You should have known her when I knew her. You should have seen her with her head held high, walking through the world leaving 3" deep footprints, stomping reality until it conformed to her wishes. But that was more than a quarter-century ago.
Things have changed.
Now she's beaten down by life, and the stunning good looks she had have pinched into perpetual regret, bitterness, and unhappiness. She waited for perfection, and perfection never called. There is a great millstone on her back, she says, and she can't move. It's a damn shame, really...If she had have realized that perfection is the enemy of the good, or even of getting anything done, she'd have been much happier and much more successful. Because sometimes good enough really IS good enough.
But she never saw that, and she sits there in the Midwest, spitting venom on everyone who comes near her, and wondering why she never gets invited to parties. By this point, it would take 3 sticks of dynamite to clear her head, even just enough to realize that there's no perfect world anywhere.
In the end, she was serious about everything but having a good time.
Now, I can see how this might make people sneer at her; because WE'RE all perfect, right? We don't carry around a millstone of regret for might-have-beens or things we could have accomplished if only we'd been luckier or better or if that <insert jackass> hadn't FUCKED US OVER FOREVER.
HAR! We all have our millstones. We all have cringe-worthy memories. We all have our regrets. But the thing to remember is that nobody can make us into something we're not, if we don't allow it. We are the architects of our own reward...That is not to say that we are responsible for everything that happens to us, but we're certainly in control of our own emotions.
Now, this isn't always easy...There's a lot of PTSD floating around, and everyone's millstone is unique. That doesn't mean we should take that millstone and jump in the water, right? No, we take that millstone out to the desert and leave it there. Let those who have harmed us dwell on these things, and let's you and I move forward, into The Future™.
Yesterday may have been awful. But it's dead, and dead things should be buried.
That's all.
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 04:51:22 PM
Yesterday may have been awful. But it's dead, and dead things should be buried.
I love this. I think I need to have this printed out and stuck next to my computer.
This stands out too:
QuoteThere's a lot of PTSD floating around, and everyone's millstone is unique. That doesn't mean we should take that millstone and jump in the water, right? No, we take that millstone out to the desert and leave it there. Let those who have harmed us dwell on these things, and let's you and I move forward, into The Future™.
Too many people running around defining their life by That Horrible Thing That Happened. They relive it every time you talk to them, even if it was decades ago.
Quote from: TEXAS FAIRIES FOR ALL YOU SPAGS on September 24, 2012, 05:54:06 PM
This stands out too:
QuoteThere's a lot of PTSD floating around, and everyone's millstone is unique. That doesn't mean we should take that millstone and jump in the water, right? No, we take that millstone out to the desert and leave it there. Let those who have harmed us dwell on these things, and let's you and I move forward, into The Future™.
Too many people running around defining their life by That Horrible Thing That Happened. They relive it every time you talk to them, even if it was decades ago.
Or they run around bragging about being on the varsity team, until well into their 40s.
Actually, there is no need to be more upbeat or positive than this. This, in particular:
"HAR! We all have our millstones. We all have cringe-worthy memories. We all have our regrets. But the thing to remember is that nobody can make us into something we're not, if we don't allow it. We are the architects of our own reward...That is not to say that we are responsible for everything that happens to us, but we're certainly in control of our own emotions."
is heartening stuff. Though not actually true, I'm afraid. The real trouble actually starts when control of our own emotions is lost. Or not learnt in the first place. Though even then, there are ways out. And still, I think I get your gist and... right on.
Quote from: holist on September 24, 2012, 09:28:19 PM
Actually, there is no need to be more upbeat or positive than this.
Too late.
I really liked this. It's a message to keep in mind when the little bits of awful, screwup, inconvenience or bad luck pile up and start getting to me/you/us.
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 09:28:54 PM
Quote from: holist on September 24, 2012, 09:28:19 PM
Actually, there is no need to be more upbeat or positive than this.
Too late.
TAAAAAAAAKEEE COOOOOOVVEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
I like this a lot.
Also, something people tend to forget is, while you're hauling that goddamn millstone around, you might just want to think about, rather than ditching it in the desert, see if maybe there's something USEFUL to do with it.
