The Random Thoughts Thread

[Bad Itch]

I have left the laptop bag that the late Louise enjoyed as a bed / nest, under the nightstand in the bedroom I sleep in at my Mom's house. I'm not willing to have this bond between us be forgotten. I thought it was the best thing, that she found this great use for a laptop bag. Coincidentally the laptop has died anyways, probably the video card finally going kaput. I shoved the laptop on a high shelf as it won't be needing the bag really. Better to use it for cat memory.

There's something about cats and laptop bags.

 

[bvanevery]

There's something about cats and laptop bags.

Well the size is about right. Plus they like to run across laptops proper anyways.

 

[Bad Itch]

Well the size is about right. Plus they like to run across laptops proper anyways.

Turn your head for a second and suddenly someone's mashing keys into a root shell. "Hey look at me!"

 

[dang]

DOGS>CATS

 

[Tannhauser]

DOGS>CATS

10 dogs < cats

 

[Black Rose]

INTP forum members are cat people new research suggests

 

[Jennywocky]

There's something about cats and laptop bags.

I need a cat bag to carry my cat around in.


.... but yeah, my cat loves those kind of firm but not quite hard surfaces to sleep on.

I have this weird situation too where I take my book bag and my purse to my Wednesday night RPG session, and one of their cats immediately stakes out my purse and bag -- she'll start rooting around in my purse if I put it on the floor under the table next to me, and likes to flop down on my bookbag as if it's hers.

Then I go home and MY cat must smell her scent or something, because he fixates on my bag and purse and rubs himself all over them. And he'll sprawl on the bookbag if I leave it out lying flat.

 

[Bad Itch]

I need a cat bag to carry my cat around in.


.... but yeah, my cat loves those kind of firm but not quite hard surfaces to sleep on.

I have this weird situation too where I take my book bag and my purse to my Wednesday night RPG session, and one of their cats immediately stakes out my purse and bag -- she'll start rooting around in my purse if I put it on the floor under the table next to me, and likes to flop down on my bookbag as if it's hers.

Then I go home and MY cat must smell her scent or something, because he fixates on my bag and purse and rubs himself all over them. And he'll sprawl on the bookbag if I leave it out lying flat.

That's either the cat equivalent to email, or the cutest turf war evarr!!!

 

[Jennywocky]

That's either the cat equivalent to email, or the cutest turf war evarr!!!

... I know, I know... I feel like I'm just the messenger girl for something really big going on, that I can't quite figure out.

If my cat elopes one morning (or if one of the cats turns up dead, doh), I know what happened.

It's really weird; my friend has two cats, but the other one shows no interest whatsoever in my stuff.

 

[TBerg]

Is it okay to like both cats and dogs?

 

[Rook]

My one cat disappears once roughly each month, returning with a scratched eye or grossly swollen leg, all in a general state of bloodiness with a wounded air about him.

Unsure whether he goes off to procreate, or fight in some holy war.

Did recently buy a giant artsy book on cats though, the answer may be hidden within that ancient tome.

Is it okay to like both cats and dogs?

Many miss this point... cats are more individually complex when observed, but dogs are both useful, slobbering and cuddly. They are also smart enough not to attack a porcupine, while monitor lizards are fair game. Lap dogs are abominations though.

 

[onesteptwostep]

Speaking of animals: http://isopresso.tumblr.com/

 

[Jennywocky]

..Lap dogs are abominations though.

Spoiler

Kill them all.

 

[TBerg]

Yeah, small dogs are terrible. I can't imagine the inane mindset that went into the breeding of the higher class breeds. It's like they wanted to make the most dependent animals possible, without the ability to even begin to function in the wild. I find a lot of dogs to be quite intelligent, though, in comparison to cats. If you have the acreage, I highly recommend that cats stay outside most of their life, since they are able to learn both to relate to you as well as to hunt and do other engaging activities.

 

[Bad Itch]

... I know, I know... I feel like I'm just the messenger girl for something really big going on, that I can't quite figure out.

If my cat elopes one morning (or if one of the cats turns up dead, doh), I know what happened.

