Although I have many times heard the benefits of developing a 5-year plan or a 10-year plan, I don't think I have ever heard of anyone advocating the development of a 20-year plan.
Here is my question: How do you envision yourself at 50? At 60? Or at 70, 80... whatever age you will be at in 20 years?
Do you know anyone who is at that age, or anyone you have known at that age, who exemplifies the person you want to be? Why?
If you don't or can't envision yourself in 20 years, why (please do not use the stereotypical "I won't be alive by then" answer unless you have a very clearly fatal disease, just don't bother answering, seriously, also right now resign yourself to a slow and awkward death by alcoholism while playing video poker well into your 60s, like that isn't completely exactly the definition of hell).
Anyway, basically, my question is...
what do you look like in 20 years?
What do you do for fun?
What have you accomplished in your life?
Who are your friends?
What is your economic status?
Hmmm. I'll be 52.
I look more or less the same as I did as at 32, but wrinklier.
I don't rightly know what I do for fun, since I don't know what technological advancements (or setbacks) were made between 2013 and 2033. But I imagine playing music is still involved.
I've graduated college. At some point.
My friends are option a) technological advancements: spread across the world. Maybe one or two just arriving on Mars.
b) technological setbacks: in close proximity to where I live, with some penpals across the world.
c) major technological setbacks: Whoever is willing to kill and skin a deer with me. Maybe some rocks.
My economic status is average, and stable. I've managed to pull myself out the usually broke situation, have a cushion in case something shits the bed. I probably still don't have a car though if I live in an urban area, or am hunting deer.
I'll be 55. I'll have finished going bald on the top and still be lazy about shaving it, so I'll look fine as long as I shave, and old as fuck when I don't. I expect to be about the same weight, my metabolism already slowed down and my weight plateaued. I expect to have less good teeth, but hopefully still enough to have a nice smile.
Judging by my current career trajectory I'll most likely be supported by a woman, that woman will most likely be my wife. I expect I'll be working, but I won't be the breadwinner. I'll probably still be lower middle class.
I'll still be playing video games and doing real life roleplaying for fun but those videogames will be way cooler than they are now. Maybe we'll even have immersive VR. I expect I'll still do a lot of my socializing online. Hopefully I'll be physically in good enough shape to still enjoy hikes and such, I take decent care of myself so I should be good into my 50's.
My friends will mostly be younger than I am (they are currently and I figure that trend will only continue) although there will be some my own age and a bit older who I have known for a long time and perhaps a few new ones as well. Some I will interact with only online, some I will see occasionally, and some will live in the same place I do.
I'll have raised an awesome kid, who I expect will by then be more professionally successful than I have yet managed. I'll have been putting new and unusual thoughts in people's head for a good 40 years at that point, and I'll be able to look myself in the mirror and tell myself that I've fucked things up a bit less than most.
In 20 years I reckon I'll either be in a wheelchair or 80% cyborg, although being dead is also a distinct possibility
I don't particularly need a plan for this, other than keep doing what I do. The rest should take care of itself.
I don't even have an idea what I'll be doing in 20 months...
I'll be 51. Hopefully, I'm living off music, writing and photography. I probably live on a small farm where I have a tiny house that doubles as a studio and a writing cabin.
Probably won't be rich, but I'll have enough to get by. I'll probably be completely grey by then, and when I go completely grey, I have promised myself, and the world, that I'm doing the Gandalf look.
I'll be 53
what do you look like in 20 years? - probably like my mother
What do you do for fun? - probably the same as I do now. Gaming and watching videos/movies. Reading.
What have you accomplished in your life? - Survival. Hopefully having raised a son that is doing alright for himself at 31.
Who are your friends? - Friends are mythical things. I have none now, so don't really see having any in 20 years.
What is your economic status? - Probably the same. Just barely getting by.
20 years and I'll be my mom's age when she died.
So, in addition to the crazy that will inevitably cause, I'll also be dealing with menopause, my kids being off on their own, and potentially some really serious health problems for the husband if he doesn't start taking better care of his stupid ass. We won't be living in Massachusetts anymore, might be in Chicago or LA (hopefully nothing will have gone sideways enough that we're looking at places without extradition treaties, but you never know).
I expect to be engaged in some drug tourism at that point in my life. Nothing crazy, just the typical "there's a time and a place for everything and that's college" type stuff I didn't get into then. I'd like to have a real honest-to-goodness novel done by that point and be working on more. I think 49 is going to be an awkward age for me, not quite teenager all over again but definitely one of those weird transitional years you go through now and again. I doubt the friends I have at 49 will be the same ones I have a couple years before or a couple years after.
