Horse walks into a bar, the bartender says "Hey, buddy, why the long face?"
Pirate walks into a bar with a steering wheel attached to his crotch. The bartenders says "Hey, buddy, you know you've got a steering wheel attached to your crotch?" Pirate says "Arrr, it's driving me nuts."
It's late and a traveling salesman is looking for a place to stay. He asks a farmer if he has somewhere, and the farmer says "Sure, but you'll have to sleep with my son." The salesman says "I'm sorry, I must be in the wrong joke."
I've not read anything bad by Haruki Murakami, but I'd put "Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World" at the top, along with "Underground," which is a collection of interviews with victims of the sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway. This short story is a pretty good example of his style.
As your lawyer, I'd advise you to read "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas".
I would recommend "V", by Thomas Pynchon, but I've not been able to finish it. There is just too much going on in it to pack into my little head. I've gotten to the same point in the book several times, and enjoyed it immensely, but falter because, at the exact same sentence, I am no longer able to juggle the various threads. I count this as one of my failings as a human being. "The Crying of Lot 49" is also very good.
"The Killer Inside Me" by Jim Thompson is the last book that kept me up at night, and stands as his best work in my mind.
It sounds to me that Pyrrhonians have the problem of being open minded to a fault. From the article:
"Our position is not doubt or denial or disbelief, but continual inquiry. For example, We do not believe in the reality of a god, but neither do we deny it."
This position is not really practical. There are plenty of questions to which I don't know the answer and that are not worth my time investigating. Is there a category for pragmatic skepticism? How many gods do I have to not believe in before it's okay for me to not believe in any gods?
Our vet comes to the house, so doesn't have the benefit of a lot of equipment and/or staff that she might have if she were in the office. She tried using something like the Cat Sack on one of our cats once when she needed a blood sample. It just freaked him out, and made him less cooperative. Not sure if that is a common experience, but he is normally the most cooperative cat of the bunch.
I can definitely sympathize with what you are going through. Our house is something of a cat's old folk's home. One cat needs insulin injections twice a day; one insulin injections, pills for a thyroid tumor, and liquid for high blood pressure (each twice a day); and one liquid phenobarbitol twice a day, and steroid pills every other day for an inoperable brain tumor. The first 2 cats are absolutely no problem. The third went through a faze of avoiding us when it was time for medication, but now has settled down. The worst part is that the phenobarbitol only comes in cherry flavor, and the cat hates it. The cherry flavoring makes me think there must be a market for low dose phenobarbitol for children, which just seems wrong in my book. But what do I know.
Anyway, good luck with it. Hopefully it will get better with time.
There was some independent line of super hero comics in the 80s that had a team with 1 member who was just really lucky. The evil ninja that was about to kill him would slip in dog poo or something. That always seemed ideal, but it might get boring. Maybe I'd take to jumping out of planes without a parachute just to see what the universe would cook up to save me. I'd still think that's what I'd pick, though.
Basically, in the stock market, you want to buy low and sell high, but you don't necessarily have to do it in that order. When you short a stock, you borrow it from someone that owns it (or, in the parlance, is long in the stock) and sell it, betting that you will be able to buy it cheaper at a later date. It's a risky move for 2 reasons. First, the owner of the stock could decide to sell it before you are ready to buy the stock to replace the borrowed shares, so you give up some control. Second, and more importantly, is that there is no limit to the amount you could lose if the stock starts going up.
Come on. The TV is full of poor characters.
Of course you are right. I still think that having the characters' financial plight being a central plot point in a drama is probably taboo. Little Johnny with no health insurance and bad kidneys, and the only way he'll live is if Mom can raise $100,000 would probably still cause some people to want to donate.
Well, the characters on most TV shows are of the middle class variety yet we very rarely see them at their jobs or hear them complain of money problems.
Um, ever hear of Law & Order or CSI? Not so much with the whining about money, but I'm not sure you could fill a half hour with the non-work scenes collected in a week of those shows.