Quote from: Luna on September 24, 2012, 09:37:46 PM
I like this a lot.
Also, something people tend to forget is, while you're hauling that goddamn millstone around, you might just want to think about, rather than ditching it in the desert, see if maybe there's something USEFUL to do with it.
Like milling Shit. Or is that too literal a take on it?
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 09:38:45 PM
Quote from: Luna on September 24, 2012, 09:37:46 PM
I like this a lot.
Also, something people tend to forget is, while you're hauling that goddamn millstone around, you might just want to think about, rather than ditching it in the desert, see if maybe there's something USEFUL to do with it.
Like milling Shit. Or is that too literal a take on it?
Like giving it to people who tell you you're too pessimistic, imply that you're mentally ill in some manner, and ask for a more upbeat approach.
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 09:39:54 PM
imply that you're mentally ill in some manner
I bloody well hope that's not me. Because I did not, you paranoid nutter.
:lulz:
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 09:39:54 PM
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 09:38:45 PM
Quote from: Luna on September 24, 2012, 09:37:46 PM
I like this a lot.
Also, something people tend to forget is, while you're hauling that goddamn millstone around, you might just want to think about, rather than ditching it in the desert, see if maybe there's something USEFUL to do with it.
Like milling Shit. Or is that too literal a take on it?
Like giving it to people who tell you you're too pessimistic, imply that you're mentally ill in some manner, and ask for a more upbeat approach.
Well I find that when people want you to take a more positive outlook on life, give it to them, in fucking spades.
If they want you to paint them a picture of a pretty unicorn that shits lollipops and cupcakes while riding on rainbows that lead to happyland, you give them a DEATH METAL unicorn that shits lollipops and cupcakes while riding on rainbows that lead to happy land in order to burn that fucking ville down.
It's their fault for confusing a screwdriver with a hammer.
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 09:45:27 PM
Well I find that when people want you to take a more positive outlook on life, give it to them, in fucking spades.
Oh, yeah. That's the one.
Quote from: holist on September 24, 2012, 09:44:57 PM
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 09:39:54 PM
imply that you're mentally ill in some manner
I bloody well hope that's not me. Because I did not, you paranoid nutter.
:lulz:
:lulz:
THEY DON'T MAKE 'EM ANYMORE, ANYMORE,
THE FACTORY SHUT DOWN AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR...
\
:hammer:
oops?
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 09:46:28 PM
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 09:45:27 PM
Well I find that when people want you to take a more positive outlook on life, give it to them, in fucking spades.
Oh, yeah. That's the one.
This'll probably get me branded as a poseur pedantic fuck, but I'll just drop this link here and be on about my day off.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candide
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 09:50:25 PM
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 09:46:28 PM
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 09:45:27 PM
Well I find that when people want you to take a more positive outlook on life, give it to them, in fucking spades.
Oh, yeah. That's the one.
This'll probably get me branded as a poseur pedantic fuck, but I'll just drop this link here and be on about my day off.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candide
Dr Pangloss is now a good friend of mine.
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 09:50:53 PM
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 09:50:25 PM
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 09:46:28 PM
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 09:45:27 PM
Well I find that when people want you to take a more positive outlook on life, give it to them, in fucking spades.
Oh, yeah. That's the one.
This'll probably get me branded as a poseur pedantic fuck, but I'll just drop this link here and be on about my day off.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candide
Dr Pangloss is now a good friend of mine.
You should write the rant in which Pangloss is brutally tortured and brought to the brink of the abyss, but still manages to be optimistic. THAT'LL LEARN PEOPLE WHO WANT TO PRESS A BANANA INTO SERVICE AS A DILDO!
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 09:53:20 PM
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 09:50:53 PM
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 09:50:25 PM
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 09:46:28 PM
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 09:45:27 PM
Well I find that when people want you to take a more positive outlook on life, give it to them, in fucking spades.
Oh, yeah. That's the one.
This'll probably get me branded as a poseur pedantic fuck, but I'll just drop this link here and be on about my day off.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candide
Dr Pangloss is now a good friend of mine.
You should write the rant in which Pangloss is brutally tortured and brought to the brink of the abyss, but still manages to be optimistic. THAT'LL LEARN PEOPLE WHO WANT TO PRESS A BANANA INTO SERVICE AS A DILDO!