I'll be starting to go gray, I don't expect to dye my hair to cover it but I might start messing around with hair color for shits and giggles, maybe maroon or something. I'll have more wrinkles, but hopefully I'll wear them well.
Money is still tighter than we'd like, but it's enough to do the things we want to do. There won't be enough for inheritances or anything like that. It shows up in fits and bursts as I get books done and he does major consulting gigs, which really isn't the best way to manage things but we always sucked at that.
If there are affordable robots that are even semi-intelligent, we have one. I exorcise my "WHERE ARE MY GRANDBABIES?" demons by treating it like another child, teaching it things I think are interesting and fostering its communication skills and sense of self-identity. One of my kids will be finally considering babies of their own at that point, but I don't want to pressure them.
Quote from: Facemeat on September 05, 2013, 06:50:41 AM
Anyway, basically, my question is...
what do you look like in 20 years?
What do you do for fun?
What have you accomplished in your life?
Who are your friends?
What is your economic status?
I am 50 by then.
I finally caved and started caring for how I look, but the decades of heavy drinking have ruined my body. I have an alcoholic's face on a body broken by physical labor.
I have as much fun as i had 20 years ago, which is to say: none, nothing seems like much fun anymore.
I managed to destroy my back which made it impossible to compensate for my lack of leadership skills by doing all the work myself, The company won't fire me though they want to.
My friends are about 80% the same as i have now, some new and some old ones have lost contact, maybe one or two ceased to be friends because we had a fight.
I Will still be as badly paid as i am now but i managed to pay part of my student loan back by then.
I'll play.
what do you look like in 20 years?: I'll be fully gray, as genetics dictates, but aging well like my parents and my family does in general. I'll probably have more tattoos and dress well for my age working at some museum or college.
What do you do for fun?: I'm still in the SCA. I'm a duchess by this point. I write annual publications on Roman and Byzantine history.
What have you accomplished in your life?: I have several degrees and have worked a plethora of jobs before landing a "career." Years of hard work and dedication do pay off.
Who are your friends?: Hopefully the same friends I have now, give or take a few. I'm not one to mingle with the brass, so I probably just hang out with who I know and still do terrible shenanigans to others who deserve it.
What is your economic status?: Middle class and still paying off student loans. :crankey:
Quote from: Facemeat on September 05, 2013, 06:50:41 AM
Anyway, basically, my question is...
what do you look like in 20 years?
What do you do for fun?
What have you accomplished in your life?
Who are your friends?
What is your economic status?
A horrible and boneless sack of skin.
With any luck at all, I'll be playing with my grandchildren for fun.
As much fun as possible.
I wish I would still have the same friends I have now.
I have NO CLUE. Also not too worried about it.
The short and skinny is, in 20 years, I'll be 65. I had NO IDEA how I was gonna think at 45 when I was 25, so I really can't say too much. I'd like for there to be a world worth living in, and a pile of grandchildren to corrupt.
Okay, less flippant answer (guilty of skimming threads before I leave for work)
what do you look like in 20 years?
I can only assume my face will continue to degenerate at the alarming rate it's been going the last decade or so. Also baldness but I've been buzzcutting it for a while now so it wont be that much of a deal. Body-wise, I'd expect it will still be pretty ripped.
What do you do for fun?
Same as now - Kayaking although, when I'm 64, I'll prolly be more focussed on touring than rough water. Don't think I'll last more than another decade in the big stuff but maybe I'll surprise myself.
What have you accomplished in your life?
House on an island, the fuck away from densely populated areas. I will be happier and less inclined to want to disembowel practically everyone I see.
Who are your friends?
Other kayakers. Other islanders. Freaks from the internets.
What is your economic status?
Immune. I don't really give much of a fuck about money at the moment, Id like to spend even less time thinking about it as I get older
I like all these answers! One of the things that triggered this question is research (I'll try to dig it up) that shows that people make better life decisions when they have a sense of their future self. Of course, that's just correlation; we have no way of knowing whether it's because people in shitty situations where long-term decision making is impaired can't imagine a future self, or whether it's because imagining a future self helps engender good decision-making, but it's an interesting correlation nonetheless.
I suspect it may be both, and I suspect that imagining your future self may be a beneficial exercise.
For myself:
what do you look like in 20 years?
In 20 years my hair will be completely white, and I will rock it in a giant curly mane when it isn't in a bun. I'll be a little bit plump but in fine shape. My face will look the same, my family doesn't wrinkle until we hit our 70's.
What do you do for fun?
Go hiking, explore the city, throw dinner parties with friends, and play with my grandkids. Oh, also piss people off on the internet, which will become increasingly hilarious (to me) as I appear increasingly grandmotherly.
What have you accomplished in your life?