You might have a point with the money angle, but the early soaps where characters were poor actually ended up with people sending them money. Poor characters have been taboo ever since. I'd like to think that people are a lot more savvy now, but I can't quite bring myself to believe it.
Well, I saved my descent into depression until my 20s, but I have to say, you are in a tough situation. About the only thing that anyone else did that helped was to understand what I was going through. Since you aren't their friend, and aren't in their peer group, it would be hard for you to make any gesture that didn't seem pretty superficial on that level.
I can say that if you do manage to do or say something helpful, it may very well cause lots of misunderstanding with the non-depressed people around. After I attempted suicide, my best friend said, "If you ever try that again, just make sure it works, because I don't want to go through this again." Everyone else was horrified, but it really made two things really sink in for me. One, that I was hurting other people (of course I already knew that, but it seemed much clearer now), and, two, that he would in fact be there for me (notice he didn't say he wasn't going to go through it again). That one sentence did more for me than the vast majority of the therapists I've seen.
swollen legs may ulcerate, everyone has dinner plans except us, urge for a corn dog, my bowels are 2 clenched fists, die gracefully, a perfect example of nothing, monopolization of the realm of appearances, unmistakable cone of ignorance, flying missiles atomic bombs and the second coming of jesus christ, maybe she's born with it, tentacles of circumstance, long glances pregnant with nothing, varying degrees of nausea and dizziness, mechanically separated chicken
Horse walks into a bar, the bartender says "Hey, buddy, why the long face?" Pirate walks into a bar with a steering wheel attached to his crotch. The bartenders says "Hey, buddy, you know you've got a steering wheel attached to your crotch?" Pirate says "Arrr, it's driving me nuts." It's late and a traveling salesman is looking for a place to stay. He asks a farmer if he has somewhere, and the farmer says "Sure, but you'll have to sleep with my son." The salesman says "I'm sorry, I must be in the wrong joke."
posted by worldwidewoogie 18 years ago
In "Curious George: Favourite Books "
I've not read anything bad by Haruki Murakami, but I'd put "Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World" at the top, along with "Underground," which is a collection of interviews with victims of the sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway. This short story is a pretty good example of his style. As your lawyer, I'd advise you to read "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". I would recommend "V", by Thomas Pynchon, but I've not been able to finish it. There is just too much going on in it to pack into my little head. I've gotten to the same point in the book several times, and enjoyed it immensely, but falter because, at the exact same sentence, I am no longer able to juggle the various threads. I count this as one of my failings as a human being. "The Crying of Lot 49" is also very good. "The Killer Inside Me" by Jim Thompson is the last book that kept me up at night, and stands as his best work in my mind.
posted by worldwidewoogie 18 years ago
In "Pyrrhonian Skepticism"
It sounds to me that Pyrrhonians have the problem of being open minded to a fault. From the article: "Our position is not doubt or denial or disbelief, but continual inquiry. For example, We do not believe in the reality of a god, but neither do we deny it." This position is not really practical. There are plenty of questions to which I don't know the answer and that are not worth my time investigating. Is there a category for pragmatic skepticism? How many gods do I have to not believe in before it's okay for me to not believe in any gods?
posted by worldwidewoogie 18 years ago
In "Curious George: medicating a cat"
Our vet comes to the house, so doesn't have the benefit of a lot of equipment and/or staff that she might have if she were in the office. She tried using something like the Cat Sack on one of our cats once when she needed a blood sample. It just freaked him out, and made him less cooperative. Not sure if that is a common experience, but he is normally the most cooperative cat of the bunch. I can definitely sympathize with what you are going through. Our house is something of a cat's old folk's home. One cat needs insulin injections twice a day; one insulin injections, pills for a thyroid tumor, and liquid for high blood pressure (each twice a day); and one liquid phenobarbitol twice a day, and steroid pills every other day for an inoperable brain tumor. The first 2 cats are absolutely no problem. The third went through a faze of avoiding us when it was time for medication, but now has settled down. The worst part is that the phenobarbitol only comes in cherry flavor, and the cat hates it. The cherry flavoring makes me think there must be a market for low dose phenobarbitol for children, which just seems wrong in my book. But what do I know. Anyway, good luck with it. Hopefully it will get better with time.