It's really weird; my friend has two cats, but the other one shows no interest whatsoever in my stuff.

Cats have an interesting sense of smell and memory. My sister moved out west years and year ago, and her cat stayed to live with my parents. She is now a very old and frail feline, and she's quite wary of children - she disappears if there are toddlers around for instance.

Recently my sister came to visit for a couple of weeks with her two sons (now 4 and 8). The cat seems to smell my sister on the boys because she doesn't run from them, and she lets them handle her (much to my dismay coz I'm like "OMG BE GENTLE WITH THAT CAT!!!!9!"). She even sits by them on the sofa.

It's like they know who's family and who isn't.

 

[Jennywocky]

I had outdoor cats growing up.
Most of them got hit by cars, eventually.

I think it's kind of hard to manage an indoor/outdoor cat situation, they tend to prefer one or the other. And if you have a cat that is tackling both, you'd better have the flea/tick protection down somehow -- no way you want to be fleabombing your house regularly and washing all your blankets and sheets to try to remove whatever parasites the cat drags back. There are just practical concerns that have to be compensated for somehow.

Cats have an interesting sense of smell and memory. My sister moved out west years and year ago, and her cat stayed to live with my parents. She is now a very old and frail feline, and she's quite wary of children - she disappears if there are toddlers around for instance.

Recently my sister came to visit for a couple of weeks with her two sons (now 4 and 8). The cat seems to smell my sister on the boys because she doesn't run from them, and she lets them handle her (much to my dismay coz I'm like "OMG BE GENTLE WITH THAT CAT!!!!9!"). She even sits by them on the sofa.

It's like they know who's family and who isn't.

That's pretty impressive that she tolerates them, even likes them, whereas she avoids other kids. I can't imagine why else she would hang out near them, if it's not due to your sister's scent.

This friend's cat acts like she's been rolling in catnip, the way she fixates on my bookbag... it's just weird. And she is NOT a friendly cat at all, it took her about a year to warm up to me actually touching her (and she gets anxious -- the friend confirms that that's her personality); but she's all over my stuff and now tolerates me petting her briefly.

The other cat is a pleasant purry lump that you can just grab, sling over one arm, and lug around the house and it seems to enjoy it.

 

[Bad Itch]

I had outdoor cats growing up.
Most of them got hit by cars, eventually.

...or had a window box fall on them and break their spine, or caught distemper or FeLV...

I think it's kind of hard to manage an indoor/outdoor cat situation, they tend to prefer one or the other. And if you have a cat that is tackling both, you'd better have the flea/tick protection down somehow -- no way you want to be fleabombing your house regularly and washing all your blankets and sheets to try to remove whatever parasites the cat drags back. There are just practical concerns that have to be compensated for somehow.

Even with an indoor cat, stuff gets in your house - I think it depends on how many critters live in your neighborhood. Mine had fleas three times after we moved from an apartment to a house. They were either already there from the previous owner's dog, or they came in on me after mowing the lawn one day (Lots of stray cats and raccoons in my neighbourhood, probably all lousy with fleas and the whatnot). Ended up using a chemical on him, which he hated (me too).

My current neighbors have one basset hound and two cats. All three of them live primarily in the house but spend a lot of time enjoying the outdoors in fair weather. One of their cats is mostly white and I haven't found any sign of fleas on her yet (I'm good friends with my neighbors' pets, and some other pets from the next block) - they've been lucky so far because they also now have an infant. Their zoo is gonna be a circus if they get fleas.

That's pretty impressive that she tolerates them, even likes them, whereas she avoids other kids. I can't imagine why else she would hang out near them, if it's not due to your sister's scent.

Yeah, I was pretty shocked. You could probably power a small town with these two kids and a treadmill, and this is another one of those anxious cats. The scents thing is the only explanation I've come up with which makes any sense.

This friend's cat acts like she's been rolling in catnip, the way she fixates on my bookbag... it's just weird. And she is NOT a friendly cat at all, it took her about a year to warm up to me actually touching her (and she gets anxious -- the friend confirms that that's her personality); but she's all over my stuff and now tolerates me petting her briefly.

