It's really cool to see Joe and Steve constructively bantering in this thread. Also, I agree with the chalkboard and magnet paint; you can buy a premade blend, and we have some family friends who did their kids' entire playroom like that. It's totally boss. I want to do my Maker and Gamer spaces similarly, either with paint or whiteboard sheet. Reusable, huge writing spaces help everyone think better and more creatively! Also, Joe, get one of these for your situation room.
Wait, I just realized - Joe, you can now smoke your pipe with impunity.
Also, in regards to the cat-eye contacts - you can, but I wouldn't leap right into it, you'll fuck up your eyes. You have to be careful about the brand, careful about caring for them, and you have to get used to them.
I have one in my basement. The only thing about chalkboard paint is that it doesn't clean 100 percent, which leaves a neat cloudy effect if you like it but can be annoying if you are anal about things being clean and shiny.
Yes, didgeridoo, Dutch, depends, male beauty parlour but wax it, no, no, dunno, dunno either, should be though might not be strong enough to shine through the sunglasses, good idea, all of the above and a lava lamp, no, no, they're jerks so expect them to be jerks, no they can't, nope, ask your optician or DIY.
I have one in my basement. The only thing about chalkboard paint is that it doesn't clean 100 percent, which leaves a neat cloudy effect if you like it but can be annoying if you are anal about things being clean and shiny.
Interesting. How hard was it to put on? Just roller it on? I think I'm gonna do it in my kitchen for fun.
I hate chalk boards with a passion. I wish all schools would just replace them with dry erase marker boards. Luckily most have, but I just hate it when any of my classes have chalk boards. They just seem so...dirty.
I hate Smartboards. Today, one of my lecturers was using a green laser pointer from about two meters away to indicate things on the board, and the semi-gloss finish kept bouncing absurdly (and hopefully not damaging) bright green light into the eyes of everyone in the first three rows.
Throughout most of my schooling we've had markerboards, but every once in a while we had a chalkboard and I hated it. My middle school had like one smart board but nobody really knew how to use it, or at least hadn't incorporated it into their teachings.
If you're gonna do the whole SMART board thing, you really have to train your staff to use it, or it'll be a total waste. And I don't just mean show them technically how to use it, I mean you have to show them how and why it is useful as a teaching tool.
I can see the usefulness of a SMART board in a classroom, but I don't really see it being useful in most office settings.
I'm sure this thread has moved on a long way by the time I post this, but I just thought I'd share a bit about people changing within a relationship. In my last long relationship (lasted about five years), Pola split up with me because the things that we had in common at the beginning were no longer as strong. I'd changed in one way, and she'd changed in another way. I could see that, but was totally happy with it. Her not so much.
Also we used to fight really often, never about anything serious, and I never thought much about it. We were just two very strong personalities, and neither of us would ever back down. Invariably, any argument would turn meta, and immediately become about her not listening to me as soon as I changed my vocal intonation in any way at all from normal, and me becoming frustrated (and my voice changing) because she wouldn't listen to anything I said because my voice had changed. What a load of bolllocks, from both of us. Still, I was surprised when she ended it.
With my new girlfriend, Juliane, on the first day we met I laid out different things I wanted from a relationship. One was that I knew I would change over time, and that anyone I was with would have to be happy to deal with that. You may fall in love with 2011 Luke, but he is a different person to 2009 Luke, and probably just as different compared to 2013 Luke. As it happens, we've already both changed quite a bit since last June, when we met.
And we've yet to have any kind of aggravation or annoyance. The healthy disagreements with Pola turned out to be not that healthy after all. Juliane and I still disagree over minor things, but for some reason we're both totally mellow about it. I guess I've mellowed out over the years, and Juliane is very different to Pola from the start.
Who knows how long I'll be together with Juliane? I expect at least another few years, at this rate. It might be nice to be with someone longer than five years. I've made it clear to Juliane that we're not getting married though. No way! How can anyone actually say "'til death do us part" and not immediately burst out laughing? What a load of bullshit.
@Luke do you think your current relationship is better than the previous one because of the self reflection over the previous one? Did it force you to reassess what you wanted to both give and get in a relationship?
As much as my divorce hurt I learned a lot about myself and what I want in a relationship from my years of marriage. I think each relationship since then has gotten better and more stable. I am also better able to pick up on small things and assess whether they will be a constant source of irritation or something that will make me a better person.
Steve, it's very difficult for me to say which relationship is better, because I was a different person in 2005 and 2011. In 2005, Pola was the perfect girl for me, as she wanted adventure, to move to a new city, to set up a new life together, to be an exotic artist. That's exactly what I wanted too, and we helped each other start a new phase of life together. I was also less mature and mellow than I am now.