I could work that in, even though it wasn't Pangloss who usually got fucked over by his attitude, it was the other characters. I have the New, Improved Fidel™ already in mind, and will begin tonight or tomorrow.
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 09:54:53 PM
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 09:53:20 PM
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 09:50:53 PM
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 09:50:25 PM
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 09:46:28 PM
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 09:45:27 PM
Well I find that when people want you to take a more positive outlook on life, give it to them, in fucking spades.
Oh, yeah. That's the one.
This'll probably get me branded as a poseur pedantic fuck, but I'll just drop this link here and be on about my day off.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candide
Dr Pangloss is now a good friend of mine.
You should write the rant in which Pangloss is brutally tortured and brought to the brink of the abyss, but still manages to be optimistic. THAT'LL LEARN PEOPLE WHO WANT TO PRESS A BANANA INTO SERVICE AS A DILDO!
I could work that in, even though it wasn't Pangloss who usually got fucked over by his attitude, it was the other characters. I have the New, Improved Fidel™ already in mind, and will begin tonight or tomorrow.
That's why Pangloss is so deserving of the torture. However in keeping with the new and improved Fidel, you really can't have him break. So sometime after being violated in stab wounds by mutant erections, but before he goes into the darkness he needs to croak out "this is still the best of all possible worlds...."
Or something. Really, you're the creative one. I'm just an unoriginal douchebag.
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 09:58:16 PM
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 09:54:53 PM
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 09:53:20 PM
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 09:50:53 PM
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 09:50:25 PM
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 09:46:28 PM
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 09:45:27 PM
Well I find that when people want you to take a more positive outlook on life, give it to them, in fucking spades.
Oh, yeah. That's the one.
This'll probably get me branded as a poseur pedantic fuck, but I'll just drop this link here and be on about my day off.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candide
Dr Pangloss is now a good friend of mine.
You should write the rant in which Pangloss is brutally tortured and brought to the brink of the abyss, but still manages to be optimistic. THAT'LL LEARN PEOPLE WHO WANT TO PRESS A BANANA INTO SERVICE AS A DILDO!
I could work that in, even though it wasn't Pangloss who usually got fucked over by his attitude, it was the other characters. I have the New, Improved Fidel™ already in mind, and will begin tonight or tomorrow.
That's why Pangloss is so deserving of the torture. However in keeping with the new and improved Fidel, you really can't have him break. So sometime after being violated in stab wounds by mutant erections, but before he goes into the darkness he needs to croak out "this is still the best of all possible worlds...."
Or something. Really, you're the creative one. I'm just an unoriginal douchebag.
Oh, no you aren't. You just gave me an AWESOME idea, though it isn't quite as you stated it.
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 09:59:16 PM
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 09:58:16 PM
That's why Pangloss is so deserving of the torture. However in keeping with the new and improved Fidel, you really can't have him break. So sometime after being violated in stab wounds by mutant erections, but before he goes into the darkness he needs to croak out "this is still the best of all possible worlds...."
Or something. Really, you're the creative one. I'm just an unoriginal douchebag.
Oh, no you aren't. You just gave me an AWESOME idea, though it isn't quite as you stated it.
Balls. I just recycle the shit I'm fed just in new and interesting combinations.
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 10:22:10 PM
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 09:59:16 PM
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 09:58:16 PM
That's why Pangloss is so deserving of the torture. However in keeping with the new and improved Fidel, you really can't have him break. So sometime after being violated in stab wounds by mutant erections, but before he goes into the darkness he needs to croak out "this is still the best of all possible worlds...."
Or something. Really, you're the creative one. I'm just an unoriginal douchebag.
Oh, no you aren't. You just gave me an AWESOME idea, though it isn't quite as you stated it.
Balls. I just recycle the shit I'm fed just in new and interesting combinations.
I doubt that.
http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php/topic,29003.0.html
Rejected on account of Papa Hemmingway and that Kipling guy.
