Birch

Oooh, me too, me too!

Hello Froggie! Are those your cats in your pic? Very sweet!

Did you mean the symbolic juxtapositioning of the classical and crumbling statue of virtuous-looking horsemen, the rubbish (could be mistaken for a homeless person's 'home') and the 'businessman' on his cellphone? Or, "Day was drawing to a close as I walked the final block from the funeral home to the appartment, my formal clothes making me feel as if I'd never left the seminary. That afternoon's political demonstrations were barely over. The garbage from protesters still lined the street. The security barriers would not be taken down for the rest of that year - so given were our allies to protecting us all despite our wishes. My phone rang, it was my wife." ? - ah, creative writing class - I miss it! Thanks for the opportunity Mr B.

Wow! I was writing about this issue before I read it!

Hum, mine similar and yes - impacted (the 90 degree thing) I cried when I got them pulled out (not from the pain, there wasn't any - THX Novacaine TM?, but because they were being taken away ;-)) When it came to 'surgery' that meant local (not general) anasthesia, some cuts and a couple of stiches. The dentist offered me my teeth to keep in a plastic box, but I thought it was disgusting at the time. If I had to again, I would reconsider keeping them! Hurt like a MF for several days afterwards but 2 things helped: - Iburofen - Acupunture - Beer (moderation) Notes - I do not endorse drinking in combination with any pharmaceuticals - If you smoke, DON'T do it after this - it dries out the sockets (yes, that is nasty!) and lengthens healing time - suggest getting someone to take you home afterwards - suggest you discuss anasthesia options with your dentist - suggest you ask for a consult from a second dentist

I found out randomly that I liked to do alternate nostril breathing in my bathtub with a lot of steam;-) Just not too often and, especially, I'd stop if it gets to be too much. Currently, too much =after a few minutes and I realise that I'm only able to take in air via one nostril - when I was under the impression that all my deep breaths were equal between the two... But, you should also note (disclaimer;-)) that I'm neither a very disciplined nor very ordered person (see how I screwed up my knees in the private practice forum;-)) BUT I think I at least know: - when to stop - when to get help (AKA someone who knows = teacher) Would also add that it is entirely up to you to attribute power to anyone else. But that's just a thought;-) Rgds, Kate

Hello! I see my *sighs* have been repurposed ;-) You all know I'm a n00b on TBs, but I would like to point out that perhaps forum posting is just 'da worst' way to communicate with people when there is a conflict - real or imagined - otherwise called 'a differing of opinions/wills = not in itself a bad thing. A lot of the non-verbal, spontaneous communication is removed when you post (or email for that matter) and what you do write is so much more open to interpretation than if, for example, you were on the phone, or could actually fight/discuss in person. Plus on a forum we have the added pressure of an audience (who may or may not be yuckin' up a tiff ;-) *translation* = "may nor may not be enjoying a fight" When we write things (or post things, or email them) we ought to be ever aware of the low-fi nature of it. I also think that when we read things (or hear them for that matter), we have to know that for a large proportion, what we understand is what we want to understand. I'm not saying that if someone very clearly insults you then that shouldn't be treated accordingly, but I'd also like to suggest that the final message is up to the receiver and no-one else. If I'm wrong, advertising works (which a lot of my clients would still love to hear;-)) In other words, if someone says you're a jackass, in order to be insulted, you'd have to believe more than 0% of that statement. Finally, let's be clear that I'm not trying to calm the waters or anything else, I just thought it was a good place to post something about interpretation. Plus I'm bored all by myself in my lonesome forum;-)

wow...! I can't stand it anymore ;-) This is excellent! The intro music was just terrible though. And what happened with the soft lens? Last time I saw that it was on Dynasty (Linda Carter had more 'soft lens' scenes than the others, if I can remember correctly). The way the presenter says anything just sounds seriously silly. I also feel that she's really holding a big laugh back (the last Chocmool almost loses her composure midway as well). Also a great call: Star Wars style rolling text with a warm and somewhat rough voice-off (nice!) Who was watching this stuff in the 80's? Or was it the 90's? And the Chocmools are all wearing matching suits. But especially orange shirts. *Thanks Youtube* ---------- *sigh*

My 2 cts: I think that the idea that 'it's not about you' (i'd even remove the generic 'always' just because sometimes it is;-)) is an idea that brings about great shifts. In other words: - you are entirely focussed on the other person and what they are saying and feeling. - you truly listen to them, without thinking upon the moment about how that makes you feel (always doable after, anyway - actually often unavoidable ;-)) - your immediate and heartfelt goal is to understand them (rather than make your life easier, for example: because they will stop bitching about housework;-)) In my experience, it starts off being really hard work, but you might be surprised about how much benefit this brings you and (hopefully) other people. BUT Make sure that you are not neglecting yourself in practice. For that, alone and meditating seems a good way to gain strength to act. I reckon.

I don't think so. You just play off the server from what I've tried so far. If you really wanted you could record the stuff playing off your machine in mp3 - with quality loss (the sound quality is already limited) - and I can't remember offhand which soft would be best for that. I tried one a while back and just ended up with mono mixtape quality - not so hot ;-)) Also, if in US. pandora is nice (and hopefully still free)- not really the same engine nor interface, but cool all the same. They (whoever) have blocked it where I am. So if you would like to take it all places, I haven't seen a solution right now BUT I have seen some DJ's mixing with some virtual decks (the interface looks like 45 inch decks ;-)) - I'm sure that stuff is desktop/laptop software. Not sure about connectedness. No idea about cost. I know, not very helpful :!