My relationship with Pola forced her to reassess what she wanted from a relationship, and I wasn't providing it any more. Pola went off with the new younger boyfriend, moved to a new country and city, set up a new home, established herself as an artist again... pretty much the same thing she went through with me.
But in 2011 I was totally settled in the city where I wanted to live, with a three year contract on my apartment, with a steady job, plenty of money, lots of friends, a life that was interesting. The girlfriend I wanted was someone who I could be comfortable with in Berlin, who wasn't going to disrupt my life, and someone who I wouldn't need to support during a big change in direction, nor someone who would support me in the same.
So in each case, I found the perfect girl for me, for the time. Juliane would have been the totally wrong person for me in 2005, and I already found out the hard way that Pola wasn't the right person for me in 2009, let alone 2011.
As for the second point, about knowing what I want from a relationship, I've written about this kind of thing on the forum and on my blog in the past, but I can sum it up here. At the start of any relationship, I think "Well, there's this little thing wrong... but I can live with that, right?"
It turns out that no matter how minor I think it is on the first few dates, or in the first few weeks of the relationship, when month three or four rolls round, that issue will be the thing that is driving me crazy.
Every relationship that lasts just three months adds something to that "minor issue" list. Shorter and longer relationships add things to the "major issue" list.
Three months is probably my "long" relationship catagory now. I started off with "relatively" long relationships that have become shorter and shorter as I've gotten older.
Also, this thread has me contemplating why I find it so much better to talk about myself with random strangers on the internet in text rather than everyone I interact with in life ever. It's always been the case, and I've always been aware of it, but I do find it a bit difficult to figure out all the exact reasons why. The best possible place to me would be a relatively private forum where I don't have to worry about future employers and girlfriends spying. Maybe that's a problem I need to overcome or something, though I havn't figured out the underlying details yet.
The worst thing about living alone is the weekend. I am so lonely right now I am actually thinking about going to church just so I can meet some new people.
Jesus, I'm really feeling the sadness on weekends. It's so hard to think that the future holds anything but more sorrow. I've actually joined Match.com, eHarmony, and even PlentyofFish. No one even comes close to being as appealing as the ex, but of course, I couldn't stand living with her anymore. I can't even stand to talk to her, so when she calls, I just let her call go to voicemail and then I erase it. Oddly, if I took all of her calls and read all her emails and texts, she would be communicating with me a lot more than she ever did when we were living together.
At least tomorrow is Monday. I actually look forward to Monday because I can actually have some human contact. If it weren't for my dog, I wouldn't have a reason to even wake up on the weekend.
Sorry - I'm just moaning because I'm very, very lonely. I won't be as lonely tomorrow because it will be a workday.
Unitarian Fellowships are always useful for that. They are very friendly and extremely liberal, and you'll probably find some people going through the same stuff as you there.
Unitarian Fellowships are always useful for that. They are very friendly and extremely liberal, and you'll probably find some people going through the same stuff as you there.
There are all sorts of such things, but it's much harder to find them in the sticks of Kentucky. Still, there have to be at least a few nerds in that state somewhere.
Still, there have to be at least a few nerds in that state somewhere.
There may be, but they're definitely not on eHarmony or Match.com.
Just for fun, I re-set my eHarmony settings to include asking for matches from anywhere in the freakin' world. The most obvious finding: Women in Russia take MUCH better pictures than women in America.
However, the odds of me actually getting together with a woman from Russia is about zero. The expense and cultural difference would be just too great. Also, even though I would take great joy in making her say, "Big trouble for moose and squirrel", I simply could not abide the inevitable "mail-order bride" teasing.
At this point, I'd just be happy to find some woman who didn't have kids in college or - GASP! - grandkids. I'm not old enough for grandkids, but there are some women on these sites that must have had kids when they were fifteen because they have grandkids at 35. DO NOT WANT.
Why don't you just look for friends instead of looking for a single lady. There must be some book club, tabletop gaming group, or something out there. There has to be a comic book store somewhere with nerds congregating.
Why don't you just look for friends instead of looking for a single lady. There must be some book club, tabletop gaming group, or something out there. There has to be a comic book store somewhere with nerds congregating.
Actually there is, but the tabletop gaming people all look to be high school age or close to it. I'd rather be lonely than develop a reputation like Herbert from "Family Guy".
Comments
Also, in regards to the cat-eye contacts - you can, but I wouldn't leap right into it, you'll fuck up your eyes. You have to be careful about the brand, careful about caring for them, and you have to get used to them.
Good luck, stay awesome and keep us posted.
This is not mine, but it demonstrates the cloudy, never-quite-wiped-away chalk effect.
I can see the usefulness of a SMART board in a classroom, but I don't really see it being useful in most office settings.
