Keep It To Yourself
Or at least to those who'd appreciate it.
When you meet a master swordsman,
show him your sword.
When you meet a man who is not a poet,
do not show him your poem.
(Lin-chi)
I love this. I try to follow this rule. I wish others would try to follow it with me.
I don't bore people to tears with the minutia of my work in any of the areas I happen to work in. I also don't jump into conversations about things as if I were an expert when I'm just a hobbyist. Maybe part of that quote should read "Do not show your poem to other poets if you aren't one yourself!" I don't go on other people's blogs and post long rambling rants of how what they just shared relates to me in this long and windy worded way. I don't call other people just to tell them all about my life while never bothering to ask them how their's is going. Even in my field, I don't babble about what we're doing as a program or in my classroom beyond the occasional "Here's a great idea you might try." I sure as hell don't talk people's ears off about the incredible intricacies of some project or other when I know they neither care nor have the slightest idea what I'm talking about.
Please, please, in the name of the Tao, give me that same consideration.
And please don't ask me if it's "you" I'm talking about. That really bugs me. :D
-- Virgil
J - Junk foods you like: salt & vinegar chips, pretzels
K - Karaoke?? NEVER!!
L - Longest car ride ever: The 2 a.m. drive permanently away from the only abusive boyfriend I ever had. Shame he wasn't caught under the tires in the process.
posted by contemplator at Monday, November 27, 2006
9 Comments:
Oh fuck, you don't like karaoke?
*Howls at the moon*
But here's my question. What if you run into a non-master swordsman or a master poet?
If it's a master poet, "run like hell"'s wot I say.
Seriously guys, if you need to go to that much effort to get laid they're not worth it.
"Seriously guys, if you need to go to that much effort to get laid they're not worth it."
What are you talking about?
I think the deer might be referring to the use of purple prose.
And I don't like karaoke. It assaults my brain pan. I'm sorry if it's one of your favorite things, dear, but you can howl all you want to. I'll throw the peanuts.
Ok. I understand that there are some really shitty karaoke singers. In fact, most karaoke singers are quite shitty. BUT . . . there are some true masters out there, they are few and far in between, but they exist.
I remember one time, I went to this bar in Southport, called the Southport Brewery Company, which had a karaoke night. A million shitty singers, but then ... this fat, balding man came to the mic, and did a PERFECT rendition of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing". I could swear to all the pagan Gods that if you closed your eyes, you would think it was Steve Perry himself. He did such a good job, the DJ invited him back to sing another Journey song!
I can be pretty decent myself, but I tend to go for more metal or classic rock songs. However, I have nothing on that guy. Whenever I don't do so good, I manage to get people to laugh.
Sweetie, they're laughing at you, not with you. :)
That may be true, but I feel that anyone who can't laugh at themselves, or can't stand the idea of someone else laughing at them is an uptight prick.
I am going to be totally honest with you, I actually see karaoke as band practice. My friend, my brother and myself want to start a band. I see karaoke as a way to practice singing, as well as toughen myself to deal with an audience.
You realize that by being totally honest with me, you're being totally honest with everyone on the web who comes here, right? :)
I guess karaoke would suffice if you can't yet get a gig...
As far as everyone can tell, anyone who sees this page only knows that there's this wacky guy called 'Mad Dog' who's making off the wall comments, and even pretends his homepage is some random bizzaro website. They don't know my actual name, and don't know who I actually am.
Besides, society could afford to be so much more honest. I wish more people spoke their minds, so that everyone could know what theyr'e really about. I am against political correctness, speech codes, hate-speech legislation, and other forms of censorship.
I recently saw the 'Borat' movie, and highly recommend it. It exposed the thoughts of many Americans, proving that 20-30 years of political correctness had not changed sentiment in the people one iota. I feel that letting people speak their minds not only lets you understand what they truly think, but also lets that person blow off steam, instead of letting it bottle up inside, leading to further bigotry, as well as frustration.
If I was president, not only would I abolish any speech codes plus censorship, which violate the first amendment by the way, I would also declare a national holiday, and call it "Truth Serum Day". The holiday would be celebrated by injecting oneself with truth serum, so that you would be unable to lie. It, of course, would be voluntary. I am on the fence as to whether the state should pay for it, because I am kinda against more government spending.
I would also recommend the holiday be celebrated with laughing gas, so people would be funny, as well as honest.
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