I used to know someone whose cat acted similarly when presented with a pair of sock feet. You couldn't touch this cat without bleeding, yet if you took off your shoes and sat down she would do the rolling-in-catnip routine on your feet. Of course, however happy she seemed about your feet she would still bleed you if you tried to touch her.

The other cat is a pleasant purry lump that you can just grab, sling over one arm, and lug around the house and it seems to enjoy it.

I get a kick out of how cats respond to being picked up in different ways. Mine wasn't a slinger... at nearly 20lbs you had to hold him in such a way that he would perch on your arm with his hind legs and rest his fronts on your shoulders... got some great hugs that way lol. Another friend's cat wouldn't go for the perch... that one you had to flip onto his back and cradle like a baby. *shrug* Different strokes for different... felines.

 

[TBerg]

I guess I am lucky to live in the country.

 

[Bad Itch]

My one cat disappears once roughly each month, returning with a scratched eye or grossly swollen leg, all in a general state of bloodiness with a wounded air about him.

Unsure whether he goes off to procreate, or fight in some holy war.

It's all about lebensraum... the grass is greener and the mice is cleaner two blocks down the street.

Many miss this point... cats are more individually complex when observed, but dogs are both useful, slobbering and cuddly. They are also smart enough not to attack a porcupine, while monitor lizards are fair game. Lap dogs are abominations though.

My previous neighbor had a miniature Schnauzer - not to be confused with a "toy schnauzer"... this may be the difference between "lap dog" and "rat dog". She was an awesome little dog. Very smart, and with an attitude much bigger than her physical manifestation, also very protective of her family (they were seniors). Small, bright dogs I can deal with, but the tiny ones that yap a lot... those should go in the chipper.

 

[Bad Itch]

I guess I am lucky to live in the country.

I think anyone would be. Their pets doubly so.
My folks live in the country, and I live in the city. As the years go by I want more and more to move to the country, but I don't think I could sustain my rock and roll lifestyle out there...

 

[Rook]

It's all about lebensraum... the grass is greener and the mice is cleaner two blocks down the street.



.

Oh, he lives on a farm with the nearest large settlement a few kilometers away, I don't know how far he goes but it is usually is about a day's absence.

I


My previous neighbor had a miniature Schnauzer - not to be confused with a "toy schnauzer"... this may be the difference between "lap dog" and "rat dog". She was an awesome little dog. Very smart, and with an attitude much bigger than her physical manifestation, also very protective of her family (they were seniors). Small, bright dogs I can deal with, but the tiny ones that yap a lot... those should go in the chipper.

I completely agree, some smaller dogs I lived with showed more intelligence than some larger ones. A small white jack russel also serves the excellent purpose of being seen at night, If the moon is dark one can easily see where to walk as long as you sight the canine.

Even larger dogs can be termed 'lap dogs', if they are pampered and kept from the outside to a certain degree.

 

[Jennywocky]

I guess I am lucky to live in the country.

I grew up in the country, it was all fields and dairy farms.

Unfortunately, that means the cat isn't necessarily used to traffic; and people speed up and down the roads well past the speed limit. Eventually the cat would spend all nine lives and take a bumper hit. I can't tell you how many cats I had to get with a shovel and bury them out back.

 

[Bad Itch]

I grew up in the country, it was all fields and dairy farms.

Unfortunately, that means the cat isn't necessarily used to traffic; and people speed up and down the roads well past the speed limit. Eventually the cat would spend all nine lives and take a bumper hit. I can't tell you how many cats I had to get with a shovel and bury them out back.

My grandparents' cat spent his nine this way. Almost a year to the day after my grandmother passed, my grandfather had to go get the shovel.

It's a shame that country roads are so much fun to drive on.

 

[Jennywocky]

My grandparents' cat spent his nine this way. Almost a year to the day after my grandmother passed, my grandfather had to go get the shovel.