Hopefully a Nobel prize for my neuroscience research, but at the very least I will have published several books and toured the world lecturing. I won't be a Neil Degrasse Tyson, no household name, but other scientists will know who I am and respect my work. I will be fabulous and pretty and loud and inspire a whole generation of little girls and unmarried mothers to pursue the sciences. Also I will have a very stuffy-sounding hyphenated name.
Who are your friends?
The same lovely lovely wonderful people who are my friends now, with a few additions I'll have picked up over the years. Hopefully without many losses.
What is your economic status?
Out of debt and pulling a solid low six figures, with a husband in the same boat. Stable and well-off enough to help my kids out, as well as the steady stream of foster kids I will most likely be sheltering out of a maternal urge I can't seem to switch off.
I'll be nearly 50.
Let's assume the ideal here, since this is all a big what if scenario and research shows we underestimate how much we'll be different in the future.
1) I look pretty much the same, except...clearer. Same long hair, same glasses, same dressing style, but a clearer face. I'm also in better shape, having done T'ai Chi Chu'an every day for the past 20 years, to the point I no longer have back problems. There are other parts to this but I don't really feel comfortable talking about it right now.
2) I don't expect to take up skydiving or anything outrageous. I still enjoy reading and writing, playing instruments and singing. I'm more adventurous in terms of hiking, maybe even to the point of doing cross country backpacking. I always did say I'd do the Ice Age Trail in Wisconsin, so maybe I've done it by that point.
3) I'm employed by a major museum. Chicago is ideal, DC is also right up there. I've completed at least /two/ major taxonomic revisions, including a boatload of species new to science. I'm a respected expert in several groups of insects, and an advocate for natural history and museums.
4) I'm living with my current partner, and her partner. We've found some way to work this out, even with our families, and we've developed a social group that coincides with our interests. Our friends are geeks and nerds, but frankly, those sorts of people are the most interesting.
5)My economic status isn't much different than grad school. Museum staff/curators don't get paid much. Still, I have carried my frugality from grad school, paid all my debts, and am happy with my situation.
I don't know anyone at that age who I really identify with.
I hope this all gets archived somewhere so we can look at this thread in 20 years and compare notes.
20 years ago, I was online with a group of people I am still connected to today. In fact, many of them have become my closest friends. One of them is now my ex-husband, one is my best friend, and another is my current paramour. They have become my closest community. Last week, we roasted a pig, and people came from the East coast, Puget Sound, and San Francisco just to hang out and party together.
People pooh-pooh this online shit, pixels on a screen and all that, but when it's used to forge social connections it's an incredibly effective people-connecter, and I suspect that most of us will still be talking to each other in 20 years. Strange as that may sound.
Quote from: Facemeat on September 05, 2013, 05:03:48 PM
I hope this all gets archived somewhere so we can look at this thread in 20 years and compare notes.
20 years ago, I was online with a group of people I am still connected to today. In fact, many of them have become my closest friends. One of them is now my ex-husband, one is my best friend, and another is my current paramour. They have become my closest community. Last week, we roasted a pig, and people came from the East coast, Puget Sound, and San Francisco just to hang out and party together.
People pooh-pooh this online shit, pixels on a screen and all that, but when it's used to forge social connections it's an incredibly effective people-connecter, and I suspect that most of us will still be talking to each other in 20 years. Strange as that may sound.
I've said before that PD is either directly or indirectly responsible for everything good that's happened to me in the last 9 years.
I agree. PD is directly responsible for the largest non-musical achievement I have executed so far.
And I'll answer the OP, I just need to think about it.
Why do I seem to remember us doing something similar a while back?
I wrote an email to my future self about 15 years back. I'll see if I can dig it out and post it here for the cringey embarrassment factor. I really was an incurable fucking hippy back then :oops:
Quote from: Kai on September 05, 2013, 05:05:52 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 05, 2013, 05:03:48 PM
I hope this all gets archived somewhere so we can look at this thread in 20 years and compare notes.
20 years ago, I was online with a group of people I am still connected to today. In fact, many of them have become my closest friends. One of them is now my ex-husband, one is my best friend, and another is my current paramour. They have become my closest community. Last week, we roasted a pig, and people came from the East coast, Puget Sound, and San Francisco just to hang out and party together.
People pooh-pooh this online shit, pixels on a screen and all that, but when it's used to forge social connections it's an incredibly effective people-connecter, and I suspect that most of us will still be talking to each other in 20 years. Strange as that may sound.
I've said before that PD is either directly or indirectly responsible for everything good that's happened to me in the last 9 years.
:) Rock on!
