Secular Confessions

[Suja]

Mylah, I totally get it. I find myself having thoughts like that when I am hanging out with the homeschooling families. Like, part of the reason I haven't gone to a skill share night is that I feel like I don't have a skill to share and plus they have a music circle at the end of each night and I do not play an instrument.

Having mad skillz and playing musical instruments is a prerequisite for homeschooling? That's nuts!

[Ky'sMom]

Oh and I'm not cool. I think I'm pretty awesome but yeah cool is not me. I like more nerdy things like sci-fy and reading and doing goofy things like putting DH and I in matching colors when we go out in public together. And I find nerdy men hot. I loved that fact that DH was into chess, studying something in school with the word physics in it, liked to program games on his graphing calculator for fun and that he loved to read and we could have these really deep conversations (not so much anymore, but than again I really haven't done that kind of reading and thinking for a while either....might be fun to do this winter though, pull out some Plato and read it together and talk about it).

Funny but I like all the things you like too sci-fi and reading and I am just generally goofy, it was one of my nick names as a child and I would respond by talking like Goofy the cartoon character. I still do that to this day actually. It cracks the kids up. But I still think I'm cool.

I think my definition of cool is not the general one though. I think people who are cool are themselves and they are not acting like something or someone else just to fit in or make people view them in a specific way.

"Hipsters" to me are not cool. They are lost souls who haven't found themselves yet IMO. Some play the game their whole lives, some become cool by being genuine.

I love someone who can have a conversation. To me being able to speak about your interest is very cool. That is the main reason why I was attracted to DH. Even though he has some far out ideas and believes a lot of stuff written in books that I think are propaganda, he is very passionate and intelligent and can speak very well about most any subject.

But nerdy people are my people so of course I think pretty much all nerds are cool.

I also think good mom's are cool and good dad's.

Erin

[missychrissy]

To me, anyone 'cool' is just someone I like. I don't know if I even know what a hipster is. I tend to take people as they are with me though...I don't care what they're in to or how they dress or what their philosophical ideals are about life. If we can talk, laugh, have a good time and they're honest...then they're 'cool' in my book.

I tend to be goofy too Erin. I play the dumb blonde role very well and have fun with it. Sometimes at work It makes the day go by faster. Rich used to call me "GoofTroop" as a pet name.

[demigraf]

Testing this emoticon here:




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Cool. It worked.

Until they add it permanently to the standard set of APA smileys (and so they should), save the link below. Then, if you want to use it click the "Insert Image" button on the toolbar and paste it into the URL field.

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...23852776_n.jpg

Congratulations, Erin. Your first smiley. You earned it.

[girlwonder]

As I have gotten older my definition of cool has changed. When I was young it was irony, non-involvement, judgement and stillness. Now I am much more interested by people who are enthusiastic about something, super-excited means super-interesting person usually. Now I find myself drawn to enthusiastic people.

My comedy wasn't really goofy. Maybe a little scatter-brained, dorky but still kind of cool. The last set of managers I talked to told me that they would only represent me if I would dye my hair blond as it would match my persona better than brunette.

[demigraf]

Happy belated birthday to Karen too. I didnt' get the chance to give you my wishes yesterday. Hope it was awesome.

[AbbeysMom]

I wish! Only Wife #1 cooks. She's an amazing cook, though. The rest eat out/eat frozen food mostly.

Maybe I'll just ply them all with liquor, provide snacks, bread, cheeses, keep it *really* simple. And provide a veggie platter and dip for the vegetarian/sober friend

Hey! If you're doing bread and cheese why not do a fondue party?

[daylilies]

I agree with the potluck idea or a bunch of little appetizer type things, veggies, crackers and cheese, maybe dip or spread.

Congrats on your smily Erin ;)

[AbbeysMom]

Testing this emoticon here:




-------------

Cool. It worked.

Until they add it permanently to the standard set of APA smileys (and so they should), save the link below. Then, if you want to use it click the "Insert Image" button on the toolbar and paste it into the URL field.