posted by worldwidewoogie 19 years ago
In "Curious, George: "
There was some independent line of super hero comics in the 80s that had a team with 1 member who was just really lucky. The evil ninja that was about to kill him would slip in dog poo or something. That always seemed ideal, but it might get boring. Maybe I'd take to jumping out of planes without a parachute just to see what the universe would cook up to save me. I'd still think that's what I'd pick, though.
posted by worldwidewoogie 19 years ago
In "Spam Stock Tracker"
Basically, in the stock market, you want to buy low and sell high, but you don't necessarily have to do it in that order. When you short a stock, you borrow it from someone that owns it (or, in the parlance, is long in the stock) and sell it, betting that you will be able to buy it cheaper at a later date. It's a risky move for 2 reasons. First, the owner of the stock could decide to sell it before you are ready to buy the stock to replace the borrowed shares, so you give up some control. Second, and more importantly, is that there is no limit to the amount you could lose if the stock starts going up.
posted by worldwidewoogie 19 years ago
In "Curious George: $25 a day plus expenses"
According to this link, $25 in 1940 is equivalent to $338.13 today.
posted by worldwidewoogie 19 years ago
In "Have you ever wanted to make a webcomic?"
My Mother's Thighs.
posted by worldwidewoogie 19 years ago
In "Curious George:"
Nothing that can grow in beer can kill you.
posted by worldwidewoogie 19 years ago
The Earth does not revolve around the Sun. The math is just easier when one assumes a point of reference in which the Earth revolves around the Sun.
posted by worldwidewoogie 19 years ago
In "How much would it cost you to do like Bruce Wayne and become a superhero?"
Come on. The TV is full of poor characters. Of course you are right. I still think that having the characters' financial plight being a central plot point in a drama is probably taboo. Little Johnny with no health insurance and bad kidneys, and the only way he'll live is if Mom can raise $100,000 would probably still cause some people to want to donate.
posted by worldwidewoogie 19 years ago
Well, the characters on most TV shows are of the middle class variety yet we very rarely see them at their jobs or hear them complain of money problems. Um, ever hear of Law & Order or CSI? Not so much with the whining about money, but I'm not sure you could fill a half hour with the non-work scenes collected in a week of those shows. You might have a point with the money angle, but the early soaps where characters were poor actually ended up with people sending them money. Poor characters have been taboo ever since. I'd like to think that people are a lot more savvy now, but I can't quite bring myself to believe it.
posted by worldwidewoogie 19 years ago
In "Curious George - help, help, they're being depressed!"
Well, I saved my descent into depression until my 20s, but I have to say, you are in a tough situation. About the only thing that anyone else did that helped was to understand what I was going through. Since you aren't their friend, and aren't in their peer group, it would be hard for you to make any gesture that didn't seem pretty superficial on that level. I can say that if you do manage to do or say something helpful, it may very well cause lots of misunderstanding with the non-depressed people around. After I attempted suicide, my best friend said, "If you ever try that again, just make sure it works, because I don't want to go through this again." Everyone else was horrified, but it really made two things really sink in for me. One, that I was hurting other people (of course I already knew that, but it seemed much clearer now), and, two, that he would in fact be there for me (notice he didn't say he wasn't going to go through it again). That one sentence did more for me than the vast majority of the therapists I've seen.
posted by worldwidewoogie 19 years ago
In "Curious George:"
swollen legs may ulcerate, everyone has dinner plans except us, urge for a corn dog, my bowels are 2 clenched fists, die gracefully, a perfect example of nothing, monopolization of the realm of appearances, unmistakable cone of ignorance, flying missiles atomic bombs and the second coming of jesus christ, maybe she's born with it, tentacles of circumstance, long glances pregnant with nothing, varying degrees of nausea and dizziness, mechanically separated chicken
posted by worldwidewoogie 19 years ago
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