The Vent Thread

[meleechampion]

I don't understand why some people are so crazy about taking pictures. I have a few old photos, and they just make me sad. I get taking pictures for artistic purposes, but I don't like them as a historical record. I suppose they help recall more vividly the memories of the past, but that's not something that generally makes me happy. Maybe I'm not old enough yet.

I've always felt they prevent you from really getting into the moment too. You have to detach yourself to find the state of mind to frame the shot and execute it. To me, that means you're not enjoying it as it's happening.

This x1000000.

I remember going to see the last space shuttle launch. My brother works for the navy and he won some office lottery and we scored some pretty sweet passes to get pretty close. My dad went with us and brought his HD video camera and tripod, which "I guess it'd be cool to have it on video" whatever you want to do, dad. It'd been a pretty long day already, getting up early to beat the traffic, enjoying a picnic on the base grounds, and generally a lot of waiting. We're all set up when, not even a minute before launch, he whips out his iphone and asks me to also record the launch. No, I tell him, I didn't want to limit the experience of this once in a lifetime event by staring at the tiny screen of his phone. "We are already getting much better footage on you better camera" I try to convince him. "Oh, but I can't send that video to your uncle Ted. Stop being selfish and do me this favor." (why not just email him the file later? I even offer to do it all for him.) *sigh* Whether it was my unwillingness to cause a scene, the pressure/timing (the shuttle literally was launching any second now) or the extreme amount of guilt I was being subjected to, I caved and half-assed the job. Caring enough to carry out my given task and keep the shuttle in frame but also trying to enjoy as much of the actual sight as possible, impossibly keeping one eye on each. I'm pretty sure he hasn't even looked at that footage since the day of, but it diminished the experience and the memory for me.

tl;dr fuck iphones

[Glitzer]

I'm kind of curious, what religion?

I'm going to hazard a guess and say he's Jehovah's Witness.

TEKnician, forgive my concern, but have you ever considered whether or not your faith is truly your own? Or do you believe what you do because you have been conditioned to do so by your family, friends, religious organization, or society?

I don't mean to offend, but it's clear that your religion is a source of great hardship and is limiting your happiness. Have you seriously intellectually challenged your faith? If you have, and reached the conclusion that it is for you, I respect that. Otherwise, what value is it if it's only weighing you down?

As for the issue with the girl you like, it isn't unusual for the recipient to feel guilty when accepting an expensive gift. Perhaps she felt that she needed to compensate you, either materialistically or emotionally. Since she couldn't do either, she outright rejected the present.

Recognize that you have no control over what the other person thinks and feels, but you do have control over how you view this situation. If you're right and she doesn't feel the same way, you should accept that love is just a chemical reaction in the brain (oxytocin and a few others are responsible) and that you can't control how those reactions occur or feel to another person.

[ZephyrStar]

I'm in one of those moods where I list everything I hate about my life.

I turn 20 this July. If only my religion allowed me to celebrate my birthday (the end of my shitty, deprived childhood).

My family has never owned a property. We always rent. None of our landlords allowed pets. I've had one fuckin fish all my life.

I can only date people in my own religion. If only the one girl I actually have been friends with since childhood didn't hate me for trying to buy her and her mother an iPad (mentioned some time ago in this thread) for reasons I cannot understand. Theyre just as financially troubled as my family is, but she somehow takes offense to me trying to get her a gift? I'm starting to think she just finds me creepy -_-

Old people keep inviting my parents over to play music. When asked, my dad says I play bass (yeah, like, 10 years ago! Fckin ass). When they bother to ask ME, I say "electric keyboard". And they go, "oh...". Is that a BAD thing? Wtf? So I can't play Hawaiian music on a piano, big whoop! Fuck you too!

Im at their house now on a couch writing this from my 10% battery life iPhone.

F

My

Life

I'm going to sound like a giant dick here, but...

Not knocking your religion, but why not celebrate your birthday? Sounds like you want to.

Renting sucks, I agree, but why not move out and get your own place? I'm sure you can find somewhere that'd let you have a cat?

Dating within your own religion....surely there are other churches/places of worship you could meet other girls?
And I totally see what you're saying about the ipad thing, but if they're really not that well off, then maybe an ipad is not what they really need at said moment?

Hey, at least you can play an instrument! That's great!

At least you have an iphone, that's great!

Not trying to hate on you man, just trying to give you some perspective :p

[Radical_Yue]

Yeah, I'm going to echo the other two above me and say that I'm not hatin' but...if something about your religion is making you depressed, then I personally wouldn't partake, at least in that aspect.

