Tucson is full of drones.
I don't mean the predator, etc, sky drones, I mean people who spend their entire lives accomplishing nothing. They have no skills, either because they went to some remnant school in Central Filth or the Hive District, or because they were raised in Oro Valley or the Foothills, and went through their lives until about age 25 not believing that they'd need skills. Everything up to that point was always handed to them, and they didn't believe in their gut that it would ever actually stop.
Hell, the entire town of Marana is composed of drones.
Some of you may remember Von Melee and Nurse Mayhem, from this very board. They are essentially human tapeworms...They find a host, move right in, and then live off of their host for as long as possible, until the host is destroyed by the drain on resources (Much of which is wasted...Food prepared and then left to rot because the fridge is a whole 8 feet away, etc), the dismal atmosphere of useless indolence exuded by the pair...and the crust of filth that is generated by both of them, as they are not only too lazy to pick up after themselves, but also too innured to raw garbage to care.
They're pretty much a worst-case scenario, of course. Most of the drones in Tucson do something, but don't seem to actually accomplish anything. Maybe 20 hours a week flipping burgers, or whatnot...And there's no shame in that, if it's keeping body and soul together. The difference between a drone and someone trying to get a leg up from the bottom is this: The drone makes no effort to rise above the minimum wage, etc, that allows them to veg in front of the TV or the game console.
And when they ARE presented with an opportunity, they sabotage it, both because they're afraid of success and because the opportunity might involve doing some work beyond mindlessly dropping the fry basket at Wendy's.
Oh, they'll tell you all about their plans, of course. They'll tell you about the Great American Novel they're going to write, or the art they're going to do, or the courses they're going to take at Pima Community College...But, of course, that's later. Right now, they feel like shit...And, besides, they have to finish the Wii game they're playing for the 8th time. Lots of talk, but nothing ever gets done, and woe betide anyone who swallows their shit long enough to get roped into getting involved with them on one of the projects that they will never actually complete (or even properly begin).
The real problem this presents is that it's not just limited to Tucson. There's two whole generations running around with no ambition. Eventually, reality will come round and settle accounts.
And they'll take you down with them.
Or Kill Me.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 05:33:54 PM
Tucson is full of drones.
I don't mean the predator, etc, sky drones, I mean people who spend their entire lives accomplishing nothing. They have no skills, either because they went to some remnant school in Central Filth or the Hive District, or because they were raised in Oro Valley or the Foothills, and went through their lives until about age 25 not believing that they'd need skills. Everything up to that point was always handed to them, and they didn't believe in their gut that it would ever actually stop.
Hell, the entire town of Marana is composed of drones.
Some of you may remember Von Melee and Nurse Mayhem, from this very board. They are essentially human tapeworms...They find a host, move right in, and then live off of their host for as long as possible, until the host is destroyed by the drain on resources (Much of which is wasted...Food prepared and then left to rot because the fridge is a whole 8 feet away, etc), the dismal atmosphere of useless indolence exuded by the pair...and the crust of filth that is generated by both of them, as they are not only too lazy to pick up after themselves, but also too innured to raw garbage to care.
They're pretty much a worst-case scenario, of course. Most of the drones in Tucson do something, but don't seem to actually accomplish anything. Maybe 20 hours a week flipping burgers, or whatnot...And there's no shame in that, if it's keeping body and soul together. The difference between a drone and someone trying to get a leg up from the bottom is this: The drone makes no effort to rise above the minimum wage, etc, that allows them to veg in front of the TV or the game console.
And when they ARE presented with an opportunity, they sabotage it, both because they're afraid of success and because the opportunity might involve doing some work beyond mindlessly dropping the fry basket at Wendy's.
Oh, they'll tell you all about their plans, of course. They'll tell you about the Great American Novel they're going to write, or the art they're going to do, or the courses they're going to take at Pima Community College...But, of course, that's later. Right now, they feel like shit...And, besides, they have to finish the Wii game they're playing for the 8th time. Lots of talk, but nothing ever gets done, and woe betide anyone who swallows their shit long enough to get roped into getting involved with them on one of the projects that they will never actually complete (or even properly begin).
The real problem this presents is that it's not just limited to Tucson. There's two whole generations running around with no ambition. Eventually, reality will come round and settle accounts.
And they'll take you down with them.
Or Kill Me.
:x :mittens:
This makes me want to shut down the national electrical grid. More than normal.
Do it. I can work with this.
OP: ...and there, but for the grace of "Bob", go us.
Quote from: Richter on January 20, 2011, 05:42:15 PM
Do it. I can work with this.
OP: ...and there, but for the grace of "Bob", go us.
Not so sure about that. I've known people that started off with nothing and clawed their way into a life they enjoy, and I've known people who started with every advantage, and pissed it away.
It's a personality type, I think, and since we stopped sticking useless people on ice floes, they have multiplied.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 05:43:44 PM
Quote from: Richter on January 20, 2011, 05:42:15 PM
Do it. I can work with this.
OP: ...and there, but for the grace of "Bob", go us.
Not so sure about that. I've known people that started off with nothing and clawed their way into a life they enjoy, and I've known people who started with every advantage, and pissed it away.
It's a personality type, I think, and since we stopped sticking useless people on ice floes, they have multiplied.
:lulz: :lulz: :lulz:
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 05:43:44 PM
Quote from: Richter on January 20, 2011, 05:42:15 PM
Do it. I can work with this.
OP: ...and there, but for the grace of "Bob", go us.
Not so sure about that. I've known people that started off with nothing and clawed their way into a life they enjoy, and I've known people who started with every advantage, and pissed it away.
