Synergy

How about some conspiracy facts for the conspiracy agnostics in our midst? -S-

Niemand, your cat Shadow looks like he means serious business. Those rainbows must have been spectacular to behold. Here's someone else who really really appreciates seeing a And here's someone who really appreciates someone appreciating a double rainbow. -S-

I ain't eatin' no beetles. -S-

Originally Posted By: Øther NEST (Dire Wolf) - 36c, Shield of Warmth (6% Armor, 5% Cold Resistance) - NW (This is in the demo area, in the cultists' lair) I just passed this area on a new game, and this is wrong. The shield of warmth is in a giant lizard nest, and it gives 12% armor, not 6%. Thanks, Øther, I made the change. -S-

Originally Posted By: GIFTCockroach "When know the level (lvl) for the average of party characters to get full experience" What does this mean? Randomizer added this, and I'm not exactly sure either. I believe he means that there is a base level of points that these actions are worth, but how many points you actually get depends on your party level compared to the level the game expects you to be at. I'm going to change that part to something simpler. -S-

Well, it is a thorny issue, but dem goats make quick work of it. Excalibur...ah, I didn't think you lived right around here, but I was pleased to see you came and saw one of the great wonders of Washington. Rainier is an amazing place. -S-

This democratic unicorn was brought with a couple dozen other goats to a nature refuge park I frequent near my home to eat mountains of cut blackberry bushes, (which have nasty thorns.) I think you're right, it would take a Democratic unicorn to come up with this green approach to dispose park maintenance waste. -S-

OK, try now. Seeing is believing. -S-

VCH - I spy a folder on your desktop titled "Reality TV Auditions"...please do tell. -S-

Dikiyoba—nice shot of a great blue heron. Excalibur—you came to Mt. Rainier this summer (nice pics). How far did you travel? View from top of Granite Mountain, WA, looking south at Mt. Rainier Unicorns are real Mutiny Bay, Whidbey Island -S-

Yes, that's correct. -S-

Congratulations. Enjoy your reward: Yeah, that's not what I was looking for at all. "27B/6 is Australian humorist, designer, and Internet personality David Thorne's personal web site where he posts hilarious emails and exchanges with real people. The site's reality and sharp humor are uniquely funny. Read this email exchange between David and a woman asking him to create a missing poster for her cat, and you'll agree. (Via 27B/6)" Found courtesy of The Huffington Post. I do love them wacky Aussies. -S-

Originally Posted By: Dikiyoba Chipmunk! This chipmunk wants to go fishing. -S-

Originally Posted By: Actaeon I should really lay off the excessive links. I'll just go with a couple of my favorites so far this summer and leave it at that. Lightning Fantastic. How many attempts did it take to catch lightning in action? You can see how the lightning is traveling from the ground up in your picture. Very cool. -S-

Aren't all Spiderweb games essentially an excuse for making dungeon crawls? -S-

Yeah, I'm watching the William Shatner/Catherine O'Hara/Michael J. Fox tribute speeches right now, and I am having multiple reactions: wincing at some of the cheesy, self-deprecating stereoptying stuff, but enjoying the genuine spirit of hospitality that Canada embodies. Canadians do seem to have no trouble not taking themselves too seriously, which I think is a laudable quality. Anyone who is ready to laugh or joke is on the right track, if you ask me. I note that a lot of popular "American" comedians come from Canada. William Shatner is one of them. Really, Vancouver is often subsidized? It's such a thriving metroplex. I'd have thought it was serving more the other way around for at least B.C. if not provinces beyond—being a cash cow. -S-

