What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today?

[mjmjr25]

I'll let the video from yesterday die - but i'd like to add this first before moving on.

It was simply a 2-minute fluff piece like tens of thousands of others. We see these on local news or even mainstream news shows all the time. They assume the audience understands that of course everything wasn't perfect - it wasn't a detailed disection of life across a generation - it was a positive perspective on a bygone era - this wasn't presented as must watch in schools propaganda. By the logic applied to all the critiques in this thread - every video posted MUST also mention every terrible thing too.

If we want to discuss Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and his great works - must we also discuss his personal demons and poor life choices; start to finish. Same with President Clinton or any other person, or era. Sometimes this board is just looking for ways to over analyze or offer dissent where it just isn't needed. Can't people just feel good? I don't get it. I imagine my dad watching that piece and having a wry smirk and just feeling good. That in turn - would make me feel good. That's the intent.

Furthermore, for the comments about how great our society has become since that generation --- since were critiquing everything. I'd ask at what cost? There is greater nuclear proliferation, more endangered species, less clean drinking water and rainforest, larger or more plentiful dams and forced relocation of peoples - and on and on. We can't just mention advances in medicine and technology if we're going to gloss over the costs.

At any rate - this is a dead horse.

@Dave - thanks for sharing your post. I think you are right - we certainly all have been at these moments of helplessness and faced with the knowing that we have some answers and then the realization of how do I in my current capacity share my hopes, thoughts, and ideas with 7+ billion people - it is daunting and creates helplessness. While I expect you know I disagree with a lot of what you said, the underlying tones certainly ring true.

[BogusMeatFactory]

or ???? Woke up with my cat's butt in my face.

[Fragems]

: Really starting to hate disc based media . Looks like I have another busted Wii game to deal with on eBay. Hate when this happens hopefully it is just a smudge that is causing the read error but even slightest scratch can cause a Wii game to completely stop working . Tested the game out for around 15 minutes without problem and there were no visible scratches. However it could have gotten scratched during shipping and I didn't try every game mode so the problem could have been preexisting and I just didn't encounter it :X.

Thing that kills me is testing these games. With a cartridge game basically it works or doesn't work period 99% of the time. However with a disc game you can play 3-4 hours with no problem then hit a read error . Wish there was a simpler way to test these games. Anyone got any ideas?

Is there possibly a program that I can download on my PC and have read the disc in it's entirety to ensure that no read errors occur?

[Jmustang1968]

The best and most lasting impact you can have on the world and future is to raise your kids to be good people. If every parent did that, the future would be a better place.

[dsheinem]

Thanks for the comments, guys. That was certainly a stream-of-consciousness-why-the-fuck-am-i-up-again-at-4AM-let-me-vent kind of a post, but there is something therapeutic in "confessing" those thoughts to a "virtual public", even if it is super angsty and OMGSODEEP.


@prfsnl_gmr, I do know that I am doing something more niche and that there's value in that and that my work isn't mutually exclusive from those other larger ideas (video games DO have the power to shape viewpoints about the issues they address, thus writing to affect their development and/ or player engagement has merit). I don't do "indoor exercise" very well and it has been too damn cold. I'll probably be more active and less barflyish once the weather warms up Also, I'll think about certain forms of community involvement, but again I feel like those needs are largely met and/or are much smaller than the things I want to really help with. Le sigh.

@mjm, I didn't mean to irritate anyone with my own thoughts on the role/place of spirituality or religion in my post, so I hope I didn't. I get that a religious world view/personal journey works well enough for some people and some causes. It just isn't an approach that will work for me.

[dsheinem]

The best and most lasting impact you can have on the world and future is to raise your kids to be good people. If every parent did that, the future would be a better place.

This is important - but the "best and most lasting?" I don't think so. There's a history full of individuals and groups shaping the direction of the future, solving problems, righting wrongs, etc. They weren't even always good parents...

[Luke]

I missed the discussion of that bullshit video yesterday, but that "things used to be so great - a facebook was an ACTUAL face and an ACTUAL book!! We went and found our friends OUTSIDE!" kind of sentiment irks me to no end.

Agreed: "Shut up, old man!"


Frown: this is long and ranty and depressing and dear diary-esque, so I'll spoiler it for you and spare you the musings on why feeling helpless about big global problems sucks. tldr: oh poor me!:

Agreed indeed.

*Mopey*

It's only human to have those thoughts about that which you cannot control. It only becomes a problem if you get one dimensional and dwell on those thoughts. Take a minute to think on the positives of what you have done in the past to help your fellow man. Next, set a reasonable goal to help out a cause you find dear and important.

For me it's as easy as donating clothes and blood, or donating bloody clothes (I'm kidding, that's gross). I give back to my university, the wounded warrior foundation, American Cancer Society, and am active in the rotary club. Still wish I could do more, but we all have our limitations.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I don't do "indoor exercise" very well and it has been too damn cold. I'll probably be more active and less barflyish once the weather warms up

Get an exercise mat (or a towel) and a kitchen timer and do 25 minutes of push-ups, sit ups, crunches, lunges, squats, stretching, etc. (i.e., body-weight resistance, "prison" exercises) five nights a week. In my experience, sticking to this regime cuts down on my alcohol and food consumption and is the best way for me to stay in shape when I can't get outside.

[Luke]

Get an exercise mat (or a towel) and a kitchen timer and do 25 minutes of push-ups, sit ups, crunches, lunges, squats, stretching, etc. (i.e., body-weight resistance, "prison" exercises) five nights a week. In my experience, sticking to this regime cuts down on my alcohol and food consumption and is the best way for me to stay in shape when I can't get outside.

No, says I!

You have to rotate your upper and lower body exercises or you're just going to end up tired and sore. I'm all for "prison exercises", but for maybe 4 times a week. I rotate between heavy impact weight resistance, and then...yoga.

Yoga is awesome. My first session was twenty minutes of breathing. Yup, that thing you do without thought that keeps you alive. I'm still far from being good at yoga, but now I'm at the point where the stretches and poses really give me a solid work out. The best part of it, is that it help me get to sleep. Although I usually don't get to sleep until 1 or 2am, only to be woken up by my dog at 3am, but it helps.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Get an exercise mat (or a towel) and a kitchen timer and do 25 minutes of push-ups, sit ups, crunches, lunges, squats, stretching, etc. (i.e., body-weight resistance, "prison" exercises) five nights a week. In my experience, sticking to this regime cuts down on my alcohol and food consumption and is the best way for me to stay in shape when I can't get outside.

No, says I!

You have to rotate your upper and lower body exercises or you're just going to end up tired and sore. I'm all for "prison exercises", but for maybe 4 times a week. I rotate between heavy impact weight resistance, and then...yoga.

If you are only using your body wight for resistance, it is really more of a aerobic/core work out routine. I do sets of 25-35 with no rest, and I feel great. The important thing, in any event, is that you do something at least five nights a week. Exercise always trumps no exercise regardless of whether you are doing it "right".