Exploit Boston Game Night on November 6

I'm going to be there to show everyone why I am the Queen of Uno. I hope to see you there!

Date:
Sun, Nov 06, 2005 07:00 PM to 12:00 AM

Paradise Lounge
969 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215

Game Night is hosted by these folks:
Exploit Boston
http://www.exploitboston.com/
contact@exploitboston.com

The Heart of a Woman or rather you are never too old to have a crush

Well, I received a call yesterday from someone I had not heard from in a long time.
(October it seems, is the month of reunion for me. I even dreamed about someone that I had not seen in three years last night.)

Said person told me about attending her high school reunion and having found out that a person that she was apparently in love with for most her teenage and a lot of her adult life was there. She never told this object of her affections that she really liked him and wanted to go out because she was sure that she would get rejected (apparently there is history to back this up of her asking guys out that rejected her for a laundry list of reasons, the most common being that she was a good friend, but they were not attracted to her but they really thought she was great). Well she is a bit older (this reunion was the 15 year reunion) and so usually at there is the expection I suppose that everyone is married, mated or otherwise occupied (I haven't had my 15th yet so I am guessing here. All I have to fall back on are the lame episodes of family sitcoms that do a "high school reunion" episode.) Well, she saw HIM there. She had emailed and written here and there to him through the years but only in the last few months had they been in constant touch. One or the other had been too busy to get coffee but both decided to go to this thing and not tell the other. She said that she saw him and all of the feelings came back. They found a quiet corner and talked about everything. Then, as if scripted by someone from All My Children, his girlfriend comes up.

Girlfriend. He negelcted to mention that he was dating but to defend him a bit, it never came up in conversation. She held it together though as it was told to me "she was dying inside." They all had a nice conversation and saw some of the others that bothered to show. People who were older, fatter, sometimes smarter, sometimes dumber and many who were legends in their own minds.

The leavetaking came and each went to their separate corners. Our heroine apparently went home and decided that the person that used to volunteer with a lot on the same projects was the best person to open up with because I always "seemed to be good at listening and I managed to fix things."

I listened and empathized as far as I could. I did understand that she was upset not because this guy seemed so perfect for her now as he had been then or because he had a girlfriend and she did not. She was upset because it was the end of THE DREAM.

The DREAM?

Yeah. THE DREAM. This guy was her "Ashley."

(Info dump: "Ashley" refers to "Ashley Wilkes," the handsome, dreamy, noble Southern gentleman that Katie Scarlett O'Hara spent her whole adult life in love with in both the novel and movie, "Gone With the Wind." So strong was the DREAM of life with Ashley, that it outlasted three husbands, the Civil War, fractious family relations and Ashley's wife Melanie. At the end of the novel once Melanie dies and entrusts her husband to Scarlett's care, she realizes that well, she was in love with the DREAM and not the man himself, who disappointed her at many turns when she tried to make the DREAM come true.)

Her DREAM-our heroine's-ended when faced with the reality of the girlfriend who was without a fault and who carved out a life that was definitely a bit more of a fit to his and definitely a bit more glamourous. She even found herself liking her.

Understanding what the problem is doesn't always help in finding the best remedy. I did a lot of listening and a lot of "there, there" especially when she asked what was wrong with her.

The best I could come up with was that life sucks and unfortunately we have to participate in it when it does suck. I told her that if she feels that it would be too painful to keep the friendship then "let time lapse" again. He has a girlfriend, while I am sure he will wonder about her from time to time, he will be too preoccupied to push.

I also said that it's okay to mourn the loss of THE DREAM but then get over it. As you get older, you do realize that life is short. Sometimes it is shorter than you think. You can spend your time eating your heart out over a lost opportunity or you can create new ones. Sometimes quickly and sometimes by just putting one foot in front of the other.

I also told her that there is a place in hell for people who calls someone out of the blue after a year, while the other person is listening to their favorite episode of "Dr. Phil." (Wouldn't everyone like to know that is!)

She liked that. She promised not to let so much time go by. She did go on a bit more about the loss of THE DREAM and I let her. Sometimes "Dr. Phil" just has to wait.

Apparently I am...

You are:
Julius Caesar


You scored 48 Wisdom, 75 Tactics, 41 Guts, and 42 Ruthlessness!
Roman military and political leader. He was instrumental in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. His conquest of Gallia Comata extended the Roman world all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, introducing Roman influence into what has become modern France, an accomplishment of which direct consequences are visible to this day. In 55 BC Caesar launched the first Roman invasion of Britain. Caesar fought and won a civil war which left him undisputed master of the Roman world, and began extensive reforms of Roman society and government. He was proclaimed dictator for life, and heavily centralized the already faltering government of the weak Republic. Caesar's friend Marcus Brutus conspired with others to assassinate Caesar in hopes of saving the Republic. The dramatic assassination on the Ides of March was the catalyst for a second set of civil wars, which marked the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire under Caesar's grand-nephew and adopted son Octavian, later known as Caesar Augustus. Caesar's military campaigns are known in detail from his own written Commentaries (Commentarii), and many details of his life are recorded by later historians such as Suetonius, Plutarch, and Cassius Dio.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:


