Should I write about "THE THING?"
Because the thing seems so pressing.
Everybody is very nervous about The Thing. The Thing is indicative of who we are as a people. Where you stand on The Thing is an absolute deal breaker if you are on the wrong side.
I honestly would rather not talk about The Thing. The Thing wasn't on the news last week. That time it was Another Thing. And there was a Random Thing before that which killed a few marriages, broke down a few friendships and caused rifts that will never be healed.
I honestly hate The Thing. The Thing keeps me from talking to my friends openly and honestly, keeps me second guessing what is and isn't ok to talk about and generally causes too much stress.
And now, during the Silly season, there will be a NEW Thing every week. A Thing that tell you why you are wrong to think as you do. A Thing that will make you fear your neighbors. A Thing that will rip apart families and make you suspect others.
Of course, there are also things we don't talk about, but I won't mention those things. Because those things get in the way of our day to day life. If we were to address Those Things, everything would have to change. Everything. So we don't pay attention to those things.
But I'm paying attention to Those Things. Those Things that are apparent to anybody who opens a window, talks to their neighbors or takes a walk. Things that don't exist in the imaginary world behind the screens.
Because Those Things have mass. I can touch them, I can feel them. If Those Things are wrong, I know because they cause me or someone I care about pain. And I look around and see that there are a Lot Of Things causing a lot of pain to a lot of people, and people instead talking about The Thing, and demanding that The Thing is more important because it is more visible in the imaginary world behind the Screens.
Comments
I guess it must be clobbering time.
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
Well, it is a rather Grimm issue.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oShTJ90fC34]
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
that was fantastic for a comeback.
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
The thing is what makes c99 so special.
We can talk about the thing. c99s one and only rule allows it. All it asks is that when we talk about the thing, we respect each person's right to their own version of the thing.
The thing is always there. If not this thing then that thing. If not today then tomorrow.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
What's interesting is that there always seems...
to be only two mutually exclusive versions of The Thing. Even in situations where it's clear there were many versions of the Thing.
If more people would have their own takes on The Thing, it would be great, but numbered grading scales have been lost in the era of Thumbs up and Thumbs down.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Yeah. Except that The Thing is the equivalent of
a political monoculture.
We have this Thing in Florida called hydrilla. It originated in SE Asia, where there is a dry season that effectively kills it off/back each year. Here, there is no such countervailing force, nor anything that really eats it. It came over in aquariums, placed there by stupid people. Of course, it escaped into our waterways when other stupid people flushed the contents of their aquariums down their toilets.
When this Thing takes hold in a river or a spring, it spreads and spreads and has nothing, really, to keep it in balance (because it shouldn't be here; it should be in SE Asia, goddammit.) So as it flourishes in rivers and springs, and spreads and spreads, it gets so thick that it cuts off the sun. And everything in the water that requires sunlight dies. Everything that isn't hydrilla.
The Thing detroitmechworks describes is basically like hydrilla, except unlike hydrilla, it's not morally neutral (I mean, it's not the hydrilla plant's fault that idiots transplanted it several thousand miles). Hydrilla wasn't maliciously engineered to tear families and friends apart and to set people at each others' throats either. But like hydrilla, The Thing casts a shadow in which all other things wither and die. Which is, as far as I can tell, the second of the three purposes for which it was engineered.
The Thing is designed to set people at each other's throats, to make all other concerns wither and die in its shadow, and to repair the reputations of a lot of powerful people who have done terrible things. Because after all, they can't be that terrible if they oppose The Thing.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Nail,
meet Hammer.
Well Done, sirrah!
Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .
Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .
If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march
Thanks.
Wrote a long take on "The Thing" , then realized that what I really wanted to write was this.
Edit: Forgot two words
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Darn, I wish I had a hammer like that
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X3m1jNCA-s]
Ah, Getting the Hammer's the Easy part...
Learning how to swing it... now there's a challenge.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEMMVHAINFM]
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Like this.
First thing I thought of. (Warning: slightly graphic)
[video:https://youtu.be/M-PMeVH3l3Y?t=157]
(I now have decent internet again, which means I can YouTube all the things again! :D)
This shit is bananas.
Nope!
No ear worm for Me!
Thanks!
Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .
Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .
If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march
Amen.
Thank you.
