Quin

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  1. Like
    Quin got a reaction from Palerider in Easter Traditions   
    My family is multifaith... But the one thing we all have in common is that we use holidays as an excuse to go crazy.
    Some Easter Fun:
    - Painting Eggs
    Some years we paint, some years we dye. Painting years are started weeks in advance. Dying usually happens in a mad frenzy the night before. I predict the second one this year. Since I\'ve done nothin but nothin to prep, and we\'re already a week away.
    -It\\\'s a rule. When one finds an X on a map, one is compelled to follow that map to the X. No excuses. It must be done.
    My chilluns are older now, so we\\\'ve replaced the traditional egg hunt with a scavenger/treasure hunt that\\\'s part riddle, part geocaching, part excuse to go running around crowing in triumph & generally being silly. (We all need more of that in our lives).
    We used to have things like scriptures in the eggs (or a nail, etc.), in addition to treats... we now cheat outrageously and have an \\\"I dare you to relate this back to scripture!\\\" game with the prizes in the eggs. This game can sometimes get dangerous (but, hey, it proves they\\\'re reading & paying attention!). Prizes include things like ties, games, movies. We start with an empty basket & fill it up.
    - Foooooooood Glorious Fooooooooooood.
    LOL... I really do serve lamb.
    Usually in the form of gyros.
    We also do a bit of a Pessach &/or Naw Ruz tradition with new greens, an egg, etc.
    - The annual \\\"This year we\\\'ll have city-chickens\\\" never happens crusade.
    Self explanatory.
    Some years we get really ambitious and add other baby animals to our list of nevah gonna appen
    Q
  2. Like
    Quin got a reaction from Just_A_Guy in Easter Traditions   
    "Don't worry. I serve lamb."
    Q
  3. Like
    Quin got a reaction from dahlia in Palm Sunday traditions & chapel decor   
    I'm with ya.
    I have to periodically restrain myself from attacking with cut glass & lead (one college course in stained glass work has given me delusions of ability inside my own head), and dearly miss carved wood & stone, textiles, symbols. I'll often still go to cathedrals and mosques, shrines and temples JUST for the beauty. Whether gravitas or liveliness.
    Conversely, as someone who grew up in hotel rooms... I also like the simplicity of being in church for the purpose of people, but the world itself is where we find HF. Living in hotels one learns very quickly that the building doesn't matter. It's what and who you bring with you. Rooms are all the same. They aren't the important part. We are. And what we do with ourselves. (Every time I start living in a house, though, I start forgetting that. Putting emotional significance in the space, instead of what happens IN the space)
    It's very easy (for me, myself, & I...don't know about others) to lose sight of HF being absolutely everywhere, when Notre Dame is a 20 minute walk away. I'd rather go to the cathedral, than stare out over the Seine and see the Spirit right there with me. I LIKE going somewhere beautiful, and set apart. Compulsively like. Start designing windows in my head during sacrament compulsive.
    But I'm more and more growing to LOVE the simplicity that demands action.
    Like a hotel room.
    The building isn't important.
    It's what we do outside of it that matters.
    The building is functional, our lives are to be made beautiful.
    Just my own opinion.
    From someone who reeeeeeally misses art & tokens, so I may be overly adding meaning.
    Q
  4. Like
    Quin got a reaction from Just_A_Guy in Advice on Addiction Recovery Calling   
    Just to know... While AA et al are the most famous, as well as extremely successful, and I am in NO way putting them down whatsoever... They're also not the only game in town. There are 2 main branches in addiction med (disease model, and disease model + learned behavior). 12-step programs actually address both theories... Which is part of what makes them so successful, but there are other programs which do so as well. And are as effective if not more effective for many people. ESPECIALLY for
    - addictions & addictive behavior which CANNOT be abstained from, or which require moderation in order to live normal / healthy lives to their best potential. (Think food, sex, shopping, etc.)...
    - Dual-diagnosis (addiction + other neurological disorder, ESP those which require meds & med management), and
    - Situational related heavy use, abuse &/or addiction (ESPx2 when it's an addiction, but the person themselves is not an addict.
    AA/NA/et al are amaaaaaaazing for a very select group of people, but they also completely miss a wide swath of people who are struggling with addictions & need help just as badly.
