What's on your mind?

[deathstorm]

Alabaster I was making a. Joke about the cat. Calls. In the vein of duck. Calls.

[~Mere~]

Ugh. This site is being very glitchy and temperamental for me. Gonna have to install the app and see how that goes. Think it's all been a ploy for me to use it anyway because that damn popup asking me to install it has been relentless. You win tapatalk, you win.

[Iceni]

Join the club, the lack of functionality is pissing me off.

[~Mere~]

Yeah. I would actually prefer being on my desktop but my oldest son hijacked it and now thinks its his. I've resorted to doing everything on my phone. Sux. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[FatherAlabaster]

Tapatalk has worked out pretty well for me. I don't love it, but it beats posting through my phone's browser, and access from the desktop has been fraught with complications lately.

[~Mere~]

Well @ least now I know I'm not the only one who's had issues with the site. I was beginning to think that maybe my dated iPhone was the problem. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Iceni]

Hah. I'm using a computer that's at least 7 years old, so I might not be a good case study.

[Midi]

I've discovered that the music academy here charges the same price for one instrument as for multiple instruments.

[Frostaudn]

I have to finish this school assignment before tomorrow but I'm too lazy for it to work on it. And also: it's a really boring subject. Who the fuck does want to know laws, politics, statistics and such things about healthcare given at home?

[Midi]

What studies are you following?

[~Mere~]

Hah. I'm using a computer that's at least 7 years old' date=' so I might not be a good case study.[/quote'] If it still does what you need it to do then why replace it. That's how I feel about my phone. I've passed on offers to upgrade to the newest version. Will do when I absolutely have to. Some of the reactions I've had are hilarious though when I tell someone who has a new iPhone that I have a 3GS, you'd think I told em I was using a rotary lol Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Frostaudn]

What studies are you following?

Journalism

[Iceni]

Journalism

Wow, and they're actually making you study stats? I assumed they'd just let you blatantly misconstrue them and/or make them up. But seriously, good for you. Free press is vital to economic prosperity and national security - and the study of international politics, for that matter.

[BlutAusNerd]

I know my perspective on work is a little bit different, from having been home with my kid for a while, but even though I worked hard at my jobs and took pride in them, once I'd been out for a little while I realized I absolutely didn't care about them at all. I know I mentioned this in that Canadian kid's thread about accomplishments in life - when I thought about what I'd done so far, my family came to mind, and various pieces of art and music, and the friendships I've had with a lot of really good people, but not one of my many work-related successes came to mind. None of the projects I helped to design and saw through to a high-quality finished product mattered to me; none of the promotions or recognition I got, none of the responsibility I had meant anything in retrospect. It's been valuable for me because I self-identified as "a guy that works hard and is proud of what he does", and the truth turned out to be much different. Pretty soon, I'll be looking for a job again when my kid heads off to preschool. I'm determined to either find something more meaningful, or something that requires less commitment, so that I can spend a greater proportion of my time and energy on things that matter to me. As regards catcalls, I don't know many women who take them as compliments. My wife finds them intrusive and threatening. That kind of attention has always seemed disrespectful to me, and I've never understood why so many guys can't seem to help themselves, but catcalling seems to have more to do with impressing the guys you're with than complimenting the lady you're yelling at. Either way, it's unwanted by most women I know, and I'm not surprised that some would find it hard to ignore.