It's a personality type, I think, and since we stopped sticking useless people on ice floes, they have multiplied.
Neither am I. some people start beign motivated, directed folks and fall off it, others are jsut born to udnerachieve, it seems. I think it's one of those poorly understood bits of community nature. Some will give up on keeping up with everyone else and just subsist at their own level.
Ice floes is attractive, but I can see problems with the decision making on that, and the subsequent cheaping of human life it implies
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 05:43:44 PM
Quote from: Richter on January 20, 2011, 05:42:15 PM
Do it. I can work with this.
OP: ...and there, but for the grace of "Bob", go us.
Not so sure about that. I've known people that started off with nothing and clawed their way into a life they enjoy, and I've known people who started with every advantage, and pissed it away.
It's a personality type, I think, and since we stopped sticking useless people on ice floes, they have multiplied.
There's a physical law of some sort that says a gas will expand to whatever boundries contain it. That is, oxygen won't stay only in the lower left side of a balloon, it will move to fill it. And if you increase the volume, the gas will increase to fill it. Not consciously, of course, but because the oxygen molecules are flying around everywhere.
Ok, so now let's make a crappy metaphor: Our ambition is a gas, and our belief is the container.
Your ambition will naturally expand to fill whatever roles we believe are possible. But "belief" goes deeper than the frontal lobes. It has to go all the way back into the primary limbic system, the "lizard brain", the part of the mind where there are only things to eat, and things that eat you. It's all well and good to say, "This is America; anything is possible!" But it's so much harder to
believe that. And so, people expect the world to conform to their wishes, instead of expanding what they believe the world to be, and rising to meet it.
Quote from: Richter on January 20, 2011, 06:31:34 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 05:43:44 PM
Quote from: Richter on January 20, 2011, 05:42:15 PM
Do it. I can work with this.
OP: ...and there, but for the grace of "Bob", go us.
Not so sure about that. I've known people that started off with nothing and clawed their way into a life they enjoy, and I've known people who started with every advantage, and pissed it away.
It's a personality type, I think, and since we stopped sticking useless people on ice floes, they have multiplied.
Neither am I. some people start beign motivated, directed folks and fall off it, others are jsut born to udnerachieve, it seems. I think it's one of those poorly understood bits of community nature. Some will give up on keeping up with everyone else and just subsist at their own level.
Ice floes is attractive, but I can see problems with the decision making on that, and the subsequent cheaping of human life it implies
I'm not suggesting we return to that practice, any more than I'm suggesting we go back to any other practices of my youth, such as chasing Irishmen out of town for kicks, or beating on derelicts with burlap sacks full of pig iron
1. I'm just pointing out the facts.
1 Though I still think it's okay to do it occasionally, out of nostalgia.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 06:38:02 PM
Quote from: Richter on January 20, 2011, 06:31:34 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 05:43:44 PM
Quote from: Richter on January 20, 2011, 05:42:15 PM
Do it. I can work with this.
OP: ...and there, but for the grace of "Bob", go us.
Not so sure about that. I've known people that started off with nothing and clawed their way into a life they enjoy, and I've known people who started with every advantage, and pissed it away.
It's a personality type, I think, and since we stopped sticking useless people on ice floes, they have multiplied.
Neither am I. some people start beign motivated, directed folks and fall off it, others are jsut born to udnerachieve, it seems. I think it's one of those poorly understood bits of community nature. Some will give up on keeping up with everyone else and just subsist at their own level.
Ice floes is attractive, but I can see problems with the decision making on that, and the subsequent cheaping of human life it implies
I'm not suggesting we return to that practice, any more than I'm suggesting we go back to any other practices of my youth, such as chasing Irishmen out of town for kicks, or beating on derelicts with burlap sacks full of pig iron1. I'm just pointing out the facts.
1 Though I still think it's okay to do it occasionally, out of nostalgia.
We used to throw out a couple of handfuls of quarters and let the bums beat the hell out of each other fighting over them.
Quote from: LMNO, PhD on January 20, 2011, 06:36:59 PM
There's a physical law of some sort that says a gas will expand to whatever boundries contain it. That is, oxygen won't stay only in the lower left side of a balloon, it will move to fill it. And if you increase the volume, the gas will increase to fill it. Not consciously, of course, but because the oxygen molecules are flying around everywhere.
Ok, so now let's make a crappy metaphor: Our ambition is a gas, and our belief is the container.
Your ambition will naturally expand to fill whatever roles we believe are possible. But "belief" goes deeper than the frontal lobes. It has to go all the way back into the primary limbic system, the "lizard brain", the part of the mind where there are only things to eat, and things that eat you. It's all well and good to say, "This is America; anything is possible!" But it's so much harder to believe that. And so, people expect the world to conform to their wishes, instead of expanding what they believe the world to be, and rising to meet it.
1. Robert Boyle was a filthy, whiskey-swilling potato-sucker that regularly beat his wife with a peasant, and nothing he said can be taken seriously.
2. And I think it's more that the chickenshit-to-Johnny Cash ratio in America is very high, and as a result, many people just wimp out, because they'd rather be a drone than to try and fail.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 06:38:02 PM
Quote from: Richter on January 20, 2011, 06:31:34 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 05:43:44 PM
Quote from: Richter on January 20, 2011, 05:42:15 PM
Do it. I can work with this.
OP: ...and there, but for the grace of "Bob", go us.
Not so sure about that. I've known people that started off with nothing and clawed their way into a life they enjoy, and I've known people who started with every advantage, and pissed it away.
