The Stoners Echo Chamber

Growing up I spent most of my online time on a local music forum that no longer exists. Possibly for the best. I still have some close friends that I met through there though - we all went to the same shows, too, so that helped.

Actually, my sister sent me a message out of the blue a couple months ago that she was having brunch with a friend of a friend and they knew me from the forum. It was kind of weird haha.

 

IteNdtOwriTebeTterThesedAys....

 

Little tired from giving plasma today.. headache and a tad extra woozy feeling. But I want that 175$.

 

Thanks for your donation! Keeps the warp core running.

 

I started my online social life on Dark Starlings & Suicide Girls and then VampireFreaks and GoneGothic but I always got banned from them. I somehow found myself on a site called Teenspot until a member there introduced me to this site. DS went down a few years back, it left a little hole of emptiness in all of us but I rarely think about it now.

Other than this site I really can't find forums like this and if I do they're just way too busy to try and follow like the Survivalist Forums gets like a million posts per day or something and only 10 posts per page is pretty lame.

Retired hippie says I should join a motorsport forum he's on.

 

I don't have a phone other than my landline... It doesn't do internet so well.

 

Well it's May 5th everybody..

 

And one day closer to death

 

I just packed up my work station into boxes. I move into the new warehouse later this morning. I feel sad. I don't like change.

 

It's not a virus lmao..

 

ZaKitteth has had a mouse cornered in my bedroom all day...


I just know I'm going to wake up at some point with a mouse on my head.

 

Hey @Faelixx I think my Sweet Baby looks just like your friend's cat. For the record - I LOVE both car's ear hair!!! <3 I notice ear hair!!! I think its unbelievably adorable that you and your cat go for walks. <3

 

My cousin took her long lived cat, Kirk, for walks on a leash...the kitty was on a harness. That was a tough, adaptable cat. For real. I wouldn't even hesitate to say that sweet cat had to put up with more (unintended) BS than any animal should have to bear. He was greatly (if crazily) loved for 17 years.

Anyway...I just thought that was neat how he liked to walk on a leash. He trained my cousin as well as he could...not much he could do with her crazy pants ass.

 

Gad I hate my toe nails up there. :-/ They are painted now.

I'll have to work in a picture where they show. lol

 

@Irminsul Hey Irmi!! I was so extremely glad to read that Atreyu's boo-boo is most probably cosmetic, and he will back to 100%. I would be like your Missus though and have been freaked out until the vet had "fixed" everything. He is such a fine fine boy.

Your dad's pack looks more intelligent than any 3 people I know off hand around here. That's pitiful. smh

 

I'd say his lump is half way gone now. so all signs are positive. It's just the medication makes him not be able to toilet like usual. It's not oozing out everywhere either anymore which is good so he doesn't wear the makeshift boob tube anymore since in the evening and he is much more comfortable.

I'll still rest him as every now and again I think he limps on the leg. It's probably all sore etc.

 

Or a funny smell from behind the couch in two weeks

 

I know you said before ZaKitteth is really Erin's cat. Do Erin and the cat talk?

I want to hear about the dynamics of this relationship! lol

That the mouse hasn't had a heart attack yet is promising. Any small animal my predators get here are usually frightened to death before they can be "played with" (tortured) to death. I should feel all sorry and such...but dang its nature and whatnot. I've never been lucky enough to "catch" them with their catches soon enough to make any difference.

BUT ANYWAY - I want to hear about Erin and ZaKitteth.

 

I believe you requested I review it so I'll whip up a high level review here...

Spoiler

Candide

Voltaire's use of contrast in Candide highlights the story and is what I found most impressive. The story has a very fast pace and different personalities kept me engaged throughout. The book has a semi-realism feel to it which prompted a "You can't make this stuff up" type thought in my head while reading and so I briefly looked into some of the inspiration and found that Candide was written during the Age of Enlightenment but during a brutal war involving much of Europe. Perhaps a reason why contrast plays such a prevalent role throughout.

The main protagonist Candide falls in love with a Baron's daughter named Cunegonde, Candide gets his outlook on life from a metaphysician named Pangloss whose philosophy is an extremely optimistic view that the world is the best of all possible worlds and essentially that everything in the world is as it should be.

The Baron catches Candide and Cunegonde making out one evening and banishes Candide from his castle premises. This sets off a chain of calamity for the protagonist.

Candide gets tossed out into war torn Europe, a stark contrast from the sheltered life of the nobility he had previously been surrounded by. He finds himself getting caught as a prisoner, eventually escaping but not after several whippings and from then on, he is constantly on the move to avoid the fates of people around him who are being burned, slain, raped, dismembered, hung, as well as suffering from pestilence and famine. Amidst all this there are some moments of humor with the recurring optimism of Pangloss running through Candide's mind as he attempts to justify his philosophy in spite of all the tragedy that surrounds him.

Although Candide seeks to prove his mentor Pangloss correct, his main motivation is to reunite with Cunegonde to marry, which remains an obstacle given the circumstances he finds himself in, eventually getting separated by countries. His obsessiveness with Cunegonde is such that I don't think Candide would make for an admirable protagonist today. I found his incessant persistence a bit overboard, reminded me slightly of a Shakespeare character in those moments. While some characters had an obliging willingness to assist Candide rendez-vu with Cunegonde, others seemed to assist him only if they could take advantage of him. I wasn't quite sure if the people taking advantage of him was supposed to highlight how blinded by love he was or how much of a sheltered upbringing he had but in the background of it all, they demonstrated dubious moral traits that implicitly called into question Pangloss' philosophy.

Eventually Candide meets a character Martin who practices philosophy and is essentially the opposite of Pangloss, viewing everything through a pessimistic view. There is an amusing interaction with those two and a venetian nobleman who has a great collection of books which Candide remarks on positively but practically every book Candide speaks highly of, the nobleman turns around and critiques everything about said book and Martin finds himself in agreement with the nobleman and his criticalness. Apparently he didn't find enjoyment in his own book collection.

With Candide attempting to maintain the spirit of Pangloss' philosophy, Martin and Candide spar over their disparate philosophies demonstrating how they are correct in a few situations that wrap up the book.

There was a fair amount of advanced language and historical relics in the book which I had to search definitions for. I enjoyed the humor in the story and was shocked (but entertained) by the violence. The philosophical musings pretty much guaranteed that I was going to enjoy the story but philosophy provided more of a backdrop for me to apply to the various developments throughout and then every now and then became more explicit. I enjoyed the sense of adventure in the story as well.

Yah I dunno if that's review or report or what... just kind of went with it.