On what day?

When I turned 20.... I felt old already.
And this was a birthday that my mother 'stole' cause she had a small celebration on that day with her friends at a beer-garden, cause her birthday was either on a weekday or it was gonna rain. Okay, she did ask if she could hold that celebration on my birthday, but did she have to tell me to go along to that place? Nobody there, except her, even knew it was my birthday until she mentioned it.

And now I've managed to make myself sad.... Fuck.

C-A

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I need an excuse to post in this thread! Quick, somebody do something to make me sad/angry/depressed/self-loathing/all of the above!

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July 16 which is a Tuesday this year. Prolly won't do anything special cause I rarely do. Prolly just gonna play gaems all dayz.

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Thing just up and died last Friday. SO many things on there... Feels like a dear friend just died. I also feel like doing this.



The problem is I can't remember everything I had on there, plus I don't know how to do that. It's likely I'll miss Elementary's season finale and a ton of other shows. I could find it on Youtube, but see above, don't remember what was on there. I do remember Simpsons, Elementary, Doctor Who, and some show called Dark Matters: Twisted but True as well as a few movies. Still, I don't have a guarantee they'll repeat them, especially Elementary and Dark Matters.

EDIT: I have one Elementary set to record, I could probably find the previous one on Youtube, and have last week's Doctor Who set to record. Simpsons repeats often, and Dark Matters could also be found on Youtube. Big Bang Theory, once more, Youtube.

I wish my fatherwould stop forcing me to watch those kidnapping reports on the news, just because he thinks the world is a wicked place doesn't mean I have to.

And before you guys badger me about it being about love...I would like to say that I don't feel loved or safe.

18 years of that makes me want to take risks or savor each breath I take as if it were my last...My father is crazy about keeping me safe when nothing too terrible has happened to me.

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Wow, somebody's paranoid.

There've already been so many occurrences of violence in movie theaters, in elementary schools, and in marathons, can't we just not dwell on everything that's wrong with the world for just one moment?

EDIT: Then again, what would be the point of this thread?

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It's just a place for us to throw the evils of everyday life. Until those evils one day formulate into an evil thread that seeks to open the void and return everything to nothingness.

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Child kidnappings are like 1 in every couple million. It's horrible when it happens, but no one should have to live their whole life in fear on the off-chance that it might happen to their own child. You're 18, and by that age you should've able to take care of yourself. Your dad probably has your best interests in mind, but he has to realize this. The world can be a messed up place, but it isn't like that everywhere.

i have a pair of super paranoid unmarried aunts. they're usually getting all up in other people's business, particularly ours. i know and i understand that they usually mean well, but sometimes they just confuse me. it's like they're encouraging and discouraging us at the same time. one of them has caught the travel bug lately and asked us to plan a trip for her. problem is, they get all paranoid with every bit of news they hear/see and would call us to cancel/postpone the trip. one of them even asked me to print out a picture of the plane we're taking. there was this one time when i was getting 'the call' again and suddenly i just blurted out "if you keep saying that, WE'RE NEVER GONNA GET ANYWHERE" it was so rude of me, but i guess i snapped her out of her paranoia, and the trip is on again. but we always say that the only way we can tell that we're really going is when we're already on the plane with our seatbelts on.

Maybe. But not out of the question.

No no, definitely out of the question.

Was a recent bomb atrocity at the Boston Marathon and I went online to see the footage of it.
In the youtube comments were about 20% people saying "America deserved this" or similar things to what you're saying now.

America's bad but it's no reason to go full on anarchy.

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Haha I think you misunderstood me. This is not a matter of who deserves what. Its a matter of what may inevitably happen. How long can we keep consuming at the rate we are? How long can we waste things that have multiple purposes? How long can we neglect living with nature instead of against it? And what about our psychological state? If there is any anarchy, it will be caused by the people. Anarchy is a choice. After Hurricane Katrina, people looted and robbed and became criminals. After the earthquake in Japan, there was pretty much no crime whatsoever. So again, it is not about what we 'deserve' its about we will almost willingly bring upon ourselves. I am not against the U.S. I care for this country and that is why I am worried about it. My point is that we may all return to nature in the end. We ill have to learn to work with rather than against the natural forces of this world. We will need to learn to settle with less and make the best of what we have in order to survive.

