't think it is necessary at all. I just want to be sure it is mostly joking.
They're making me WORK, so I gotta run. They're a bunch of haters.
I don't in fact know that anyone is holding a grudge, and wouldn't be surprised if they weren't -- I just feel pretty comfortable assuring you that no one else thinks ill of you for the party thing, but not certain one way or the other about the hosts.
153: Might be a while, but you'll be happy to know I signed him up for Taekwondo yesterday, so he'll be able to kick the ass of anyone who makes fun of his hair.
I think the gag has outlived any but the most nominal associated with 'Megan' the person and is now entirely referential to 'Megan' the meta-concept.
I can't believe Megan is trying to pin this on me.
165: Sally and Newt are loving TKD. The only problem is that they're kicking everything: "No TaeKwonDo unless you're actually practicing, not just horsing around," is my new standard bellow.
Translation of 156: "Fuck all y'all if you can't take a joke."
This kind of polite stereotyped phrase this may seem meaningless or "old fashioned" to young people today, but this kind of social lubricant is necessary to keep social relationships running smoothly.
I have to admit that Unfogged doesn't strike me as a good place to come to if it bothers you to see standing jokes driven into the ground.
Also, FL is gay and Ogged is Mexican.
153: Might be a while, but you'll be happy to know I signed him up for Taekwondo yesterday, so he'll be able to kick the ass of anyone who makes fun of his hair.
Actually, he won't be able to.
173: because knowing TKD won't actually help you beat people up, except the people you could probably already have beaten up, in general; at least, not those who're bigger and have longer reach than you.
if you stare into the barrel of a snub-nosed .38 revolver you can see the bullet glittering down in there
... Been thinking about that lately ... no need to worry as I'm to "responsible" to do that ... just really tired.
175: But at least boys his own size won't be able to beat him up.
And he'll be a lot better at beating up people he could have already beaten up.
But at least boys his own size won't be able to beat him up.
Unless they pull his hair.
If they pull his hair, he will KICK THEM IN THE FACE.
because knowing TKD won't actually help you beat people up, except the people you could probably already have beaten up, in general; at least, not those who're bigger and have longer reach than you.
You know, people always say this, but it's actually only true if you're not good at it.
181: "KICK" s/b "RA—
Oh, never mind.
Umm, 116 is laugh out loud good. Did no one else want to acknowledge this for fear of inflating Ben's ego?
According to SCMT it's a policy around here.
