Idea Things to be glad about

Hey Y'all!!! I've taken a long look at the way the world is, and how everything looks like it's going to shit. I then had a bright idea!!! This thread is designed so that people can post negativity free posts about what they have to feel glad about. And yes, I know this is stupid. Hell, I realise I just sounded as upbeat there as a frakking hippy psychologist on weed. But seriously. Things are going to shit, and we might as well say all the things we have in our lives which are positive. I'll start off:

- My two Beagles. I love them, they're cute, and they make great conversational partners (albeit for one-sided discussions).

- Having a decent internet connection, so I can surf the web and watch videos, read these stories, have fun with friends...the list goes on. Also good for looking up stuff for academic papers at Uni.

- Netflix putting all of star trek onto the Australian version. The only one I'm not glad about is the one that should not exist in any way, shape or form. You know what I'm talking about.

- Amazon Kindle. I'm a avid reader. By that I mean I'm hyperlexic, have been reading since two and can finish a large book (around 1000 pages) in under a hour. Hell, I finished the bible in under two hours. Wasn't that great a read. A bit repetitive on the ancestory.com sections. Bit unrealistic in the New Testament, and revelations was not as good as the Walking Dead in terms of post-apocalyptic accuracy. But Kindle is the best frakkin thing I have ever used for reading. Cheap books, cheap device, and the ability to carry a library of more than 1000 titles in your freaking pocket. Excellent for me, with the fact that I chew through stories and novels in record times.

- Steam. My god, even if Valve created a monopoly, I am so thankful it exists. So many games. So many sales. No competition you would have to buy certain titles from. A for frakkin awesome.

CrazyMinh wrote: - Netflix putting all of star trek onto the Australian version. The only one I'm not glad about is the one that should not exist in any way, shape or form. You know what I'm talking about.

If you're talking about a particular episode of TOS, with Morg and IMorg and so on, then I have to disagree that it's the worst Trek ever put on the small screen. Surely it's less inane than the stupid Voyager "Faster than Warp 10 so crewmembers devolve into some kind of weird giant gecko" episode. I'm sure there are others, but that one strikes me as far more objectionable than "Spock's Brain"...

I was actually talking 'bout Sexually Treksmitted Disease. A worse episode than the ones you mentioned is Sub Rosa, the 14th episode of TNG Season 7. That one features Dr. Crusher summoning a space genie, and then humping the ghost until it resurrects her dead grandmother. Worse still is the episode I consider to be the last thing we ever saw of canon TV trek, "These Are The Voyages...", the series finale of both Star Trek: Enterprise and the entire run of the show. Despite having the Star Trek title, Discovery is about as canon as Jobe's experiments are ethical. Which is to say not at all.

elrodw wrote:

CrazyMinh wrote: - Netflix putting all of star trek onto the Australian version. The only one I'm not glad about is the one that should not exist in any way, shape or form. You know what I'm talking about.

If you're talking about a particular episode of TOS, with Morg and IMorg and so on, then I have to disagree that it's the worst Trek ever put on the small screen. Surely it's less inane than the stupid Voyager "Faster than Warp 10 so crewmembers devolve into some kind of weird giant gecko" episode. I'm sure there are others, but that one strikes me as far more objectionable than "Spock's Brain"...

Brain! what is BRAIN!

but IMO the very first episode of star trek Enterprise has the winner for suckage---in the very first episode the writers got our new Vulcan chick out of her clothes right off for ratings--and only down from there!

lets not mention Voyager and 7 of 9 and you know!


I love this old joke
"Captain Janeway, why am I skipping rope?"
"just do it...its sweeps 7 of 9"

Actually, I liked Seven of Nine. Her outfit may have been fanservice, but Jeri Ryan is a good actress who made her funny in her deadpan way (loved her interactions both with the Doctor and with Unecessary Cute Kid) and a much more interesting character overall than Kes, which she replaced.

lighttech wrote:
lets not mention Voyager and 7 of 9 and you know!

She should have been 2 of 9, because there were only 2 things the average male saw of her screen presence

Yeah, Jeri Ryan caught my attention too. I wrote a series of MAU stories centered around a fan of Seven.

elrodw wrote:

lighttech wrote:
lets not mention Voyager and 7 of 9 and you know!