True words. People in this country dont like to take responsibility. They want someone who will make things easier for them. I could honstly care less which political party anyone is from. Political parties, although important, do divide the nation. What people dont realize is that we are the main power in this country. Politicians just represent us. A country is like a living organism and we are its cells. A stagnant cell cannot do its part to keep the body going. If something happens to this country it will be because of us. We can keep blaming the politicians and say that they're taking away this and that but it all boils down to how we are as a collective. We need to learn how to do things ourselves and work together by our own free will if we want anything to happen. Im all for individuality and freedom...but there is a difference between reckless freedom and freedom with responsibility.

Tophat, thank you. Sadly my father is so pressed on his beliefs that he'll never listen to reason. :( Which is why I get annoyed when my parents think I need to change when they never do.

And even though my mom is now suddenly a theist, I'm not buying it. She used to taunt me for praying before I eat, and I'm willing to bet she's only using faith in God for pain medicine. One minute she's an atheist who supports gay marriage and thinks religion is b/s and next minute she's a wannabe Christian who bashes homosexuals and yells whenever I talk about shounen-ai or shoujo-ai.

This peeves me...Especially since I know Christians who actually support gay marriage...And she's only bashing homosexuals just because she thinks she has to.

And eliska...I'm sorry you have to go through that, that totally sucks. :(

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I don't think it's going to matter how much evidence or logic you throw at your parents. They firmly believe in their convictions, and facts don't mean anything. That's why you can't convince people like creationists that evolution is right, and anti-gay bigots that marriage should be allowed for all. Whether it's religion, politics, or anything else; if someone strongly believes in something, standard methods won't work. They have to realize that they are wrong for themselves.

Your mom sounds like a huge hypocrite. First off, how could someone have that much of a 180 turnaround on their beliefs!? As you know I'm an atheist, and I have absolutely no idea how someone could suddenly believe in religion again. How could someone be a supporter of gay rights and then suddenly change their mind!? Like you said, religion is like a pain medicine. People use it in desperate times to give themselves false hope. If you do that, you're only deluding yourself.

Oh yeah, and if you're going to thank someone at dinner; don't thank the invisible sky man who probably doesn't exist. Thank the farmers and workers who broke their backs planting, tending, cultivating, harvesting, sorting, distributing, and selling their crops. That's another thing that I hate. People are so quick to "thank God" but don't stop to think about the actual people who did something. When people are good at art or music, they call it a "God-given" talent. When doctors save patients from life-threatening diseases, people call it a "miracle." When someone is rescued from being kidnapped for 10 years, they immediately say "God is great." It isn't God who did anything, it's the people who work hard to make a difference.

People always seem to complain about how the politicians running for president always suck. Who is it that elected to them as our governors, mayors, and senators!? The people did. Honestly, I was actually scared that we almost got someone like Sarah Palin in a position of important government power. You wanna know what the solution to solving the problems in America is? Stop wasting time on pointless issues (that shouldn't even be issues) like gay marriage, contraception, and abortion! All three shouldn't be illegal or looked down upon. Stop having poor gun regulation laws and actually do the background checks! In Canada, you have to have at least three people verify that you're responsible. Stop having such a pointless war on drugs! All you're doing is creating an even bigger black market that full of gang violence and killings. Raise taxes so we can fix our debts! Yes, they're high enough as is; but in the end it's all going to even out! There's no way we're ever going to pay off our massive debts to China without lowering government spending and raising taxes!

But you know what? None of this will ever happen, because Americans don't want to make any sacrifices or do anything that goes against their own narrow-minded beliefs. I'm sick and tired of people calling this the "greatest country on Earth" when all it is is a complete political and economic mess! I don't even care any more. When I'm old enough, I'm moving straight to Canada. Most of my family lives there, and at least the government isn't wasting their time on the stupid issues like the ones I just mentioned above. Whew, I've had my rant.

...Ok, I'll thank god and the harvesters. XP Sounds fair.

And I don't press my beliefs on atheists because most of the people I know are atheists...Just don't press your beliefs on me. You don't believe in prayer and I am perfectly cool with that...Just calm down, i don't want another religion fight.

