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May 18th, 2008
thequestionclub
[showyoulove]
 | 04:32 pm
why am i so addicted to the mob wars application on facebook? i always said i would add stuff like that, but I did and now i am hooked...
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london_uk
[echafaud]
 | 09:26 pm - Ow
I'm currently in the midst of a dental crisis and am wondering if anyone has any recommendations for dentists and/or dental insurance plans? (I live near the Tottenham Court Road tube)
Also, if anyone has any advice generally about dental services in London (have been living here a while, just never needed a dentist), I'd be grateful. Does NHS cover anything at all or no?
Thanks for any help you can offer :)
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/sad.gif) sore
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thequestionclub
[musk]
 | 06:28 am
How do you go about telling someone you have feelings for them? I always hate when you don't know what to expect and worse off if they don't feel the same way.
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thequestionclub
[wirelamp]
| 04:25 pm
on friday night, i lost my wallet. thankfully, my bank card (somehow) ended up in my purse. i'm wondering, how expensive will it be to replace everything in my wallet?
i have my license, four cars worth of proof of insurance and registration, five or six gift cards*, CVS extra care card, other things like that. thankfully, i only had $4 cash in there.
*i know i probably can't have them replaced, but they probably all total to about $65.
please refrain from sassing me about being irresponsible. :( i already feel stupid enough.
has this happened to you before? what did you do?
i've checked everywhere and not only do i feel really stupid, anxiety is taking over my life, because i am imagining the worst possible things.
this is crossposted. thank you guys so much.
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thequestionclub
[conflabit]
 | 03:12 pm
Following your escape from a dungeon below the castle of a possibly sexually demented ruler of the area you lived, during your time as a peasant farmer earning less than an ear of corn a week, you decide that the best course of action is to take up being a hired assassin for a collection of people whose name sounds roughly like a combination of letters that you will never be able to properly pronounce while you still have a tongue. You find that the life of a killer is a good life, aside from getting blood all over your really cool uniform made of leather and straps and shit, but you keep going through with it because the pay is really good. Like, FOUR ears of corn good.
One day, while going about slaughtering puppies and kittens and old people that happen to tell you about the wonders of "the good old days" like you actually care about this sort of thing, you find that you've been hired to kill twisted, pervert ruler that held you prisoner and was probably going to engage you with various forms of corn sodomy. You giggle like you just peed in the pool at this notion.
Do you:
1 - Sneak in, all steathy, and kill the ruler in his sleep--running out of the castle, and the city, before the guards have the chance to react to what is surely going to be a messy death?
2 - Use Dark Charizard?
3 - Double-click the power cord?
4 - Break down the door with a fireball, killing all the guards who run up to stop you, with more fireballs, only to roast the ruler with another, larger fireball and probably end up setting the entire castle on fire?
5 - I don't play fantasy RPGS.
6 - Engage the ruler in various corn-related sexual acts and kill with your sexual organs while he is in the heat of passion?
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thequestionclub
[redlightlove]
 | 04:19 pm - privacy
If you had/have kids, how much would you monitor their internet usage:
Would you ever read chat logs, assuming they were saved?
If you saw a porn website in the history, would you confront your kid about it?
What about something completely random like if they Googled "murder", would you ask them about it or just assume they were bored/curious?
Would you let your kid know that you would be checking into things like that, or just have some sort of Net Nanny (or whatever secret things are out there that let you spy on someone online)? Or would it just be an over the shoulder glance to check in once in awhile at what sites they were at?
Would you ever read your kids journal, either their paper one or online if it was an open journal?
Has a family member ever read your online/offline journal without your permission?
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thequestionclub
[peppermints_x]
 | 09:21 pm
Who is this?
(Someone's using her to portray a book character)
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thequestionclub
[apricotica]
 | 01:07 pm
Who's the last person you wanted to punch in the face?
What did they do to arouse your ire?
When's the last time you actually punched someone in the face?
My neighbor's teenage son.
He blasted his music late into the night and kept me from sleeping, even though he's supposed to switch to using headphones after 10pm.