It's a personality type, I think, and since we stopped sticking useless people on ice floes, they have multiplied.
Neither am I. some people start beign motivated, directed folks and fall off it, others are jsut born to udnerachieve, it seems. I think it's one of those poorly understood bits of community nature. Some will give up on keeping up with everyone else and just subsist at their own level.
Ice floes is attractive, but I can see problems with the decision making on that, and the subsequent cheaping of human life it implies
I'm not suggesting we return to that practice, any more than I'm suggesting we go back to any other practices of my youth, such as chasing Irishmen out of town for kicks, or beating on derelicts with burlap sacks full of pig iron1. I'm just pointing out the facts.
1 Though I still think it's okay to do it occasionally, out of nostalgia.
If I'm following right: add social pressure to keep up your own end, and not jsut scrounge? I'm down with that.
Quote from: Richter on January 20, 2011, 06:49:20 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 06:38:02 PM
Quote from: Richter on January 20, 2011, 06:31:34 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 05:43:44 PM
Quote from: Richter on January 20, 2011, 05:42:15 PM
Do it. I can work with this.
OP: ...and there, but for the grace of "Bob", go us.
Not so sure about that. I've known people that started off with nothing and clawed their way into a life they enjoy, and I've known people who started with every advantage, and pissed it away.
It's a personality type, I think, and since we stopped sticking useless people on ice floes, they have multiplied.
Neither am I. some people start beign motivated, directed folks and fall off it, others are jsut born to udnerachieve, it seems. I think it's one of those poorly understood bits of community nature. Some will give up on keeping up with everyone else and just subsist at their own level.
Ice floes is attractive, but I can see problems with the decision making on that, and the subsequent cheaping of human life it implies
I'm not suggesting we return to that practice, any more than I'm suggesting we go back to any other practices of my youth, such as chasing Irishmen out of town for kicks, or beating on derelicts with burlap sacks full of pig iron1. I'm just pointing out the facts.
1 Though I still think it's okay to do it occasionally, out of nostalgia.
If I'm following right: add social pressure to keep up your own end, and not jsut scrounge? I'm down with that.
1. No, mostly I just want to abuse people, and
2. Keeping up your own end, yes. Nobody has to run out and try to be the next Bill Gates...That isn't my point. My point is that people should DO something before they die, and that - for their own sake - they should at least TRY to support themselves. I know people that are broke as hell, but who DO things - real, measurable things - that make these people an integral part of society...And I know trustafarians who don't have to work because they're sitting on a fat stack of cash, who are essentially nothing more than parasites.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 06:52:49 PM
1. No, mostly I just want to abuse people, and
2. Keeping up your own end, yes. Nobody has to run out and try to be the next Bill Gates...That isn't my point. My point is that people should DO something before they die, and that - for their own sake - they should at least TRY to support themselves. I know people that are broke as hell, but who DO things - real, measurable things - that make these people an integral part of society...And I know trustafarians who don't have to work because they're sitting on a fat stack of cash, who are essentially nothing more than parasites.
1. :lulz: Doing unto others as it seems funny to do is a valuable service.
2. ...and amen to that!
:mittens:
We have come to the age of "because you owe me" that's why. Where this has come from is very simple, we stopped making life difficult. In today's world the very whisper of a lawsuit can shut something down quicker than trying to have sex in an ice bath, so many things that used to require an actual effort, in this day require little more than the click of a mouse, if that.
We've stopped teaching our new generation that the whole idea is to work hard, play hard and love even harder. The only part they even begin to comprehend is play and how hard is the play when you're sitting on your ass with a controller in your hand? So yeah, you learn to shoot hos and steal badass cars and if you plug in the cheats your car can fly. The fact that cheating in real life used to get you in jail, now, you get to go into politics.
Oh no, it hurt when you got hit with that rubber ball during a game of dodgeball. We must ban its play from the entire school system. Awww your poor little feelings got hurt because you were picked last for kickball (the fact that you kick like an anorexic girl and run slower than moss grows aside) we have to stop letting people have choices and just divide everyone down the middle.
This entire generation coming of age has had everything insulated for them. If you think the current groups of 20-40 somethings are drones, just wait till these 90's babies start entering the real world. They've bumped it a notch, they're drones with an attitude of self worth that is not based on actual ability or achievement but a bunch of lies they've been told so their wittle feelings won't be hurt.
You can only rise above and make something of yourself if there have been challeges put in your path so you can learn how to rise above, otherwise, you stand at that wall and one of two things happen. You discover the strength within you to do what must be done and climb over, burrow under or blow a fucking hole in it but you get by the wall, or you walk away and say "Fuck it! I'm going to go home and play Grand Theft Auto and eat cheetos!"
Quote from: Niamh on January 20, 2011, 07:25:06 PM
:mittens:
We have come to the age of "because you owe me" that's why. Where this has come from is very simple, we stopped making life difficult. In today's world the very whisper of a lawsuit can shut something down quicker than trying to have sex in an ice bath, so many things that used to require an actual effort, in this day require little more than the click of a mouse, if that.
We've stopped teaching our new generation that the whole idea is to work hard, play hard and love even harder. The only part they even begin to comprehend is play and how hard is the play when you're sitting on your ass with a controller in your hand? So yeah, you learn to shoot hos and steal badass cars and if you plug in the cheats your car can fly. The fact that cheating in real life used to get you in jail, now, you get to go into politics.