    The LDS church based recovery programs are designed to help address that shortfall (as are many many other secular & religious organizations & agencies), in addition to people who are able to be completely served by standard 12-step programs.
    Q
  5. Like
    Quin got a reaction from talisyn in Advice on Addiction Recovery Calling   
    One thing you may consider doing is going to some open AA NA CA meetings, as well as some open al-anon, nar-anon, etc. meetings.
    If you get a schedule (online or elsewhere), there are codes which show which meetings are open to the public, and which meetings are addicts only / closed to the public. Most meetings are open.
    Q
  6. Like
    Quin got a reaction from Sali in Advice on Addiction Recovery Calling   
    One thing you may consider doing is going to some open AA NA CA meetings, as well as some open al-anon, nar-anon, etc. meetings.
    If you get a schedule (online or elsewhere), there are codes which show which meetings are open to the public, and which meetings are addicts only / closed to the public. Most meetings are open.
    Q
  7. Like
    Quin got a reaction from Maureen in Would you say you're happy?   
    Happy as in the emotion? At the moment, absolutely.
    Happy as in the overall state of being?
    Pshaw.
    Nowhere near.
    My life is, how shall we put it politely? Completely sideways right now.
    In every way you can think of.
    If I were to write a list it would start with death, and work it\\\'s way upward to misery & despair with the occasional sprinkling of murderous rage.
    Whee.
    Could my life be worse?
    Yep.
    Absolutely.
    In fact, I\\\'m sure it will be from time to time.
    It\\\'s certainly BEEN worse than it is right now.
    It\\\'s also been about a gazillion times better.
    Which is where the happy v not happy comes into play.
    I had an unfortunate realization this Christmas:
    People don\\\'t kill themselves at Christmas because they\\\'re unhappy
    They kill themselves because they can still remember what it was like to be happy.
    Why am I happy right now?
    My kids are safe upstairs tonight.
    I\\\'ve eaten today.
    I\\\'ve slept within the past 48 hours.
    I\\\'m warm, and in a clean dry house.
    I\\\'m flexing my brain amongst friends and frenemies and interesting strangers on one of my favorite forums.
    No one I love has died recently. (Recently = this month).
    The people I love who are in pain have narcotic pain killers.
    My standards for happiness right now are very low.
    I would loooooooove to be able to raise the bar to include:
    - My children are safe, period. (Abusive ex has partial custody).
    - Job satisfaction
    - Stable Home
    - Mental & Emotional fulfillment
    But right now, and for the past several years (since my divorce) I\\\'m still just trying to survive.
    Basic necessities like food, shelter, security are often up in the air.
    So I can (and usually am) happy as in the emotion.
    But I haven\'t been happy as in the state of building and achieving in life to my own satisfaction for a very long time, and probably won\'t be for a considerable time to come.
    If ever.
    Surviving only leaves time for moments of happiness.
    Not the overall state of being happy.
    Q
  8. Like
    Quin got a reaction from EarlJibbs in Cursing and Cussing at work...   
    I learned to NOT swear in the Marine Corps (Doggone, Dagnabit, Durn, Dratted, Crackbaby, Knucklehead, Individual).
    3 months of invective above a g-rating = pain and suffering = some SERIOUS Yosamite Samming it.
    And then, of course, I learned how the F-word can replace all previously used adjectives, and F+A = most adverbs.
    Sailors still have the gold ... But making a sailor blush earned big time brownie points with those above.
    So I left the USMC with a rather limited vocabulary.
    When I started my family, I reinvoked bootcamp rules with swearing.
    With the caveat that swearing in Chinese was okay.
    Nothing sounds better than Chinese swear words.
    They have a British Ingenuity in their composition (blanch. Wow. That\'s colorful. And anatomically impossible. I hope.)
    AND Chinese is a tonal language! Honestly, you can say words like peace, love, & happiness and make them sound like you are about to die. Screaming.
    My current employment is a mix of both.
    Absolute lack of profanity + Absolute lack of being able to use multisyllabic adjectives.
    Q
  9. Like
    Quin got a reaction from Wingnut in Take-in meals: your favorites?   