I thought I should have added something to say that I wasn't directing this at you, as I have no way of comparing experiences. I've never been a stay at home dad, and it certainly sounds awesome in theory, spending more time with my daughter would be wonderful. Maybe if I was in that situation I would feel differently, but I know that I get bored if I go without being occupied for too long, and actually do my best work when the pressure is on and shit is going crazy. Definitely didn't mean to offend you, it's just outside my realm of understanding, so I can't comment at all. As far as cat calling goes, that's pretty much exactly what I meant. My point was, while they are disrespectful, and often crude/vulgar, I don't know why they would incite self-conscious feelings. I don't know that I would take a cat call as a compliment, but even the most horrible way for a guy to say "nice ass" would still seem to indicate that there is some truth behind the comment, regardless of the tactless and rude delivery. I'm not advocating cat calling or sticking up for douchebags who feel it's appropriate to placate their ego or soothe some fucked up piece of their psyche, I just don't think that feeling insecure about yourself seems like a reasonable response. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

[FatherAlabaster]

Ah, I didn't think it was directed at me, no worries. I'm just adding my two cents. My kid is a full-time job, and all my free time lately is spent on the new band, so opportunities for boredom are rare - to say nothing of being social, or just relaxing. I agree with you and Ghouly about the necessity of staying challenged, but I've always been one to create my own challenges, mostly through art and music. It's a compulsion for me. When I'm not artistically active, I feel worthless, less than human. I certainly don't need a job to help give my life direction. But I should say that that's not to imply there's anything wrong with needing or wanting that outside challenge. At times, I have a hard time respecting my artistic impulses; given their relative lack of profitability, they seem frivolous. My problem isn't boredom but a sort of depression, which can hit me regardless of what's going on in my life. Work certainly distracted me from that, at times, by giving me something to focus on, and there are things about my jobs that I miss - not least the income. Additionally, the job I left was a pretty good one, and I'm painfully aware of how this time off has damaged my prospects for future employment in the trades. But the fact remains that for me, it was just a job, whereas my wife has a career path ahead of her, and ultimately neither of us liked that the vast majority of my income was paying for someone else to raise our kid. I might have a different feeling about work if I'd been helping people who needed it in some way, but the main clients at my last several jobs have been banks and the very rich. Manicuring backyards and terraces for multimillionaires in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, when there were so many people in dire straits, left a really bad taste in my mouth. If I need to go back to the construction industry, I hope I can at least find something more to do with helping disadvantaged people.

[Atrocity]

Yesterday's soccer euphoria made me wonder how would this world be if people cared that much for things actually matter.

[Iceni]

What do you mean, 'this world'? Most of this world is run by authoritarians and dysfunctional democracies - and those regimes are the least immediate of the problems for any given individual living there. Those people do indeed care about what's really important - namely, their survival. Even in countries with more stable political systems, enthusiasm is often hobbled by ignorance, willful or otherwise. Take the fervor of support for intervention in Syria as an example. There are many activists demanding a solution Right Now and who will Not Take No For An Answer, but these people are idiots. No amount of compassion is likely to resolve the civil war - it needs a handful of decisive victories to be won by a side that has the power to defeat all of the opposition forces, and it seems that no such group exists. Other examples of enthusiastic ignorance would be Occupy Albuquerque, Kony 2012 or the witless activists my Dad had to deal with in his old job, just misguided campaigns that held the attention of the public for a while and did bugger-all because nobody actually understood what the issues were or how what they were doing would affect anything at all. Most entertaining had to be all the Burque socialists demanding a halt of government support to businesses without a hint of sodding irony. If people cared about things that actually mattered the best we could hope for would be that the will of the people would be more faithfully communicated. That in itself is always a good thing, but what the people will might turn out to be a bad decision.

[deathstorm]

I just reAd some of stupidest and most funniest shit. Ever on here. Bands. Are. Using. Baking ovens. To make demos. Now lol. Like I am not kidding. What's. Next bands using. Blenders. To make a demos lol

[Atrocity]