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on September 05, 2013, 05:32:50 PM
I wrote an email to my future self about 15 years back. I'll see if I can dig it out and post it here for the cringey embarrassment factor. I really was an incurable fucking hippy back then :oops:
Awww that's cute!
Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on September 05, 2013, 05:28:01 PM
I agree. PD is directly responsible for the largest non-musical achievement I have executed so far.
And I'll answer the OP, I just need to think about it.
Why do I seem to remember us doing something similar a while back?
Hmmmm I have no idea. It would be cool to see, if we did.
I think we did something similar in one of the Open Bar threads recently.
I definitely remember getting yelled at for my answer at the time (being in one of my down moods* I think I said something like I'd just be not dead)
*I really have to stop posting when in a down mood. The world always looks doom and gloom and hopeless during that time. And I always end up regretting whatever I've said.
Quote from: Sita on September 05, 2013, 06:48:35 PM
I think we did something similar in one of the Open Bar threads recently.
I definitely remember getting yelled at for my answer at the time (being in one of my down moods* I think I said something like I'd just be not dead)
*I really have to stop posting when in a down mood. The world always looks doom and gloom and hopeless during that time. And I always end up regretting whatever I've said.
The Nigel Rule applies when I feel that way.
I go outside and get cooked to a withered husk by the angry god in the sky.
Anyway, basically, my question is...
what do you look like in 20 years?
What do you do for fun?
What have you accomplished in your life?
Who are your friends?
What is your economic status?
[/quote]
If I'm still around, I will be a bony old woman and hopefully not too scary looking.
My mom is holding up pretty good, so I'll probably do the same things as now, just slower or less or whatever.
I've managed to raise a couple of decent kids on a fucking shoestring with people trying to fuck with us 1000 ways the whole time. I like to think I've done some good along the way too, even if it was just stuff like taking in stray dogs or giving a couple of bucks to some street bum.
If I like people, I keep them forever until they die or do something so shitty that I just *can't*. So some of the same friends I have now, and some newer ones.
I don't see economic status getting much better without some kind of lucky break, and it could easily get worse. America, etc.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 05, 2013, 06:49:37 PM
Quote from: Sita on September 05, 2013, 06:48:35 PM
I think we did something similar in one of the Open Bar threads recently.
I definitely remember getting yelled at for my answer at the time (being in one of my down moods* I think I said something like I'd just be not dead)
*I really have to stop posting when in a down mood. The world always looks doom and gloom and hopeless during that time. And I always end up regretting whatever I've said.
The Nigel Rule applies when I feel that way.
I go outside and get cooked to a withered husk by the angry god in the sky.
I don't understand this angry god of which you speak. Does he live on the other side of the great grey water in the sky?
I'll post in a few more hours.
Quote from: Facemeat on September 05, 2013, 07:36:15 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 05, 2013, 06:49:37 PM
Quote from: Sita on September 05, 2013, 06:48:35 PM
I think we did something similar in one of the Open Bar threads recently.
I definitely remember getting yelled at for my answer at the time (being in one of my down moods* I think I said something like I'd just be not dead)
*I really have to stop posting when in a down mood. The world always looks doom and gloom and hopeless during that time. And I always end up regretting whatever I've said.
The Nigel Rule applies when I feel that way.
I go outside and get cooked to a withered husk by the angry god in the sky.
I don't understand this angry god of which you speak. Does he live on the other side of the great grey water in the sky?
Water in the sky? :lulz:
This is what happens when you don't control your water. You let it run around loose. You won't have it when you need it, because it flew away.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 05, 2013, 08:51:01 PM
This is what happens when you don't control your water. You let it run around loose. You won't have it when you need it, because it flew away.
We also have a whole bunch of it lying on the ground, getting in the way.
PD is 169% of the reason I write. And looking back on my early stuff, it's been a big help in every way.
Quote from: Facemeat on September 05, 2013, 09:04:48 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 05, 2013, 08:51:01 PM
This is what happens when you don't control your water. You let it run around loose. You won't have it when you need it, because it flew away.
We also have a whole bunch of it lying on the ground, getting in the way.
You put water IN stuff. That way, you'll have it when you need it.
Nature is far too sloppy about this sort of thing.
This thread is actually a really good reminder that i really need to be regimented in order not to let everything go. Ive always had problems with aimlessness and procrastination if left to my own devices. It would probably benefit me immensely to get in the habit of short and long term to do lists and be really stubborn about each task until a task shows of that it is either really impractical or improbable.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 05, 2013, 09:37:08 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 05, 2013, 09:04:48 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 05, 2013, 08:51:01 PM
This is what happens when you don't control your water. You let it run around loose. You won't have it when you need it, because it flew away.
We also have a whole bunch of it lying on the ground, getting in the way.
