Category Archives: Life
Right On Time
As some of you know by now, Allamagoosa and I are going to be married. We met through Sunshine Mary, got a nudge or two* from 7man and CL, and from there the dominoes just kept falling over. So much so that it seemed like someone somewhere was planning it.
The joke between us is that we’re so, uh, unique that no one else could deal with us. This is a only-slightly-exaggerated example –
If you’re coming to the wedding, bring kevlar and a dessert.
*”Nudge” meaning “go for it, dumb@$$!”
King Solomon Had The Right Idea After All
From Reason.com –
Melissa Harris-Perry says that children belong to the community, not their parents.
No, really. I’m not paraphrasing, that’s what she said.
“We have never invested as much in public education as we should have because we have this private notion of children. ‘Your kid is yours, and totally your responsibility.’ We haven’t had a very collective notion of ‘these are our children.’ So part of it is to break through our kind of private idea that kids belong to their parents, or kids belong to their families, and recognize that kids belong to whole communities.
“Once it’s everybody’s responsibility, and not just the household’s, then we start making better investments.”
There’s another video of her at Newsbusters where she dismisses a fertilized egg as nonhuman and opines thusly –
[T]he reality is that if this turns into a person, right, there are economic consequences, right? The cost to raise a child, $10,000 a year up to $20,000 a year. When you’re talking about what it actually costs to have this thing turn into a human, why not allow women to make the best choices that we can with as many resources and options instead of trying to come in and regulate this process?
“I think we have gone through a period when too many children and people have been given to understand ‘I have a problem, it is the Government’s job to cope with it!’ or ‘I have a problem, I will go and get a grant to cope with it!’ ‘I am homeless, the Government must house me!’ and so they are casting their problems on society and who is society? There is no such thing! There are individual men and women and there are families and no government can do anything except through people and people look to themselves first… There is no such thing as society. There is living tapestry of men and women and people and the beauty of that tapestry and the quality of our lives will depend upon how much each of us is prepared to take responsibility for ourselves and each of us prepared to turn round and help by our own efforts those who are unfortunate.”
What’s The Use?
Chateau Heartiste has another “Beta Of The Month” going, with three candidates in the running. Contestant #3, knowing his wife was about to cheat or had already done so, posted –
People are to be LOVED. Things are to be USED. The reason why the world is in chaos is because THINGS are being LOVED and PEOPLE are being used,” the message declares.
Love and use are not mutually exclusive. Years ago, Walter E. Williams wrote –
I’m reminded of charges of exploitation Mrs. Williams used to make early on in our 44-year marriage. She’d charge, “Walter, you’re using me!” I’d respond by saying, “Honey, sure, I’m using you. If I had no use for you, I wouldn’t have married you in the first place.” How many of us would marry a person for whom we had no use? As a matter of fact, the problem of the lonely hearts among us is that they can’t find someone to use them.
So, who’s using you?
Zero Sum
So a woman was telling a couple of us about someone she knows who is pregnant, and the baby has something that would qualify it as “special needs” once born…
Her: She already has a couple special needs kids, she doesn’t think she can handle another one.
Me: Can’t she have the baby and give it up for adoption? There are couples who will take special needs children.
Her: She doesn’t think she can have the baby and then give it up to someone else.
Me: So she’d rather give it up to nobody?
That was pretty much the end of the conversation.
Rain Of Temptation
I went to the pizza place and ordered extra cheese w/ green pepper. As I was carrying the box back to my car, I suddenly decided to check inside the box. Pepperoni.
I dropped to my knees on the cement sidewalk as the light rainy drizzle fell. Why, I shouted to the Heavens while shaking my fists in empty rage against my fate, couldn’t I have waited until I got home and it would have been too much effort to drive back and get it without pepperoni?
Batting .500
So I had cheese pizza for lunch, had something small with no meat before going to work, and at 3 minutes to midnight I was thinking I could eat meat again and maybe go out for a burger, and suddenly remembered the bag of beef jerky on the desk that I had been snacking on about an hour beforehand.
So close.
Capping It Off
Today is the birthday of curmudgeon economist and Djarum Black smoker Captain Capitalism. ‘Tis always fun to see his rants and rails against fluffy-minded liberal “thinkers.”
He promised me several kilos and enough hookers to snort it all off of in exchange for the pimpage. I expect delivery by Saturday.
