Who Are You?

[razy]

Yes, I like The Who :)

Well, I'm Nick, and I've been dipping in and out of these forums for a while now, so I thought I'd take the plunge and start a Karma thread.

I grew up in Ealing, west London, and have lived in Brighton for the last 9 years. I love being by the sea, and also the South Downs which are just up the road from me. I enjoy nature, and like hiking, cycle touring and camping (just come back from the Small World festival in Kent).

I worked in *dreaded* computers for a few years, then I was out of work for a while due to illness. Now I've just started a course in practical land management run by the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV). I'd like to get a job as a countryside ranger or something similar.

Like a lot of people, I'm big time into my music, I also play a bit of acoustic and electric guitar. I'd like to have a go at some busking, just for the fun of it really, so I'm going to get a set together and maybe play later in the summer.

I write poetry from time to time, and I've set up a website, www.wordvoyage.com (http://www.wordvoyage.com), which has some of my work on it, and some of my friends' as well. I'm also thinking about writing a novel in my spare time.

I've studied psychology and philosophy, and I still do some reading in those areas every now and then.

Btw, here is a piccie of me in my hippie hoodie in case you're curious:

http://www.hipgallery.com/photopost2/data/500/Nick.jpg

Well, any questions feel free to ask.

Cheers,

Nick

[Peace-Phoenix]

Hey man, welcome to the Karma Kafe. What kind of novel would you like to write? I'm writing one at the moment, it's a very enjoyable activity and I'd highly recommend it....

[lithium]

Hello:)

What did you get from your studies in psychology and philosophy? I suppose what I'm asking there is what is the meaning of life and how does the mind work?:tongue:

Being from Brighton, what are your thoughts on Noel Edmonds?

[paulfreespirit]

hey nick hows it going man .........great to see you wanting to help conservation " what music are you enjoying at the moment ?

[razy]

Hi guys, thanks for the replies, sorry I was too knackered to get back to you yesterday, I'd spent all day felling and chopping up dead trees with a bow saw, a good day's labour.

Peace, I've got an idea in mind for a comedy novel, roughly about a guy and his best mate who muck around in Brighton and get up to a few mischiefs. They're kind of drop-out misfits who are mostly "between jobs" and do crazy stupid things.

lith, that's a big question! I didn't really find out much about the meaning of life, I suppose my philosophy there is to be a good person and treat others with respect, and the environment. I was brought up a Catholic, and though I don't have a faith anymore I agree with a lot of Christian morality.

As to how the mind works, I think we are driven by subconscious processes much more than we realise. These can often be irrational and run counter to our conscious ability to think logically. So we can often say one thing but do another, or feel unable to behave in the way we would like to. A lot of learning is associative, where one experience gets linked with another, and I have often thought of this when listening to conversation threads - someone starts a topic, and it reminds someone else of something they have experienced because of an associative link in their memory. Language is more than just associative because it has a syntactic and conceptual structure, which allows us to manipulate ideas in our heads and use reason. This is one of our abilites which separates us from other animals.

Is Noel Edmonds from Brighton? I haven't seen him around. He's good at what he does, but not my cup of tea really. I did like SwapShop though!

Paul, I listen to a variety of music, at the moment I'm listening to John Martyn quite a lot (hence new sig.), and similar artists like James Taylor and Carole King. I saw Martha Tilston at the Small World festie last weekend, and I'm going to get one of her cd's. She's got a really beautiful voice. I also listen to Dylan, Marley, Stones, Beatles, Zep, trip-hop and dance e.g. Massive Attack, Underworld, Orbital, Lo-Fidelity Allstars, LTJ Bukem et al.

Nick

[fountains of nay]

Hey Nick :)

Good choice of music you have there...LTJ Bukem is a legend, fantastic live!


Have you ever been abroad?

[razy]

Hi Nay, thanks, and I'll have to look out for LTJ's gigs.