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 10:23:49 PM
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 10:22:10 PM
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 09:59:16 PM
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 09:58:16 PM
That's why Pangloss is so deserving of the torture. However in keeping with the new and improved Fidel, you really can't have him break. So sometime after being violated in stab wounds by mutant erections, but before he goes into the darkness he needs to croak out "this is still the best of all possible worlds...."
Or something. Really, you're the creative one. I'm just an unoriginal douchebag.
Oh, no you aren't. You just gave me an AWESOME idea, though it isn't quite as you stated it.
Balls. I just recycle the shit I'm fed just in new and interesting combinations.
I doubt that.
http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php/topic,29003.0.html
Rejected on account of Papa Hemmingway and that Kipling guy.
I'm flattered, I think. But I wouldn't take it that far - I don't hope to short circuit anything in anyone. I shit on Frankrupt because its the right thing to do, not because I hope to ever save him.
This one actually brought a tear to my eye.
DAMN YOU ROGAR! RUINING MY MACHO MANLINESS IN A WAY ONLY MANLY MOVIES LIKE "MY GIRL" HAS DONE BEFORE!
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 10:35:37 PM
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 10:23:49 PM
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 10:22:10 PM
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 09:59:16 PM
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 09:58:16 PM
That's why Pangloss is so deserving of the torture. However in keeping with the new and improved Fidel, you really can't have him break. So sometime after being violated in stab wounds by mutant erections, but before he goes into the darkness he needs to croak out "this is still the best of all possible worlds...."
Or something. Really, you're the creative one. I'm just an unoriginal douchebag.
Oh, no you aren't. You just gave me an AWESOME idea, though it isn't quite as you stated it.
Balls. I just recycle the shit I'm fed just in new and interesting combinations.
I doubt that.
http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php/topic,29003.0.html
Rejected on account of Papa Hemmingway and that Kipling guy.
I'm flattered, I think. But I wouldn't take it that far - I don't hope to short circuit anything in anyone. I shit on Frankrupt because its the right thing to do, not because I hope to ever save him.
Oh, no. I was just saying that a sense of humor involves more than just regurgitating old ideas. We are more than a collection of memes.
Or at least we can be. Frank and TLB, for example, are beyond hope for very real and very different (between them) reasons.
Quote from: Waffles, The Iron on September 24, 2012, 10:36:54 PM
This one actually brought a tear to my eye.
DAMN YOU ROGAR! RUINING MY MACHO MANLINESS IN A WAY ONLY MANLY MOVIES LIKE "MY GIRL" HAS DONE BEFORE!
QUICK! DO SOMETHING MANLY!
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 10:37:41 PM
Quote from: Waffles, The Iron on September 24, 2012, 10:36:54 PM
This one actually brought a tear to my eye.
DAMN YOU ROGAR! RUINING MY MACHO MANLINESS IN A WAY ONLY MANLY MOVIES LIKE "MY GIRL" HAS DONE BEFORE!
QUICK! DO SOMETHING MANLY!
:hosrie:
There. All Manned up again.
Quote from: Waffles, The Iron on September 24, 2012, 10:38:51 PM
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 10:37:41 PM
Quote from: Waffles, The Iron on September 24, 2012, 10:36:54 PM
This one actually brought a tear to my eye.
DAMN YOU ROGAR! RUINING MY MACHO MANLINESS IN A WAY ONLY MANLY MOVIES LIKE "MY GIRL" HAS DONE BEFORE!
QUICK! DO SOMETHING MANLY!
:hosrie:
There. All Manned up again.
Whew! That was a close one.
Quote from: Waffles, The Iron on September 24, 2012, 10:36:54 PM
This one actually brought a tear to my eye.
DAMN YOU ROGAR! RUINING MY MACHO MANLINESS IN A WAY ONLY MANLY MOVIES LIKE "MY GIRL" HAS DONE BEFORE!
PUNCH A GIRL! RUB A CACTUS ON YOUR CHEST!
JAZZERSIZE!
Quote from: Freeky Queen of DERP on September 24, 2012, 10:40:23 PM
Quote from: Waffles, The Iron on September 24, 2012, 10:36:54 PM
This one actually brought a tear to my eye.
DAMN YOU ROGAR! RUINING MY MACHO MANLINESS IN A WAY ONLY MANLY MOVIES LIKE "MY GIRL" HAS DONE BEFORE!