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Yeah I hear you man. I have relatives in Canada who I may be paying a visit to someday as well...maybe permanantly. Haha. As much as I dont want this country to fall because of our own mess, I dont have much hope for the country. Like I said earlier, perhaps this country needs to fall in order to be rebuilt. Its not a matter of who deserves what and it will be a painful process, but unfortunatly, this is the lesson we have to learn. In order for humanity to progress there must be hard lessons unless we can be logical and mature[which many people are not]. Maybe the issues of gay marriage are just distractions to get us away from the real problems in the world. I can honestly say that Im trying to be more self-sufficient and less reliant on the structures. Im working on a self-sustained organic farm so that I can learn to work with the environment and do things myself. I cant say the same about most people tho. They actually think that the structures will last and they put way too much faith in them. America is not invincible. We can fall as Rome did. People are just so wrapped up in their own little worlds that they are oblivious to the oncoming storm. My hope is that the American people will wake up in time.

And that is rant...haha.

I'm not looking for a fight or anything. I'm not trying to shove my beliefs (or lack thereof) down people's throats. I'm sorry if you think that. But that's okay, I'm used to it. It seems that every time I have a strong dissenting opinions compared to everyone else, people immediately call me rude and offensive. Just because I have an opinion, doesn't mean that I expect people to agree with me or even like it.

The question if God exists is something that really has to be discussed among all of us. We simply can't ignore big questions like this and the only way is to actively talk about them.

Out of curiosity, I've never understood why people always thank God for their meal. What about the people worldwide who starve because they don't have food? Where was God for them? What about the meal that you're eating? If it's meat, where was God for that slaughtered animal? BTW, I'm not vegetarian or anything. I'm just putting it into perspective that there are people and other living things that aren't so lucky as us.

America is a civilization, just like the Romans and the Greeks. And just like you said, civilizations fall with time. Americans can really be oblivious and stubborn to the rest of the world and history. People like to be given simple solutions to complex problems, and I find America as a prime example of this. Also, we have so many stupid debates on immigration. I've even heard one politician say that the "Mexicans are coming here because they can't get a job in their dirtbag country." Yeah, the Native Americans much? Us being the gigantic white bigots we are, the Europeans stole this land from them, slaughtered the majority of them, and claimed it for themselves. Now, we're complaining about immigrants coming here. God bless America, huh?

I dont mean to intrude on this other conversation but the proof that God exists is through experience. At least thats what I have come to notice. You can try all you might to find God through physical means but its probably not gonna happen. Looking within through prayer or meditation are ways to find God. You may experience things that cannot be proven through science and thats when you will know.

Nah it doesn't really need to be addressed. Discussions like these'll lead to heated arguments/debates, and really the only debates I enjoy seeing on here are the ones between Cat and Pierre. I'm more of a fan of complaining about first world problems like: Will the boy I like ask me out today? Rather than problems with the world as a whole. Life's hard enough as it is for a 16 year old female such as myself.

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Yeah its kind of a cycle that is typical of humans. We conquer and then complain about being conquered. We really do act like animals. We claim that we arent animals but we dont prove that we're not. If we were not animals we would live a more orderly existence and harmonize with each other. I do not hate America. There is no reason to. Almost every other country has a history of conquering. There are good aspects of this country. The founding ideals of the U.S. are flawed but with good intentions[depends on which founding father we're talking about]. There are good people here...you just gotta find them. If the good in this country doesnt overide the bad, we will face hardships. There is no reason to play the blame game. People just need to look at themselves ask what faults they have as individuals. The main problem with the country may not lie within the politicians, they within the psychology of the people. Fix yourself and you become a healthier cell and you will be doing your own part in your own way to help everyone else.

If prayer and meditation are the only ways that you can "find God," I'm still not convinced. The mind is a powerful tool that causes people to see all sorts of things, delusional or otherwise. People have claimed to have "felt God's presence" but that is completely subjective. All you're feeling is cumulation of emotions and signals in your brain. There's nothing special about that. And unlike religion, science doesn't claim to know everything. But what it does know are the facts, and nothing more. If a hypothesis is proposed, it is put through rigorous testing and observation before being accepted as fact. Evolution is the reason why we are here, and God has nothing to do with it. We've even been able to prove that life can be made from inorganic chemicals reacting with one another. I don't see any reason to believe in dubious claims with no evidence.

