Dies to Removal

I'm not a very nice person and even I play nice in here.

Just won a pauper tourney 3 rounds 2-0 every round. Would write a report for it, but mono red pauper burn is not going to make for an interesting read. Didn't even need to board any of the games so it would just read "play burn, play burn, play burn, win".

I'm not a very nice person and even I play nice in here.

I think you're a nice guy, but you like to put up a snarky, ego-driven, sarcastic front so people don't think you're nice, since most people see niceness (and kindness) as a weakness. If you were really such an asshole, I doubt you would have (1) an awesome woman like Pip in your life, (2) a creepy cult-following in the world of Magic, and (3) a collection of good friends in both real life and on the internet.

With that said, I have seen you be a dick and I have seen you play nice. I respect that nonetheless.

Get 'em, Darth.

@ Tube. Yeah I had that with high school, where I coped ok; then again at uni where I floundered for three years.

It's very normal. What about the change of environment worries you? I was scared I'd be really dumb and wouldn't make friends. Maybe we can chat via PM?

@ Khaos. Fuck you buddy.

@ Everyone else. Brainstorm!!

You're right. Its just been hitting me hard over the last week or so. the fact that, ya know, HOLY SHIT IM MOVING OUT TO COLLEGE NEXT YEAR... Some of my friends are acting like this seems to be no big deal, but holy cow has it been scaring the crap outta me.That next year I'm just going to be some random fish in a very large pond. Is this normal for everyone?

I wanna say sorry suga for being an ass, not my place.

It's totally normal, dude. What you're doing is a big deal.

Love you too, Z.

Z:
Mostly the fact that I fear being nobody. Im not a super cool guy, so surprisingly enough, I have trouble making new friends. Same worries for college. I mean, I've had the same friends since Kindergarten, so the prospect of making new ones feels incredibly daunting. I don't want to be the loner. I've felt that before, and it sucks.

I'm not a very nice person and even I play nice in here.

I have no idea what this means, you are a bro.

Very interesting convo's today...regrettably I've been catching up the aftermath of the party that kept me tied up in planning/cooking/shopping for much of last week. Well worth it, though...as windstrider stated earlier, over-the-top wild fun with good friends, great food and drink, and lots of...ahem. I finally got all extra food dealt with and my lady said the house is almost recovered, so we're putting this one in the "win" column.

Next on tap--Longest Night masquerade ball. Likely to be more calm and reserved, but much fun to be had. Windstrider, however, is lobbying for a truly epic event after his loving wife is well rested and recovered from their impending new boyo: A harem party. Basement converted into a decadent piling of mats and pillows, ladies all bedecked in silken finery and dancing about with abandon...we are going to Hell for sure with this one.

@James - You're an "asshole" by the same definition as redthirst, Dan or me...you state your opinion very candidly and succinctly without trying to dance around the thin-skin disease that afflicts so many people today. I've never seen you attack anyone unprovoked with malicious intent, but I have seen you call a dumbshit a dumbshit and call bad deck design for what it is without flowery varnish. I not only respect you for it but would expect no less. To suggest that you are somehow a less than remarkable human being because of your honestly and forthrightness is utter cow biscuits...you treat others as you are treated and speak with unshaking directness. Abrasive at times? Sure, but ain't a one of us perfect last I checked. I have much greater respect and admiration for a friend who will tell me the truth about something rather than defer to my feelings, as the latter will never help me grow beyond who I am right now.

@
sexist stereotyping - Yeah, I've always been bitten in the ass by this as well. I have never fit the "optimal" male body model expectation and more times than I want to consider have recognized judgment coming my way for it. But you can't fix stupid, ignorant prejudice, and God knows that women get hit with the same in spades. Trying to raise teenagers today with the torrents of artificial expectations that they are assailed with from all forms of media feels like running through quicksand...their world views are skewed and their self-images devastated faster than I can work to stem the damage.

With regards to toys, however, I have to say that I'm of more than one mind. Yes, I think that things like kitchen sets and toy toolboxes, dolls and racecars all should be marketed in more gender-neutral fashion, but I can't climb on the hate wagon about iconic toys like Barbie simply because I don't think that these particular toys can be looked at out of context. Barbie was a product of 1950'
s attitudes, culture and mores, and came out well before the current level of OVER-THE-FUCKING-TOP obsession with political correctness overrode the ability of Americans to think logically and frame things within realistic contexts without making epic glaciers out of piddling little things. Barbie's original designers didn't obsess over market reaction to the doll's body image because it was accepted that the doll was an exaggeration of the fashion world and was intended to be such. And today, Barbie is a collectable...just like Magic or anything else of its type, the people who buy and care about Barbie don't want to see it changed from what is essentially Barbie. Why should Mattel have to even CONSIDER whether Barbie is representative of "everywoman" when she was never intended to be such? Not that I am a great supporter of a global fashion industry that is centered around designing cloths that only have relevance for a tiny section of the population body-wise, but if Barbie is to be
representative of this fantasy image then let her reside there. Hell, He-Man, too, for that matter...what is wrong about suggesting that an over-the-top male character be an exaggeration of the musclebound body type? The evil of Mattel was striking a very realistic balance with Ken across from Barbie... his body type (if a little out of scale) was pretty run-of-the-norm for "real" men.