She should have been 2 of 9, because there were only 2 things the average male saw of her screen presence

Yeah, Jeri Ryan caught my attention too. I wrote a series of MAU stories centered around a fan of Seven.

Ah, Double of Dee... Reportedly when Kate Mulgrew first saw her in costume she quipped, "This show just got five more years!"

I am glad that my little cardinal friend that would serenade me last spring has once again returned to do so again this year. He is sitting in his tree once again.
and Threshold was the stupidest Trek episode ever. Yes, Warp 10 was supposed to be an impossibility and what happened when you broke the barrier was dumb... but if going warp 10 was out of the question, why not just go warp 9.999999999999999(however many 9's you need) and just get there fast, while NOT breaking the barrier?

Rose Bunny wrote: I am glad that my little cardinal friend that would serenade me last spring has once again returned to do so again this year. He is sitting in his tree once again.
and Threshold was the stupidest Trek episode ever. Yes, Warp 10 was supposed to be an impossibility and what happened when you broke the barrier was dumb... but if going warp 10 was out of the question, why not just go warp 9.999999999999999(however many 9's you need) and just get there fast, while NOT breaking the barrier?

Okay, so you can't break the Warp 10 barrier, or bad stuff happens, right? Like you slowly evolve (devolve) into a space-gecko. Like Tom Paris did. Then Gecko-Paris kidnaps Cpt Janeway, flies the delta flyer through Warp 10 again. When Voyager catches up to them, they find Gecko-Paris and Gecko-Janeway on a planet - and apparently have bred a bunch of space-gecko-lings. The doc finds a way (naturally - involving a little unobtanium, no doubt) to 'devolve' gecko-Janeway and gecko-Paris back to human.

a) talk about embarrassing for the future. "No, Captain, I really thought you looked hot - as a space gecko, you know. Um ... sorry?"
b) if the doc could change them back, then why not get the instructions in the holo-doc AND in computer memories all over the freakin' place, then fly the whole ship and crew faster than Warp 10 back to Earth, where the doc and other Star Fleet docs could replicate the holodoc's restoration process.

All in all, it was quite stupid.

Things to be glad about? For starters, how about being glad that -- contrary to popular belief -- the world isn't going to shit?

People have been saying that nonsense for literally all of history. Yet, if you take even a cursory look at history it becomes obvious that the world just keeps getting better. Life expectancy is way up. Hardly any babies in the developed world die, and the developing world is developing. Per capita violence is way down. Communication and tolerance are way up. Few societies keep slaves anymore. Technology went through a messy phase in the Industrial Revolution, but we've gotten much better at it since then. Even the inherently dirty techs like coal and internal combustion are far cleaner than they used to be, and the developed world is phasing that stuff out for greener solutions anyway. Commercialization of space travel is firmly underway. The primary tool of modern times, the computer, is now a commodity that even poor people can afford. And so on.

But to see and appreciate this, you have to widen your field of view to see the big picture instead of pet issues, discard your nostalgia filter, and ignore the natural human anxiety toward change. There are certainly moments where we backslide on a few points, but the overall sawtooth is very clearly trending upwards.

Anyway, another thing that I'm glad about is this cover song:

I wake up each morning and say "I'm alive!"

I have multiple medical conditions, on top of my ADHD, so, yes this is something i definitely think about.

And yes, Kettlekorn is right, the world is definitely improving.

To be glad that I don't suffer from the curse that is NBN, and that the Australian Government isn't still lead by Tony freaking Abbot. Seriously, his crimes include being a budgie-smuggler wearing middle-aged man, taking a bite out of a raw onion like it was a apple, calling the current prime minister 'Mister internet' and then continuing to call him that as the government under his leadership (good 'ol Malcom Turnbull!!!) completely fraks up the national telecommunications redo, calling himself the 'suppository of all knowledge', being a utter twat and also being about as responsible as the Roman Ceaser Nero.

But anyway, I'm glad that I don't use NBN, that Mr Abbot isn't prime minister anymore, that I've got a decent apartment in a decent area of Sydney, and in a high-security tenancy too, that I can eat three meals a day (just...not going any further in that depressing direction), that I'm getting my masters degree, that I have recently gotten a paid job with the Australian Centre for Field Robotics (which is cool, but I'm waiting for them to rebuild it in a different place), and that I've finally managed to get my drivers license.