I have to disagree and say that it does. You don't have to be involved if you don't want to, but many others will. And I beg to differ when you say they only lead to heated arguments. Christopher Hitchens and Stephen Fry once debated two members if the Catholic Church. The subject was "Is the Catholic Church a force of Goodbin the World." The difference in votes before the debate and after the debate was staggering. Hitchens and Fry won support by a land slide.
freethinker.co.uk/2009/10/20/catholic-church-humiliated-by-fry-and-hitchens-in-an-historic-london-debate/

Here's the debate itself if you're interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLtuD2CKY-U

The point is, these debates aren't pointless and they can actually change people's minds. First world problems, while humorous, aren't going to change anything.

We don't have many members as it is right now :\

What I'm getting at is that we're not all deep thinkers such as yourself. My rule of thumb is to let those who believe believe, and if you don't it's fine if you voice your opinion. I'm fine with people believing in a form of religion, and I'm fine with people who don't, but when I see people trying their absolute hardest to disprove someone's belief that's like shitting in someone's coffee and that's why many people have problems with dealing with Atheists.

Your opinions are blunt. You have no tact with dealing with people, and that's why everyone thinks you're being rude. You come across very insulting/condescending.



Don't take me the wrong way, I'm not attacking you or anything. Just explaining why people react to you the way they do. A better approach to get answers to questions that you ask is to be a little more considerate to the feelings of others. If someone believes in something that you don't, you don't have to look down on them at a 45 degree angle and criticize that the way they're living their life is wrong. Word your questions a little less aggressively, and people will be more open to talking to you about these subjects. This isn't exclusive to controversial debates either.

Also, it's good forum etiquette to not double post in such a short amount of time. There's always the Edit button if you want to add something to your previous one.

I'll probably be at work by the time you see this.

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aaaarrg



So glad I got that off my chest.

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*giggles*

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Oh looby. Still using that primitive form of air ventilation I see.

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19's nothing! Just be sure to make the most of your life all the time - every day is precious.

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First off, I was responding to two different posts by different people. If it really does matter, I guess I'll just combine them next time.

Secondly, when I was referring to "others will join the debate" I was talking about in general, not on CR.



That's uncalled for. You know absolutely nothing about my life, circumstances, or the people I'm surrounded by. You want to know the truth? I'd say 85% of the people around me are snobbish and arrogant. They don't want to hear anything else besides their own opinion. I live in a bubble community full of rich and stuck-up people. I absolutely hate it and even stating my own opinions offends them. I'm alone and there's almost no one that agrees with me.

Let me make this perfectly clear. I don't hate religious people. I hate religion itself and what it's done throughout history. There's no "polite" way of saying that and I'm only telling people what I think from my point of view. If they have a problem with it, then they shouldn't have brought up religion if it's such a touchy subject to them in the first place.

If I sound too aggressive to you, consider this. Studies show that atheists are the most hated group of people, even worse than rapists and murderers. People discriminate against us every day and most don't even understand what atheism is. People call us Satanists and immoral just because we don't believe in an invisible man that doesn't even have a single shred of evidence to support its existence. If you're treated that way, how would you feel? I'm sick and tired of people calling me rude and offensive just because I care about what happens to the world. I care about the future of this planet because it's all we have. Religion has destroyed a lot of that. And even with science, people refuse to listen to reason. You say that I should consider the feelings of others, but the religious people never consider the thoughts or feelings of how the atheists feel.

So don't make any assumptions about people whom you've never met. If you want to believe in God, fine. I don't know you and it's your own business on what you believe.

I'd hardly say Stephen Fry (the go-to idol for all smart-thinking british students) and Christopher Hitchens versus two faceless members of the Church winning public votes is hardly an achievement, it's the easy thing. I recall hearing someone once say "Christianity" is hardly conventional these days but Tophat I'm going to kindly ask you to stop.

What others have said, Emiko and Blak, is that we don't push beliefs on other people here by forcing such discussions or bringing them up or stating controversial things like "evolution is the one true truth" or "Religion is for fools and people only use it for pain relief" because it's very inconsiderate.

