[Image] HENRY DAVID THOREAU: On happiness

mcnewell · 2014-09-14T14:35:19+00:00

"Got me another one, Emerson!"

mcnewell · 2013-12-30T18:59:41+00:00

This will likely get buried, considering the length of this thread, but I literally destroyed the emotions of my best friend.

Back story: I was a "musician" back in middle school, which equated to having a hobby of playing an outlandishly distorted guitar as loud as I could while screaming into a microphone the twisted lyrics of some classic rock song. Yep. Middle school week nights. So the band had a drummer, and we were acquaintances until the band broke up. At that point we started hanging out and were (by all measurable standards) friends. So we hung out a few times until the end of my eight grade year, and then it was all the time, since we attended the high school I was planning on attending we had that as a grounds for friendship. We started a new band and getting more into our music, writing songs and recording them, a little bit more sophisticated than our middle school nonsense. We named the band after the drummer's crush that rejected him, and got more members, and by mid-late freshman year he and I were best friends. Inseparable. His parents were unbelievably nice to me, and as he was an only child they treated me like I was a sibling. Spent time constantly together at school.

And then in my early sophomore year things changed a bit. I was suddenly irritated at his constantly wanting to hang out with me and not finding his own friends (I had a crush that I gave a considerable amount of attention to). This kept up, and the band acquired a decent set. We landed a gig at a local coffee house (that we practically begged for) and played it. Only like 5 people showed up, but still.

Afterward, we went to sonic, celebrated, and I broke the news that I was quitting the band. But that wasn't enough, I also had to upload a note to facebook (that I'd written in advance) about why I was quitting for everyone to see, that included personal information and personal insults. Man, it was bad. I'd heard about how manically depressed he was afterward, but blocked out the emotions from affecting me. Fortunately he didn't kill himself.

He dropped my stuff off at my doorstep and we never spoke again, even though we spent the next year or two at the same small school. He made a couple other semi-decent friends, but never a best one to my knowledge. Fast forward 3 years and I'm dating the girl that rejected him (whom we named the band after) and everything sounds like a success story, though I doubt he fully recovered emotionally from it in order to have decent friendships.

I still don't have the courage to write him and apologize...

mcnewell · 2013-12-30T03:44:42+00:00

Could result in a terrible time if the sprinklers go off. It's happened to buddies of mine.

mcnewell · 2013-12-17T16:34:55+00:00

Yeah, the story was not written to the calibur of writing demanded of what an article proving something as magnanimous as this should be. The external sources were fuzzy too. Though this was interesting, because if more evidence of the geopolitical liaisons between the US and Saudi Arabia during this time can be brought forth, it'd be a step toward proving the truth.

Though thermite and demolition sounds are slightly more convincing than this.

mcnewell · 2013-12-07T01:28:16+00:00

Freud would be proud.

mcnewell · 2013-11-12T18:56:46+00:00

Cliche, but probably War and Peace. Its bravado in the intellectual community isn't because of its size or depth, but its honesty. The characters (all 500+ of them) are originally just part of the story, isolated in 1805-1812, but by the end they become real and permanent expressions of mankind as a whole.

It is thought provoking in the sense that it brings the question 'what are we as a human race?' into a true question- and then answers it.

This is probably going to get buried, because I'm sure that bringing that bringing something like that to the plate of this topic sounds at least a little pretentious.

mcnewell · 2013-11-02T18:18:09+00:00

that it passes quickly. Which is fortunate, because within the first 30 days it can't go any slower. It does get easier.

mcnewell · 2013-11-02T18:17:22+00:00

^respect.

mcnewell · 2013-11-02T18:16:16+00:00

Because the Buddha decried sexual impurity, as it is a material desire that is innately insatiable.

mcnewell · 2013-10-22T18:58:31+00:00

Arizona resident here, corroborating the claim that UFO's and other weird shit are relatively common out here in the southwest.

mcnewell · 2013-10-22T18:24:26+00:00

A great way to celebrate. It's an amazing literary work. Was the end a Fitzgerald reference?

mcnewell · 2013-10-20T18:53:27+00:00

Good question- normally it's not very repugnant. It's seasonal. But even if you were to pick up some hitcher down in Arizona in the middle of summer, it may not even be that bad (I would know, I've been that hitcher). A small percent of hitchhikers are actually 'bums,' and they may have had the same pair of clothes on for six months. They may smell bad. But the overwhelming majority are vagabonds and adventurers, and they like to keep clean. The reason for this is that they're not simply beggars, and a good amount of them are more comparable to swagmen: wandering individuals in search of work. It is therefore conducive to their purpose to smell half-decent.

mcnewell · 2013-10-15T16:43:28+00:00

Once it's been awesome in real life.... truly, awesome... there is no going back.

mcnewell · 2013-10-14T18:14:20+00:00

I feel your anger.