Back in '98 some obnoxious drunken frat boys were trying (unsuccessfully) to mosh at a show, and they were pissing everyone off, so when one of them whipped by me, I clocked him. He called me a bitch, but everyone else applauded. I got a free drink from an appreciative bystander.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/charitycam/flowers/angry.gif) punchy
Current Music: X Ray Spex
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thequestionclub
[pickathelitter]
 | 04:17 pm
Did you have a plan for your future that was completely ruined?
Did your life end up better than it would have, had your plan worked?
Any details welcome.
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thequestionclub
[earth_nymph]
 | 04:15 pm
your favorite drink? (alcoholic or not)
I personally can't get enough of ginger beer floats. REAL ginger ale/beer. REAL vanilla ice cream.
so good.
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bookshare
[muse_books]
 | 09:14 pm - Books Read First Part of May 2008
Book 50: The Hunter's Moon (Chronicles of Faerie) by O. R. Melling, 1993. Revised edition 2005. 296 pages.
Findabhair, a young Irish woman, and her Canadian cousin, Gwen, share a love of fantasy and magic as well as a conviction that Faerie does exists. They plan to spend their summer back-packing around Ireland in search of the Far Country of the Sidhe. They are unaware that Findabhair has already been singled out by the King of Faerie to become his bride. During a night spent on a sacred site at Tara, the girls share a haunting vision of the Faerie host. In the morning there is no sign of Findabhair. Gwen is certain that her cousin has been taken by the Faerie King but is unsure whether she is there willingly or is under an enchantment. Gwen then begins a desperate race across Ireland following the summer revels of the Faerie Court in order to rescue her cousin.
Melling weaves a contemporary YA fantasy that captures the spirit of Ireland as well as of Faerie. I just adored it. My full review here.
Book 51: Conceiving the City: London, Literature, and Art 1870-1914 by Nicholas Freeman, 2007. OUP, 256 pages.
I sought this book out due to my interest in Dr. Freeman's research on the influence of the literature of the late 19th/early 20th century upon the development of modern Paganism. While he hasn't yet published on that subject, this academic work on the literature and art of this period did touch upon some of the same areas. It was quite dense reading, which is to be expected in this kind of book. The material gave me much food for thought as well as suggestions for further reading on the subject. My full review here.
Book 52: Eight of Swords (Tarot Card Mysteries) by David Skibbins, 2005. 274 pages.
A conventional mystery set in Berkeley with an unconventional protagonist in the bi-polar, ageing hippie Warren Ritter. Although he is quite sceptical about the Tarot cards that he reads for passing trade from his pitch on Telegraph Avenue, sometimes he admits that they reach out and grab him. This is the case with his latest client, a teenage girl whose card for her immediate future is the Eight of Swords, showing a woman bound and blindfolded within a circle of swords. When she is kidnapped a few hours later, he feels the need to do something.
The situation is complicated by the fact that thirty years previously Ritter had been a leader of the Weather Underground, faked his own death and assumed a new identity. So he isn't keen to be under police scrutiny. When he finds that he is a suspect in the kidnapping and a related murder he mounts his own investigation. Quite a lot of fun especially given the integration of Tarot lore into the story. I'll be reading others in this series. My full review here.
Book 53: The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry, 2006. 480 pages.
A well-researched thriller set in Denmark and France focusing on the mysteries of the French village of Rennes-le-Château and the lost treasure of the Knights Templar. The plot follows ex-Department of Justice agent, Cotton Malone, as he assists his former supervisor uncover the truth about the historical mystery to which her late husband had dedicated his life. He and his associates are dogged by a fanatical monk, who believes that his destiny is to restore the Knights Templar to their former glory. Some of the pacing was a little odd at the start but it soon picked up and the reason for the split storyline became evident. Certainly not a mere Da Vinci clone. My full review here.
Book 54: Poe: A Life Cut Short by Peter Ackroyd, 2008. 170 pages.
I came to this short biography not knowing much about Edgar Allan Poe's life even though I am familiar with his writings. It served as a good introduction to both to his life and the influence he had on other writers and eventually upon literature and the arts. Still, while it suited my needs, I can appreciate that its brevity might make it unsatisfactory for someone looking for a more in-depth biography. My full review here.
Cross-posted to ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) book_worm, books, 100ormorebooks and bookshare.
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thequestionclub
[remey]
 | 04:10 pm
brought on by a previous question, and some of the answers made me curious:
Even with a parent monitoring their child's internet usage, how much do you think a kid could hide?