I was born and raised a Catholic, attended every sunday at Church meeting up with other family members at my grandparents who had also raised their children Catholic, it was a pretty big family. Short of being sent off to a monastary my childhood was typically religious. I didn't learn homosexuality from the Church no, where I was most exposed to it was from bad kids in secondary school who probably don't care at all about church, who used terms 'gay' and 'homo' as insults.

It's easy to say the Church teaches bad things but I learned most of those bad things from the world, most of the things I remember from the Church were nice and generally about treating one-another right and goodwill among man. I know the Church isn't absolute, I don't trust any man to properly interpret the word of God which is why I don't really give much consideration to those who would use the bible to push any aggressive agenda's on people. I know members of the Church have committed horrible things recently and in history and I can't make excuses for that but that doesn't mean everything the Church has done is evil.

In University I actually was reluctant to reveal my religious beliefs because of how anti-Church the world seemed at the time and indeed I did and do get a bit of stick for it. I was told folks called people like me who don't do drugs or drink or smoke "Pure Whites" like some kind of derogatory term. I get mockingly called a "good little catholic boy" by friends when I think they are talking about something crude or rude.

I don't believe any man has a right to enforce their beliefs on other people. The one thing Scientists all must accept, indeed the ONLY true great Scientific truth is to acknowledge that nothing can ever be absolute truth. Every Scientist has to acknowledge than at somepoint in the future someone else might discover something or find something else out that proves them wrong. It is a mistake to ever declare anything as absolute fact.

So I think you should drop this line of conversation you're getting pretty controversial we don't need to debate the existance of God or anything else here, it's important to respect other people's beliefs provided they don't harm others. If you want to debate with someone, do it in private.

Ah anyway onto my vent of today:

At work tonight there was a new upselling competition for selling Coke, nothing new really.
The prize listed various different kinds of alcohol you could choose from as a prize.
There was a disclaimer for those who are under 18 and they would win 8litres worth of soft drinks.

....there was another disclaimer.

This one said "if you don't like alcohol then you are pretty lame :P but you will be given an alternate reward".

That just made me sad, while I'm sure they didn't specifically mean me when they wrote it (I don't like alcohol), it's really offensive and it made me sigh about the attitude of Scotland in general.

For all I complain about America's self-destructive attitude towards guns, Scotland's self-destructive attitude towards alcohol is just as bad if maybe a little obviously destructive. There's a stigma on anyone who doesn't drink here, I think I once heard a phrase "I can't trust anyone who doesn't drink" and I don't know but it's a real pain for me. People talk about going out to get drunk and I just can't understand them

But...like America and guns I feel this attitude is too culturally engrained for it to change anytime soon or even in my life time.

*sigh*

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Never once have I said that "evolution is the one true truth" nor have I said that "religion is pain medicine for fools." I said that evolution is the only likely way that life came to be on Earth because no other plausible theory exists. There is no scientific basis for Creationism, and simply paying attention in Biology class is all that's required to understand it. I also said that people rely on religion as a sense of false comfort. I told you that I have nothing against religious people. I just don't agree with what they believe in. And I can admit that religion has done some good (like charities, soup kitchens, etc) but we don't need religion for that. Empathy for the common man should be enough for everyone to help each other out.

Also, you don't have to educate me on science nor absolute truth. My philosophy is that there isn't a single thing one should be 100% sure about it. Science isn't supposed to be an absolute truth, only a way on how to explain things with the evidence around us.

I can sympathize that you were afraid to tell people about your religion, but you have to realize something. Christians aren't being oppressed, atheists are. If people were seriously making fun of you for NOT doing stupid things like doing drugs, I wouldn't take them seriously for a second. I get angry when people at my school use "Gay" or other homophobic insults because I find it offensive. Do I get made fun of? Sure. Do I let it bother me? No. The point is, you'll never see a Catholic being denied custody of their child or losing a job for their religion. That only happens to atheists.

So do whatever you want. Like me, hate me, ignore me; it makes no difference. I've gone through a lot in my life, and whatever you do won't affect me. I'm not going to make any more posts on this thread, because it's clear that no one understands me. I'll only be misunderstood even further. It's like that here, and it's like that in the rest of my life. Hate and apathy is all that ever comes towards me from people.