I had the worst mental image by your phrasing here that your grandma also spent her nine lives on the road and your grandfather had to go get the shovel...

I know, I'm rotten...

It's a shame that country roads are so much fun to drive on.

Seriously. People think they're in the Indianapolis 500.

I do pretty well on roads, due to where I grew up... driving in snow, being wary of deer, knowing how to take turns as fast as possible without sliding the car, etc. But it's definitely that area where sometimes you could launch a car (from the small hills in the roads) if you weren't careful and were zipping along too fast, and there were occasional high school deaths where some kids out joyriding would launch their car into a pole or something crazy. I knew one kid who totaled his VW Rabbit (?) hitting a cow once.

 

[Bad Itch]

I had the worst mental image by your phrasing here that your grandma also spent her nine lives on the road and your grandfather had to go get the shovel...

I know, I'm rotten...

BWAHAHAHA!! That's awesome. Grandmother had Alzheimer's, and if thngs hadn't gone the way they had, your image might not have been too far off.

Seriously. People think they're in the Indianapolis 500.

People do love to noisy-up an otherwise quiet stretch of road, don't they? It's like near steady stream of motorcycles out there all summer long, too.

I do pretty well on roads, due to where I grew up... driving in snow, being wary of deer, knowing how to take turns as fast as possible without sliding the car, etc. But it's definitely that area where sometimes you could launch a car (from the small hills in the roads) if you weren't careful and were zipping along too fast, and there were occasional high school deaths where some kids out joyriding would launch their car into a pole or something crazy. I knew one kid who totaled his VW Rabbit (?) hitting a cow once.

Someone's lucky to be alive... cow vs. tiny VW seldom ends well. Lucky it wasn't a moose... because cow++.

 

[bvanevery]

Is it okay to like both cats and dogs?

Yes, TBerg, you have my executive all reigning permission.

 

[bvanevery]

Small, bright dogs I can deal with, but the tiny ones that yap a lot... those should go in the chipper.

Rather, their owners.

 

[Bad Itch]

Rather, their owners.

That would still do nicely.

 

[PmjPmj]

3 parts Amy
1 part Darcy

HNNNNNNNNN maximum boncakes.

 

[Brontosaurie]

Starting a new school tomorrow

Ready as ever to get my weird on

 

[Brontosaurie]

Working for a while has actually made me excited ('excited' much in the sense that a circle on a paper is a 'ball', granted) about the prospect of starting school again. I can just sit there, weird out, smile at the wrong things, have some tics, make little notes and pass by with a minimum of intellectual effort and discipline. I won't have to be all tensed up about my lack of social instinct, at least not constantly. When there is a social situation, i will simply be myself. The academic results are what matters.

Meanwhile i believe in magic and harbor cult leader ambition

and i absolutely refuse self-censorship. Rather, i try to show all of my shortcomings early in a relationship which seems like the reasonable thing to do. Humans don't work with reason. This wound gapes forever.

Writing some stuff helps me sort things out. The machines can have their letters. No machine will surpass me.

I'm surprised i haven't exploded yet from this incessant build-up of hopeless disorienting suffocating turbulent metaphysically corrosive negativity wherein a firm conviction of my own curse and doom is the only constant. I won't pretend i've had it rough or anything but it takes some serious balls just being this freak.

 

[bvanevery]

Starting a new school tomorrow

College?

You might benefit from a sociocultural anthropology class.

 

[Brontosaurie]

College?

You might benefit from a sociocultural anthropology class.

No.

Why?

 

[TBerg]

Yes, TBerg, you have my executive all reigning permission.

Are you the long, lost chieftain of the nomadic clan?

 

[Seteleechete]

My sense of smell is non-existent(for subtle scents anyway). People around me go "this smells good" or "this smells awfully" and I am like "something smells? Meh, w/e."

 

[Sinny91]

My sense of smell is non-existent(for subtle scents anyway). People around me go "this smells good" or "this smells awfully" and I am like "something smells? Meh, w/e."

Ha! Ditto!

 

[Sinny91]

College?

You might benefit from a sociocultural anthropology class.

