2018: For Whom The Bell Tolls
14So, for two years I have lamented about 2016 and 2017 sucking. And they did. Not only for me, but for many here.
There will still be struggles, but those years are over. There is a break in the clouds, a parting of the sea, and I can feel it. 2018 is the year we turn this all around. We will strive to make things better. We will strive to be better. This is the year we do great things.
This thread is a place to document the positive, to reinforce how we are making a difference in our own lives, and the lives of those around us. So tell me some good things.
(if you have shitty things to say, make your own “2018 Sucks” thread)
We’re Back! 2018 is gonna ROCK!
p.s. I am still an asshole.
- 25 comments, 65 replies
- Comment
You couldn’t be any more wronger. 2018 is going to suck too. “Asshole” – at least you got that part right.
@Barney It’s going to get better, it is!
@Barney
Perhaps some
/image “purple happiness”
2018 already sucks.
@ELUNO It’s going to get better, it is!
2018 is getting betta, except for the commute.
@cranky1950 hmmm…commutes are beyond my power to fix. But glad 2018 is on an upswing for you!
2018 is already on the uphill swing! I have one more interaction with the boss from hell (my review, which I suspect is horrible!) and I am freeeeee! He no longer manages people and I have a new job which is enhancing my resume for future opportunities!!!
@mikibell Congrats! I hope you feel a new sense of freedom at work.
@mikibell Excellent news! May the future bring him what he deserves.
2018 is Wonderful! We celebrate @mfladd’s Happiness!!!
Hello, @mfladd! You are happy, right? Your are VERY VERY HAPPY!!!
Right?
Because, if you’re not VERY VERY HAPPY, obviously actions must be taken and All @MFLADD Persons Must Be Made To Be VERY VERY HAPPY.
(whether they are in the mood to be happy or not. This is not a multiple-choice quiz here).
So, @MFLADD, thank you for reminding me to monitor your HAPPINESS and make sure you are up to spec and following the protocol at all times!
Hey @MFLADD-THE-HAPPY
For You!
@f00l Don’t think I forgot all your prodding
Thanks for that.
I’m not sure what the hell is going on here, but since you’re trying to be a positive little bugger, I’ll play along. Here’s to hoping for a better year!
@pitamuffin Haha…We will make it one!
John Donne
Meditation 17
Devotions upon Emergent Occasions
Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls
Last week Spring sprang. Pine pollen gilds the world. At 0200 last night an owl was hunting in my back lot, or possibly right outside my bedroom window. Hoo hoo hoo-hoo. Rustling, then silence. Goodnight, owl. Visiting goldfinches, bluebirds, and some fancy sparrows. A pair of woodpeckers is dining well on my woods insects.
@OldCatLady Nice! Glad you finding joy in the subtle signs of Spring around you.
@mfladd Subtle, hell. The damned owl woke me up; a/c isn’t running yet, so he sounded about three feet away. Woody and his wife hit every tree, stump and log, loudly. Pollen covers car windows, even if you keep yours in the garage. Finches are vicious little savages, and they drive each other away from birdseed. Doves are worse yet, and the Muscovy ducks someone released not only drive everything away, they shit all over my patio. Armadillos tunnel into my lawn and leave piles of dirt. Turtles fight each other on the bank of the pond. Shortly it’ll be alligator mating and migrating season, and this pond is between a lake and a small river, so they go through. Nature, red in tooth and claw is fascinating as long as I have the door closed.
@OldCatLady I your attitude.
@mfladd @OldCatLady
You are such a nature-lover, I can tell.
Like this, huh?
69F right now.
Spring is at least half-sprung here also.
Seeing many V-formations of birds heading north.
(Tho I don’t think winter is in complete retreat yet.)
@OldCatLady Oh Lord. Be appreciative you have nature around you. Imagine living where all you see or hear are your neighbors in a concrete jungle.
@mfladd I am. I chose this house and acreage (on a cul-de-sac and retention pond) and love it. The wildlife and vegetation are always a delight. I’ve spent too many years living in apartments, townhouses, and zero-clearance places to ever go back.
@mfladd Happy, upbeat? Hmm, this just isn’t like you. Are you twitterpated?
@Barney It’s more of a creation of happiness, a bliss, rather than being twitterpated (which I had to look up). We allow the external factors of our perception to get in the way of the natural state of happiness we all have within ourselves. We may not have much control of the outside, but we do control the inside if we are willing to search for it.
@mfladd WHAT!?!? You never saw Bambi?
@Barney LOL…not in many, many, many, many moons.
@Barney @mfladd
“Learned optimism”
(note that there are caveats and practical/theoretical reservations associated with this otherwise useful-in-context theory)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_optimism
(dinner know why one if the images is all dark and stuff)
@Barney @mfladd We need to have a Bambi-watching session. It’s public domain, to my astonishment. I’d forgotten that owls snore. Ah, this is in French.
https://archive.org/details/bambi_201612
Here’s the trailer in English, with ‘twitterpated’ described. https://archive.org/details/BambiTrailer
@Barney @mfladd
PS.
Anyone practicing “learned optimism” gets “days off-duty”. According to me.
@f00l
@Barney @mfladd f00l The book ‘Bambi’ can be checked out on the Internet Archive, free, for 14 days. https://archive.org/details/bambiwalt00walt
What do you mean, you’ve never tried it?
@mfladd I knew a guy that was nicknamed Thumper. He thought women called him that because he was cute. Instead he was given that name because of his awkward way of fucking like a bunny. It was not a compliment.
@f00l There is no way that you are going to coax me out of my blue funk.