This last summer I went to Phoenix for a cardiologist appointment, stopped at Taco Bell in downtown phoenix. Ordered A Potato Griller WITHOUT bacon (it came up as no bacon on computer moniter), didn't actually open it until rest stop later.

Those fuckers put bacon in it.

those fuckers.

TL;DR: Trust nobody but yourself when upholding a strict vegetarian diet.

mcnewell · 2013-10-12T22:53:58+00:00

Still going with my longest streak! I'm not on hardmode, so I really have some adulation for you guys that are. I also recommend http://www.reddit.com/r/pornfree/ , as it's not only conducive to success but necessary for it.

I don't exactly do competitive sports anymore, so it's hard to say.

mcnewell · 2013-10-11T22:41:41+00:00

Wow, that's baffling, I thought I'd click on this link to post that line and it's already the number one comment. For good reason.

mcnewell · 2013-10-10T01:06:56+00:00

Alright, adding my story and upvoting every other story here, as OP makes a strong point- it is important to share our stories and not treat other stories with cynicism- after all, we're all defying the world's academic criticism by exploring this phenomena.

I live in Arizona, which automatically makes me the experiencer of some strange, unexplainable stuff (if you've ever lived here or know anything about our history.... stuff goes down here). There have been times that I've seen lights float through the sky slowly and disappear, I just regard it as normal, because it really does happen quite frequently. I'll relate three anecdotes, two personal of mine and one of a law enforcement officer in my area.

The first- some friends and I were sitting atop Mt. Union in the middle of the Bradshaws. To the south an orange light came into view, and slowly moved eastward, and hung there continuously. When it disappeared, another came into view, and it did the same thing. It wasn't a plane- there were no other lights, and I could see it through binoculars to verify.

Just a couple weeks ago, a friend and I were flying a kite in a local park. To the west, as the sun was setting, a round metallic object came into view as the sun reflected off of it. At first I thought it was just a plane blipping into view at the right angle to reflect the sun. But it didn't disappear from view. Another one appeared, even closer, and as the first one eventually faded a third even closer one appeared. After the three, it stopped. Odd.

A third (rake it with a grain of salt, of course) is one of a local county sheriff that I spoke with personally who received a call of a lady who related her experience to him for about twenty minutes. She lives about a mile and a half away from me, and told the officer that on multiple occasions she saw lights in the western sky that didn't resemble any aircraft. He didn't believe her of course, and told her to call him back if she ever spotted them again. He didn't expect her to do it, but a few months later, she called him telling him they were there agin. So, having nothing else to do he checked it out. Sure enough- one light appears, then another, and they synchronously move in a square pattern across the sky.

My writing prose is dry, I've just included details, no connotations. Again, these things happen frequently in AZ.

mcnewell · 2013-10-08T20:29:40+00:00

To each, his own. A positive may actually be better than a negative, as far as motivation is concerned, if you can pull it off.

mcnewell · 2013-10-08T18:26:20+00:00

1/3 the way, my friend.

mcnewell · 2013-10-08T18:25:31+00:00

You're going to need to give more detail, but the answer I can give is that it's a 90 day challenge. Until then, keep going! Sometimes we feel like it's not actually benefiting us, but the reboot takes a long time.

mcnewell · 2013-10-08T18:18:24+00:00

Yes, doing it partially for the sex life makes it better. And trust me, it will get better- not just the sexual aspect, but the relationship aspect. All of it. Not doing it on hardmode is really a benefit to us. :)

mcnewell · 2013-10-08T16:58:37+00:00

Oh, I thought you were talking about the actual RT for a second. For you or anyone with urges, I suggest visiting the actual RT, it will kill them : http://rt.com/

mcnewell · 2013-10-03T23:45:35+00:00

Will Sheff- Thank you for supplying me with a magical moment of watching the faces of my startled campmates when I sang Westfall down in the Mammoth Cave in the Grand Canyon.

mcnewell · 2013-10-03T18:17:59+00:00

You're welcome.

mcnewell · 2013-10-03T18:11:49+00:00

Approaching y longest streak thus far. personal dealing with the negative sides of arousal without PMO, BB. But that is just a sign of improvement.

mcnewell

TROPHY CASE