    I've never actually received a meal... Now that I think on it... But I DID recieve gift cards for food delivery!!
    OMG.
    Loved. Those.
    Pizza. Chinese. Halal. Heaven.
    I usually send gift cards, kebabs, or casseroles.
    Mostly kebabs, though.
    Because food on a stick is AWESOME.
    Also, it lets me cater to people I don't know.
    Meat & Veg & Sauces & Starches all seperate... So vegetarian & allergic folk can mix & match.
    I also list the ingredients. On sharpie on the ziplock bags, or a card taped to the foil.
    (Can you tell my circle of friends contains allergies, kosher/halal, vegetarian/vegan, diabetes, celiacs?)
    And for people with kids who can't be trusted with sticks (we all know those kids!), it can be slid right off.
    Voila.
    I usually make about 100 kebabs a month to freeze out of leftover meats (Korean BBQ, tandoori, carne asada, steak, meatballs, whatever) plus the sturdier starch veg (plantains, potatoes, mochi, etc.)... label them & throw them in my deep freeze. Ditto, I keep extras of sauces in the freezer or pantry. So all I need to do is buy some fresh veg. for the veggie sticks.
    I send a casserole if I'm already making one, and just double it.
    Q
  10. Like
    Quin got a reaction from MarginOfError in Would you say you're happy?   
    Happy as in the emotion? At the moment, absolutely.
    Happy as in the overall state of being?
    Pshaw.
    Nowhere near.
    My life is, how shall we put it politely? Completely sideways right now.
    In every way you can think of.
    If I were to write a list it would start with death, and work it\\\'s way upward to misery & despair with the occasional sprinkling of murderous rage.
    Whee.
    Could my life be worse?
    Yep.
    Absolutely.
    In fact, I\\\'m sure it will be from time to time.
    It\\\'s certainly BEEN worse than it is right now.
    It\\\'s also been about a gazillion times better.
    Which is where the happy v not happy comes into play.
    I had an unfortunate realization this Christmas:
    People don\\\'t kill themselves at Christmas because they\\\'re unhappy
    They kill themselves because they can still remember what it was like to be happy.
    Why am I happy right now?
    My kids are safe upstairs tonight.
    I\\\'ve eaten today.
    I\\\'ve slept within the past 48 hours.
    I\\\'m warm, and in a clean dry house.
    I\\\'m flexing my brain amongst friends and frenemies and interesting strangers on one of my favorite forums.
    No one I love has died recently. (Recently = this month).
    The people I love who are in pain have narcotic pain killers.
    My standards for happiness right now are very low.
    I would loooooooove to be able to raise the bar to include:
    - My children are safe, period. (Abusive ex has partial custody).
    - Job satisfaction
    - Stable Home
    - Mental & Emotional fulfillment
    But right now, and for the past several years (since my divorce) I\\\'m still just trying to survive.
    Basic necessities like food, shelter, security are often up in the air.
    So I can (and usually am) happy as in the emotion.
    But I haven\'t been happy as in the state of building and achieving in life to my own satisfaction for a very long time, and probably won\'t be for a considerable time to come.
    If ever.
    Surviving only leaves time for moments of happiness.
    Not the overall state of being happy.
    Q
  11. Like
    Quin got a reaction from The Folk Prophet in Civil Discourse   
    Maybe it\\\'s shared Pacific Rim & diplomatic corps upbringing, but I don\\\'t catch defensive or aggressive tone in any of what Annatess has written! In fact, I catch a lot of humor, introspection, \\\"lightening\\\" (adding turns of phrase / colloquialisms to keep a topic light instead of bogging down in bum bum bum seeeeeeerious.), and bon homie.
    I do believe she\\\'s dead on, in that we read tone through cultural spectacles.