Also we used to fight really often, never about anything serious, and I never thought much about it. We were just two very strong personalities, and neither of us would ever back down. Invariably, any argument would turn meta, and immediately become about her not listening to me as soon as I changed my vocal intonation in any way at all from normal, and me becoming frustrated (and my voice changing) because she wouldn't listen to anything I said because my voice had changed. What a load of bolllocks, from both of us. Still, I was surprised when she ended it.
With my new girlfriend, Juliane, on the first day we met I laid out different things I wanted from a relationship. One was that I knew I would change over time, and that anyone I was with would have to be happy to deal with that. You may fall in love with 2011 Luke, but he is a different person to 2009 Luke, and probably just as different compared to 2013 Luke. As it happens, we've already both changed quite a bit since last June, when we met.
And we've yet to have any kind of aggravation or annoyance. The healthy disagreements with Pola turned out to be not that healthy after all. Juliane and I still disagree over minor things, but for some reason we're both totally mellow about it. I guess I've mellowed out over the years, and Juliane is very different to Pola from the start.
Who knows how long I'll be together with Juliane? I expect at least another few years, at this rate. It might be nice to be with someone longer than five years. I've made it clear to Juliane that we're not getting married though. No way! How can anyone actually say "'til death do us part" and not immediately burst out laughing? What a load of bullshit.
But who knows, maybe I'll change.
As much as my divorce hurt I learned a lot about myself and what I want in a relationship from my years of marriage. I think each relationship since then has gotten better and more stable. I am also better able to pick up on small things and assess whether they will be a constant source of irritation or something that will make me a better person.
My relationship with Pola forced her to reassess what she wanted from a relationship, and I wasn't providing it any more. Pola went off with the new younger boyfriend, moved to a new country and city, set up a new home, established herself as an artist again... pretty much the same thing she went through with me.
But in 2011 I was totally settled in the city where I wanted to live, with a three year contract on my apartment, with a steady job, plenty of money, lots of friends, a life that was interesting. The girlfriend I wanted was someone who I could be comfortable with in Berlin, who wasn't going to disrupt my life, and someone who I wouldn't need to support during a big change in direction, nor someone who would support me in the same.
So in each case, I found the perfect girl for me, for the time. Juliane would have been the totally wrong person for me in 2005, and I already found out the hard way that Pola wasn't the right person for me in 2009, let alone 2011.
As for the second point, about knowing what I want from a relationship, I've written about this kind of thing on the forum and on my blog in the past, but I can sum it up here. At the start of any relationship, I think "Well, there's this little thing wrong... but I can live with that, right?"
It turns out that no matter how minor I think it is on the first few dates, or in the first few weeks of the relationship, when month three or four rolls round, that issue will be the thing that is driving me crazy.
Every relationship that lasts just three months adds something to that "minor issue" list. Shorter and longer relationships add things to the "major issue" list.
Also, this thread has me contemplating why I find it so much better to talk about myself with random strangers on the internet in text rather than everyone I interact with in life ever. It's always been the case, and I've always been aware of it, but I do find it a bit difficult to figure out all the exact reasons why. The best possible place to me would be a relatively private forum where I don't have to worry about future employers and girlfriends spying. Maybe that's a problem I need to overcome or something, though I havn't figured out the underlying details yet.
Jesus, I'm really feeling the sadness on weekends. It's so hard to think that the future holds anything but more sorrow. I've actually joined Match.com, eHarmony, and even PlentyofFish. No one even comes close to being as appealing as the ex, but of course, I couldn't stand living with her anymore. I can't even stand to talk to her, so when she calls, I just let her call go to voicemail and then I erase it. Oddly, if I took all of her calls and read all her emails and texts, she would be communicating with me a lot more than she ever did when we were living together.
At least tomorrow is Monday. I actually look forward to Monday because I can actually have some human contact. If it weren't for my dog, I wouldn't have a reason to even wake up on the weekend.
Sorry - I'm just moaning because I'm very, very lonely. I won't be as lonely tomorrow because it will be a workday.
Just for fun, I re-set my eHarmony settings to include asking for matches from anywhere in the freakin' world. The most obvious finding: Women in Russia take MUCH better pictures than women in America.
However, the odds of me actually getting together with a woman from Russia is about zero. The expense and cultural difference would be just too great. Also, even though I would take great joy in making her say, "Big trouble for moose and squirrel", I simply could not abide the inevitable "mail-order bride" teasing.
At this point, I'd just be happy to find some woman who didn't have kids in college or - GASP! - grandkids. I'm not old enough for grandkids, but there are some women on these sites that must have had kids when they were fifteen because they have grandkids at 35. DO NOT WANT.
Oh yeah - I tried out Geek2Geek. In Baltimore, there were about 500 women on that site. In KY, there are -3 women on that site.