Oh no, it hurt when you got hit with that rubber ball during a game of dodgeball. We must ban its play from the entire school system. Awww your poor little feelings got hurt because you were picked last for kickball (the fact that you kick like an anorexic girl and run slower than moss grows aside) we have to stop letting people have choices and just divide everyone down the middle.
This entire generation coming of age has had everything insulated for them. If you think the current groups of 20-40 somethings are drones, just wait till these 90's babies start entering the real world. They've bumped it a notch, they're drones with an attitude of self worth that is not based on actual ability or achievement but a bunch of lies they've been told so their wittle feelings won't be hurt.
You can only rise above and make something of yourself if there have been challeges put in your path so you can learn how to rise above, otherwise, you stand at that wall and one of two things happen. You discover the strength within you to do what must be done and climb over, burrow under or blow a fucking hole in it but you get by the wall, or you walk away and say "Fuck it! I'm going to go home and play Grand Theft Auto and eat cheetos!"
:mittens:
An easy life is a wasted life. Not saying life should be nasty, brutal, and short (unless you're EoC, who is all 3 of these things), but it shouldn't be a walk in the park, either.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 07:38:23 PM
Quote from: Niamh on January 20, 2011, 07:25:06 PM
:mittens:
We have come to the age of "because you owe me" that's why. Where this has come from is very simple, we stopped making life difficult. In today's world the very whisper of a lawsuit can shut something down quicker than trying to have sex in an ice bath, so many things that used to require an actual effort, in this day require little more than the click of a mouse, if that.
We've stopped teaching our new generation that the whole idea is to work hard, play hard and love even harder. The only part they even begin to comprehend is play and how hard is the play when you're sitting on your ass with a controller in your hand? So yeah, you learn to shoot hos and steal badass cars and if you plug in the cheats your car can fly. The fact that cheating in real life used to get you in jail, now, you get to go into politics.
Oh no, it hurt when you got hit with that rubber ball during a game of dodgeball. We must ban its play from the entire school system. Awww your poor little feelings got hurt because you were picked last for kickball (the fact that you kick like an anorexic girl and run slower than moss grows aside) we have to stop letting people have choices and just divide everyone down the middle.
This entire generation coming of age has had everything insulated for them. If you think the current groups of 20-40 somethings are drones, just wait till these 90's babies start entering the real world. They've bumped it a notch, they're drones with an attitude of self worth that is not based on actual ability or achievement but a bunch of lies they've been told so their wittle feelings won't be hurt.
You can only rise above and make something of yourself if there have been challeges put in your path so you can learn how to rise above, otherwise, you stand at that wall and one of two things happen. You discover the strength within you to do what must be done and climb over, burrow under or blow a fucking hole in it but you get by the wall, or you walk away and say "Fuck it! I'm going to go home and play Grand Theft Auto and eat cheetos!"
:mittens:
An easy life is a wasted life. Not saying life should be nasty, brutal, and short (unless you're EoC, who is all 3 of these things), but it shouldn't be a walk in the park, either.
EXACTLY!!!! And we are doing that great mind thing today, that was part of a rant I was working on already..... How cool is that? :D
Quote from: Niamh on January 20, 2011, 07:25:06 PM
:mittens:
We have come to the age of "because you owe me" that's why. Where this has come from is very simple, we stopped making life difficult. In today's world the very whisper of a lawsuit can shut something down quicker than trying to have sex in an ice bath, so many things that used to require an actual effort, in this day require little more than the click of a mouse, if that.
We've stopped teaching our new generation that the whole idea is to work hard, play hard and love even harder. The only part they even begin to comprehend is play and how hard is the play when you're sitting on your ass with a controller in your hand? So yeah, you learn to shoot hos and steal badass cars and if you plug in the cheats your car can fly. The fact that cheating in real life used to get you in jail, now, you get to go into politics.
Oh no, it hurt when you got hit with that rubber ball during a game of dodgeball. We must ban its play from the entire school system. Awww your poor little feelings got hurt because you were picked last for kickball (the fact that you kick like an anorexic girl and run slower than moss grows aside) we have to stop letting people have choices and just divide everyone down the middle.
This entire generation coming of age has had everything insulated for them. If you think the current groups of 20-40 somethings are drones, just wait till these 90's babies start entering the real world. They've bumped it a notch, they're drones with an attitude of self worth that is not based on actual ability or achievement but a bunch of lies they've been told so their wittle feelings won't be hurt.
You can only rise above and make something of yourself if there have been challeges put in your path so you can learn how to rise above, otherwise, you stand at that wall and one of two things happen. You discover the strength within you to do what must be done and climb over, burrow under or blow a fucking hole in it but you get by the wall, or you walk away and say "Fuck it! I'm going to go home and play Grand Theft Auto and eat cheetos!"
:mittens:
What happened to getting SLACK™ and tipping the luck plane?
Quote from: LMNO, PhD on January 20, 2011, 08:10:05 PM
What happened to getting SLACK™ and tipping the luck plane?
That's a common misconception. Slack™ isn't sitting on the couch, 24/7, watching the Goddamn Dukes of Hazzard and eating Cheetohs, it's the state of
enjoying the ride...And sloth just isn't actually all that enjoyable, over a period of time. False Slack™ is a constant peril.
And the luck plane tips when you have Slack™...Remember the expression, "Do what you love to do, and the money will follow"?
great OP.. I find myself wrestling with this issue. I go on a lot more adventures than most people I know, but I do still find myself losing entire weeks of my life to the latest video game. I am not really pushing myself as hard as I could be pushing to climb the career ladder, but I am still skeptical that I'm on the right ladder anyway.