What do you mean, 'this world'? Most of this world is run by authoritarians and dysfunctional democracies - and those regimes are the least immediate of the problems for any given individual living there. Those people do indeed care about what's really important - namely, their survival. Even in countries with more stable political systems, enthusiasm is often hobbled by ignorance, willful or otherwise. Take the fervor of support for intervention in Syria as an example. There are many activists demanding a solution Right Now and who will Not Take No For An Answer, but these people are idiots. No amount of compassion is likely to resolve the civil war - it needs a handful of decisive victories to be won by a side that has the power to defeat all of the opposition forces, and it seems that no such group exists. Other examples of enthusiastic ignorance would be Occupy Albuquerque, Kony 2012 or the witless activists my Dad had to deal with in his old job, just misguided campaigns that held the attention of the public for a while and did bugger-all because nobody actually understood what the issues were or how what they were doing would affect anything at all. Most entertaining had to be all the Burque socialists demanding a halt of government support to businesses without a hint of sodding irony. If people cared about things that actually mattered the best we could hope for would be that the will of the people would be more faithfully communicated. That in itself is always a good thing, but what the people will might turn out to be a bad decision.

I wanted to say that is sad, for my country at least, that people easily unite, rage and make a mess when we loose a match, but when it comes to organizing a strike or helping the flooded areas they are quiet as mice and never fight for anything.

[Iceni]

I wanted to say that is sad' date=' for my country at least, that people easily unite, rage and make a mess when we loose a match, but when it comes to organizing a strike or helping the flooded areas they are quiet as mice and never fight for anything.[/quote'] It's easy to just be cranky. Greeks are rioting over government austerity measures, Ukrainians rioted and held hostages over election disputes. It doesn't require much brainpower to riot, and the issue becomes irrelevant after the first few shop windows get smashed; the skill set required for a riot doesn't change with the level of validity in the issue being protested. A good example would be those idiotic UK riots which were primarily caused by opportunists and looters operating under the guise of an actual grievance which wasn't particularly clear or solid to begin with. It's one of the things I'm proud of in this country, we've had remarkably few riots considering the number of serious problems in the US. What would surprise me is if there was a Parliamentary meeting organized to address the problem of why the Croatian team underperformed. That would show me that people actually cared.

[Atrocity]

It's easy to just be cranky. Greeks are rioting over government austerity measures' date=' Ukrainians rioted and held hostages over election disputes. It doesn't require much brainpower to riot, and the issue becomes irrelevant after the first few shop windows get smashed; the skill set required for a riot doesn't change with the level of validity in the issue being protested. A good example would be those idiotic UK riots which were primarily caused by opportunists and looters operating under the guise of an actual grievance which wasn't particularly clear or solid to begin with. It's one of the things I'm proud of in this country, we've had remarkably few riots considering the number of serious problems in the US. What would surprise me is if there was a Parliamentary meeting organized to address the problem of why the Croatian team underperformed. [i']That would show me that people actually cared.

But they are willing to fight for the proof that the judge was against them or that he favorites Brazil or whatever. Because their "national pride" was hurt. But when it comes to addressing problems such as unemployment for example, they go "meh, it's not my problem." We complain, but we never take any kind of action.

[Midi]

Got invited to join a jazz band by a drummer in a local cafeteria yesterday. Things are getting interesting...

[deathstorm]

Any one watching the World Cup

[FatherAlabaster]

Nah, I've never followed the World Cup, but I did enjoy watching a match at a bar with some friends. It's funny to me how people will get up so early in the morning, put on team colors, and crowd into a bar to yell at each other. The spectators were more entertaining than the game.

[Iceni]

But they are willing to fight for the proof that the judge was against them or that he favorites Brazil or whatever. Because their "national pride" was hurt. But when it comes to addressing problems such as unemployment for example' date=' they go "meh, it's not my problem." We complain, but we never take any kind of action.[/quote'] Speaking of national pride, I remember encountering a really funny paradox among the Evangelical community. They are perpetually tolling the death-knell of America As We Know It, the America Of The Founding Fathers, saying that America is Going Down The Drain, and yet when you suggest that maybe all of this ostensible degeneracy is the motivation behind the terrorism perpetrated by Islamic extremist groups all of a sudden we're the Last Best Hope for the Free World. On the same subject, it's also funny how they will openly advocate a theocratic America and in the same breath warn against Islamic extremism on the basis that it seeks a government with no difference between church and state...