Astrocat

“Opportunities multiply as they are seized.â€

“I don't know if there are men on the moon, but if there are they must be using the earth as their lunatic asylumâ€

“A man is called a good fellow for doing things which, if done by a woman, would land her in a lunatic asylumâ€

"C'mon, fight that plaque, fight that plaque ! Scary monsters don't have plaque !" -Monsters, Inc-

"When one lives among madmen, one should train as a maniac." - Alexandre Dumas -

"How glorious it is -- and also how painful -- to be an exception." -Alfred De Musset-

"You are free to enjoy your life the way YOU want to. Stand up straight & proud and walk confidently down the road of life. Be proud of who you are. You are a who and not a what. Always remember you are not alone. That is important no matter a person's orientation. It's important for all human beings." -SuzH-

I've recently read this book, and think it's very good. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in the way in which people use the modern concepts of sanity & inanity , for example to evoke a certain social reaction, or portray certain priorities as the correct ones to have. The author agrees with many of my concepts and philosophies about sanity and human psychology, so I also found reading this book to be surprisingly empowering , in addition to being uplifting. As an honest look at the paradox between superficial sanity and profound sanity, and the tenuous grasp people tend to have on only one or the other, if either at all, I think that many people would find it to be very insightful. http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Books/Pix/covers/2005/02/17/zgoingsane.jpg http://www.amazon.co.uk/Going-Sane-Adam-Phillips/dp/0241142091 There's a nice synopsis in one of the Amazon reviews by someone called ' Fitzcarraldo "eco worrier" ' - In Going Sane, Adam Phillips skilfully marshals a wide cast from literature and the literature of psychology in order to examine the many headed and currently vague notion of sanity. How is the term used? Why is the term used? Does sanity encompass madness or exclude it? Opening with a sceptical voice, he considers ideas such as the misuse of the word by The Party in Orwell's 1984 and Laing's consideration of madness as a rational response to circumstances. Further on, we're challenged to regard the difficulties of an idea of sane sex and the programmed madness of adolescence. As the book progresses, Phillips asserts his own voice more strongly, finishing with his idea of a sane life; perhaps how a life might be sane, but at least in how the thing might be recognised. Even while arguing forcefully and eloquently, Phillips still manages to avoid being over prescriptive; his voice is too secular for that. In any case, he insists (in the introduction) that his ideas are there as a challenge. If you're up for such a challenge and especially if you're interested in where psychology meets philosophy, then this book is for you. I think anyone who has ever been labelled insane, or treated as such by others, or who doubts their sanity because of feeling traumatised, isolated, unsupported, terrorised etc.... and thus being unable to maintain a false and acceptable social facade of the sort many others constantly expect socially, would find this to be a very meaningful book which could give them valuable support through showing them a more expansive and meaningful approach to sanity (or the lack of it) than they are likely to be accustomed to encountering in daily life.

I voted for the snow leopard, because I would have preferred that as a kid I think. I may be biased though, having got myself an incredibly cute cuddly beany-insides tiger, and a more chunky cuddly second-hand leopard (or something, I'm not entirely sure what this thing is meant to be) when i was younger..... but never having even thought about getting a cuddly polar bear. I also have a big poster of a snow tiger on my wall, having not even thought about getting a big picture of a polar bear to put there.... so again, much bias goin' on here, maybe.

(^-^) Sakuranbo Kiss , by Kotoko - Eccentrics have a tendency to make me feel happy.

I'm more into console RPGs than online ones, and had to use an awful dial-up connection until a couple of months ago so never did hit that MMORPG wave, but I totally know what you mean..... In the days of the Atari 2600 and the exciting 'Adventure' (which I remember being great fun to play as a child, and thus have no intention of ever looking at again for my entire life because in reality it's probably a load of steaming cack) , when hardly anybody had a PC fit to play text adventures never mind anything else, those books were great entertainment ! It was excellent that they were so common in charity shops, as well, since in those days there was just barely any competition between the books (at about 20-30p each) and Atari 2600 games (at about £20-30 each) .... By the time of the Megadrive and £40 games , I was even having to contribute a tenner towards the game i got for Christmas, since they were so expensive... so once again, the gamebooks managed to win through for price and value for money ! Later on, as a teenager I managed to pick up a cheap second-hand SNES and a copy of Zelda, and also Secret of Mana & a convertor.... but without any way to cheat when i got stuck (no mainstream internet in those days, and gaming mags not interested in RPGs at all), the gamebooks still managed not to be shoved to the side altogether, in favour of these fresh young flashy upstarts. The Lone Wolf ones also got major bonus points for having a no-dice system, thus being properly portable. that was pretty cool for portable pocket-money-affordable fun, especially before the modern days of Ebay and it's £3 colour gameboys, and whatnot. I haven't played a gamebook for so many years now haha, I'm sure it would be like playing my favourite childhood computer games if i were enough of a killjoy to try it now (which I'm definitely not !) , especially after playing so many fancy computer games and stuff since then - but I really got a lot out of that series of books, in their day