I'm watching closing ceremony now, but missed the first part. I'm not sure what Dintiradan's bemusement is about. The Canadians have been gracious, good-natured hosts to the world, helping foster a very upbeat atmosphere to the entire Winter Olympic atmosphere this time around. They came back from some disappointing early non-medal winning to winning more gold medals than any other country in Winter Olympic history. (The U.S. won most overall medals ever.) Canada won ice dancing gold for the first time ever. The U.S. beat the Canadian team in hockey during qualifying games, which was shocking, but the Canadians won the gold in the final game facing the U.S. team again today. I'm happy for and proud of our neighbor to the north, and that they have some real victories to celebrate. Congratulations, Canada, and thank you for a hosting job well done. There seemed to be little acrimony or nationalistic politics evident this year, except perhaps, the ongoing disdain for Apolo Ohno by South Korea. They have reason to feel vindicated though. Apolo was disqualified from a silver medal in the 500m short track skate for touching the Canadian skater on the final curve, who then went down. If it hadn't been a Canadian who would win a medal by the decision, it's unlikely he would be have been otherwise dq-ed for such a gentle nudge, but that was the only possible skewed judging I noticed in the entire games. Apolo won a medal in the past when South Korea was dq-ed. He won two or three medals in the games, including securing a bronze for the short track U.S. relay team, so he can retire from the Olympics with his all time medal record happily. I like Apolo, because he demonstrates a sense of calm and good-nature and centeredness after overcoming some difficulty in childhood. I like the closeness and respect between him and his father. Shawn White, the half-barrel snowboarder—he was just downright amazing to see. He absolutely blew everyone else away, being in a class of his own with his ability. Very entertaining. I'm not a fan of sports, per se, at all. What I like about the Olympics is how it brings so many nations together to show off their brightest and best, and engage in mostly good-natured competition. It brings people with common passions together across national boundaries. American skier Lindsey Vaughn is best friends with Austrian medalist skier, er, I forget her name, but she won gold this time in the same event in which she was competing against her buddy. I like seeing friendly rivalry, if there is to be rivalry. I'm hard pressed to think of what else would bring so many nations of the world together for common causes...except warfare. Olympic games are far less fatal. I wish we'd do more international mingling of this kind. Yeah, sports and games are pretty arbitrary in the outcome on any given day. It's not about determining who's "the best" to me, but about the attempt to be one's best and to demonstrate and reward excellence. It's crazy what it takes to be in the Olympics, the years of excessive training, the privilege and funding often required. It's not perfect, but it leaves so many people feeling good. It's good entertainment. It;s good drama. I think it helps foster a sense of world community more than division, though I am not a fan of nationalism in general either. It's good to be proud of what "your" people have achieved, but it's even better to feel one with fellow athletes and viewers from all over the world. May Russia help to further foster a sense of the world coming together to play and celebrate together in four years. These are my concluding thoughts after two weeks of observation. My regrets—thought I watched a good bit of the airings each day, I didn't see any curling, alas. NBC seemed to do a rather lackluster job of commentary and analysis and onscreen tagging to help me know what was going on sometimes. I read that NBC bid a lot of money for the rights to airing back before the world economy tanked, and with declining viewing of Olympics in general, was expected to lose money on the whole affair. I'm not sure if that wound up being the case. I hope Vancouver made money on the affair. They deserve it. If not, it's hardly a debacle. We spend insane amounts of money to send people and hardware into space. We spend insane amount of money and human life on warfare. It's nice to see us spend a lot of money on something that feels so good for so many and makes the world feel a little bit tighter. That's my two cents, in my usual two hundred dollar fashion of wordiness. Oh, Canada, thank you. And thank you world for playing. See you again in four years. Cheers to all. -S-

Ephesos, I initially thought your snow picture was a sky full of stars the first second I saw it. Until I noticed there were stars in front of the trees. Nice hummingbird, Dikiyoba—not easy to catch with a camera. Looks like spring is already springing in the American desert. I lived in Dallas for a few years during high school, and virtually never saw a snowflake there during that time. I hear they had a foot of snow last week. That's crazy. -S-

Ohno really didn't deserve the silver last night, due to the aforementioned Koreans right in front of him in second and third place, who took each other out on the final curve before the finish line. I couldn't believe it. It was like one of those surreal, contrived movie moments that would never happen in real life to provide a happy ending for the hero. One of the Koreans tried to make a bad pass in front of his teammate (in a reckless quest for personal glory?) and derailed both their medals. I wonder how that relationship is doing today? -S-

Yay! Local hero Apollo Ohno is doing his amazing thing on his skates again. I just watched him absolutely smoke the rest of the skaters in his first 1500m skating heat, from being in the very back until the last 3 laps or so, to watching him pull past all of them with phenomenal speed and control when he was ready. I hope to see him wind up with the all time record for most gold medals earned in Winter Olympics before it's all over. Ohno learned to skate in Vancouver. I love the Winter Olympics. I think its very cool they are happening just 150 miles north of Seattle. Tourism here is benefitting significantly from the hordes up in Vancouver, B.C., spilling over the border to take a peek at the Emerald City while they have the opportunity. Meanwhile, the weather is oddly warm and spring-like. This may make for some challenging conditions in snow and ice here in the NW. I was horrified to see the death of the 21-year old Georgian luge runner yesterday during a training run. NBC showed the actual accident footage for a while yesterday before they stopped. If you saw it, you knew he could not have survived. Some of these sports are very dangerous. Those skiers doing the aerial acrobats wow and terrify me with every jump. And of course there's the still newish snowboarding events which are so entertaining. The opening ceremonies were touching with the warmth and celebratory inclusion of many Canadian First Nation (native American) peoples. One of the coolest special affects—when the Orcas swam across the floor of the stadium, shooting up real gusts of air from their spouts. Most tense moment—the very last, when one of the four pillars that was supposed to rise up out of the floor and help form the giant torch stand failed to emerge, so eventually, only three went up, and the torch was lit. The world feels smaller, warmer, and more welcoming to me when the Olympic games take place. This time, it really hits close to home for numerous reasons. Share your reflections, memories and predictions for the games here. Here come the moguls. Rain today softened the course. This should be interesting. -S-