You put water IN stuff. That way, you'll have it when you need it.
Nature is far too sloppy about this sort of thing.
I'm having trouble finding a container big enough.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3075/3110956881_3425242b59_z.jpg)
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 05, 2013, 09:36:31 PM
PD is 169% of the reason I write. And looking back on my early stuff, it's been a big help in every way.
It has changed me in many, many positive ways. Probably a huge factor in going back to school, but by far the biggest way PD has helped me is by calling me on my shit and making me grow the fuck up.
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 03:42:16 AM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 05, 2013, 09:36:31 PM
PD is 169% of the reason I write. And looking back on my early stuff, it's been a big help in every way.
It has changed me in many, many positive ways. Probably a huge factor in going back to school, but by far the biggest way PD has helped me is by calling me on my shit and making me grow the fuck up.
Likewise.
Also, thank you and Roger specifically.
Also, while I do consider some form of pantheism/deism my baseline spirituality, PD has helped me break away form religious nonsense. I'm probably always going to need some sort of ritual structure/theology/afterlife belief but I'm now aware that that's really just for my benefit rather than some reflection of reality. This is another reason why I feel like hopping religions at certain intervals and taking the best bits from each with me and figuring out why.
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 03:42:16 AM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 05, 2013, 09:36:31 PM
PD is 169% of the reason I write. And looking back on my early stuff, it's been a big help in every way.
It has changed me in many, many positive ways. Probably a huge factor in going back to school, but by far the biggest way PD has helped me is by calling me on my shit and making me grow the fuck up.
Same here. I was a very different guy in the 2003-2005 era. Perpetually butthurt, too damn angry to stop being angry. Granted, this was a very different place back then, but I allowed the assholes to define me. And I was far too worried about other peoples' opinion of me and what I was writing at the time.
Which is why the mirthful grin I wear when I'm going after RWHN has begun to fade a bit.
More on that last bit later.
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 03:40:53 AM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 05, 2013, 09:37:08 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 05, 2013, 09:04:48 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 05, 2013, 08:51:01 PM
This is what happens when you don't control your water. You let it run around loose. You won't have it when you need it, because it flew away.
We also have a whole bunch of it lying on the ground, getting in the way.
You put water IN stuff. That way, you'll have it when you need it.
Nature is far too sloppy about this sort of thing.
I'm having trouble finding a container big enough.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3075/3110956881_3425242b59_z.jpg)
IT'S JUST SITTING THERE! IT'S GONNA EVAPORATE AND EVERYONE WILL DIE!
PD has changed me rather radically since I came here not even two years ago.
Thanks guise. <3
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 06, 2013, 03:07:39 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 03:40:53 AM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 05, 2013, 09:37:08 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 05, 2013, 09:04:48 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 05, 2013, 08:51:01 PM
This is what happens when you don't control your water. You let it run around loose. You won't have it when you need it, because it flew away.
We also have a whole bunch of it lying on the ground, getting in the way.
You put water IN stuff. That way, you'll have it when you need it.
Nature is far too sloppy about this sort of thing.
I'm having trouble finding a container big enough.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3075/3110956881_3425242b59_z.jpg)
IT'S JUST SITTING THERE! IT'S GONNA EVAPORATE AND EVERYONE WILL DIE!
That's the craziest part... more just keeps falling into it from the sky. It never ends. We're buried in the stuff. 10 months out of the year we live in a perpetual damp twilight. Everything is moldy.
Everything is moldy.
Everyone has a sinus infection, and radioactive gas is coming out of the ground.
The natives called this place "The Valley of Sickness". Nobody lived here; they came here to fish and then retreated to the safety of the mountains.
But not whitey. Nope, whitey took a look at it and said "Let's call it Portland!" and built a city. A city where everybody is sick, confused, and depressed. :lol:
I love this town and will never leave. It's the most beautiful place I've ever seen.
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 06:57:27 PM
That's the craziest part... more just keeps falling into it from the sky. It never ends. We're buried in the stuff. 10 months out of the year we live in a perpetual damp twilight. Everything is moldy.
Everything is moldy.
Everyone has a sinus infection, and radioactive gas is coming out of the ground.
ALTERNATE WORLD PROBLEMS, ITT.
TGRR,
Posting from the Mos Eisley Cantina.
I actually looked up "the valley of sickness" thing and it turns out that it's pretty much a myth designed to make white people feel good about giving all the indians smallpox and tuberculosis and herding them onto reservations and stealing the richest farmland in the world from them.
Nonetheless, everything is still all moldy and we live in perpetual twilight and there is still radioactive gas leaking out of the ground. This is a wonderful place.