aw, i was a hardcore nerd-child, man. I remember that incredible 4-volume Fighting Fantasy adventure, with all of the magic spells at the back of each book..... it started off with you adventuring across a plains I think, and in the second book 7 serpents had to be hunted down and outwitted (the serpent of time proving to be especially difficult to defeat, I remember) ... and then was some kind of devious city of freaks and interesting weirdoes.... and I'm not sure what then, but i do remember the magic being very well-implemented in those 4 books.... with each book having its' own unique 'flavour', but all written to be fitted together into one long saga-adventure..... mmmm-mmmm

A calorie is the amount of heat which is required to heat one cubic centimetre of water (a gram of water by weight) and raise the temperature by 1 degree Celsius/Centigrade (at a pressure of 1 atm). A thousand of those are commonly referred to as one 'Calorie / kCal' nutritionally. So, raising a full litre of water by 1'C would require a stompin' 1,000 calories ! But... only one Calorie.... which is 4.184 kJoules So for example, a little bag of crisps might contain 415 kJoules, 98 kcalories , 98 Calories, and 98,000 calories. (^-^) I tend to just go with Calories. Also, those are some nice 200-Calorie pictures !

(^-^) raaaahhhhh hell yeah, this is such a varied game. It's great. Wizards of the Coast have their fancy new MTG Online Mk.3 on the go now, so I've downloaded it and am installing it just now. I'm still very new to the game, but can play it well enough to hang out in the n00b room anyhow, at least so it's all good. Ah, I played so many of those books when I was a kid, I had a huge collection but my mum sold them all to the second-hand shop because she thought they were satanic (having managed to ignorantly confuse them with tabletop games where you play as big brutish monsters sometimes, you see.... ) ... pfffh not to be deterred i bought as many as possible back again. And loads of Lone Wolf books as well, for good measure - ha !

Some girlies t’ink it’s fine to guzzle down on sausage But I don’t want no hog when I unwrap ma’ meat package Maybe they not fussy if their cutie’s a cadaver But as for me, the dead aint gonna get me in a lather A guy dat’ stiff way different from someone dat’ just a stiff Some girlies hot for both, but with me it’s like “as IFâ€

I think that success can be looked at from many different perspectives, and that ongoing or additional studying can lead to so much more potential success than simply choosing to go down the route of standard school -> straight to college -> 4 years on finish a degree -> stay with one job resolutely for life. Many people self-limit themselves by deciding not to put their energy into any more studying after having achieved a qualification (for example, a degree or diploma etc), but to me it seems like many people are mindfully setting themselves up for a huge lack of job options later in life when they choose to pick just one career and not branch out further. I also think that a lot of people like the thought of putting a degree etc to good use, becoming a star in their chosen subject etc..... but don;t want to do it enough to actually approach the idea in a construvctive manner, ie making up a business plan (or at least a decent set of business outcomes and strategies)... or anything involving learning about the mechanisms of running their own business in an ongoingly profitable level... perhaps they feel that clients will fall into their lap indefinitely, or just haven't even thought that far about why they may not be successful. But as it stands, I would say that at least a diploma-level module in business and marketting (or similar) would be a good move for anyone who is intending to be self-employed, especially for those without a handy safety net (ie benefits to fall back on, or wealthy and supportive parents) To go back full-circle, success comes in many forms..... I talked to a guy called Sayed, who is studying for his 5th degree right now at the local college. They're all intelligent and highly skilled qualifications - ranging from psychology to sustainable environmental development. Sayed is 29, and works full-time as a shop assistant at the local Somerfield, which is how i got talking to him in the first place. He says that he enjoys his life as it's so simple that he feels he really has nothing much to complain about..... we were speaking about things and stuff, and his attitude is that his working life isn't physically debilitating or anything and he gets to speak to people as he does it, then he goes and studies from 5-10 pm and eats, sleeps, repeat..... then on weekends he also volunteers for a local charity group. He's the sort of person who has made a lot of effort to open up so many options for himself..... the last time i looked, he was planning to tour america giving talks about sustainable microeconomies for underpriveliged communities, and he's just won the British Student of the Year award for this year. As for me well, for the last few months I've been studying for 5 diplomas and am making great progress. I'm on the final exam for 3 of them (Philosophy, NLP and Nutrition) , and am getting on well with 2 more (Herbalism with a Business & Marketting diploma coming up behind) I have also recently taken up being a fantasy artist, and am surprised at how well I'm getting on. I've had chronic ME for over a decade so I can;t study properly at the college but i'm in the process of signing up for modules of the advanced ECDL , and also courses in using Publisher & Photoshop. To open the options even more, I'm also a polyglot in training. I reckon that if i ever do shake off the bad fortune and get better, I will not have boxed myself in through lack of foresight or simple lack of interest in expanding the options. ... and if i don't, then with things like a diploma in NLP, herbalism and nutrition.... well those could perhaps even be done over the phone or via the internet, you know ? So my physical limitations might not be such a big thing then. SO.... will i be able to succeed without a degree though ? hmmmm.... I really don;t know. I found a degree in illustration which can be done from home with just attended exams at the end, though.... So, it would come in lots of individual modules which contribute points towards an eventual degree..... But my problem there, is that before gettng started on a generalised arts course like that, I'd be curious to know whether there's a similar thing but more tailored for fantasy artists ? I'm really not too hot on drawing a hundred pictures of a daffodil in a jar, or learning about pointillism.... but things which help me produce the intended result (ie my own fantasy art - shaded and coloured, and fully rotatable to my whimsical preference) , I can really go for. In the meantime, I bought half a ton of really good, varied, inspiring art-books , and books for studying fantasy art, ranging from newbie level up to advanced digital art in gorgeous painting styles.