I think you edited wisely, Jewels. ; ) -S-

Lilith, maybe you can recruit your sister to pray hard enough for you to turn fully female. Bad joke. We can't unchoose our families obviously. One vital task in adulthood, even with a supportive family, is, I believe, to build our own extended "family" out of those we'd actually choose to encircle us. The more supportive people we have in our sphere, the healthier we tend to be, the more resources we have to help us cope or to fall back upon. All this is pretty obvious. I think your most vital task around whatever else you choose to do will be to find and befriend some people who won't leave you feeling alone in this. To your benefit, you live in a large, progressive city. The likelihood is in your favor to find some such people nearby. Having a therapist is a great start, and hopeful that person truly works with you as a peer, and not in a heirarchical/vertical fashion. Life is messy. We're social animals. It's great to have another person who is equipped to help us help ourselves, to help us sort through our confusions. Ideally, your therapist will be able to suggest some further ways to get in touch with the kind of people you'll want as your friends and allies. Meanwhile, shame is a killer. If you're wrestling with a personal sense of shame over this at all, that's an important thing to work through in therapy. Shame is the engine that usually drives addictions and all kinds of particularly self-destructive behaviors. It sounds like some of your family would love to make you feel ashamed for being what you are. It's useful to realize that shame is an external phenomenon. We are taught from outside ourselves to be ashamed. No child starts out feeling ashamed about anything until (s)he learns it. I think you're wise to consider carefully if and when you decide to let anyone less than supportive in on your truth. No one deserves to be made to feel ashamed. It is, at the very least, wholly unuseful. I'd want other support in place before I even considered offering myself up to rejection. One last thought, if I may. I like to say often that people are full of surprises. It's always possible that someone you might not expect could turn out to be your best ally. You never know for certain how someone is going to react until they're in the experience. All these considerations come down to one thing. Use your best intuition, because everything else, including what I've said, is just someone else's take on your experience, which they aren't having. A good therapist can also help you hone in on that. -S-

I'm content to end my dialog on human nature at this point. I'm not sure if sporefrog has some more comments. I'm happy to see them, but I do think I'm ready to be done writing on it. Meanwhile, on a far more poignant topic on hand... I like the practicality of a cognitive approach to therapy with the warmth of a humanistic perspective. But really, I think it's not the theory and modality that's as critical at making a good therapist as nearly everything else that makes a good therapist: intuition, empathy, wisdom, the ability to create and maintain a container through trust, and the ability to keep one's own stuff out of the process (good boundaries). By university therapists, Lilith, do you mean they are students in training and interns, or practiced therapists on staff? What's the cultural environment like in Melbourne and at your university? You described your family culture a bit. I'm wondering what's it like in your sphere. How tolerant, religious, progressive, etc. overall. -S- P.S. - Ah, sporefrog posted just before I did. I don't have anything to add unless there's something you wanted me to answer. I have appreciated your optimism and good sportsmanship. Thanks!

I accept your answer, nod my head comprehendingly, and have nothing to add or contend. Thank you for your candor. Post #196277: Originally Posted By: synergy I'll concede right now that I could be "wrong" one hundred percent about everything. -S-

Okay, I'll dissect the quote, if it helps. Originally Posted By: Salmon We have discovered that we don't, as individuals, play well with others. We just don't. Please specify the reason that individuals "just don't play well." Are you saying groups, or "society" plays well? Originally Posted By: Salmon Individual human beings are NOT inclined toward peace, harmony, and love. They are inclined toward survival and procreation. How can you know what goes on inside any other individual for certain? Is your explanation the only possible explanation for what you observe? Is it an absolute reality or a projection based upon a belief, a meaning made out of what you observe? It looks like your suggestion is that the only thing that gives an illusion of peaceful or harmonious inclinations is collectivized enforcement of order? Am I reading you wrongly? -S-