casualfox9 said:Look, you either dive in headfirst or you freeze up and quit sailing entirely 🙂 there’s no middle ground... 😁 😁 On June 18th, there's a solid food tour happening—maybe hitting up an Apple store or checking out Palagruža along the way—departing from Miami 😉
😍 Apple and Palagruža? Toss in some Saint Louis and Susquehanna and I'll be living the dream 😍
But seriously, why does this happen right in the middle of finals week every single year? 😁 👎 Where are you guys even headed in July?
casualfox9 said:Enough with the endless bickering over Bavaria... let's pivot—is anyone actually interested in sailing the 505 class? Check out this clip if you want to see what it's all about: http://www.int505.fi/teamleiras/505promo_web.avi
We need 5 boats registered here in the States to officially get this class moving...
Honestly, seeing everything lately, I think I might jump in soon myself! 🙂 All those clips and photos from the last few months have totally sold me. 🙂 👍
I’ll check what you sent—if it’s not there, I’m heading straight to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It's not like I'm blueharbor42 or anything. 😁
I’ve scoured the libraries in Seattle, hit up every local bookstore and used book shop, even checked those niche specialty boutiques—nothing. Not a single trace of it. Does anyone actually know where I can pick up a copy in Washington, D.C., or maybe order it from somewhere else online? Like, anywhere?
Look, if we’re talking purely from a subjective angle—assuming our baseline goal is love—then love becomes the yardstick. It’s the standard we use to define hate. But that creates this immediate imbalance right out of the gate, making it impossible to truly define either one fairly, because let's face it: humans naturally lean toward one side more than the other, don't we? If you're someone who's leaning harder into hatred, how do you even begin to frame your thoughts? You can't really get a clear picture until you step back, rise above those gut impulses, and try to look at everything from an objective distance.
Love builds things up. But it can tear them down, too. Hate destroys. But it can create, as well (same deal, just flip the order).
It’s entirely possible that both are just different intensities of the exact same thing.
replying to manweu:
Yeah, hate can actually have positive outcomes. Just like love can leave a trail of destruction. At their core, these concepts are just pure abstractions—it's people or specific circumstances that give them weight (again, it all comes down to human perception and how we react to what's happening around us). (And no, I haven't found a way to escape this damn relativity yet, ugh! 😁)
p.s. manweu, are all your buddies this brain-dead?😁 😉🙂
There’s no magic formula just because we entered a new millennium—core values don't change. And honestly? Application doesn't need to chase every new tech trend... THE REAL ISSUE IS THE FOUNDATION! If you raise someone who actually understands respect—for themselves and the world around them—they have the basics down. They’ll be able to swim in any waters, no matter what era they find themselves in. But if their foundation is shaky? Forget it—they’re doomed, regardless of how much "evil" is out there.
Look, if you want kids to actually understand what matters in life, don't just lecture them—let them get their hands dirty and experience things firsthand. And as for those parents—usually the ones projecting their own deep-seated insecurities—who try to enroll their preschool or elementary schoolers in modeling classes or whatever other nonsense... honestly, I’d love to give them a piece of my mind!
In my book, parenting for the new millennium should be about reclaiming those forgotten, primal instincts! It’s not about being "modern" by shoving a kid in front of a computer screen at the earliest possible age just so they can "fit in" or "adapt"—it's about letting them actually feel themselves and the world through their raw senses. Their actual SENSES. Because honestly? You see grown adults all the time who have a mountain of technical knowledge, yet they’re totally clueless when it comes to the simplest, most essential human things.
