atak: quick takes on the following:

people who say um a lot
downies
tyra banks
tarot cards
terrorism
neal stephenson
the godfather part 2
sarah palin

Foucault. There's another word which will earn a ban when i'm modded.

Do you know the bridge pro who tried to commit suicide, then made an ask me thread in OOT?

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/34...bridge-462466/

I'm a little disappointed that I haven't gotten a chance to read most of this yet. I hope to today

ygos?

Voltaire not entertaining?? What nonsense is this?

Based on the bridge thread, I think they've spoken before.

It would seem starting a well has ramifications that one might not expect...

The chances are low. My voice is not bad, but it's not fabulous; moreover, I'm not comfortable at all with the whole karaoke thing.

I don't know, get me drunk or something and we'll talk.

Or work on the paper....

He has has said hello in this well, by the way.

Yes, I know him, albeit not well — we traveled in different, not-quite-touching circles. I did reach out to him once, a few years ago, when I learned something about his difficulties. I don't know whether he got the message (the circumstances made it hard to tell), but even if he did we weren't really close enough that he could easily have felt comfortable asking for my help, I suspect. In my experience bipolars (as most people) are not good at that.

We have spoken a little bit since his attempt. He knows he can contact me whenevre he wants, but I think he has his own support network.

He is obviously a very good player. He's also a good guy.

Just from the question I know who it is, and I didn't know he was a 2p2er. Time to read that thread.

A thought a lot of the point of reading philosophy was finding writings that don't fit one's mindset. (I guess they have to be close enough that one doesn't block them out entirely.)

I have some rather pressing obligations in the near and medium term, as we know, but if a number of smart and educated people who now know a great deal about me can agree that there is something I should read, then I'll do it — just not terribly soon.

Yeah, there's that.

Wow, maybe the threat of karaoke could do it.

Are you any good at chess?

Why not?

There is no rush — I think it's literally a short book by now.

What I mean by this is that I would think it would be a game that you would be good at given your personality, so why do you think you've never taken an interest in it?

I'm assuming that you haven't taken an interest in it because you haven't posted about it.

Atak,

thnx for the elaborate answers so far. Great read. Anxiety is something that seems to be a recurring theme in your posts. Thoughts on that subject in general and some of your anxieties in particular? Do you think you can get rid of them?

Chess has been discussed. Played a little; was fine for someone who hadn't studied it at all, but that's it. Haven't had the desire to — it seems so much an internal game, maybe I figure don't need any more of that. Beyond that I don't know.

____


Damn it, have to run. will be back late tonight. After that, I will be around to take up all the questions I've missed.

done!

drunken karaoke december iyam

this is exactly why imo

good self-awareness there.

don't forget to get this on video!

needs more exposure imo

people who say um a lot — sometimes it means nothing, except that they don't care that they sound like idiots.

downies — to me that means downy woodpeckers, which I like — a standard feeder bird in much of the country.

tyra banks — I think she's a fashion model, light-skinned black — true? On the assumption that that's right and it is who I think: she doesn't do much for me. Well, really, she doesn't do anything of me. I assume most straight me will think this is kind of nuts, because I'm told she's gorgeous, but.... just not there.

tarot cards — a cousin of mine purported to do a reading fro me once. I could see as she did it how I would do it — how easy it would be to turn it into something that sounded deeply significant. Beyond that, they're just funny.

terrorism — sigh. Quick thoughts? I understand fighting for what one believes. I don't understand blowing oneself up for it, but if I know that those raised in different cultures and with a very different view of the afterlife have a much easier time.

I think the major question is why it persists when it doesn't directly help anything almost ever. The answer to that is probably threefold:
First, it does help if by "help" we mean upsetting people the terrorists have decided they hate. The most extreme example, Twin Towers, essentially destroyed the US's sense of internal security, changed our way of life for the worse for a generation or more, and has already cost more than a trillion dollars. (I'm including the two idiotic wars that it catalyzed.) If one's goal is to hurt someone else, I'd count that as a success, and maybe they simply feel better for having hurt us.

Second, it allows people with no purpose to feel tat they have one, for a time anyway. That has value, and I don't know how to work against it except teaching people other purposes, which takes generations (and may be impossible).

Third, it sometimes does work. Reagan was the worst offender, responding to the bombing of the embassy in Beirut by abandoning the country. The IRA eventually got things they'd never have gotten otherwise, and it was killing innocent people that did it. (They also got money from Bostonians...) I believe ETA is a significant political party, which probably wouldn't have happened otherwise. And so on. It works sometimes and if you don't value human life very much, I guess it seems worth it.

neal stephenson — Snow Crash is amazing — it should definitely be added to the list of must-read books I gave earlier. But I can never make it through anything else of his (not sure which ones I've tried, except Cryptonomicon. I find them dull.)

the godfather part 2 — I forget. In fact, I may never have seen it. Take away my man card, I guess.

sarah palin — my views here are along with most people's: she's a laughingstock, a parody of a politician, a venal hypocrite, and an idiot — Dan Quayle in a skirt and trendy glasses. Otoh people seem to think she's hot, and I don't. She's evidence that US politics is beyond saving, but I didn't need such evidence anyway.

most models are tall and not particularly great looking at all

i didnt bring tyra up for her looks. she is a raving lunatic, which is interesting.