I have been abroad a few times, been to France quite a lot (incl. cycletouring twice), also Crete, Berlin, a week in Tokyo (my sister was TEFL teaching there) and five weeks in Oz with the family - I have cousins in Sydney. My brother lives in Atlanta, Georgia, and I've been over there a few times as well. I'd like to go to Rome for my next trip, I have a soft spot for the Italians, I like their expressiveness and romanticism.

[Peace-Phoenix]

Apart from those places, if you were unconstrained by money and time, where would you go and what would you do there?

[fountains of nay]

Hi Nay, thanks, and I'll have to look out for LTJ's gigs.

I have been abroad a few times, been to France quite a lot (incl. cycletouring twice), also Crete, Berlin, a week in Tokyo (my sister was TEFL teaching there) and five weeks in Oz with the family - I have cousins in Sydney. My brother lives in Atlanta, Georgia, and I've been over there a few times as well. I'd like to go to Rome for my next trip, I have a soft spot for the Italians, I like their expressiveness and romanticism.
Ahhhhhh WOW! Tokyo is an amazing city, was your sister actually teaching in Tokyo or a surrounding prefecture?
What did you do whilst there? Did you check out the Ramen museum in Shin-Yokohama? NOODLES!!:)

[razy]

Peace, I'd like to cycle through India, I think that would be a real experience.

Nay, my sister was teaching in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, so very central. I don't remember going to the Ramen museum, but did go to the temples area. I did some karaoke which was great fun :) also went clubbing a couple of times. And we had a trip to the Mount Fuji region and stayed at a small eco-hostel. I had a great time there, really enjoyed it. The people are very polite, but my sister said it's hard to get to know them.

[fountains of nay]

Peace, I'd like to cycle through India, I think that would be a real experience.

Nay, my sister was teaching in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, so very central. I don't remember going to the Ramen museum, but did go to the temples area. I did some karaoke which was great fun :) also went clubbing a couple of times. And we had a trip to the Mount Fuji region and stayed at a small eco-hostel. I had a great time there, really enjoyed it. The people are very polite, but my sister said it's hard to get to know them.
Ooo intense. Shinjuku is an exciting district and lovely as it's so close to Yoyogi. I could never actually live in Tokyo (I was living in a town close to Chiba city).
I'd have to disagree with your sister, I found it very easy to connect and get to know people in Japan. However, if she was living in Tokyo, city life is always much different. :)

Glad you had a good time in Japan, it's definately one of those "marmite" sort of countries!

[Roffa]

Nick, which parts of Crete have you been to? I've been going there for 20 years on and off; my favourite part is the south-western coast which remains relatively undeveloped owing to the very limited road access. You still have to get a boat between some of the coastal villages, or venture onto a vertiginous cliff path.

[Peace-Phoenix]

What's the most life changing experience you've had? What was the most life affirming?

[razy]

Hi peeps, had a bit of a break from the forums, been busy with other things.

Roffa, I went to Hersonissos on the North coast, very touristy I know but I had a good time anyway.

Peace, my most life changing experience was probably going to uni where I gave up my religious beliefs due to studying psychology. My most life affirming experience, I'd say dancing all night at Glastonbury and seeing the sun rise in a perfect blue sky, it felt like the world had been born again fresh and new, though I must admit the experience was "chemically enhanced" if you know what I mean. :)

[Roffa]

Peace, my most life changing experience was probably going to uni where I gave up my religious beliefs due to studying psychology. I knew a guy who lost his religious beliefs through studying theology at uni. "Ironic" doesn't quite do it justice.

[razy]

That does sound pretty twisted, but perhaps he decided that the belief system wasn't coherent when critically examined. "Blind faith" is a lot easier to live with I think.

[hippyhappy]

Hello, this is my first post here ever. Just wanted to break the ice on it! I'm 19 female from Ireland. I really like the feel to this website, there seems to be some cool people on it. Well maybe I'll post something better the next time, just wanted to post something! Cool, I've done it. I'm Sarah too by the way! :)

[TattoedAquarian]

Wow. If i lived in London and was single and were a few years older i think i i might fall head over heels for you.

Good idea for a thread though. ~ Keep it up!

[hippyhappy]

Who weren't talking about me there were you?