And I'd Like to Close with a Hymn...
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEKDYIYMgBc]
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
The Rule
Once enforced. Once followed. Allows the spigot of enjoyable conversations to flow.
Today, I will thank a co-worker for the beautiful movie he recommended. Tomorrow, I will talk about the delicious things I do with spiralized zucchini to a friend of mine who is looking to eat healthier. This weekend, my neighbor, who is also an assemblyman in our district, will come by and pick the ripe grapefruits in our garden and I will tell him about my visit to the Santa Anita Race Track as he is a horse race enthusiast.
No. Political. Conversations. Allowed.
Easy. Peasy.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
The Rule was great...
I would like to add a corollary these days to kindly ask that Phones be not consulted during conversation. They have a nasty habit of ruining the best times.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKF2oc9h3o4]
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Yes, that's another good rule
A co-worker of mine with teenage children strictly enforces that rule by having everyone put their devices in a little decorated basket when they sit down for dinner. That includes her children's friends as well. No exceptions. People have conversations at the dinner table by actually looking at each other. What a novel idea!
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Makes it a bit hard for us here.
Since we came here to have political conversations. I think we have to push back against Thing politics somehow, somewhere. But I do get that your rule would limit the influence of the Thing, put some concrete walls up to inhibit its spread.
It's just unfortunate that your (quite necessary) rule requires that we basically have the opposite of what Occupy provided, and which, I think, was one of Occupy's greatest threats to the elite: all kinds of Americans were talking to each other, publicly, about the economic and political conditions of their lives, in ways that hadn't happened for over a generation.
The elites didn't care for that, so they poisoned the well.
Just my opinion. That said, once the well is poisoned, we have to take steps to keep from being poisoned, like you've done.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
And there my dear CStMS
Is the rub. Which you've once again illustrated so perfectly.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
The void left behind
by not speaking of the thing itself, is more obvious. Defines what is lost by moving on. To the next thing.
question everything
This Thing to me is a Thing Told By a Bunch of Reporters,
Full of Sound Bites and Accusations, but signifying nothing.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8M8qTclbho]
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
i represent that parodic shakespearian excerpt.
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
As do I...
Fortunately I've gotten a LITTLE better about stopping the first time.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Yeah, but I mean,
I represent
American Players Theater in Spring Green, WI is doing MacBeth this summer. I am so stoked.
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
Hmmm...
Well, that just goes to show. I had imagined your name to have a completely different meaning.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
that line is my single favorite moment
in all of human literature.
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
My curiosity is stronger than my embarrassment
A visit to London many years ago afforded me an opportunity to see a play at the Shakespeare Globe Theater where Christopher Marlowe's "Dr Faustus" was playing. While I enjoyed the spectacle and the organic nature of the performances, I suffered a severe affliction of not understanding what the heck anyone was saying. So, perhaps you might translate your favorite line for me in modern English so that I can comprehend it's meaning?
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
You can forget about your charm.
pardon my butting in, I don't know what Untimely's story is but thank you both for inspiring me to search up this site, I like it: No Fear Shakespeare
huh
Glad my curiosity got you curious too
That's at least a step in the comprehension direction. But, I'm still at a loss what MacDuff is referring to...his immunity to another persons charms? And how has "not being born" enter into it?
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Sent you a PM so as to avoid a massive spoiler to anyone else
who hasn't seen the play yet.
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
Thank you!
Just read it. Wow...packs a punch, don't it?
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
My story is only that I think it's a brilliant play,
a brilliant scene in a brilliant play, a brilliant line in a brilliant scene in a brilliant play, and a strange and extraordinary turn of phrase (that, with no context, can evoke all manner of images -- "Untimely Rippd", hmm ...) in a brilliant line in a brilliant scene in a brilliant play.
As for myself, I believe I was a forceps delivery.
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
I do love the Scottish Play.
But my favourite play will always be "As You Like It". My first Shakespearean role, and I still to this day love it. (Of course, the story is also about a resistance group fighting against an unlawful usurper... Yeah... it may have influenced my likes and dislikes JUST a bit.
But I will say a word of thanks to Rosalind Zanides, one of the greatest drama teachers I ever had, and a wonderful human being. Because no one dies who is remembered.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Why yes. Yes you should.
Prof: Nancy! I’m going to Greece!