Does it cover mind control 101?

If it don't, it's a bag of shit.

 

[bvanevery]

Are you the long, lost chieftain of the nomadic clan?

Well I do live out of a car...

 

[bvanevery]

Does it cover mind control 101?

Anthropology as a discipline was started by white colonialists using their insight into native customs to dominate and enslave them. Subsequently anthropologists became nicer and more ethical. It is highly beneficial for people to understand the constructed nature of cultural world view they are experiencing.

No.

Why?

I've never been sure of your age when previously discussing stuff. I hadn't guessed you might be in what we in the USA call "high school", i.e. pre-college. Let's just say you get to study a lot better stuff when you get to college. If you have any extracurricular interest prior to that, I suppose I could try to find a suitable anthro book to recommend. Can't think of one off the top of my head that's aimed at popular audiences, but it may exist.

Not an anthro book but I will recommend, in the understanding everything that has happened on the planet dept., Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. It's the most info in the least amount of pages you're gonna get. It seems PBS made a TV series about it, not sure how far that gets you as I haven't seen it.

 

[Sinny91]

Anthropology as a discipline was started by white colonialists using their insight into native customs to dominate and enslave them. Subsequently anthropologists became nicer and more ethical. It is highly beneficial for people to understand the constructed nature of cultural world view they are experiencing.

LOOOOOL - hard.

Yea cuz the Rothchilds, Rockefellers, George Soros and fucking Prince Phillip are just the nicest anthropologists I ever did hear of.

But I'm just a conspiracy theorist - without a degree in anthropology - so what do I know

I'd love to know who authors and funds your college anthropology books. haha.

I can't take my university materials very seriously, the require that I endorse the largest criminal organisations on the planet.

 

[bvanevery]

LOOOOOL - hard.

Yea cuz the Rothchilds, Rockefellers, George Soros and fucking Prince Phillip are just the nicest anthropologists I ever did hear of.

But I'm just a conspiracy theorist - without a degree in anthropology - so what do I know

Apparently not enough. I do hope you embrace rather than cast aspersions on at least one of the social science disciplines at some point in your life, because otherwise you're pretty much going to miss the boat about how humans tick.

I'd love to know who authors and funds your college anthropology books. haha.

Someone did analyze the structure of all academic disciplines based on their actual references to each other, not based on what categories they claimed to be in. The results are interesting. Anthropology is this tiny discipline far away from others. In particular, pretty opposite to Sociology, which has few common links. Psychology was one of the dominant academic disciplines by a huge order of magnitude. I'll see if I can find the website.

 

[Brontosaurie]

Anthropology as a discipline was started by white colonialists using their insight into native customs to dominate and enslave them. Subsequently anthropologists became nicer and more ethical. It is highly beneficial for people to understand the constructed nature of cultural world view they are experiencing.



I've never been sure of your age when previously discussing stuff. I hadn't guessed you might be in what we in the USA call "high school", i.e. pre-college. Let's just say you get to study a lot better stuff when you get to college. If you have any extracurricular interest prior to that, I suppose I could try to find a suitable anthro book to recommend. Can't think of one off the top of my head that's aimed at popular audiences, but it may exist.

Not an anthro book but I will recommend, in the understanding everything that has happened on the planet dept., Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. It's the most info in the least amount of pages you're gonna get. It seems PBS made a TV series about it, not sure how far that gets you as I haven't seen it.

Your assumptions could be insulting if i gave a damn. Even as i don't, they're not exactly advertising your opinion. I'm minimally inclined to respect it.

I'm sure you mean well somehow with your unsolicited advice but you should know it fails terribly. It is a maladaptive behavior that needs revision. Now there's some proper advice since you seem into that kind of thing.

 

[Sinny91]

Apparently not enough.

Care to back that that up with something?

I do hope you embrace rather than cast aspersions on at least one of the social science disciplines at some point in your life

Well International development/politics is my social science of choice, but NO that sector is not free from my aspersions either. See if you stop casting aspersions, you end up with Nazi Germany. What has evidently clear to me is that if you don't know what the people are doing at the top, you really can't trust what is filtered down to the bottom.

because otherwise you're pretty much going to miss the boat about how humans tick.