PUNCH A GIRL! RUB A CACTUS ON YOUR CHEST! JAZZERSIZE!
PILATES?
Quote from: Waffles, The Iron on September 24, 2012, 10:43:59 PM
Quote from: Freeky Queen of DERP on September 24, 2012, 10:40:23 PM
Quote from: Waffles, The Iron on September 24, 2012, 10:36:54 PM
This one actually brought a tear to my eye.
DAMN YOU ROGAR! RUINING MY MACHO MANLINESS IN A WAY ONLY MANLY MOVIES LIKE "MY GIRL" HAS DONE BEFORE!
PUNCH A GIRL! RUB A CACTUS ON YOUR CHEST! JAZZERSIZE!
PILATES?
I don't even KNOW you anymore, man.
Quote from: Waffles, The Iron on September 24, 2012, 10:43:59 PM
Quote from: Freeky Queen of DERP on September 24, 2012, 10:40:23 PM
Quote from: Waffles, The Iron on September 24, 2012, 10:36:54 PM
This one actually brought a tear to my eye.
DAMN YOU ROGAR! RUINING MY MACHO MANLINESS IN A WAY ONLY MANLY MOVIES LIKE "MY GIRL" HAS DONE BEFORE!
PUNCH A GIRL! RUB A CACTUS ON YOUR CHEST! JAZZERSIZE!
PILATES?
JAZZ HANDS AND SPIRIT FINGERS AT TGE SAME TIME!
Thread has been saved, Vietnam War style.
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 24, 2012, 04:51:22 PM
You should have known her when I knew her. You should have seen her with her head held high, walking through the world leaving 3" deep footprints, stomping reality until it conformed to her wishes. But that was more than a quarter-century ago.
Things have changed.
Now she's beaten down by life, and the stunning good looks she had have pinched into perpetual regret, bitterness, and unhappiness. She waited for perfection, and perfection never called. There is a great millstone on her back, she says, and she can't move. It's a damn shame, really...If she had have realized that perfection is the enemy of the good, or even of getting anything done, she'd have been much happier and much more successful. Because sometimes good enough really IS good enough.
But she never saw that, and she sits there in the Midwest, spitting venom on everyone who comes near her, and wondering why she never gets invited to parties. By this point, it would take 3 sticks of dynamite to clear her head, even just enough to realize that there's no perfect world anywhere.
In the end, she was serious about everything but having a good time.
Now, I can see how this might make people sneer at her; because WE'RE all perfect, right? We don't carry around a millstone of regret for might-have-beens or things we could have accomplished if only we'd been luckier or better or if that <insert jackass> hadn't FUCKED US OVER FOREVER.
HAR! We all have our millstones. We all have cringe-worthy memories. We all have our regrets. But the thing to remember is that nobody can make us into something we're not, if we don't allow it. We are the architects of our own reward...That is not to say that we are responsible for everything that happens to us, but we're certainly in control of our own emotions.
Now, this isn't always easy...There's a lot of PTSD floating around, and everyone's millstone is unique. That doesn't mean we should take that millstone and jump in the water, right? No, we take that millstone out to the desert and leave it there. Let those who have harmed us dwell on these things, and let's you and I move forward, into The Future™.
Yesterday may have been awful. But it's dead, and dead things should be buried.
That's all.
Fucking hell, yes. You take those experiences, and you recognize that they inform who you are, but they don't define who you are. They might inform who you are to the point where you make a career out of making it better for others, but you don't let them trap you, or... well, you're trapped.
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 09:50:25 PM
This'll probably get me branded as a poseur pedantic fuck, but I'll just drop this link here and be on about my day off.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candide
"Best of all possible worlds" and "tend your own garden", two great tastes that taste great together.
Quote from: Ayotollah of Assehollah on September 25, 2012, 11:25:31 AM
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 24, 2012, 09:50:25 PM
This'll probably get me branded as a poseur pedantic fuck, but I'll just drop this link here and be on about my day off.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candide
"Best of all possible worlds" and "tend your own garden", two great tastes that taste great together.
:lulz:
Um, wait.
NOT SURE IF SRS