You scored higher than 6% on Unorthodox


You scored higher than 68% on Tactics


You scored higher than 8% on Guts


You scored higher than 28% on Ruthlessness

The Which Historic General Are You Test

http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=13827291814577368116

"I am leaving this legacy to all of you to bring peace, justice, equality, love and a fulfilment of what our lives should be. Without vision, the people will perish, and without courage and inspiration, dreams will die - the dream of freedom and peace." -Rosa Parks, 1988

Monday Monday

Well my CD player just died. It bites but I suppose I was due to by a new one. I grew up with the generation that believed you kept something until you wrung every last bit of usage ot of it. You don't buy new things at the first sign of wear-you tape and mend them.

What is odd is that I have the Brothers Johnson song "Right On Time" running through my head. It's almost as if because I can't hear it on the CD player, my brain is making up for the absence.

I found out probably more about Trujillo than I think I cared to know. Always nice to start the day finding out that a man had 20,000 people massacred based on a test-a shibboleth.
(That is the new word for the day, kiddies.)

"Moronica" has been the word for the past two months, along with "Moronus" (Moronica rendered in the masculine).

Wikipedia can be addicting. I have been known to start reading about the item that I was suppose to research and then I will go onto something else and then I will feel the need to edit the passage because the original article is either too painful to read because of the grammar errors or because I just am a better speller.

If I had 24 more hours, I would probably make more contributions to wikipedia. I was informed that there is a need for "African American" information when I heavily corrected and added source material to a submission about a 19th century writer named Harriet Adams Wilson.

Ikigai

the Rev. Fredric John Muir
October 26, 1997
http://www.uuca-md.org/sermons/ikigai.html

Some years ago, I shared a story about ikigai. I didn’t realize at the time that this is what it was about, but many of you did. There were several strong reactions to it, as one might expect - it’s a rather provocative story. This is how it goes:


A woman in a coma was dying. She suddenly had a feeling that she was taken up to heaven and stood before the Judgment Seat.
"Who are you?" a Voice said to her.
"I’m the wife of the mayor," she replied."I did not ask whose wife you are but who you are.""I’m the mother of four children.""I did not ask whose mother you are, but who you are.""I’m a school teacher.""I did not ask what your profession is but who you are."
And so it went. No matter what she replied, she did not seem to give a satisfactory answer to the question, "Who are you?"
"I’m a Christian.""I did not ask what your religion is but who you are.""I’m the one who went to church every day and always helped the poor and needy.""I did not ask what you did but who you are."
She evidently failed the examination, for she was sent back to earth. When she recovered from her illness, she was determined to find out who she was. And that made all the difference.
The Voice is asking the woman to name her ikigai but when she does, the Voice replies that that’s not the meaning of her life - ikigai - tell me again, what is it that defines who you are, that gives your life meaning, that makes your life worth living. Similar to the story, Mathews concludes: "One who lives for work will soon enough retire, or get laid off; one’s lover may leave; children will grow up and be gone; one’s dreams may fade; God may disappear. One will eventually die, and what will it all mean then?" (6)


So what is it that makes life worth living? What is your ikigai? Is it work? Lover? Family? God? Friends? Is it an avocation? I’ll guess that many of you will answer "Yes," yes to some, many, all or more of these. And that’s not a cheap answer, it’s not dodging the question. Our lives are very full, for many there are multiple sources of meaning, value and fulfillment - and those change too. And when it comes to religious faith, isn’t Unitarian Universalism the embodiment of just this philosophy - the recognition and acceptance that there is not a single religious Truth, but Truths.

Of much greater value for me than naming a single something that defines life value and meaning - my ikigai - of more importance for me is nurturing and sustaining an attitude and faith that embraces the promise of living everyday, that takes delight in the ongoingness of living, seeking its interdependencies, similar to what both Buckminister Fuller and his relative Margaret Fuller were doing. A transcendentalist Unitarian and close friend to Emerson, Margaret, like Buckminister, didn’t live for a meaning to life, but for meanings to life.

My Samurai Code

Honor: You are an honorable person who is firm with
his/her beliefs and treats others as you are
treated. People would consider you humble at
times and very respectful, and someone to
definitely respect back.

Which Characteristic From the Samurai Code Matches You Best? (You may find out your best trait)
brought to you by

I got nothin' agin'

There has been no sun for upwards of a week, which is fine by me except that I hate the rain.

And as if I have not said it enough, "She's Lost Control" by Joy Division is the best song ever. Especially if you have been drinking Full Throttle.

And Fyvush Finkel is the best name ever.

I got nothin'

Yep. That sums it up.