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 07:24:22 PM
I actually looked up "the valley of sickness" thing and it turns out that it's pretty much a myth designed to make white people feel good about giving all the indians smallpox and tuberculosis and herding them onto reservations and stealing the richest farmland in the world from them.
Nonetheless, everything is still all moldy and we live in perpetual twilight and there is still radioactive gas leaking out of the ground. This is a wonderful place.
We have loads of radiation, here. But we PUT it there.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 06, 2013, 07:25:08 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 07:24:22 PM
I actually looked up "the valley of sickness" thing and it turns out that it's pretty much a myth designed to make white people feel good about giving all the indians smallpox and tuberculosis and herding them onto reservations and stealing the richest farmland in the world from them.
Nonetheless, everything is still all moldy and we live in perpetual twilight and there is still radioactive gas leaking out of the ground. This is a wonderful place.
We have loads of radiation, here. But we PUT it there.
Ours is natural, and therefore healthy.
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 08:02:10 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 06, 2013, 07:25:08 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 07:24:22 PM
I actually looked up "the valley of sickness" thing and it turns out that it's pretty much a myth designed to make white people feel good about giving all the indians smallpox and tuberculosis and herding them onto reservations and stealing the richest farmland in the world from them.
Nonetheless, everything is still all moldy and we live in perpetual twilight and there is still radioactive gas leaking out of the ground. This is a wonderful place.
We have loads of radiation, here. But we PUT it there.
Ours is natural, and therefore healthy.
Holistic radon.
We could market that...
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 06, 2013, 08:02:50 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 08:02:10 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 06, 2013, 07:25:08 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 07:24:22 PM
I actually looked up "the valley of sickness" thing and it turns out that it's pretty much a myth designed to make white people feel good about giving all the indians smallpox and tuberculosis and herding them onto reservations and stealing the richest farmland in the world from them.
Nonetheless, everything is still all moldy and we live in perpetual twilight and there is still radioactive gas leaking out of the ground. This is a wonderful place.
We have loads of radiation, here. But we PUT it there.
Ours is natural, and therefore healthy.
Holistic radon.
We could market that...
Oh hell yeah.
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 08:19:39 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 06, 2013, 08:02:50 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 08:02:10 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 06, 2013, 07:25:08 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 07:24:22 PM
I actually looked up "the valley of sickness" thing and it turns out that it's pretty much a myth designed to make white people feel good about giving all the indians smallpox and tuberculosis and herding them onto reservations and stealing the richest farmland in the world from them.
Nonetheless, everything is still all moldy and we live in perpetual twilight and there is still radioactive gas leaking out of the ground. This is a wonderful place.
We have loads of radiation, here. But we PUT it there.
Ours is natural, and therefore healthy.
Holistic radon.
We could market that...
Oh hell yeah.
"Here at Nigelco, we only use gentle, natural radiation, rather than the harsh man-made kind."
Sound funny? HAR HAR, GUESS WHAT?
"We only use organic fertilizers, rather than harsh chemicals."
WHAT'S IN "Chemical" FERTILIZER? Phosphates, potassium, and nitrogen, some trace metals.
WHAT's IN "organic" FERTILIZER (blood meal, bone meal, etc)? Phosphates, potassium, and nitrogen, some trace metals. BUT IT SMELLS BAD, SO YOU KNOW IT'S WORKING. AND IT TAKES LONGER, SO YOU KNOW IT'S GOOD FOR DA EARF.
Well, fertilizer's a little more complicated. Maybe not the best example.
But you know what a good example is?
FLUORIDE.
Because people absolutely insist that "natural fluoride" is better for you than "chemical fluoride".
FLUORIDE. HOW DOES IT WORK?
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 09:56:59 PM
Because people absolutely insist that "natural fluoride" is better for you than "chemical fluoride".
Wait.
What?
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 09:56:59 PM
But you know what a good example is?
FLUORIDE.
Because people absolutely insist that "natural fluoride" is better for you than "chemical fluoride".
FLUORIDE. HOW DOES IT WORK?
Urge to kill rising.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 06, 2013, 09:57:52 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 09:56:59 PM
Because people absolutely insist that "natural fluoride" is better for you than "chemical fluoride".
Wait.
What?
Oh yeah I am not even shitting you. One of them even SAID SO in chemistry class Spring term. Everyone just stared at him. Fluoride.
It is the thing that it is, period.
I only take natural iron. It's much better than that horrible chemical iron.
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 10:56:16 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 06, 2013, 09:57:52 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 09:56:59 PM
Because people absolutely insist that "natural fluoride" is better for you than "chemical fluoride".
Wait.
What?
Oh yeah I am not even shitting you. One of them even SAID SO in chemistry class Spring term. Everyone just stared at him. Fluoride.