I got a slick flow, wit’ ma slick beat, hustlin’ in ma’ vegan way just’ keepin’ it real sweet. A little maple syrup wit’ a little splash of water… keepin’ out the body waste just doin’ what I gotta. See, lady is a vegan and there aint no hesitation, when it comes to keepin’ diet free of others’ menstruation. Aint getting so hot at the thought’a cow busoms – getting’ them secretions make a lotta pollution. Just choppin’me a carrot wit’ dem little shrieking voice, choppin’ up the baby veg and baskin’ in the noise. So get with the flow (slick) get with the sweet (neat) get with the bootylicious ass wit’ no meat. Getting’ lotta fun out of me butcher knife, just goin’ in the kitchen to scare dem plants in prime of life. Funking up the herb garden and boogying the chives…. fillin’ up on veggies fills me booty-ass with jives. So get down poppin’ that ass like you wouldn’t believe, wit’ no ass on my plate - stick it there and I leave... don't need no corpse in me.. yo.

I haven't kept up to date with this, but it's such an interesting topic. Was Manhunt 2 given a UK release in the end ?

nice arms. Keep at it, and you might soon have the rest to match !

(^-^) Have you tried DDR / Stepmania ? It’s bouncy, fun, and just the thing for toning up your lower body and refining your torso. It’s pretty cool too, as it hones up your co-ordination and sense of rhythm (always good down the disco for picking up the girls *bonus !*) and can be a great emotional pick-me up to shake off those feelings of depression. I totally recommend it !

What a fascinating topic. How's the running getting along ? The lovely weather nowadays really makes me feel like going out for a stroll ! (^-^)

Of course, there are truly microbreweries. If a microbrewery can produce 20,000 kegs of booze every year then there must be plenty of microbreweries around. If people want to buy booze from home-brewers then it would support capitalism less than buying booze from industrial brewers, but more so than not buying booze at all. For example, if i buy a homemade cake from Fred for £10, which Fred paid £6 to make , and spent an hour making.... then if Fred then spends the extra £4 on a few litres of petrol so he can go cruising for chicks in his SUV..... Then does that support capitalism less than if i had chosen to go without cake on that evening , or does it support capitalism more than buying nothing at all ? You appear to be stating that all large microbreweries are less capitalistic than all small farm-owners.... assumedly then, you reckon that this would also include small-farm local organic produce-farmers, and suchlike... yes ? And this is breweries we're talking about...... who keep all of their profits (however large that might be) , and who no doubt benefit enormously from the subsidisation of grains, etc. Do you prefer the method of agriculture employed in many countries, where no subsidy is given to produce growers, they work all day to barely make a poverty-wage, and many of them go bust left, right and centre ? All of them ? Do you have evidence of that ? Would you consider subsidies given by governments in favour of fair-trade (intended to assist poverty-wracked growers to earn a living wage and stay in business) to be a blatant show of capitalism, even more so than the business ethic of large breweries ? If so, then we clearly have a different view of what is defined by 'capitalism'