And they say American is a different language from English!

I'm Sorry, Minh that was pretty much indecipherable. NBN? Budgie? Is that the parakeet, the TV Series or the drummer from Siouxsie and the Banshees? And why would he smuggle one? And why would that be bad? Biting raw onion? Obviously you've never had the privildge of eating a Vidalia Onion which are actually SWEET.

Mister Internet? I'm sorry, even my granny, God rest her soul, could come up with better invective than that. Are you sure you didn't mean the repository of all knowledge? Or...was he courting the LBGT vote?

you get up, you feel bad? Play this, you feel good.

It's no longer February, we were on February seventy-somethingth the other day.

Budgie Smuglers = Speedos

NBN = National Broadband Network

Yes, Abbot did declare himself (on live national TV no less) to be the 'suppository of all knowledge'. This is before the Gay Marriage Plebiscite here BTW.

Mister Internet is what Abbot called Malcom Turnbull, the current prime minister. Turnbull owns a telecom and a large business at that. He's also the head of the Australian Coalition or the Liberals (right wing, as opposed to Labour (left wing)) and decent compared to Abbot (the maddest bastard ever to be in charge of Australia)

The onion had just been dug up out of a garden and unwashed. He just took a bite out of it, dirt and all.

The Cardinal that sits in the tree by my window and serenades me in the mornings.

Shakuhachi by Bamboo Flute Orchestra
a.co/6yqNeJC

HO-LY SHIT

I thought I was having a good day today. Nice weather, got to listen to live jazz while reading a new book, easy traffic, no line at Walmart, got home and read the latest chapter of Ward... But then I discovered this incredible album. Maybe I ate too many handfuls of Caramel Cashew trail mix, I don't know, but I feel fucking goddamned amazing right now. I don't think I've eargasmed this hard since I discovered Caro Emerald! Maybe not even then.

You just had to mention something like this when I had no money to pay my rent....

Glad?

What the hell is that?

Schol-R-LEA wrote: Glad?

What the hell is that?

It's something that folks who don't have anhedonia as a symptom of persistent depressive disorder are alleged to experience.

It may also be one of those "feelings" things that hippies and sensitive snowflakes whine about IxTP people not sharing.

Schol-R-LEA wrote: Glad?

What the hell is that?

It's a brand name of trash bags and storage containers.

Actually, today there is something I am sort of glad for, namely the support group I met with this afternoon. It was my second time with this group (I went in April but was sick at the time of the May meeting), and I think they will help me quite a bit.

The anhedonia is still there, but this was strong enough to get through it, a little.

Today, I am reminded that Jenny Nicholson and her videos are among the things I'm glad about.

Today I'm glad about this hairy bearded a capella cover of The Moon Theme from the DuckTails NES game. Bask in the nostalgia!

BASK!

Marinade*, because then it doesn't matter if the turkey thaws out by tomorrow afternoon

Also glad to know that many of the things that make food tasty are lethal to salmonella. Even then, there's never too much garlic.





* 4 bottles of Newcastle Brown Ale (porter or stout would be better), one bottle of old mead, 9 oz. lime juice, 1/3 c. jerk seasoning, 3 tbsp instant Cafe Bustelo for a touch of bittering, and enough cold water to make sure the inside gets some love too. (I should go to the store for some fresh ginger root, too)

null0trooper wrote: Marinade*, because then it doesn't matter if the turkey thaws out by tomorrow afternoon

Also glad to know that many of the things that make food tasty are lethal to salmonella. Even then, there's never too much garlic.





* 4 bottles of Newcastle Brown Ale (porter or stout would be better), one bottle of old mead, 9 oz. lime juice, 1/3 c. jerk seasoning, 3 tbsp instant Cafe Bustelo for a touch of bittering, and enough cold water to make sure the inside gets some love too. (I should go to the store for some fresh ginger root, too)

Oddly enough, I have a 12 pack of Newcastle Brown Ale, and some Guinness Draught Stout in my trunk for tomorrow.