Now that I'm single, I am coming out of a rather antisocial period of my life, ready to make new friends and forge new experiences. I find myself at a party, drunk to the point of silliness, surrounded by new friends. And it feels GOOD to have ejected from the black iron prison I very carefully built during 2009 and 2010, but I can never silence the fear that I am wasting my time. That I'm going to suddenly discover some talent or interest and wish I'd spent the last few years throwing myself head first at it instead of just hanging out with my new friends.
A coworker of mine just started her Master's. She is kicking herself right now because if she had started her Masters when she originally intended to, she'd be done by now. Instead she drifted through leisure for a while before putting her nose to the grindstone.
But I'm reminded of Guy Deboard. He found his slack outside of the 9 to 5 (or whatever the French have. Like 10 to 3 or something, right? :lol:) He spent his life drifting from bar to bar, drinking wine and reading poetry, guided entirely by moment to moment impulses. And even though he died poor and drunk, I don't think he would have had it any other way.
I guess the question I'm wrestling with is what the fuck I SHOULD be doing with my life. How to bridge the gap between the lower self and the higher self. If you set your sights too low, you end up trapped in orbit around a sofa. If you set them too high, you end up frustrated and stretched too thin. I don't want to invest in the American Dream, the game's rigged. I want to save myself from the capitalist death contraption. I want wealth and luxury but I still want to be a bad ass motherfucker. ahhh the human condition!
Quote from: Cramulus on January 20, 2011, 08:33:32 PM
great OP.. I find myself wrestling with this issue. I go on a lot more adventures than most people I know, but I do still find myself losing entire weeks of my life to the latest video game. I am not really pushing myself as hard as I could be pushing to climb the career ladder, but I am still skeptical that I'm on the right ladder anyway.
Taking a 2-3 week sanity break is one thing. Basing your whole life on it is another.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 07:38:23 PM
An easy life is a wasted life. Not saying life should be nasty, brutal, and short (unless you're EoC, who is all 3 of these things), but it shouldn't be a walk in the park, either.
Also, don't anyone believe EoC's outraged denial of his vertically-challenged life. I've met him, and he's only 4'11", with disproportionate limbs.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 08:35:10 PM
Quote from: Cramulus on January 20, 2011, 08:33:32 PM
great OP.. I find myself wrestling with this issue. I go on a lot more adventures than most people I know, but I do still find myself losing entire weeks of my life to the latest video game. I am not really pushing myself as hard as I could be pushing to climb the career ladder, but I am still skeptical that I'm on the right ladder anyway.
Taking a 2-3 week sanity break is one thing. Basing your whole life on it is another.
true, but where's the line? How can I tell if I'm TOO deep in the cracks between the couch cushions? How can I know if I'm pushing myself hard enough?
My guess is, by asking yourself those very questions.
I would think that the lost people don't ask themselves that; they just look towards the next level, the next pizza delivery, the next shift.
Quote from: Cramulus on January 20, 2011, 08:37:05 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 08:35:10 PM
Quote from: Cramulus on January 20, 2011, 08:33:32 PM
great OP.. I find myself wrestling with this issue. I go on a lot more adventures than most people I know, but I do still find myself losing entire weeks of my life to the latest video game. I am not really pushing myself as hard as I could be pushing to climb the career ladder, but I am still skeptical that I'm on the right ladder anyway.
Taking a 2-3 week sanity break is one thing. Basing your whole life on it is another.
true, but where's the line? How can I tell if I'm TOO deep in the cracks between the couch cushions? How can I know if I'm pushing myself hard enough?
On Sunday, ask yourself if you actually enjoyed the previous week. You'll know.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 08:36:33 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 07:38:23 PM
An easy life is a wasted life. Not saying life should be nasty, brutal, and short (unless you're EoC, who is all 3 of these things), but it shouldn't be a walk in the park, either.
Also, don't anyone believe EoC's outraged denial of his vertically-challenged life. I've met him, and he's only 4'11", with disproportionate limbs.
frodo?
Quote from: LMNO, PhD on January 20, 2011, 08:38:25 PM
My guess is, by asking yourself those very questions.
I would think that the lost people don't ask themselves that; they just look towards the next level, the next pizza delivery, the next shift.
This.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 08:38:31 PM
Quote from: Cramulus on January 20, 2011, 08:37:05 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 08:35:10 PM
Quote from: Cramulus on January 20, 2011, 08:33:32 PM
great OP.. I find myself wrestling with this issue. I go on a lot more adventures than most people I know, but I do still find myself losing entire weeks of my life to the latest video game. I am not really pushing myself as hard as I could be pushing to climb the career ladder, but I am still skeptical that I'm on the right ladder anyway.
Taking a 2-3 week sanity break is one thing. Basing your whole life on it is another.
true, but where's the line? How can I tell if I'm TOO deep in the cracks between the couch cushions? How can I know if I'm pushing myself hard enough?
On Sunday, ask yourself if you actually enjoyed the previous week. You'll know.
Simple and effective! I feel like that was staring me in the face. See, this is why I come to you for advice.
Quote from: Charley Brown on January 20, 2011, 08:38:57 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 08:36:33 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 07:38:23 PM
An easy life is a wasted life. Not saying life should be nasty, brutal, and short (unless you're EoC, who is all 3 of these things), but it shouldn't be a walk in the park, either.
Also, don't anyone believe EoC's outraged denial of his vertically-challenged life. I've met him, and he's only 4'11", with disproportionate limbs.
frodo?
Well, yeah, but I didn't see him mooning at Sean Astin.