Humans are like animals, not at all that difficult to figure out.

Someone did analyze the structure of all academic disciplines based on their actual references to each other, not based on what categories they claimed to be in. The results are interesting. Anthropology is this tiny discipline far away from others. In particular, pretty opposite to Sociology, which has few common links. Psychology was one of the dominant academic disciplines by a huge order of magnitude. I'll see if I can find the website

I think there are too many wannbes.. When I signed to Uni out of the 500 people enrolling in the social sciences, 499 were going into Psychology, only one was signing up to politics - that was me.

And thanks to Jung, Briggs and Naranjo, I probably know more about psychology than any of them, without me even trying, haaa ah.

I hate this world.

 

[bvanevery]

Your assumptions could be insulting if i gave a damn. Even as i don't, they're not exactly advertising your opinion. I'm minimally inclined to respect it.

I'm sure you mean well somehow with your unsolicited advice but you should know it fails terribly. It is a maladaptive behavior that needs revision. Now there's some proper advice since you seem into that kind of thing.

Your self-assessment of your own world view doesn't make me too worried about my guilt or innocence in your terms.

Maybe you have "trade schools" where you live, and maybe you are availing yourself of them post-college and are thus older. But the idea of spending class time to "make little notes and pass by with a minimum of intellectual effort and discipline" doesn't sound like a mature or purposeful attitude towards academic study, which is what made me guess high school. Since your post seems to indicate a distaste for Life or study or something, I thought I'd offer something in the alternate world view dept. that worked for me.

 

[TBerg]

I read a little of Jared Diamond in college and watched the PBS miniseries. According to some criticism I subsequently discovered, it seems as though he buys into the Noble Savage aura, prompting him to say that promitive populations are smarter than modern ones due to their naturalistic intelligence. This is basically taking a scientific concept and applying it to a pre-scientific way of life. That means that in all the ways we would consider intelligence to be an asset, our concept of intelligence does not apply to primitive populations. Thus, because he lays down a poetic assumption about people, his thesis about how certain populations were even capable enough to conquer other populations has no proper theoretical assumptions other than postmodern gobbledygook.

 

[Brontosaurie]

Your self-assessment of your own world view doesn't make me too worried about my guilt or innocence in your terms.

Maybe you have "trade schools" where you live, and maybe you are availing yourself of them post-college and are thus older. But the idea of spending class time to "make little notes and pass by with a minimum of intellectual effort and discipline" doesn't sound like a mature or purposeful attitude towards academic study, which is what made me guess high school. Since your post seems to indicate a distaste for Life or study or something, I thought I'd offer something in the alternate world view dept. that worked for me.

Do you reckon i wouldn't know how to "indicate a mature or purposeful attitude" if i wanted to?

I feel a mighty purpose.

 

[Seteleechete]

I tried several energy drinks and I found one that actually kinda works.(Powerade) The key thing I think is that unlike all the other energy drinks this one lacks caffeine. I swear that caffeine just makes me more lethargic...

 

[TheManBeyond]

today i met joe duplantier, singer and guitarrist of one of my favourite bands ever: Gojira

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVvXB-Vwnco

he was walking by the street with his 3 kids, i stop him and say hello, we shake hands and i told him i was a super fan, and i liked their last album a lot and not so much more cuz i noticed he was obviously busy. But damn i wanted so much to take a selfie but i think i was just too nice... i should have taken it FUCK.
i mean what are the chances to meet one of your idols in a city is not even where u usually live... specially this in where i am, little town in the middle of nowhere. fuck my life

 

[Grayman]

I was reading this study on how dirty peoples hands are even after washing them when leaving the bathroom. I thought I wonder if someone ever did a study on how well people wipe after taking a dookie and how such measurements. Would be taken.

 

[TBerg]

Our immune systems would be even less fit if we were perfectly clean.

Immune systems require skirmishes in order to properly muster.