Well you might not come back but I'd feel bad to let it lie like this between us.



You also said earlier agreeing with Emiko:


As for the evolution thing I don't really want to get into it, I wasn't meaning to imply you'd said that about evolution that was just an example of something I'd heard often from atheists trying to 'get in my face'. Personally I like the thought of the Intelligent Design theory but I don't want to force it on other people by saying 'there is no other plausible theory' which is basically like saying other people are wrong. I'm not aware of all the theories out there I'm sure but I wouldn't want to risk offending other people that way.



Sure...but does that in any way lessen the good that religion does with charities and the like? Because Mankind should do it anyway?



Yes which is why we shouldn't bring up discussions about this, I wasn't meaning to be condescending or aggressive with this just indicating that we shouldn't bring up a debate to try and decide an absolute right or wrong.



I'm sorry but I have trouble believing you. Perhaps it's a cultural difference, America is more known for it's hardcore ignorant christians and hillbillies who would do offensive stuff like that but it's an extremely different atmosphere here in the UK. I've never heard of any case here of atheists being denied a job (unless the job is specifically religious) or of an atheist being denied custody BECAUSE they are atheist.
Here there is just a lot of jokes made about catholics and christianity to the point it makes me sad at times. Then I hear about bad things done by some parts of the Church and I feel sadder about that too because I know it's not representative of the religious population but people then make jokes about me because they know I'm religious and therefore vulnerable to the same jokes the church gets.

It almost feels like atheism or at least agnosticism is the norm here but I've never heard of any trouble for atheists here.



Again man I didn't mean to indicate any kind of hatred to you or be aggressive I just don't think it's wise to bring up potentially offensive discussions here on the forums. It's not 'because you're an atheist' I'd say the same thing to a Christian who came in here to try and bring the 'word of the lord' to other people. If people are going to decide anything we shouldn't force them to decide anything with debates and arguments and should just let them come to their own decision about anything.

Just trying to keep the forums a little chill.

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Oh thank God Pierre is here! x_x I know Gnobo thinks highly of me because I stopped the first religion debate but this time I felt like I was gonna topple over. v_v

Just to make things clear...I don't use my belief in God to spite other people or make me seem like I better person. I have my reasons for believing in God and my atheist/agnostic friends and family members have their reasons for not believing in God and I am perfectly ok with that.

Beliefs are personal...So please don't attack me because I wasn't asking for a duel.

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Great, I look like the bad guy now. I'm the cause of it all, aren't I? It's always like this for me, whether online or in real life. I get looked at like I'm the villain and it seems that everything is always my fault. I don't need this. I'm fed up with it all. From now on, there's no point in saying anything anymore. People will only get angrier at me just because I have strong opinions.

I said that I wouldn't post on this thread anymore, but this time I really mean it. What's the point anyways? Everyone already thinks I'm a horrible person who picks fights because I have nothing better to do.

Man you ain't the bad guy, just saying the forum probably doesn't want serious discussions thrown down.

It's cool you got your strong beliefs and stuff but this ain't the place for heavy debates so shouldn't call folks out for it. I'm sure you're a fine guy tophat ya might just be a bit irritable tonight but we should probably just chill down a bit.

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I don't think you're a bad guy TopHat! D:

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Just an old quote on these forums that could apply here.

And no TopHat, you are not a bad guy.

But on with the venting!
Names can be so misleading sometimes. Who knew a class titled Russian Dramatic Literature HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIAN DRAMATIC LITERATURE? It should have been titled Poorly Dubbed Russian Movies Filled With Idiotic Decisions And Unbelievably Unrealistic Premises That You Will Be Required To Know Every Detail Of. It doesn't help that the teacher speaks English as a second language.

What about vacuum cleaners? They're not vacuums, they're the exact opposite. Vacuums are empty space. A vacuum cleaner is just putting more matter into a bag. That's not empty! The room which it cleans isn't empty either! So why "vacuum"?

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ok, i guess it's safe to complain about trivial things again?

well the other day i was playing scrabble on my phone and i got a rack of AEIOUEO.



yeah it sucks, but not totally. i get to travel for free :) i just hope everything goes smoothly >_< otherwise, i would never hear the end of it!