:mittens: Three of my oldest friends are just like this. :cry:
Quote from: Cramulus on January 20, 2011, 08:40:00 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 08:38:31 PM
Quote from: Cramulus on January 20, 2011, 08:37:05 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 08:35:10 PM
Quote from: Cramulus on January 20, 2011, 08:33:32 PM
great OP.. I find myself wrestling with this issue. I go on a lot more adventures than most people I know, but I do still find myself losing entire weeks of my life to the latest video game. I am not really pushing myself as hard as I could be pushing to climb the career ladder, but I am still skeptical that I'm on the right ladder anyway.
Taking a 2-3 week sanity break is one thing. Basing your whole life on it is another.
true, but where's the line? How can I tell if I'm TOO deep in the cracks between the couch cushions? How can I know if I'm pushing myself hard enough?
On Sunday, ask yourself if you actually enjoyed the previous week. You'll know.
Simple and effective! I feel like that was staring me in the face. See, this is why I come to you for advice.
That's what we Holy Men™ are for.
It works, too. I've found myself answering, "No, I played Disciples II all fucking weekend, and now I'm still bored AND I have a crick in my neck."
This series has teeth so far, Roger, and this one was a great example to bring it home. It plays on insecurities that everyone has - self actualization, productivity, slack vs. laziness, expectation, potential, wasted lives. Poor Cramulon is in tears, and if that isn't a productive individual what with his projects and his activities, then I don't know what is. Though I suppose that's for him to decide.
I would now like to address the vicious lies being spread about me. Brutal, nasty, DISPROPORTIONATE LIMBS?! All entirely accurate, actually, and thank you. :) Short? Sir, I come from a family of giants! I am 6'0" at a slouch, a full two inches taller when I see fit to draw to my full height (an effect much like a cobra, with those flappy-things on the sides of its head)! I have been called many things in my life - little, even, might be accurate for the gangly and spindly nature of my form, but short? Short!? Never. Never!
Quote from: Eater of Clowns on January 20, 2011, 09:35:53 PM
This series has teeth so far, Roger, and this one was a great example to bring it home. It plays on insecurities that everyone has - self actualization, productivity, slack vs. laziness, expectation, potential, wasted lives. Poor Cramulon is in tears, and if that isn't a productive individual what with his projects and his activities, then I don't know what is. Though I suppose that's for him to decide.
I would now like to address the vicious lies being spread about me. Brutal, nasty, DISPROPORTIONATE LIMBS?! All entirely accurate, actually, and thank you. :) Short? Sir, I come from a family of giants! I am 6'0" at a slouch, a full two inches taller when I see fit to draw to my full height (an effect much like a cobra, with those flappy-things on the sides of its head)! I have been called many things in my life - little, even, might be accurate for the gangly and spindly nature of my form, but short? Short!? Never. Never!
Frodo!!! Hi!
Quote from: Eater of Clowns on January 20, 2011, 09:35:53 PM
This series has teeth so far, Roger, and this one was a great example to bring it home. It plays on insecurities that everyone has - self actualization, productivity, slack vs. laziness, expectation, potential, wasted lives. Poor Cramulon is in tears, and if that isn't a productive individual what with his projects and his activities, then I don't know what is. Though I suppose that's for him to decide.
I would now like to address the vicious lies being spread about me. Brutal, nasty, DISPROPORTIONATE LIMBS?! All entirely accurate, actually, and thank you. :) Short? Sir, I come from a family of giants! I am 6'0" at a slouch, a full two inches taller when I see fit to draw to my full height (an effect much like a cobra, with those flappy-things on the sides of its head)! I have been called many things in my life - little, even, might be accurate for the gangly and spindly nature of my form, but short? Short!? Never. Never!
Don't listen to a word of it, people. He wears platform shoes and a traffic cone under his wig.
Also, yeah. I figured that the people who DON'T have to worry about being a drone would be the only ones that would worry.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 09:41:42 PM
Quote from: Eater of Clowns on January 20, 2011, 09:35:53 PM
This series has teeth so far, Roger, and this one was a great example to bring it home. It plays on insecurities that everyone has - self actualization, productivity, slack vs. laziness, expectation, potential, wasted lives. Poor Cramulon is in tears, and if that isn't a productive individual what with his projects and his activities, then I don't know what is. Though I suppose that's for him to decide.
I would now like to address the vicious lies being spread about me. Brutal, nasty, DISPROPORTIONATE LIMBS?! All entirely accurate, actually, and thank you. :) Short? Sir, I come from a family of giants! I am 6'0" at a slouch, a full two inches taller when I see fit to draw to my full height (an effect much like a cobra, with those flappy-things on the sides of its head)! I have been called many things in my life - little, even, might be accurate for the gangly and spindly nature of my form, but short? Short!? Never. Never!
Don't listen to a word of it, people. He wears platform shoes and a traffic cone under his wig.
Also, yeah. I figured that the people who DON'T have to worry about being a drone would be the only ones that would worry.
So the fact that I didn't worry means I should worry? Great you got me worrying about not worrying.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 08:41:57 PM
Quote from: Cramulus on January 20, 2011, 08:40:00 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 08:38:31 PM
Quote from: Cramulus on January 20, 2011, 08:37:05 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 08:35:10 PM
Quote from: Cramulus on January 20, 2011, 08:33:32 PM
great OP.. I find myself wrestling with this issue. I go on a lot more adventures than most people I know, but I do still find myself losing entire weeks of my life to the latest video game. I am not really pushing myself as hard as I could be pushing to climb the career ladder, but I am still skeptical that I'm on the right ladder anyway.