[phoenix_indigo]

I knew a guy who lost his religious beliefs through studying theology at uni. "Ironic" doesn't quite do it justice.heh, i lost mine by actually attending a christian college for a year.
funny, huh?

[TattoedAquarian]

No - Happyhippy... But i'm sure you're loveable too.

[phoenix_indigo]

Who weren't talking about me there were you?you should start your own Karma thread so people can get to know you. then everyone will ask you silly questions too. :)
Welcome to the forum.

[razy]

Wow. If i lived in London and was single and were a few years older i think i i might fall head over heels for you.http://www.hipforums.com/forums/images/smilies/embarassed.gif thanks a lot Aquarian, I'm sure you're a very special person :)

[razy]

In a shameless attempt to resurrect my Karma thread ;), I thought I'd add in a few philosophical points that interest me.

Free Will is something I've often wondered about, do we have it or not?

I'm taken with another quote from Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground where he is arguing against the scientists who think in time be able to account for and predict all human behaviour down to the last twitch:

"Reason is a fine thing, there's no question about it, but reason is only reason and only satisfies man's rational faculties, whereas desire is a manifestation of the whole of life, that is of the whole of human life, along with reason and all our head-scratching. And even if in this manifestation our life frequently turns out to be rubbishy, it's nevertheless life and not just the extraction of a square root. ...man has been continually proving to himself the he's a man and not an organ-stop."

Psychology is based on the principle that behaviour is predictable, which is obviously true to an extent, but whether we can be reduced to the level of Dostoevsky's organ-stop remains to be seen. I.e. are we human beings with free will and perhaps spirituality or just human machines that are slaves to the laws of cause and effect?

I personally think we are more than the sum of our parts, and I do have spiritual leanings, but I'm still working out what I think about this.

[IlUvMuSIc]

Have you ever balenced a spoon on your nose?
Which season is your favourite?
Has Lithium asked you a noel edmonds Q. yet?
Whats your favourite citrus fruit including melons?

[sorry if these have already been asked]

[nynysuts]

Have you got any further with your land management qualification?? Cos I'm looking into that line of work.

How did you think up your user name?

[razy]

Have you ever balenced a spoon on your nose?
Which season is your favourite?
Has Lithium asked you a noel edmonds Q. yet?
Whats your favourite citrus fruit including melons?

[sorry if these have already been asked]

Yes, as a kid, I also put a bread knife in a toaster when the power was on. ZING!
Winter, I like walking in the countryside on crisp sunny days
No, still waiting
Clementines, but I prefer apples and bananas

[razy]

Have you got any further with your land management qualification?? Cos I'm looking into that line of work.

How did you think up your user name?

Hi nynysuts, thanks I completed the course in December and am now doing 2 days voluntary conservation work a week.

I've been checking environmentjob.co.uk for opportunities - you might want to look at it to get a feel for what's available in the industry.

Also East Sussex County Council run a trainee ranger scheme which I might try to get on in September.

I chose this username because I wanted something that sounded a bit playful and cheeky ;)

Unfortunately I have realised a flaw in it - you just have to add a c to become (c)razy, and as I have schizo-affective disorder I hope that doesn't come true :eek:

[IlUvMuSIc]

Whats a schrizo-affective disorder?

[razy]

Here's a Mind article about it:

http://www.mind.org.uk/Information/Booklets/Understanding/USHAD.htm

Basically you can have periods of highs and lows, and sometimes episodes of delusional thinking.

But most of the time I'm pretty ok. I only tend to get the nastier symptoms when I've had really stressful periods in my life.

[The manticore]

do iu support a football club

[razy]

well "in theory" I support Chelsea because my sister told me to (!). I have actually been to a match there, against Birmingham and it was 0-0, the one and only football match I've been to in my life. But footie isn't really in my blood, I'm more of a cricket fan.

[nynysuts]

Why'd you change your name?

[Joshua Tree]

thanks for asking Nyika, I just felt like a change, and wanted to identify myself with a name that meant more to me and where I'm coming from.