This year's to-do

[flamingsword]

Pay off car
Lasik
Teach myself calculus
Clear 4 yr old medical debt. Oops.
Get passport
400 thread count sheets
New sports bras, underwear
Laundry basket
Replace pillows
Allocate to Goodwill all residents of closet that are uncomfortable, faded, or boring
Paint desk
Grow gourmet mushrooms
Learn to roll sushi
Teach self journalism, get second job
Vote Obama or Clinton
Buy silk salwar kameez
Find some trouble to get into before the world does so for me
Configure finances for having either less money or a house
Build a community

Comments

[runiclaw.livejournal.com]

humm, interesting list of do's should be easy for most. sure tim could teach you the sushi part at least. think there is a house near us for sale and this neighborhood should be fairly cheap.

[xenoix-13.livejournal.com]

Paint desk?

[bardkris.livejournal.com]

Your friends' icons make me want to punch them. Did my last interactive LJ-ness offend or hurt your feelings? I sincerely hope it didn't, and if it did, I will apologize.

Sounds like Jimmy has fancy plans... and pants to match. Most are self-explanatory and exciting and worthwhile. Only one to-do begs the question... what kind of community are you trying to build?

[flamingsword.livejournal.com]

I've been a very apathetic LJer lately, with the increased workload at the new location. My arms hurt too much to type, and my brain is a bit numb to do anything but read and stare at pretty things.

I know you made a post on terrorism, but I haven't read it yet. It would actually be a reasonable argument that terrorism is the most efficient way to keep superpowers accountable for their actions. Freedom fighters are terrorists, too, and they have respect and even t-shirts. Che Guevara, especially. I'll read it when I've got the processing capacity to spot any logical flaws, but 'til then I'm continuing with Teh Apahtee.

Actually, I'm just picking a fight with my governement class.

[bardkris.livejournal.com]

I wasn't expecting loads of feedback or anything, it was just that just before this period of lassitude on your part, I had said vaguely confrontational things, and being the egotistical fucker I am, I worried that I might have contributed to your absence. I am sorry for your pain, but glad that I did not cause things. As for my stance on terrorism... remember, remember the 5th of November.

You did not answer the question about the type of community you are building.

Re: Actually, I'm just picking a fight with my governement class.

[flamingsword.livejournal.com]

Well, that depends on several factors. Where I'm setting up the community is the most important. I've got lots of electronic networks, but few meatspace networks. And what I have of those are far-flung, not especially inclusive, and have no central gathering space.

I am a big believer in physical groundwork being the foundation of the future's progress. Cellular social cohesion between people of different backgrounds and subcultures will help keep the ball rolling for permaculture. It's something I think I can do, and I want to do my bit to fix the world.

Re: Actually, I'm just picking a fight with my governement class.

[bardkris.livejournal.com]

That's odd. I could have sworn you were in with the CMAAAAAAAA network, from the interwebs company you keep. Admittedly, there's little quality control on that, but still...

I guess I see what you mean, though. Still, it seems kinda vague. I mean, I'm physically active in a pagan community, two separate gaming communities, and a protest and empowerment (if only vaguely) community here in College Station.

I'm the hub of the wheel for a lot of the stuff I'm involved in, introducing like-minded people to each other, and giving people something to join together to throw down with. Communities generally have some binding ideal or activity to keep them together. Do you intend for that binding to be you, or were you looking for like-minded folk for a specific goal?

Re: Actually, I'm just picking a fight with my governement class.

[flamingsword.livejournal.com]

CMA is far-flung, and not especially inclusive, and though they do have a central gathering space it is not for daily use. Did you watch the vid on intersection repair in my last post?

I don't have anything that I'm physically part of other than my relationships. I see Douglas every day and other friends usually once a week, and it's not enough. I can't get out into the balcony garden as easily as I'd like because it's behind Doug's desk, and he gets antsy anytime there's the possibility of dirt being tracked near his computer. I want to interact with things. I need it.

I need people who aren't like me. So I'd be looking for non-like-minded people to start creating a neighborhood out of. They try to sponsor a sense of community here in the apartments, but they don't really know what they're doing. Few people are going to get out of bed and go down to the office for a community breakfast at 9 in the morning on a Saturday. People prefer company in the afternoon and evenings, and free food is a good way to get them to stop by, but it's not going to get them interacting, doing things together. I'm not sure what base I'm going to build the idea of the neighborhood on, but if I start talking to people about what they miss from their childhoods, I'll be able to get a sense of what they need. So that's where I'm starting.

In defense of like-minded people.

[bardkris.livejournal.com]

People who are like-minded aren't necessarily of all the same opinions of you. It is, however, nice to have some common ground to start from. Most of my friends I could call like minded in some fashion, though many of them completely disagree with me on major aspects of the world, especially religion, politics, art, and expression. Still, they all aren't particularly things I hate (racist, stupid (not ignorant. that's forgivable.), inordinately cruel), and that's what I mean by like minded.