Taking a 2-3 week sanity break is one thing. Basing your whole life on it is another.
true, but where's the line? How can I tell if I'm TOO deep in the cracks between the couch cushions? How can I know if I'm pushing myself hard enough?
On Sunday, ask yourself if you actually enjoyed the previous week. You'll know.
Simple and effective! I feel like that was staring me in the face. See, this is why I come to you for advice.
That's what we Holy Men™ are for.
It works, too. I've found myself answering, "No, I played Disciples II all fucking weekend, and now I'm still bored AND I have a crick in my neck."
I'm still thinking about this
joy is a good measuring stick for quality of life
but should we be considering more than hedonistic fulfillment?
I'm worry about similar things as Cram. Except I think, wtf is Cram worrying about he's going on adventures all the time! :) Worried whether these sorts of descriptions apply to me. I was born with a shitload of advantages, and often it feels like I did piss away a lot of time. Not because of partying or laziness, but because at some point I couldn't hold grip on my life anymore (or maybe I never really did) and everything started slipping. I vowed never to stop trying or fighting until I got "it" back, I'm not sure where I am now, I think I must have made some progress, but it's cost me a decade so far.
And like LMNO said, I know, as long as I'm asking myself these kinds of questions and at least sincerely try to stay on top of everything, I'm probably good.
But I also know, from what Roger said, there's something wrong, cause I'm not really enjoying myself, or enjoying the ride.
Okay that sounds a lot more emo than it should, sorry I would word it differently, but it's what bugs me, every day.
the thing is, I am not yet my ideal self, and I'm not sure fun is what's missing from the equation
perhaps I am not the target audience of this great sermon?
ah ho,
wio
Quote from: Cramulus on January 21, 2011, 03:14:52 AM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 08:41:57 PM
Quote from: Cramulus on January 20, 2011, 08:40:00 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 08:38:31 PM
Quote from: Cramulus on January 20, 2011, 08:37:05 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 08:35:10 PM
Quote from: Cramulus on January 20, 2011, 08:33:32 PM
great OP.. I find myself wrestling with this issue. I go on a lot more adventures than most people I know, but I do still find myself losing entire weeks of my life to the latest video game. I am not really pushing myself as hard as I could be pushing to climb the career ladder, but I am still skeptical that I'm on the right ladder anyway.
Taking a 2-3 week sanity break is one thing. Basing your whole life on it is another.
true, but where's the line? How can I tell if I'm TOO deep in the cracks between the couch cushions? How can I know if I'm pushing myself hard enough?
On Sunday, ask yourself if you actually enjoyed the previous week. You'll know.
Simple and effective! I feel like that was staring me in the face. See, this is why I come to you for advice.
That's what we Holy Men™ are for.
It works, too. I've found myself answering, "No, I played Disciples II all fucking weekend, and now I'm still bored AND I have a crick in my neck."
I'm still thinking about this
joy is a good measuring stick for quality of life
but should we be considering more than hedonistic fulfillment?
Obviously. Having a hangover from Saturday night to Monday morning isn't exactly accomplishing anything.
If, for example, I get 10 pages knocked out in a weekend, I'm feeling good. If I get out and get the City under my feet, likewise.
:mittens: to this whole thread!
Ask yourself this - if they made a movie or a video game out of your life would you rush out and buy it?
If the answer is no then the chances are you need to lay off movies and video games for a while.
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on January 21, 2011, 03:15:36 PM
:mittens: to this whole thread!
Ask yourself this - if they made a movie or a video game out of your life would you rush out and buy it?
If the answer is no then the chances are you need to lay off movies and video games for a while.
:lulz:
I honestly don't know. But looking back at the actual productive part of my life I feel pretty smug with a couple of regrets. What's done id done and if I look back too long I will probably walk into a brick wall or something.
Dude, you wrote a frickin' book about your life. If you just keep on keeping on the way you have, you'll be fine.
Quote from: LMNO, PhD on January 21, 2011, 03:29:46 PM
Dude, you wrote a frickin' book about your life. If you just keep on keeping on the way you have, you'll be fine.
There's the trick, isn't it? Worry about today, tomorrow will take care of itself.
I find myself getting to an age where it doesn't all have to be as fast-paced, wild and generally fucked up as it did in the past but, at the same time, there's still a lot of really dangerous places I need to explore and try and drag my ass through in one piece. I just hope the old bones hold up long enough :lulz:
This subject is indefinitely postponed, due to loss of aircraft over Britain.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 22, 2011, 01:04:36 AM
This subject is indefinitely postponed, due to loss of aircraft over Britain.
:oops: Sorry, the Great Bovinity escaped his bonds.
Quote from: Canis latrans eques on January 22, 2011, 01:06:29 AM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 22, 2011, 01:04:36 AM
This subject is indefinitely postponed, due to loss of aircraft over Britain.
:oops: Sorry, the Great Bovinity escaped his bonds.
YOU FOOL!The RAF will totally own our landing craft, if we don't have air superiority!
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 22, 2011, 01:08:08 AM
Quote from: Canis latrans eques on January 22, 2011, 01:06:29 AM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 22, 2011, 01:04:36 AM
This subject is indefinitely postponed, due to loss of aircraft over Britain.
:oops: Sorry, the Great Bovinity escaped his bonds.
YOU FOOL!
The RAF will totally own our landing craft, if we don't have air superiority!
wait.....
(http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/5459/purplecowthulhuwmustach.png)
We can use him to infiltrate the RAF. I mean look at his mustache.