It is the thing that it is, period.
No. The GOOD flouride gets put there by NATURE, who is nice.
The BAD flouride is made by PEOPLE, who are mean.
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 10:57:01 PM
I only take natural iron. It's much better than that horrible chemical iron.
I prefer "harsh chemical iron".
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 06, 2013, 10:57:09 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 10:56:16 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 06, 2013, 09:57:52 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 09:56:59 PM
Because people absolutely insist that "natural fluoride" is better for you than "chemical fluoride".
Wait.
What?
Oh yeah I am not even shitting you. One of them even SAID SO in chemistry class Spring term. Everyone just stared at him. Fluoride.
It is the thing that it is, period.
No. The GOOD flouride gets put there by NATURE, who is nice.
The BAD flouride is made by PEOPLE, who are mean.
It makes me want to cry.
I have also been recently informed that sea salt is much better for you than regular table salt, and isn't implicated in hypertension.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 06, 2013, 10:57:30 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 10:57:01 PM
I only take natural iron. It's much better than that horrible chemical iron.
I prefer "harsh chemical iron".
It's harsh, because it's chemical.
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 10:58:44 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 06, 2013, 10:57:09 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 10:56:16 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 06, 2013, 09:57:52 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 09:56:59 PM
Because people absolutely insist that "natural fluoride" is better for you than "chemical fluoride".
Wait.
What?
Oh yeah I am not even shitting you. One of them even SAID SO in chemistry class Spring term. Everyone just stared at him. Fluoride.
It is the thing that it is, period.
No. The GOOD flouride gets put there by NATURE, who is nice.
The BAD flouride is made by PEOPLE, who are mean.
It makes me want to cry.
I have also been recently informed that sea salt is much better for you than regular table salt, and isn't implicated in hypertension.
Get out of there.
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 10:59:15 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 06, 2013, 10:57:30 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 10:57:01 PM
I only take natural iron. It's much better than that horrible chemical iron.
I prefer "harsh chemical iron".
It's harsh, because it's chemical.
And because it's man-made, and the "man" involved
isn't even a Native American.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 06, 2013, 10:59:47 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 10:59:15 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 06, 2013, 10:57:30 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 10:57:01 PM
I only take natural iron. It's much better than that horrible chemical iron.
I prefer "harsh chemical iron".
It's harsh, because it's chemical.
And because it's man-made, and the "man" involved isn't even a Native American.
HAHHAAHAHAH CHEROHONKEYS!
More kids have peanut allergies, these days, because peanuts are one of the most genetically modified foods.
THE MOST GENETICALLY MODIFIED.
So I have been told by a naturopathic doctor who is apparently unaware that I have the power of Google and was easily able to determine that, as I suspected, there is not a single GMO peanut on the market right now, and never has been.
Also, I have heard from countless people who refuse to eat GMO meats, which is much less of a daunting task than they seem to believe it is, considering there are none.
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 11:03:35 PM
More kids have peanut allergies, these days, because peanuts are one of the most genetically modified foods.
THE MOST GENETICALLY MODIFIED.
So I have been told by a naturopathic doctor who is apparently unaware that I have the power of Google and was easily able to determine that, as I suspected, there is not a single GMO peanut on the market right now, and never has been.
Also, I have heard from countless people who refuse to eat GMO meats, which is much less of a daunting task than they seem to believe it is, considering there are none.
I have a book for you. You'll like it. Trust me.
If I can figure out where I left it, I'll pop it in the mail this weekend.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 06, 2013, 10:59:20 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 10:58:44 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 06, 2013, 10:57:09 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 10:56:16 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 06, 2013, 09:57:52 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 09:56:59 PM
Because people absolutely insist that "natural fluoride" is better for you than "chemical fluoride".
Wait.
What?
Oh yeah I am not even shitting you. One of them even SAID SO in chemistry class Spring term. Everyone just stared at him. Fluoride.
It is the thing that it is, period.
No. The GOOD flouride gets put there by NATURE, who is nice.
The BAD flouride is made by PEOPLE, who are mean.
It makes me want to cry.
I have also been recently informed that sea salt is much better for you than regular table salt, and isn't implicated in hypertension.
Get out of there.
Not even kidding a little. He looked me right in the eye and said that. And when I looked confused and asked what's different about the chemical composition he got a little flustered and said something about "trace minerals".
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 06, 2013, 11:04:29 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 11:03:35 PM
More kids have peanut allergies, these days, because peanuts are one of the most genetically modified foods.
THE MOST GENETICALLY MODIFIED.
So I have been told by a naturopathic doctor who is apparently unaware that I have the power of Google and was easily able to determine that, as I suspected, there is not a single GMO peanut on the market right now, and never has been.