First off—comparing kids to dogs? That’s such a shallow way to look at a child's personality. And if you don't even bother to reach their level, what's the point of all that philosophy you're preaching???!! Humans are the only creatures endowed with a spirit during the creative process—a tool we use to understand ourselves and our surroundings, allowing us to act based on free will. One of the absolute worst things you can do to a kid is turn on the TV just to keep them occupied while you knock out chores. The kid is unconsciously absorbing a constant stream of messages that can seriously wreck their mental and spiritual development. Until kids can consciously and responsibly consume media (and trust me, we adults know how hard that is!!), we should be focusing on their feelings, their natural instincts, movement (dance is huge, for example), building imagination, and experiencing the world through touch and tactile manipulation—that elemental sensory experience... man, touch is everything!! We need to constantly give them stuff from nature so they can catch a glimpse of the beauty and uniqueness of the creative act. There is so much external stimulation out there; it is a true art form to help a child maintain that natural sense of WONDER AND AWE toward the diversity of life. Talk to them more. Tell them stories. Spark that imagination so they can start connecting dots and creating things... the magic formula is this: the fewer "ready-made" toys and materials you give them, the stronger their creativity becomes. It matters deeply to respect every single stage of a child's development and provide exactly what they need for it. In the preschool years, it's all about role models and imitation; once they hit elementary school, it's about authority, which helps them build solid life habits. Later, as they hit puberty, they start forming their own opinions and seeking independence. Criticism and "discipline" are necessary to correct behavior, but NEVER underestimate the child or their persona! Some parents try to turn their kids into carbon copies of themselves, effectively suffocating their natural growth. It's terrible!"! A parent's job is to help a child evolve, not to mold them into a cookie-cutter version of themselves. It's also vital for a parent to actually SEE and FEEL how their child is learning and performing. Since kids spend so much time in school, parents really ought to check in on how the teachers treat them. A real educator will never crush a child's spirit, though some definitely do. Take my first-grade teacher, for example: she used to tear my artwork apart in front of the whole class, claiming a kid my age couldn't possibly draw like that and that someone else must have done it for me! Ugh! I remember coming home crying once, and the next time, I intentionally did a terrible job—way below my skill level—just so she wouldn't "criticize" me. My mom didn't notice at first, but once she did, she marched straight into that school and "handled it." She laid it out for her perfectly, and after that, the teacher never dared to pull a stunt like that again.😁
genNorec said:I remember this one depressing spring when it first hit me—that a single tree could actually feel grateful just because I stop by to visit.🙂
My little houseplant feels the same way when I show up. 😁 Even though it’s just sitting there in my room, I'll occasionally neglect it—and then when I finally look at it, I feel like total garbage for being such a slob, so I immediately go into full "apology mode" (==> basically sucking up 😁), give it a little pat, some water, and I can practically feel it getting all happy—hehe 🙂🙂🙂 drinks up that water within an hour (I can track the speed exactly since it laps it up from the saucer, not from the top), and I just sit there enjoying the sight of this living thing just drinking, drinking, drinking 🙂 I actually panicked the other day when I saw its big leaves drooping like they’d given up on life. But once I hugged the leaves, I realized it was just shedding the old stuff—it was REBUILDING itself! 😁 Jaaaooo, I can't even tell you how much joy I felt seeing tiny new leaves sprouting from the stem. Unlike the old ones, these were bright green, almost fluorescent, just bursting with life and youthful energy! But seeing the tiniest one—looking like a little nub, kind of like a baby tooth just breaking through—just a tiny green dot on the stem? That was the absolute peak of me losing it over being its "owner." 🙂
Jaaaooo, sorry, blueharbor42 is going off on a tangent here, but that's just what this reminded me of...
*** I’d personally have schools playing classical music—Mussorgsky, for example. Kids need a way to decompress between classes. There’s just too much stress and tension lately—kids are becoming more aggressive and less tolerant by the day... 😁
To actually spark some creativity? You can't beat deep spiritual house with those African rhythms, or even some soulful jazz stuff. It would help kids develop a sense of movement and wake up those natural instincts that have been buried under all the garbage they're exposed to these days. *** 🙂
Look, it's the same thing I said last year... my take on this movie hasn't shifted one bit. Honestly? I don't have a single complaint. The soundtrack, the color palette, that whole whimsical vibe—that’s always been my weakness, and Amelie absolutely nailed it.
Besides, it hits really close to home for me, kind of reminds me of that one Australian film I'm obsessed with...
People who can't stand electronic music are usually just stuck in the past—obsessed with "the good old days" (which is fine, whatever)—and they're terrified of anything that feels even slightly unfamiliar. And let’s get one thing straight: electronic music isn't even "new." It's been around forever. These folks just recoil at the word "futurism" because they don't get it. They miss out on that specific rush—that feeling of being totally plugged into the universe, or that massive surge of emotion you get when you're lost in the concept of distant, far-off worlds... or maybe they just get hit with a wave of anxiety whenever they watch Blade Runner.
Every genre of music is its own beast—totally unique. Arguing about which one is better? Honestly, it’s a complete waste of breath. You aren't going to reach any real conclusions that way—it just turns into people airing their personal grievances and acting like their taste is some kind of moral high ground.