I'll say it right here, I went to Church for the majority of my life, Christian Baptist. While I will follow some of the teachings that I took from all those years going to church, I'm not going to let it rule me and automatically say that gays will burn in hell and that women are made to stay in the home and pop out babies one after another. I believe in god and I don't think he wants me to be miserable.

I've always seen it as a guide more to help you be a better person by following the love thy brother, make peace not war and never eat before bedtime if you don't want weird nightmares types of things in it. Not a strict list of rules that if you toe over the line you will burn forever and make kittens cry. But if it's making you miserable in the process, maybe it's time to re-examine things?

But please don't see any of this as "THROW DOWN YOUR BELIEFS AND BECOME A HEATHEN!"

Just want to see ya happy

[Ileia]

I'm kind of curious, what religion?

I'm going to hazard a guess and say he's Jehovah's Witness.

That's what I thought (My dad and stepmom are) but the swearing in his post seemed to make me think otherwise. Unless his congregation is more lenient than theirs.


As for the rest, I'm not seeing how wanting to do something your religion doesn't allow automatically means that you have your doubts about that religion. Sometimes things are just hard! Can't eat pork and everything around you is sausage or bacon? I bet sometimes you wish you could have some. Can't celebrate birthdays and everything around you (every time you scroll to the bottom of this website, for instance....) is constantly shoving them in your face? I bet know that's rough.

[Castor Troy]

One time my family pissed me off on Good Friday (the day of Jesus's death and in the Catholic religion and several others, you're not allowed to eat meat on that day), so I went out and ate a burger.

I was raised as a catholic and went to an all christian school up until high school, so I know how bad religious clashes can be. I was literally driven to tears once when I was told I was praying the wrong way.

I had several friends who were raised in really uptight religious families only to have mohawks and drug addictions by the time they turned 18. Go figure.

[Radical_Yue]

I had several friends who were raised in really uptight religious families only to have mohawks and drug addictions by the time they turned 18. Go figure.

Actually, the majority of kids I went to church with that had family that were super uptight religious did that exactly.

Like, some craaaazy shit with the preacher's daughter >>

[TEKnician]

have you ever considered whether or not your faith is truly your own?

Yes, and I already concluded I am an agnostic. I'm only staying in this hellhole until I get my own car and apartment. I'm currently saving up a shitload of cash so that the transition can be smooth. I really love my family, but I just can't stand this religion. I want to leave on good terms.

Hey, at least you can play an instrument! That's great!

At least you have an iphone, that's great!

Not trying to hate on you man, just trying to give you some perspective :p

LOL, thanks dude.

Just want to see ya happy

Thanks guys, I really do appreciate the love. ^_^

[ngsilver]

Like, some craaaazy shit with the preacher's daughter >>

Preacher's kids....

yeah, they're always the crazy ones.

One time my family pissed me off on Good Friday (the day of Jesus's death and in the Catholic religion and several others, you're not allowed to eat meat on that day), so I went out and ate a burger.

A friend of mine in high school did something quite similar. It was ash Wednesday and he joined me in line to get chicken rings (every wed, I still miss those things, White Castle is close but not quite the same) and unlike the rest of the Catholics who grabbed fish he said 'fuck it' and grabbed the chicken rings. It was quite a sight to behold. I later found out he converted to Wicca.

Religion, like most things in life, can both help and harm a person. It all depends on the environment.


TEKnician: you've basically gone the same route I did. It can be a little hard to walk that line though. I try to stay out of both religious and political debates with my family since I'm agnostic and libertarian. It makes for some fun conversations I'll tell you what. Hope the transition goes well for you.

[Chiiisus]

Until we start training for our new campaign in work we actually sit around and do nothing all day. Now, I know a lot of you probably think it's not something to complain about, but when you go to work for over 5 weeks and all you do is sit and do nothing, it gets boring. Extremely boring.

NEWHO.

Almost everyone has started in different campaigns, some of us are just waiting for our one to start and there was only FIVE of us in today. They expected us to just sit there in a bay and do nothing. So, I brought a book (The Outsider by Albert Camus, seriously if you like reading, go read that book, LOVE IT. ) I had my book read by 1pm. I started at 10 and we're meant to stay until 6:30. What bugged me was, while I was at the canteen eating lunch with friends who got a break from their training, everyone else just left. So I go ask the manager that is meant to be watching us if I could leave because everyone else had and it wasn't fair if I was on my own. His reply?

Go up and sit in that bay and draw me a pretty picture.

... .___.

Needless to say I left, but seriously, draw him a picture? I'm meant to phone customers about stuff not draw for him.

So yeah, while walking home from work I phoned a friend and we went on a dander. (If you dunno what a dander is, it's like a walk but you walk really slowly with no planned direction.)

We ended up in a park playing on the tire swing and the see-saw.