How sneaky could a kid get when they know their parents are watching?
When you were online, did your parents monitor what you did? Did you get away with shit?
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thequestionclub
[j_aime_ceci]
 | 03:56 pm - I read something thoughtful from the back of a box of tea today:
"Choose your life's mate carefully. From this one decision will come ninety percent of all your happiness or misery."
- H.Jackson Brown, Jr
If your partner makes you equally happy and distraught at different times, and without him/her your life is equally on a flat line between those two, what do you suggest and what do you do?
Thanks!
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thequestionclub
[earth_nymph]
| 04:00 pm
I'm running into a lot of bitchy people today! how about you?
do you believe the moon has an effect on our moods & bodies?
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thequestionclub
[xiaobaobei]
 | 03:39 pm
If you could pick any grade level you want (elem, middle, or high school), what grade would you substitute teach for first? Why?
I used to get my eyebrows waxed but stopped because my skin would get irritated and break out. I haven't gotten 'em waxed in awhile and have resorted to plucking instead, but there are still some bumps on my brow ridge and inbetween my eyes. How do I make them go away?
Where do you like to go to donate clothes you no longer wear?
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thequestionclub
[colbertican]
 | 03:54 pm
What is something that's true about our times?
no one dresses up like they used to.
Would you like to give any kind of advice? Any at all?
There's always going to be something to complain about. Celebrate when you have the chance.
Have you ever said anything quote-worthy?
"Ignorance is bliss, but sooner or later you're going to have to know something."
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thequestionclub
[coco_pansy]
 | 08:48 pm
IF you are a girl with boobs, and you put a elastic belt or a hairband round the part of your waist that is just under your boobs, WHY DO THEY GET BIGGER?
It really does make them bigger to look at, do you agree? I would like to know why.
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thequestionclub
[originalidad]
 | 12:40 pm
What's something you know a lot about? What you could talk about all day?
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thequestionclub
[spacefem]
 | 02:29 pm
why don't more people want to be engineers?
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buddhists
[owl_clan]
 | 02:17 pm - Buddhism isn't profound, except when it is
Far beyond deluded thoughts, this is Nirvana...
It's a minor amusement when you think about it, but Buddhism's gentle request is that we work diligently to overcome the stories we tell ourselves. When we hear some profound teaching, which helps us to understand something about our experience (such as a great theory/story on death and rebirth or the defeating of suffering) we think it's quite awesome, and we're happy. But then you meditate more and you begin to see through the story. This is not to say that a good story is false or untrue; this is to say that relative truths (like all stories) have a use, and a limit.
Buddhism "ends" (not that it really ever "began") in a place of no story at all. Beyond deluded thoughts, beyond the "beginning and the end", in a reference-free void where the mind is aroused but no longer resting on any concept or object of mind. There's no more story- just the experience of boundless freedom. So when you think about it, what we need for "profundity" to exist isn't there, either. There's nothing at all profound about freedom. For a deluded mind, the idea of freedom is profound because it's contrasted with deluded ideas like delusion or slavery or suffering. But even those things are just attachments, stories we tell ourselves. When they are gone, even what we thought we knew about "freedom" is also gone.
Buddhism: The Virus that Erases Religious Programs from the Hard Drive and then Deletes Itself
By the logic I was discussing above (not that I care much about logic), there's nothing profound about the natural state. If Buddhism can be considered a meta-story, which exists to undo our habitual dominant storylines (and the rest of our flaming little shite that we think is so important), then enlightenment is a subordinate storyline, an exception-outcome storyline that gradually takes apart our personal narratives, and even undoes itself, one day.
With most religions, you begin with a narrative, and work to maintain it. With Buddhism, you begin with a narrative which you work to gradually lose or dissolve. Even if you think you'll hold on to Buddhism, you won't- if you follow the Dharmic path properly, it vanishes of its own accord- it becomes lighter and simpler until it doesn't exist at all; you've crossed the water by that time and you don't need the raft anymore. That's a pretty profound thought, but only to the story-drunk people here, like you and me. When the wisdom recognizing reality reaches its full power, there's nothing profound remaining.
Ha! I just realized a trans-linguistic barrier pun! Buddhism the Meta-story, and Buddhism the Metta-story! Ha! Hahahah!
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