Also, I have heard from countless people who refuse to eat GMO meats, which is much less of a daunting task than they seem to believe it is, considering there are none.
I have a book for you. You'll like it. Trust me.
If I can figure out where I left it, I'll pop it in the mail this weekend.
That sounds awesome! If it gets to me before the 21st I will read it in short order, as I have no textbooks to read between now and then.
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 11:06:42 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 06, 2013, 11:04:29 PM
Quote from: Facemeat on September 06, 2013, 11:03:35 PM
More kids have peanut allergies, these days, because peanuts are one of the most genetically modified foods.
THE MOST GENETICALLY MODIFIED.
So I have been told by a naturopathic doctor who is apparently unaware that I have the power of Google and was easily able to determine that, as I suspected, there is not a single GMO peanut on the market right now, and never has been.
Also, I have heard from countless people who refuse to eat GMO meats, which is much less of a daunting task than they seem to believe it is, considering there are none.
I have a book for you. You'll like it. Trust me.
If I can figure out where I left it, I'll pop it in the mail this weekend.
That sounds awesome! If it gets to me before the 21st I will read it in short order, as I have no textbooks to read between now and then.
I think I know where I left it.
To OP:
In 2033, I'll be 39. I'll look somewhat like today, probably coarser facial features. still mostly wearing nondescript, functional clothing. Judging from the rest of my family, I won't have gone grey, and I'll still have my nice thick hair.
I will have at least a master's degree in something, probably history. Quite possibly I'm a high school history teacher, hopefully one of those good ones who manage to make the subject seem alive and relevant and interesting. Or working in academia or at a museum. Ideally I should earn at least part of my living from writing about history/politics/society.
Probably married. A few kids maybe, they'll still be small and ask lots of annoying questions about the world around them. For leisure I'll travel, take long walks, read, listen to and play music.
If Norway is anything like today in 2033, I'll be comfortably middle class.
To alleviate some of my middle class guilt I'll probably do volunteer work of some kind, for example there may be os many climate refugees in Norway at that point that the government barely bothers securing basic necessities of life for them and leaves the rest to NGOs.
I'll be 52 and the odds are 80/20 in favor of me being dead. My people are not long-lived. I'm okay with that.
If I'm alive my hair will have mostly fallen out or turned some weird color that isn't black but isn't brown. We all start out as towheads and end up . . . not. There will be lines around my eyes and mouth and my neck will be vaguely wrinkly, like hairless puppy skin. My hands will look thirty years older than the rest of my body and my fingers will be all twisted up in different directions at each knuckle. My spine will curve and it will be hard for me to look up or to the right. I will probably have had at least two kinds of cancer and/or magically discovered I'm bi-polar or whatever it is now.
For fun I will knit, and crochet but even more awesomely, and go to random places and cackle at children and stab people with my knitting needles if they talk too loudly, until I'm thrown out of the library and the dollar movie theater for shenanigans. I'll walk and hike and make jokes about how I lost my broom in a tree at the top of the hill and I've got to go get it. I will be awkward and shameless and get yelled at less for it, I think, than I do now. I probably won't travel much, but I'll live somewhere with lots of that nature stuff my spiritual advisor is always warning me against, and I'll spend lots of time out in it. I'll make masks and paper and soap and candles and tan leather and dye my own fiber that I spin into yarn from the goats and alpacas I raise myself. I will freak people out with my post-apocalyptic skill set.
I'll have published (FINALLY) at least five of my current eleven novels and forgotten about the other six all together because I wrote a dozen or so NEW books that rocked my world. I've probably written a few books of poetry under a pseudonym and told no one. I'll have mastered Estonian lace and Irish lace and other such things, put out a few patterns or even pattern books as well, in both crafts.
I'll live alone. A small-ish house with a wrap-around porch on some amount of land that's mostly wild. Forest or ocean or something. My friends will be other local authors and other creative types. We'll say it will be to collaborate but it will really be to drink moonshine until we're catching fireflies in our underwear and waking up with fur coated tongues in the yard, under the porch, and up in a tree. I'll have one or two close friends who will help me hide the bodies of annoying HR personnel and/or book agents. There'll be a nice man up the way who likes to come over after dark for a little canoodling by candlelight and has a knack of showing up when my siblings and their offspring show up with shotguns demanding cash or try to steal my car.
I'm probably on the upper end of not-quite-broke. Everything paid off but somewhat shabby. A few bucks in the bank and some more buried in mason jars in the backyard. Maybe a handful of fifties stuck under the mattress or tucked in the labels of my skeins of yarn. Enough for me and some more to spread around.