    I moderate on a forum that has not only has no italics, bold, or other font modifiers (so I\\\'m constantly capitalizing all of my accent words even off forum;, I promise, I don\\\'t have a weird shouting disorder!), but that also went from regional locations to national. We had a HUGE problem (and lost about 5,000 members) during the first 6 months. The single reason, given 50 different ways, was cultural variation. Northeast tended to be blunt, northwest tended to be wordy and beat around the bush, Midwest kind and to the point, etc. but out of 9 different regions, EVERY region hated the way other regions gave advice, even when it was the same advice they themselves were giving. Don\\\'t even get me started on regional variations between spanking & timeouts, breast feeding v formula, etc. Oy. Vey. People were seriously ticked that last month (preconversion, years ago) \\\"everyone\\\" responded with \\\"Yep! I\\\'d pop \\\'em on the bum!\\\" and now this month people were saying \\\"How DARE you strike your child?!?\\\" It\\\'s been years, but about twice a month we have a \\\"Why are people so mean?\\\" Q pop up from a new member. It\\\'s actually the KINDEST forum I\\\'ve ever been on (all of us are vipers over here in LDSnet by comparison ). It\\\'s just huge, and nationwide with a few UK & Russian peeps for even more cultural misunderstanding.
    Q
  12. Like
    Quin got a reaction from Windseeker in Cursing and Cussing at work...   
    I learned to NOT swear in the Marine Corps (Doggone, Dagnabit, Durn, Dratted, Crackbaby, Knucklehead, Individual).
    3 months of invective above a g-rating = pain and suffering = some SERIOUS Yosamite Samming it.
    And then, of course, I learned how the F-word can replace all previously used adjectives, and F+A = most adverbs.
    Sailors still have the gold ... But making a sailor blush earned big time brownie points with those above.
    So I left the USMC with a rather limited vocabulary.
    When I started my family, I reinvoked bootcamp rules with swearing.
    With the caveat that swearing in Chinese was okay.
    Nothing sounds better than Chinese swear words.
    They have a British Ingenuity in their composition (blanch. Wow. That\'s colorful. And anatomically impossible. I hope.)
    AND Chinese is a tonal language! Honestly, you can say words like peace, love, & happiness and make them sound like you are about to die. Screaming.
    My current employment is a mix of both.
    Absolute lack of profanity + Absolute lack of being able to use multisyllabic adjectives.
    Q
  13. Like
    Quin got a reaction from The Folk Prophet in For those of you watching TV...   
    If you hate Under the Dome, and haven\\\'t watched Jericho, yet (older show, about 10 years ago)... Check out Jericho! It\\\'s like they\\\'re the opposite sides of the same coin. Total 180. Awful terrible people doing the worst thing possible in UTD vs amazing, inspirational people doing their absolute best in Jericho.
    Q
  14. Like
    Quin got a reaction from The Folk Prophet in The Death of Blunt Speech - good or bad   
    Being married to a man who used truth as a weapon... I\\\\\\\'m more than a little leery when the word \\\\\\\"blunt\\\\\\\" comes into play... Even though most people describe me as a weird mix of blunt & waaaaaaaaay over detailed. (I take simple things and complex them up, and complex things and make them simple).
    One of my favorite things is this acronym:
    THINK before you speak. Is it:
    True
    Helpful
    Inspirational
    Necessary
    Kind
    ?
    I think a lot of people use straight shooter, just being honest, it\\\\\\\'s the truth, I say it like I see it, to be blunt, etc... As a way to be cruel, controlling, dismissive, disrespectful, etc.
    I\\\\\\\'m a fan of blunt speech.
    I deplore bullying.
    Sometimes, in order to avoid the appearance one, we have to ditch the other.
    Like the phrase \\\\\\\"Women aren\\\\\\\'t equal\\\\\\\" can be taken in multiple ways, but in our society, it\\\\\\\'s taken to mean as less than / unimportant.
    Hence the rephrasing to show value added.
    Without adding the detail, different groups will take the short version different ways, and all of them as gospel.
    Creates a lot of division, confusion, and misunderstanding.
    Personally, I blame English.
    It\\\'s the language of diplomacy for a very good reason: We HAVE to add more words, because it\\\'s one of the (if not \\\"the\\\" vaguest language on the planet.
    If we want people to understand the exact meaning of what we\\\'re trying to convey.
    Q
  15. Like
    Quin got a reaction from Wingnut in The Death of Blunt Speech - good or bad   
    Threadjack... All the /////////////////////////////// are driving me bonkers. I'm not adding them. They're adding themselves!
    And we now return you to your regularly programmed thread.