Soz, guise. I accidently the landing craft. :oops:
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 22, 2011, 01:08:08 AM
Quote from: Canis latrans eques on January 22, 2011, 01:06:29 AM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 22, 2011, 01:04:36 AM
This subject is indefinitely postponed, due to loss of aircraft over Britain.
:oops: Sorry, the Great Bovinity escaped his bonds.
YOU FOOL!
The RAF will totally own our landing craft, if we don't have air superiority!
OH SHIIIIII--- :nuke2:
ICBM. YOU SEE ICBM?
Quote from: The Dead Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 06:43:00 PM
Quote from: LMNO, PhD on January 20, 2011, 06:36:59 PM
There's a physical law of some sort that says a gas will expand to whatever boundries contain it. That is, oxygen won't stay only in the lower left side of a balloon, it will move to fill it. And if you increase the volume, the gas will increase to fill it. Not consciously, of course, but because the oxygen molecules are flying around everywhere.
Ok, so now let's make a crappy metaphor: Our ambition is a gas, and our belief is the container.
Your ambition will naturally expand to fill whatever roles we believe are possible. But "belief" goes deeper than the frontal lobes. It has to go all the way back into the primary limbic system, the "lizard brain", the part of the mind where there are only things to eat, and things that eat you. It's all well and good to say, "This is America; anything is possible!" But it's so much harder to believe that. And so, people expect the world to conform to their wishes, instead of expanding what they believe the world to be, and rising to meet it.
1. Robert Boyle was a filthy, whiskey-swilling potato-sucker that regularly beat his wife with a peasant, and nothing he said can be taken seriously.
2. And I think it's more that the chickenshit-to-Johnny Cash ratio in America is very high, and as a result, many people just wimp out, because they'd rather be a drone than to try and fail.
You know, I have a very dirty, dirty brain.
As it turns out, I don't remember half the shit I post.
Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on July 24, 2012, 07:24:12 PM
As it turns out, I don't remember half the shit I post.
My point exactly. I don't remember writing that, and I spent about 30 seconds giggling my ass off.
Quote from: The Dead Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 07:38:23 PM
An easy life is a wasted life. Not saying life should be nasty, brutal, and short (unless you're EoC, who is all 3 of these things), but it shouldn't be a walk in the park, either.
:lulz:
The difference in drone bees and drone people is that drone bees don't breed, isn't it?
We're in trouble. Or maybe it was just the drone foreplay I once saw while standing in line at WalMart, between some guy who looked like a retarded Garth Brooks and an obese bottle blond in 80's spandex and blue glitter eyeshadow, that gave me PTSD.
Quote from: TEXAS FAIRIES FOR ALL YOU SPAGS on July 24, 2012, 07:46:50 PM
The difference in drone bees and drone people is that drone bees don't breed, isn't it?
We're in trouble. Or maybe it was just the drone foreplay between some guy who looked like a retarded Garth Brooks and an obese bottle blond in 80's spandex and blue glitter eyeshadow that gave me PTSD.
You need to GET OUT OF THAT TOWN.
Quote from: The Dead Reverend Roger on July 24, 2012, 07:47:29 PM
Quote from: TEXAS FAIRIES FOR ALL YOU SPAGS on July 24, 2012, 07:46:50 PM
The difference in drone bees and drone people is that drone bees don't breed, isn't it?
We're in trouble. Or maybe it was just the drone foreplay between some guy who looked like a retarded Garth Brooks and an obese bottle blond in 80's spandex and blue glitter eyeshadow that gave me PTSD.
You need to GET OUT OF THAT TOWN.
YES.
It's like a glue trap, I think. There's a trick to it. What I do know is not to put my OTHER foot in it and try to push it away.
Quote from: TEXAS FAIRIES FOR ALL YOU SPAGS on July 24, 2012, 07:50:42 PM
Quote from: The Dead Reverend Roger on July 24, 2012, 07:47:29 PM
Quote from: TEXAS FAIRIES FOR ALL YOU SPAGS on July 24, 2012, 07:46:50 PM
The difference in drone bees and drone people is that drone bees don't breed, isn't it?
We're in trouble. Or maybe it was just the drone foreplay between some guy who looked like a retarded Garth Brooks and an obese bottle blond in 80's spandex and blue glitter eyeshadow that gave me PTSD.
You need to GET OUT OF THAT TOWN.
YES.
It's like a glue trap, I think. There's a trick to it. What I do know is not to put my OTHER foot in it and try to push it away.
Drag it with you and scrape it off on Houston. Fuckers deserve each other.
Quote from: The Dead Reverend Roger on July 24, 2012, 07:51:18 PM
Quote from: TEXAS FAIRIES FOR ALL YOU SPAGS on July 24, 2012, 07:50:42 PM
Quote from: The Dead Reverend Roger on July 24, 2012, 07:47:29 PM
Quote from: TEXAS FAIRIES FOR ALL YOU SPAGS on July 24, 2012, 07:46:50 PM
The difference in drone bees and drone people is that drone bees don't breed, isn't it?
We're in trouble. Or maybe it was just the drone foreplay between some guy who looked like a retarded Garth Brooks and an obese bottle blond in 80's spandex and blue glitter eyeshadow that gave me PTSD.
You need to GET OUT OF THAT TOWN.
YES.
It's like a glue trap, I think. There's a trick to it. What I do know is not to put my OTHER foot in it and try to push it away.
Drag it with you and scrape it off on Houston. Fuckers deserve each other.
Sounds like a plan.
And when I've done that, I'll scrape Houston off on San Antonio.