Still, I think it's a great idea. Yeah. No matter how awesome a person is, you should have other inspirations and interactions. If Kit and I only saw each other, that would be a very bad thing. It is always good to improve one's environment, whether physical or otherwise, and getting to know one's neighbors is a good way to do that. Beware pitfalls, though. Some people don't want to be known, and some people you don't want to know and that's ok. It is generally worth the effort to try. I wish you every success.

Where do you live again? Your profile says Irving, but I thought when I first spoke to you you mentioned some big city. Austin has a thriving pagan community, even if there's no quality control, as does I believe Dallas. College Station has two, if you can believe it, though the schism is mostly personal. Nacogdoches has another surprising sized one, and so does Denton.

*shrugs* Get out there and meet people. I apologize if anything lately has come out bitter. I've had love/hate relationships with networks and pagans for a while now, and while they don't particularly bother me any more, in text, I always seem to come out even more of an ass. Also apologies for extreme length and numbers of postings.

Re: In defense of like-minded people.

[flamingsword.livejournal.com]

I live in suburban Irving and interact socially all over the Dallas side of the Metroplex.

QUIT FUCKING APOLOGIZING. Seriously, it's getting on my nerves. Be bitter, or not. Be combative, or not. Be HERE, or not. It's all good. But for the love of little gods . . .

Bwahaha

[bardkris.livejournal.com]

Apology as a safe way of exposition. When I'm chemically incorrect, I get like that. That's why I never drink and try to never get THAT tired.

[flamingsword.livejournal.com]

And by the by . . . why do the icons make you want to punch them? They're grainy enough to not be publicly identifiable, so it's not a security issue. :\
*is puzzled*

[bardkris.livejournal.com]

It's not even a little about that. I care less for security than most... Security inhibits freedom, though that's a whole other or maybe more of the same, thing.

No, and this may just be my inner jerk coming out, and they may actually not be anything like the perception I get from their pictures. Still, the pictures come across as pretentious as hell. The pictures just remind me of the kind of people I have to suppress the urge to pummel. I think that a while back, I got some kind of honesty sickness. Now I say things even if I have no right to. Still, they're your friends, so they might be cool. *shrugs*

[flamingsword.livejournal.com]

Wolf is in his utilikilt so as to be recognizable to people he knows through pagan channels, and less recognizable to coworkers and such. Douglas is doing his Seraph impersonation because his obsession with the Matrix movies is well-known and because that's the archetype that he tries to achieve.

My own icon would give me plausible deniability if I ever used such things, but it's recognizable as me and I have an honest face; people trust me based on my appearance. I have no qualms about using that to my advantage. And I just like the color yellow, so . . .

[bardkris.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm just not used to hiding parts of myself from others, so that the deception on one hand, with the attempt at empowerment on the other grates on me. It seems to me that if you are something one place, and not ashamed of it, then you should be so other places. I have been out at all of my jobs, and had no particular problems at any. Your icon doesn't bother me particularly, because it seems more art than attempt at a bogus picture of yourself.

Like I said, it's not as if I'm certain it's true. It's just the initial impression I get from the pictures. The pictures remind me of people who I have wanted to be violent with... pagans with persecution complexes and people who thought themselves 'mighty witches' but were scared that if anyone found out that they were 'mighty witches', again with the 'burning times'. I'm not going to instantly punch these people should I meet them, at Aggiecon or anything. It's just the impression that I get.

[flamingsword.livejournal.com]

I've known people to get paper-trailed and fired for being gay, pagan, just plain spooky, and for being too competent. I can't complain about people wanting to feel secure, because freedom also means free to lie and prevaricate and get other to mind their own business.

I have gotten flak for being pagan twice, and fired for being supercompetent once. The world is not fair, and truth is not a sheild.

Although every time someone says 'burning times' I do want to feed them acid and teach them European history about the Jews, heretics vs. witches, hanging or drowning as opposed to burning, and finish off with a few rounds of Spanish Inquisition to make sure the lesson stays put. Because pagans back in the day? We were persecuted about as much as black people were persecuted in the 50's. Yes, sometimes things got violent, but it's not like we were so much more kept down than anyone else.

Well...

[bardkris.livejournal.com]

Freedom does mean free to be ashamed and embarrassed of who you are, too. I always hold people I know to an unfair higher standard. It is totally unfair, and not only have I been told dozens of times, but I knew it before I was told.

Competence, on the other hand, is a major sin. Any time you're good enough to make those around you look bad, you will be blamed for EVERYthing, especially if you acknowledge said competence. One who is competent always has to be a sneaky bastard to do things without getting noticed. *shrugs* Working essentially alone has helped me that way.

As for the last paragraph, thank you for not being dumb.

[pretty-pyrate.livejournal.com]

a hearty list if i do say so myself! i've seen how to books and things on sushi rolling. and calculus?!?! seriously?? good luck with that one dear! :-)

p.s. miss you guys! when's munchkin again?