High Resolution Screening
Dannyfrom504 wrote –
…a song by red house painters called “medicine bottle”. medicine bottle was one of my staple “oneitis” songs. yet i recently had it pop up on a playlist and listening to it now…i see it from a different angle.
it’s simply about an introvert who’s in love but his lover can’t get him out of is shell (mark kozelek routinely wrote songs that were autobiographical), i’m thinking she’s of the impression that he’s not really all that into her, or can’t deal with his gloominess (and we INTJ’s can be GLOOMY AS FUCK), and leaves him. but what she doesn’t get, is the fact she he let her in in the first place is how we express our affection. we are solid pillars of stone when it come to our feelings. NO ONE gets in unless we’ve screened you beyond any screening you’ve ever experienced.
I took the Myers-Briggs test – two different versions – and both times I scored as an INTJ. One test rated me at 90% Thinking over Feeling. I don’t think it’s quite that high, but I am definitely always thinking and analyzing.
I screen constantly and automatically. Everyone does, but INTJs take it to 11. As far as online interactions go, I’m scanning everything you write, watching how you choose your words, who you reply to most and who you ignore. I’m studying your general attitude, what makes you laugh and what pisses you off. I’m scoping out your friends. By the time I leave a comment on your site, I’ve probably read at least half of your posts, and probably seen your comments on other sites. If you comment here and I don’t know you, I’ll go read your latest batch of posts before replying.
I’m not saying I shut out strangers. Far from it. I’ll talk music, movies, and the like with total strangers anytime. But there’s a limit to how far I’ll let someone in before I really know them, and that limit doesn’t go very deep. I discuss little about my personal views until I know someone.
I rarely email someone out of the blue, and always with my WordPress name at first. If I give you my Skype name, you’re on a short list. If you know my name, you’re in a very small club. If you can send me a text message on my phone, you’re probably gold, but it takes a while to get to that level (and besides, why would most people even need to text me? But I digress…).
The thing is, if I do give these out to someone, they usually don’t realize what it means. Once I’ve decided someone is in, I tend to hand out more personal things, not like candy on Halloween, but without hard restrictions. There’s no context to show how how guarded I can be. To a non-INTJ, it probably looks like I’m open (maybe too open), but it actually means I’ve decided you’re up to snuff. Not that anyone would know this. So I have to watch myself.
Interacting with someone in person is different, of course. But that’s a subject for anyone who actually meets me in person.
Danny also wrote “sad depressing music is an INTJ’s heroin.” I’m not quite sure about that, but I do have my share of unhappy favorites. Even as a kid, I never cared much for most love songs – I might like some for the music, but the lyrics were usually too sappy for me. A song doesn’t have to be unhappy, but over-romanticized fluff is right out. Here’s a few favorites of mine, to give you an idea.
Ok, I like some happy songs too.
Friday I’m In Lent
Today I will try not to eat meat. Not a big deal to most, I’m sure. but to me it’s like not breathing. I’m hardcore carnivore.
I’ve gone a few Fridays without eating meat a few times here and there, but never stuck to it. Most likely, I’ll busts open a can of chili or get halfway through a cheeseburger and be like “aw, crap.”
Broken Premises
Years ago I worked with a girl I really liked. A lot of things happened (and yet Nothing Happened), but that’s a story for another post. After a couple months of spending all our time together and yet not so much as shaking hands, she got with an utterly useless guy. A guy that, not too long before, she had told me about his history of drinking, substance abuse, and violence. Ok, fine, whatever. Her life, her choice.
Not too long after that, she showed me (I prefer to think she wasn’t waving it in my face) her engagement ring. I asked her when the wedding was. She said they weren’t planning a wedding. I asked why not. She said it was a promise. This went round and round for a minute or two. I asked what the hell is an engagement ring a promise of if you’re not planning to marry? No real answer to that, just more vague waffling.
I had gotten used to this type of unlogic from her by now, so I let it drop.
This came soon after another twisted dating misadventure (tip for girls – if you go out with a guy a few times and like him, don’t let his moonstruck friend hang all over you at a party until you show up and then say “but I like you better.” He won’t believe you). These two incidents so close together were probably my first up-close, unflinching gaze into the hamster den, where anything goes as long as it keeps going without a second look.
nightskyradio 