Countless vegans would disagree with you...... Buying products is the most effective way to support capitalism, and conversely boycotting products is an effective way to try not to support it. It's an inaccurate comparison, since obviously you are required to buy groceries. Unlike tobacco or booze, which of course are totally non-compulsory. Even if groceries were entirely optional, if food was all toxic and damaged the health when people ate it, and thusly if humans just ate food for pleasure, and only rarely for health reasons....... that wouldn;t give weight to what you're saying, it only detracts from it. By definition, a microbrewery was originally considered to be a brewery with a capacity of less than 3000 barrels (2500 hectoliters), but by the end of the 1980s this threshold increased to 15,000 barrels (12,500 hectoliters) as the demand for microbrewed beer doubled and then tripled. (source : http://www.vendomecopper.com/obgloss.htm&usg=AFQjCNHEYSCiF1W2SjWHrKD0wbT6PdUjlQ) there was a time when microbreweries could conveniently be described as breweries producing no more than 15,000 barrels of beer per year. Some breweries that fit this specification a few years ago now produce well in excess of 20,000 barrels a year. Does this mean that they can no longer qualify as microbreweries? We prefer to think that this makes them successful microbreweries. In common-sense terms, a microbrewery is a small craft brewery which seeks the support of informed beer consumers. (source : http://www.vendomecopper.com/obgloss.htm&usg=AFQjCNHEYSCiF1W2SjWHrKD0wbT6PdUjlQ) I wouldn't consider those sorts of numbers to be 'small' from any angle. I see no reason to think that supporting microbreweries is necessarily connected to choosing not to support capitalism - especially compared to choosing to buy nothing, or make something at home, instead. Microbreweries typically distribute through a wholesaler in a tradional three-tier system, act as their own distributor and sell to retailers and/or directly to the consumer through a tap room, attached restaurant, or off-premise sales. (source : http://www.dictionaryofeverything.com/explore/984/Brewery.html&usg=AFQjCNH1XOADb6FtENHx-KmuzY4rqyP2zQ) Here is a random reference about the 'traditional 3 tier system' .... http://retailindustry.about.com/library/uc/uc_chung2.htm Also worth noting, is that McDonald's started off as a little family-run establishment... and now look at it. Any vegans who went there in the early days to get salad or chips or whatever, would have directly assisted capitalism's ongoing charge by helping them to take root. They are as good an example as any, of why i do not think that supporting a small company is directly comparable to working against capitalism. If people want to smoke fags and drink booze without supporting capitalism, the solution is to grow tobacco and brew booze at home, instead of continuing to be a consumerist, just one who chooses to sometimes buy things from small-large companies instead of always from huge ones. Where is "Arlington Heights/Decatur, IL" ? Are there no organic local delivery-box schemes where you live ? Is your point that rather than prioritising lack of support for capitalism, you are prioritising ongoing good health , and that thus instead of buying non-organic food from farmers' markets etc, you feel moved to buy organic veg from a capitalist store (i assume that your cringeing is due to the store being unethical or capitalist or something, as I've never heard of it) I think that's understandable and not unreasonable, but all the same that is the choice being made..... and choosing to value eating non-toxic food over choosing not to eat capitalist-produced produce does not make the latter any less supportive of capitalism.

Human rights and veganism overlap because both are compulsarily to do with rights, morality and ethics. But from what i can tell, SxE isn't a lifestyle which is necessarily about any of those things, it's more about control over one's person and body. Some sXe people assert that it's about purity or being 'clean' , but most of those who I've encountered professing themselves to be straight-edgers eat flesh or body fluids... which are filthy and impure..... and this seems to be ok from what i can tell, according to how 'straight-edge' originated. Some sXe people say it is about not taking drugs of any kind, but many take legal drugs such as pharmaceuticals, and as already mentioned by various people here, many take drugs conveyed via flesh and body fluids. ie, why is it considered by sXe people to be not okay for sXe-ers to take morphine, but that it is okay for them to consume as much casomorphine as they want in the form of animals' body fluids ? I think the main trouble with it all, is that there;s no clear definition of what is involved, so many people 'craft' the lifestyle to fit in with what they feel like doing personally..... so vegan sXe-ers will often reckon that sXe involves no flesh eating (and sometimes no body fluid eating) , sXe people who don;t do legal drugs will often reckon that sXE excludes the use of all drugs, legal or not..... sXe-ers who like to hype themselves up on sugar all the time will reckon that passes as straight-edge, and so forth. I reckon that it trivialises the worth of identifying as straight-edge, for those who do refrain from large amounts of toxic things, and find it very pretentious when people who eat flesh and body fluids try to act morally superior due to being straight-edge.

It depends on how good they are at their chosen pursuit, and what sort of philosophy they engage themselves in. No doubt, but has anyone vegan been known to say this to anyone ? Well, I would say that if someone is going to kill somebody then it is best for them not to keep that person in their basement in squallor and torture them for a long time beforehand.... while I am loathe to refer to any despicable act as being 'better' than any other atrocious endeavour... I would say that it is worse for someone to torture, abuse and neglect someone before killing them.... if killing them is going to be the end result.