Nancy: And swim the English Channel?
Prof: No. No. To ancient Greece where burning Sapho stood beside the wine dark sea. Wa de do da! Nancy, I’ve invented a time machine!
Firesign Theater
Stop the War!
And so I have.
Python always does improve my mood...
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS-0Az7dgRY]
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
I have nothing clever or pithy
to post about your essay. I just wanted to let you know that I enjoyed it.
Thanks for reading!
Been a good day so far, looking forward to the rest of it. Being thrown around by large men wearing Gis...
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
but the fruit, so low it is hanging!
I mean, it's always something -- if it ain't one thing, it's another ...
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
It takes little effort to get validation...
on your opinion however you want it on low hanging fruit.
If you like getting yelled at, pick a side.
If you REALLY like getting yelled at, say both sides are guilty.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Oh my goodness,
That played in my head with the exclamation, and I actually found myself laughing out loud.
Why? I have no idea why that struck me, but so funny to me.
Goodnight, Roseanne Roseannadanna
And CSTMS shows just how old she is.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Oh Snap! Liberal Reward - For missing Thing
Betteridge's law of headlines sez no, but I sez why not. This is still effing funny to me:
Addams Family TV Show- Thing is Missing
so much symbolism so little time
"I'd give
itthem all up for just one look at our thing." cousin editWell, The Thing and Thing...
Seem to be slightly related. As in nobody seems to know what The Thing is too.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Plenty of people pretend to know exactly what the Thing
you describe is.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
I...don't know what "The Thing" is...and I'm kind of glad.
But that's not okay, is it???
Nothing's worse than being "proud to be ignorant" - it doesn't matter what I DO know, only what I DON'T know about the Latest, Pressing, Trending, THING!
Why do I feel like we've suddenly been taken over by an Orwellian/Bradburian-regime-version of the Lawndale High Fashion Club from Daria?
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
I'm not proud to be ignorant...
I'm very confident and happy in the limited sphere I choose to involve myself in.
After all, I can't know EVERYTHING. That's the reason most Things I don't like I let sit online. Why waste storage capacity? I'd rather store something more interesting in that headspace. Right now, my RAM is pretty filled with Temperature and Materials theory. Also doing a bit of Logistics.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Unified Thing Theory
if we don't talk about the Thing then we probably shouldn't talk about the Next Thing. But all there are are Things which are part of the Bigger Thing. So if we don't talk about the Thing then we risk not talking about the Bigger Thing. If we only talk about the Bigger Thing without relating it to the Thing then it's hard to explain the application of where we stand on the Bigger Thing.
In my opinion, of course.
Well, when every Little Thing...
can't be solved because the Big Thing overshadows Every Thing, it's quite frustrating when talking about the Big Thing bores folks. People think they can't do Any Thing about the Big Thing, as long as nobody talks about the Big Thing, so they talk about the Little Things.
Then people forget that there is a Big Thing that was the entire point of addressing the Little Things. The Little Things get Bigger, because those on the Other side of the Little Thing dig in their heels... and so The Little Thing becomes another Big Thing... That people will no longer address because there's another Facet of Little Things to fight over.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
you said it, brother!
I first noticed this in the 60s. True story!
So true. Never entertain a Thing.
Because then it becomes one goddamn Thing after another.
Generally speaking, The Thing is being used by
the media to cover up all the other things, and the more impact those other things have on our lives, the more likely the media is to scream about The Thing when they come up.
My way of dealing with it is to refuse to play by the rules of talking about The Thing. That doesn't entirely work because the people on the other end of the conversation can play by those rules and just call me a bad bad person for not doing so. I must be in league with The Thing, or have the wrong opinion about The Thing, or I'd play the Thing Game just as they do.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Wait, I'm confused...
When we're talking about the Thing, are we talking about Thing 1, or Thing 2?
The answer is Yes.
exactly! Sneetches too.
Sylvester McMonkey McBean
There are no coincidences. lol
This essay and all the comments made me LOL a lot this morning, thank you very much. good day
Edit: oops, fixed image path.
Heh, one of those lovely childhood stories.
Of course, I took a different moral from the story.
"As long as you have money, some asshole will try to steal it from you."
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Yeah, interestingly, climate change is never
The Thing.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver