Bittersweet Candy Bowl

It’s his way of expressing affection. x)

You’re both wrong. I was being serious both times. The first may have been MILDLY exaggerated, but I was saying exactly what I meant. I said precisely what I meant the second time, with a little bit added at the end to throw you off.

Nice try though, Ved.

And yes it is Chili Jerk. ; )

I think a lot myself. I’ve gotten pretty good at placing myself into various positions, juggling posits in my head, doing thought experiments. Etc.. But, what may seem pretty weird is I like to walk outside and analyze things in as many different ways as possible at once. I look at my yard and attempt to see things from an environmentalist’s point of view. Or a biologist, forester, physicist, philosopher quantum physicist, poet, engineer, psychologist, or just some random guy. I take these pictures and try to see the interconnection between all the sciences and their correlations like the synapses in a brain.

Not only this, but to myself. I constantly try to psychoanalyze myself and those around me. I try to keep myself in check, testing the boundaries of my own reality, and making sure my logic prevails but does not sequester my emotions.

Of course, this is balanced out by me screaming at the top of my lungs when I’m by myself just because I had the urge to do it. i try to go between periods of thinking heavily and going with my instincts.

@ Ninja: And that’s why you’re my bro. Even if you are a sneaky bastard (which I’m sure you love to hear, what with being a ninja and all).

XD

: )
^__^

How’d you guess Chili Jerk? (How much longer until you decide to change your name again, by the way)

@ILB: Yeah, pretty much, though I tend to weight things.

@Cyo: I suspect that telling whether or not you’re sane yourself depends on the sort of person you are as well as the cause of insanity. Normal, conversely, I think DOES exist, in the form of people who, generally speaking, follow the path set forth as the average by society. I think you can generally define someone who is not normal as someone who spends a significant amount of time in violation of societal norms, particularly as far as interests (and acting on them) goes, as well as job choice and path. It is true that almost everyone deviates from the “norm” in some way, but some people are far, far stranger than others.

I spend a lot of time making up worlds in my head myself. Been doing so for longer than I can remember; the origins of some of the characters who recur in it are lost to time. They have always been there, upstairs, which is why their names are lame - though as they are but translations, and the names have significance in their source language which makes them sound a lot less stupid… But of course, I don’t actually KNOW their real names because I don’t know their real language. I digress. >>;

@Concerned*Ninja: I’m mostly fairly emotionless. I am seldom sad, but seldom deeply happy either; usually I range between casual annoyance and casual happiness, spending more time on the top than the bottom and very little time at the very bottom, but sadly all too little time on the top either. Though I suppose sadly may be the wrong term, as it isn’t ACTUALLY sad, simply vaugely dissatisfying… As for being brutally honest with yourself, it is really necessary to make yourself useful.

The world is a screwed up place, of course, but eh. You make your own way, and in any event, ultimately you choose what to take away from experiences - sadness is often a choice if you know you’re making it (or rather, not making it!).

@Fiery Death Chili: Hey, its difficult for me to ask people if they think about these things, though I’ve found the more often I engage in extremely uncomfortable conversations the less uncomfortable they become. I’ve also found that the less I lie, the less it seems necessary to do so, though obviously I know there are limits to that (see my previous post re: telling people I don’t actually care about them at all). You have the choice to stop being neurotic, you know.

@ Dragon: Believe me, I’m working on it. It’s a start, right? I’m new to this whole “willpower” nonsense.

@ Ninja: That I’ve known you long enough to understand you should be disconcerting. xD (And I don’t know. I kind of like this name right now, but I already said ILB got dibs on the next one because Jacob got the one before that. It’ll probably be something like Beef Jerky Jerkity (Jerk), and then hope she appreciates the medley.)

@Dragon

The interesting thing about the “normal” conversation is that in no way am I normal. I was born with a mental disorder, the ever-so-endearing ADHD. Damned thing’s spot shifts every year or so. Don’t believe me? Go and study up on it. It’s never really had a spot. In fact, I’ve even heard of it being inducted into the autism spectrum. Heck, the very definition of exactly what is ADHD shifts so much, it in itself lives up to its name. XD It can never stay in one spot!

The thing society calls “normal” will never be applicable to me. I simply exist outside of their definition. Heck, with what I have been taught, I even exist outside the expected definition of ADHD by being able to live a “normal” (aka socially acceptable) life without the aid of medicine. (Tricky, yes, impossible, no. Exercise and strict schedule helps wonders. And I do mean STRICT.)

…long rant is long. |D

…holy freaking crap. It’s late as heck and I didn’t even acknowledge the passage of time.

Methinks its time to go to bed. |D Accursed insomnia. I HAVE TOO MUCH FREAKING ENERGY AND I’VE BEEN DOING YARDWORK THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS! AND OF COURSE IT HARDLY TIRES ME OUT. ASAFSADASD D:

Also, I’ve been slowly getting better at the whole fantasy deal. It’s a tricky thing to get all the elements right though.

And yes, I am in fact that random. Makes life with me interesting, to say the least. XD

@Ninja
Huh, good to know others have adopted that way of thinking as well. Things do somehow seem to go better once you realize that the world will more than likely screw you over.

Funny how that works, huh? |D

Edit: DAMMIT. I can never type something small, can I?

ADHD is, in reality, simply an extreme of human behavior; fundamentally, there is some line beyond which you stray into pathology, despite the whole “heap” business - being a little more or a little less hyperactive won’t put you over the line, but if you keep adding a little more, eventually you cross it even though no one step is very significant. That’s why it is so difficult to “classify”, because in reality, it isn’t “real” in the same sense as something like a seizure; hyperactive behavior is actually normal, it is simply taken to an extreme in some people which causes pathological behavior.

And plenty of people with ADHD can live a… I want to say normal, but really “socially acceptable is more correct… life without meds. The smarter you are, the likelier you are to be able to do so, and it also has to do with your willingness to do it. I suspect a large part of the increased diagnosis of mental illness in the modern population has to do with the fact that people aren’t EXPECTED to deal with it as much as they once were, and while this helps people who really do need help, some people really do need a swift kick in the rear more than they need alterations to their brain chemistry, as the latter will forever leave you in thrall to medications whereas being able to cope without them allows you to be self-sufficient and fully functional. Not that meds are bad, per se, but they really shouldn’t be a first resort.

*Sigh* Let me set you all straight once and for (hopefully) all.

1) Normal does exist, but only as an arbitrary standard created by our collective perceptions that doesn’t actually match anyone (It’s like the average of 1,2,3,4,5,100,200,300,400, and 500. It doesn’t fit any of the individual numbers that contribute to it.). So it DOES exist, it’s just useless and inane.

2) @Cyo: once you realize that the world will more than likely screw you over, life becomes an attempt to screw it back while keeping it from screwing other people as well. Suffice to say I’ve gotten pretty good at it.

3) Two points didn’t seem to be enough for a rant and my post was already too long to qualify as short, so I needed a filler point. Which is exactly what this is.

So did that help or are you all more confused now?

@Taeshi: I think this is fitting for everyone, at least it is for me: 311’s Large in The Margin lyrics…..alright because I’m damn nice I will save everyone a search:

Large in the margin my drama unfolds behind closed doors, Told on the downlow I believe that I’m sold, but really I don’t know, Maybe it’s better, but I can’t think so, Maybe it’s better to fight, one never ever knows, Believe the rumors that grow like tumors, more fun than the truth that we know, Trying to hard to reach a higher plain, Will fuck you up when you least expect it, you think your moving closer when suddenly you wrecked it, but all the same pain gains wisdom, you think you’ve had enough then your in some, prison of your own creation, look at who your facing, placing blame in every direction, but in the end it’s your own infection. No way to avoid listening, you’ll always end up listening, here’s hoping the voices aren’t to unkind, here’s hoping the voices are benign, it’s easier when you hear it, there’s no reason to fear it. It’s You, You. You think they’ll probably find you, Well then you’re probably right, Cause they’ll come back to remind you for eternity, when you gave up the fight yeah, Somehow they always will find you, the voices in the night, and every night, keep coming back to remind you for eternity, of when you gave up the fight. There’s no way to avoid listening, You will always end up listening, here’s hoping the voices aren’t too unkind, here’s hoping the voices are benign, it’s easier when you hear it, There’s no reason to fear it, Its you, You.

I recommend people look this up for the full effect.

@concerned ninja

The “normal” was pretty much that definition we reached in our discussion with my dad and lil bro. Its a useless standard that has no real place in today’s world.

And I think I understood your second point, however, I’m running a bit low on sleep right now, so my mind is not wholly…there…so to speak. I think it’s like reverse bad luck? Sorta, maybe? I dunno. XD My mind needs a long rest. Preferable one that is uninterrupted. DX (has been forced up lately, apparently my parents have yet to realize THIS IS FREAKING SUMMER VACATION AND I CAN SLEEP IN IF I WANT TO DAMMIT */rant*)

We need a standard of normality, though. Relativism doesn’t really do anyone any good - tolerance, yes, but not relativism. If everything (or nothing) is normal, then we aknowledge psychotic mass murderers as normal. Raping children will be just another way of living, equal to flying kites or playing the piano. And if you rob a bank, then you’ve done the same as anything else, only in a different way. It doesn’t work like that.

I agree that it’s silly to consider, for example, LARPing as more weird than playing football, but some standards must be mantained. Some answers are correct, some are not - and saying that all forms of behaviour are equal is, if no judgement (sic) is used, as bad as claiming 2 and 2 to be 5.

Also, I believe that - even with the attitude that everything is normal - anyone will be utterly surprised at some point. I have a teacher who claims that Thailand alone has far more different social layers than Europe, and even more types of behaviour. If you want to accept every way of life, you’ll have to visit every part of the globe and live there a long time. This is, of course, nigh impossible. But here in the West we think we are incredibly tolerant, yet most of us would flinch at how others choose to live.

…Sorry about this rant, this has just been on my mind lately. ^_^

@ILB: Normal does not necessarily equal acceptable. There is, in fact, a huge difference. Normal is useless, acceptable is crucial. I think you’ve gotten the two confused.

No, I have not. I know the difference very well. But; it is a lot easier to accept things that are normal. And if any behaviour pattern ceases to be abnormal, it will either already be accepted or soon become so.

Look at it like this: An annoying sound is a lot less annoying if you hear it constantly. You become desensitised towards it, and therefore you accept it. Eventually, maybe, but still so. “Normal” is different from “acceptable”, I know. But we must have something that is abnormal to upkeep standards.

I strongly disagree about normal being “useless and inane”. As they say, you are a unique snowflake… just like everybody else. Or, to paraphrase Dash in the Incredibles, saying that everyone is special is another way of saying that no one is.

The schools teach that everyone is equally unique, but it really isn’t so - people are variations on a theme, and while no two people are identical, there are certain attributes which are much much more common than others. Ergo, someone who possesses a number of rare attributes in combination is more unusual than someone who possesses almost all common attributes.

“Normal” actually is nothing like the average of 1 and 500. People are normally distributed - that is to say, personalities and characters tend to follow a spectrum, with people on the extremes being considerably more rare. While it isn’t a perfect bell-shaped curve, those who lie in the center are far more common than those on the edges. Someone who is normal tends to fall more towards the standard interests/personality types/reactions/ambitions/failures.

In other words, while everyone is unique, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are not normal - indeed, two absolutely identical people would be very abnormal. We expect some variation. But that doesn’t mean that most people aren’t pretty normal. You’re confusing uniqueness with normality or the lack thereof. Most people are far more similar than they are different.