Bottom line, I am a hell of a lot more concerned over our societal need to analyze the living shit out of every damn thing we say and do than I am about relatively meaningless things like the minutiae of toy design. We are raising a generation of florid neurotics who are driven to look for hidden meanings and issues with EVERYTHING and turn every minor facet of normal life into an obsession-fest. Reality is calling...we need to stop being sucked into taking unrealistic stances on irrelevant and ultimately meaningless shadow controversies and get back to teaching our kids how to take care of themselves, their
planet and each other.

@windstrider - I have to say it again...dude, you are married to one remarkable lady and you have an incredibly fun group of friends. I'm truly happy to find myself included in said circle of just-plain good and down-to-earth human beings.

Maybe it's too late to bring this up again, but Barbies in no way enforce a gender binary - parents who refuse to buy their little boys Barbies do. What's to stop a girl from dressing her Barbies in Ken's clothes? Why can't a boy play with Barbies?

The toy itself is not the problem, nor does it reinforce the problem.

Interestingly enough, promoting an everyman image creates the same problem - say you pick an average, slightly overweight, middle-aged asian male to play your Movie Hero. It leads to shaming of the people who are fit, healthy, and have "good" bodies. The situation is similar to straight-shaming that occurs in communities with a significant homosexual population. And that's just as bad. There are too many different kinds of people to realistically promote all, so rather than saying one type is "unhealthy" to promote, can't we just agree that variety is better?
Let's not exclude the "ideal" or try and change it, but understand that there is no idea.

tl;dr - everyone is different, love them all, and it doesn't matter what the media promotes.

Nothing shits me more than PC culture.

NVM, assuming you mean "political correctness."

Correctamundo.

You should try the body image issues in the gay male community, it's pretty bad. I think it has something to do with dating men and men being visually oriented, moreso than woman, not trying to be sexist, just pointing out the results of my unscientific casual research. The increasing pressure on straight men could be due to any number of factors, but that is a bit beyond the scope of my armchair theorizing.

Nice-looking people tend to be more sexually appealing visually.

/science

Beating up people with metal rod makes you a happier person.
/true

Oh, it's like my first post since a week or two. Hi folks.
Tube, in terms of your uni anxiety... well, it depends on person. You can turn it into best time of your life. You can make yourself a worthless piece of shit. So yeah, it's some kind of big deal - but you're not gonna make it fine by being whiny emo bitch.
OH THE PAIN OF EXISTENCE
For fuck's sake you are going out to another town, you're gonna meet new people and you'll have to learn stuff.
THE WIND IS WHISPERING ABOUT MY LONELINESS
Get your shit together. Learn how to cook to attract all the bitches. Know how-to fix and clear things. Don't be a filthy neckbeard.
Generally: grow up son and grow some balls.

Everyone is different, no two people are not on fire.

But that cannot be an argument for self-induced weaknesses.
Tolerance for this kind of behavior is getting bigger and bigger.
Someone is fucking dumb? No, he has LEARNING ISSUES.
Someone is boring? YOU JUST CAN'T UNDERSTAND HIM.
Someone is an asshole? HEY, HE HAS ANGER MANAGMENT ISSUES.
I'd rather call things by their names as it allows you to actually choose between fixing your flaws or accepting them as a part of yourself.

Everyone is different, no two people are not on fire.

JS is a wise man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huLkQikmSrA

WATCH NOW>

Z:
Mostly the fact that I fear being nobody. Im not a super cool guy, so surprisingly enough, I have trouble making new friends. Same worries for college. I mean, I've had the same friends since Kindergarten, so the prospect of making new ones feels incredibly daunting. I don't want to be the loner. I've felt that before, and it sucks.

The great thing about big environments like college / university are that there are so many people that if you try at all, you can't not find people who share your interests!

I'm not a very nice person and even I play nice in here.

Sometimes... but it's more like rolling a dice with you:

1 - Drunk, surly zem
2 - Nice, modest zem
3 - Bragpost zem
4 - Confident and funny zem
5 - Condescending jerk zem
6 - Self-aware zem

Personally, I love all your multiple personalities so, you know, whatevs.

Ha!

You're gonna carry that weight.

Z:
Mostly the fact that I fear being nobody. Im not a super cool guy, so surprisingly enough, I have trouble making new friends. Same worries for college. I mean, I've had the same friends since Kindergarten, so the prospect of making new ones feels incredibly daunting. I don't want to be the loner. I've felt that before, and it sucks.

These are incredibly common kinds of fears to be having, especially at this point in your life. College represents not just a change of location; it is also a change of state in your life. You're moving from being considered a child to becoming an adult in the eyes of society. It carries with it the paradox of the potential for more freedom and the reality of increasing responsibility. Damned right you're
nervous.

As for not making friends or having a circle of support in college, don't worry. I'm guessing that you'll be living on campus. That will create numerous opportunities to develop new friendships. After you decide on a school, look up the different social organizations that are active on campus. Chances are that you will find something that piques your interest. Hell, there may even be a Magic league already.

By the way, my daughter is also wrestling with these ideas.

Finally well enough to get out of bed and get back on here. I went 3-3 at the iq, cause I started getting sick during round 4.

Been laid up in bed coughing feverish and exhausted since. I'm also still a bit pissed at myself for only going 3-3 at the iq >.>

Also, the shirt came in Doc. Thanks again!

Also, the shirt came in Doc. Thanks again!

Mine hasn't yet, unless they delivered it in the middle of the night e.e

Proly just them being slow. I figure it'll show up today

I'm also still a bit pissed at myself for only going 3-3 at the iq >.>

Stop.

You got 3 wins at an IQ. I remember 2 months ago when you were just getting started playing competitively, and now you're batting 500 at a qualifier? God damn, son.

Also, the shirt came in Doc. Thanks again!

Sweetastic.

I'm also still a bit pissed at myself for only going 3-3 at the iq >.>

Stop.

You got 3 wins at an IQ. I remember 2 months ago when you were just getting started playing competitively, and now you're batting 500 at a qualifier? God damn, son.

Thanks, but I still tend to be hard on myself about stuff like this. Hell, my first iq I went 4-2, so I'm actually doing worse e.e

Very interesting convo's today...regrettably I've been catching up the aftermath of the party that kept me tied up in planning/cooking/shopping for much of last week. Well worth it, though...as windstrider stated earlier, over-the-top wild fun with good friends, great food and drink, and lots of...ahem. I finally got all extra food dealt with and my lady said the house is almost recovered, so we're putting this one in the "win" column.

Next on tap--Longest Night masquerade ball. Likely to be more calm and reserved, but much fun to be had. Windstrider, however, is lobbying for a truly epic event after his loving wife is well rested and recovered from their impending new boyo: A harem party. Basement converted into a decadent piling of mats and
pillows, ladies all bedecked in silken finery and dancing about with abandon...we are going to Hell for sure with this one.

<<portions edited for brevity>>

@windstrider - I have to say it again...dude, you are married to one remarkable lady and you have an incredibly fun group of friends. I'm truly happy to find myself included in said circle of just-plain good and down-to-earth human beings.

That holiday party definitely deserves to be put in the win category. The food, the drink, and the company of good friends always make our parties memorable, even without the amounts of ahem we saw that evening. And I am most definitely lobbying for a harem party, though Hell is not the destination I had in mind.

Melissa is the best thing to ever grace my life. We can talk together, work
together, and play together. And we're both comfortable with ourselves and each other that we don't worry about the other. As she said to my lady friend who was more than a little concerned about our semi-adulterous activities, "He's an adult. I trust him." That word, trust, defines our relationship, and it means everything to me.

I am very glad to count you in my circle of friends, Jerry. I had a feeling you'd fit right in to the menagerie.

Edit: fixed spelling.

That e.e is getting old.

Err, sorry. Force of habit.

That e.e is getting old.

1 - Drunk, surly zem
2 - Nice, modest zem
3 - Bragpost zem
4 - Confident and funny zem
5 - Condescending jerk zem
6 - Self-aware zem

Big money, no whammy...

5!

Yeah I see what you did Freedom.

That e.e is getting old.

1 - Drunk, surly zem
2 - Nice, modest zem
3 - Bragpost zem
4 - Confident and funny zem
5 - Condescending jerk zem
6 - Self-aware zem

Big money, no whammy...

5!

Well-played, thirst...I can see this one coming back again and again to our collective amusement!

Bottom line--we love you, James, and the fact that you can take as good as you give is one of the many reasons why.