@RiotDemon Poor Thumper.
@Barney
Ok! Celebrate misery then! Party-time!
/giphy party
@f00l Damn, you are so… so… incorrigible!
@Barney
I can’t even see the damned giphy. It won’t come in at the moment. (cell). I hope is not completely offensive or something.
In the meantime
/image purple blue funk
@mfladd I witnessed it once because he decided to leave his blinds open… I had to dive in the bushes to hide because he heard me laughing really hard.
@mfladd @RiotDemon
Sounds kinda amazing.
@Barney
Here we go
/youtube Rhianna Umbrella live
@f00l @mfladd I had a hard time talking to him after the fact. It was just so ridiculous.
@Barney
Re “learned optimism”
Remember.
Days-off are both totally cool and necessary.
A “sardonic learned optimism” or a “cynical learned optimism” or a “bitchy learned optimism” are all among the many acceptable variations.
(Except on the case of @mfladd, who must be monitored, and must be visibly TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY HAPPY AND CHEERFUL, and must perform the FULL POLLYANNA at all times)
@f00l I’m taking notes.
@f00l @RiotDemon If you think you were disturbed by this, imagine the poor woman on the receiving end.
Let’s hope Thumper can improve his skillz in 2018.
@RiotDemon keep us updated from the bushes this year.
@mfladd
@mfladd @RiotDemon
@mfladd, you should probably think of a cool “full-on Pollyanna” type remark or description about this Thumper-type guy that @RiotDemon knows.
Look for the positive …
@Barney Your “blue funk” is called healing - and that will take time. But I bestow upon you a peaceful time in doing so.
@Barney @mfladd
@mfladd, you seem to be going for an “Om-Pollyanna” attitude.
Ok. Cool!
Nirv-Forward! Nirv-Onwards!
@mfladd I know… and thanks.
… I can’t speak for the rest of 2018, but the last few years & this one so far have been fairly good for our family.
I know of others that have had issues & we do what we can for them, including prayers.
@daveinwarsh Then I hope that this streak continues for you and your family.
This is the year of the dog. Dog default is ‘happy, happy, happy - squirrel!’
@OldCatLady
I was playing a game and got unlimited lives for 24 hours. Two hours later there was a 24 hour tournament that started. So I feel like I cheated, and won around $12 worth of coins. I’m also tired of the game, so, yay?
I finally got off my butt late 2017 and started volunteering at the food bank weekly. Every day, people are doing new good things for each other.
Yeah you for starting this thread @mfladd. We’ll get those others (@barney @eluno) to see it our way. Being a-holes does not negate goodness we have/provide to the world, continuous improvement is fun if difficult.
@mollama That’s awesome you are doing that! I hope you have a fantastic 2018!
@mollama Try and make me see it your way.
@Barney
/image “purple grumpy”
@f00l
@Barney
@Barney I am digging the new semi-eViL Barney…I think it’s hot!
@mfladd
@Barney
Some “Fuck You And Fuck Everything And Everything Sucks And I Hate Everything” Days are allowable.
(these days are allowable for those people I like a lot. Everyone else is forbidden to have them.)
(According to me.)
/image purple darkness
cc: @f00l
@mfladd
@f00l
@mfladd
/giphy "positivity asshole"
Just got home from Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra’s Concert for a Cause. Really enjoyed it.
/youtube Tibetan Bells
@f00l Nice Tibetan tintinnabulation!
Me too, asshole!
@Pavlov @mfladd
Me, I’m just a FuckHead.
Ask anyone who knows me if you need confirmation.
@mfladd you wanted us to tell you some good things.
So:
I’m a FuckHead.
There ya go.
@f00l I don’t see anyone disagreeing with you.
@Barney
They are suppose to agree, congratulate, and celebrate!
/giphy "party up! party high!"
@f00l
i went to workout after 3 weeks of not going and i died much less than i expected. so, yay?
i also made it in and out of Ikea in less than 30 minutes. which is a fucking miracle in my book.
@carl669 That’s because you were staying in shape in with supplememnted workouts
If I had an Ikea close to me I would understand that accomplishment
I have allergies.
“Fuck You” to mountain-juniper pollen season.
Otoh I have Zyrtec. And we’re not in a drought. And it’s 73F.
Happy then. As these things go.
2018 seems to have everyone shaking off the sad resignation of the past few years. People are finally getting sick of accepting shit as the norm.
Good things for 2018 - possible societal shift as people claw up from the muck.
Personal good so far - we figured out what was making the kid sick. She’s off gluten and not waking up screaming in the middle of the night anymore. So this year’s already kicking 2017’s ass.
@Thumperchick Congrats that little Thump is feeling better! 2018 is a year the balance shifts!
I bought my very first smartphone and it only cost me $40. I have yet to hook it up and switch over to a monthly plan from my pay as you go account, but at least I don’t have to worry about losing coverage if another hurricane hits and the power goes out when I do.
And what? All those songs and no one posts Metallica?!
@JT954 2018 and moving into smart phone world. Things are looking up for you!
/youtube Metallica for whom the bell tolls
There you go @JT954
Every time I used to go play billiards when I was a teen, I’d request this song on the jukebox.
My “learned optimism” is grumpy this morning.
@mfladd
This book came out in 2017, but I just found it now.
Harley Quinn: A Celebration of 25 Years.
What a great book for an awesome 2018. Wouldn’t you agree?
@PlacidPenguin Absolutely!!!
@mfladd
I presume you don’t own it, because otherwise you’d have bragged about it.
@PlacidPenguin haha…no, I don’t. @KittySprinkles would just try to steal it anyway