For the food thing. I recently read (no affiliation - I think I have to keep saying that ;-)). A book called 'In defense of food' - or a text in which the author argues that we tend 1. Not to eat food (or rather the stuff we put on our plates today is mostly not in fact 'food'- or if it is food then it is much diminished food) and that this is not entirely our (personal) fault but something that happened along the way in the search to feed people. 2. That we ought not to eat too much of it - food or not (depends on what you think food is) and 3. We ought to be eating mostly plants. I'm not sure what this one is exactly, nor why, but I kind of agree in practical terms. Steak makes me ill and I get nightmares with deer in them if I eat them. Which is not fun because deer taste great! For some other why - no problem with sushi?? Another very interesting person I met (also similar mentioned in the book)- a specialist in ethnonutrition - in other words who said, some of our bodies are not made to deal with refined stuff -think lack of enzymes to break down certain products - thus, for example, obesity in some people who suddenly adopt a typical western diet. Not sure this helps though! K

Ok, is not TV but Music. Again, no affiliation, no promo, just like it. So please take off if not appropriate http://musicovery.com/ K

Hello! Thanks for this. I am a n00b but loved this thread and wanted to write/reply. I love what happens when people realise that other people want to be happy. As a result I am relieved that I do not have to explain myself to them anymore nor defend my position. Ok, sometimes I still have to ;-) but mostly it's just a word issue. Then what sometimes happens is that the person realising this will find compassion towards the other (sometimes not). Both ways have happened to me. Sometimes I forget which way they\I went ;-) I have met some wonderful friends who have helped me to realise that being happy involves giving things and time and effort to other people more than it involves receiving things and time and effort from people. Or maybe it is just a shortcut! I like the idea of trying things that go this way for a short time. If results are conclusive, then I keep the thing I tried, if not, then 'bin it' and go back to the old way. Started with trying 'not complaining' for a week. It's *expletetive* hard. Now, I don't think I could do otherwise. But I still do, but know when I complain, I have to ask, what is this for? K

Hi! I'm really pleased to see a forum like this. Not sure what my contribution will be but I'm interested in reading what other people say. I don't really know how to explain what brought me to it except a 'realization' over the past few days. I have had similar experiences in the past but not to this extent and not quite as persistent. The realization (or whatever you want to call it) has brought me by turns both incredible peace and calm and happiness and a sense that anything is possible and some other more 'mystical weirdness' that I feel especially stupid writing about on a public forum given my own set of very concrete non-mystical beliefs;-) I may write about that, but in the private forum... On a less light-hearted note, I also feel somewhat shaken up, not least because I like my ego and was starting to like it even more since I've been making progress to 'improve' it. I've been reading about it's 'death' on here and I'd rather hang on to it. There's also some anxiety there related to some kind dissonance of what all this is (or isn't) and I don't like that at all. Any advice on reducing anxiety in this context would be really appreciated. I didn't intentionally go looking for any of these experiences, I was more interested in improving some personal skills and attitudes (ok 'fears' mostly - fear of public speaking, fear of failure, fear of commitment, fear of telling the man I think I love how I feel, fear of falling off my horse (again, ok, so now that's twice and there's really no point in being scared any more, it can only happen again ;-)) I'm pretty pragmatic and I thought that cognitive psychology would help with a lot of the stuff I was trying to fix. And it has/does but I wasn't prepared for this other stuff that comes with it. I'd actually be really happy if someone just told me that this is nothing at all. I'm expecting a Tao/zen joke with 'nothing' in there somewhere;-) Looking forward to reading you. Kate

Hi Darren, thanks for the warm welcome!

MDR (mort de rire) ;-) !

Oh cool. Mork and Mindy was great! But these days I dislike Robin Williams. Not sure why. He's a funny guy. I use this site a lot (it's not illegal to my knowledge, just an agregator, much like a portal, and I'm not affiliated with it in any way - so please do take it off if it doesn't fit) It's one of my favourites - no torrents to manage/no waiting if you have broadband)- I don't have a TV. http://www.surfthechannel.com/ K

Hi Yoda, Thanks for that. Will ping Sean. I'm glad there's a private area because I'm capable of writing so much (crap/weirdness) on a variety of topics that I'd prefer it not be public! Like: 'there are only ever 4 reasons for why my cat is pissed at me: food, water, litter-tray or love - I would say the same for myself' or a really pretentious: 'how many of us cannot see the horizon because we are too busy looking down at the dirt on our shoes?' It never felt like that last one came from me anyway ;-) See what I mean ;-) ? Kate

- OT, ANOTH-T. Last/latest and greatest n00b question Q: For the private practice forum, what is the best way to approach posting? Thanks! Kate

Thanks! I have so many dumb questions to ask, it's insane! The 1st idumb question is sparked by @Ian's comment about my 'non-seeker' approach (ok, not a word, but you get the idea). - Why would anyone actually want to seek this stuff out? - (variation) Why are people seeking?

Thank you Ian and Yoda! @Ian, I appreciate you saying I sounded sensible. I'm not sure of that. I sometimes think I'm 'off it' when I get into talking about this stuff. Must be the upbringing ;-) Many thanks also for suggestions on reducing anxiety. I've often found myself too inside my mind and not enough inside my body (maybe OT there, but maybe you get the gist as well). @Yoda, love the name and thanks for the warm welcome! It is possible that I will be both an unruly and incompetent contributor ;-) I may also ask you really stupid questions. Thanks!