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...23852776_n.jpg

Congratulations, Erin. Your first smiley. You earned it.

YES! I'm totally going to overuse this.

Not very many people intimidate me, least of all people who would be considered cool. I've been around enough musicians and artists to generally be annoyed by hip people. I also purposely wear crocs and pastels to rock shows, just to offend hipsters wearing their vague shades of gray and Onitsuka Tigers.

I don't know what my internet forum personality is, but in real life, I don't really like very many people. Not that I'm unfriendly, but I make friends for keeps, so the list is short.

[AbbeysMom]

Also, speaking of comfy shoes, I can't find the show blog someone mentioned awhile back. Can someone post the link again?

[missychrissy]

Testing this emoticon here:




-------------

Cool. It worked.

Until they add it permanently to the standard set of APA smileys (and so they should), save the link below. Then, if you want to use it click the "Insert Image" button on the toolbar and paste it into the URL field.

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...23852776_n.jpg

Congratulations, Erin. Your first smiley. You earned it.

I just 'stole' it and put it in my photobucket account

[demigraf]

Mylah ... We'll have to have a playdate in a scenic spot just so I can take some pictures of you and Bodhi together.
...
Oh, and back to Bridget. I hate hate hate it when people say something mean and then try to dismiss the insult by saying they were kidding or put the responsibility back on the other person by the second insult of "what's the matter, can't you take a joke?" It's just plain bullying.

L, we'll just have to set up a proper playdate together... PERIOD. Somewhere there aren't a million people milling around and it'll be easy to keep an eye on our kids and they can actually play.
Have you checked out the new Creativity museum in SF yet? I'm thinking of taking Bodhi there. The beach is a nice place for mellow kid interaction too, I find.
...
I call people who try to use the kidding angle "verbal snipers". They say something offensive and then retreat behind the cover of it all having been in the name of fun, and then try to pass it off like you need to lighten up too. It's cowardly is what it is.

(Did you like that last sentence, Ash?)

Abbey woke up sick, and all she wants to do is lay on the couch and watch cartoons. I feel guilty for letting her watch cartoons all day and guilty for not letting her watch cartoons all day.

Awwwww. Poor baby. Bodhi has been hypnotized by Clifford cartoons before too. I find the idea of a big red dog somewhat terrifying.

My DH is extremely social. He has a lot of what I call "loser friends." I don't consider everyone I meet my friend like he does. He has "friends" that he doesn't even know their real names. To me that is not a friend. His associate that he calls the "Haitian Sensation" comes to mind. Or the ghetto-popular name "Ray-Ray." (All ghetto people know a Ray-Ray). They are not people I would like to hang around so I don't really speak to many of his friends except Corey who was our former neighbor and I love his mom because she is the best seamstress I know and his friend Tony who I used to work with and who I let stay with us for a few months when Elle was a baby. One of his friends just had a birthday and he is what I call the "tacky friend." He sends out invites to his own birthday every year and always puts at the bottom BYOD (bring your own drinks) and bring the "birthday boy" either $30 cash or a bottle of (insert expensive drink, this year it was Hennesey which is not as expesnive as years pasts). DH is so silly to me because he usually does what the invite tells him to do. After he told me that this friend sent him an invite I asked what liquor he wanted this year and DH then remembered that this friend does this every year and decided not to go. He finally agreed that the man was tacky.

OMG. Erin, this whole paragraph was just hilarious. From your stories, I've always thought you were sitting on sitcom material, but now I'm also thinking your life would be reality TV gold, and I hate reality TV. A Haitian Sensation sounds way cooler than a Snooki or a Situation.

We really need to have our friends over to inaugurate the finished basement/bar (especially the bar). It's kind of hard to plan an adult party with the little critter on the loose. Plus, I seem to have chosen a batch of people all of whom have some weird food related quirk or the other.
...
Anyone want to handle the menu planning?

When in doubt, I find an assortment of Chinese food keeps everybody happy. And it's easy too.

There's this one mom of Syd's friend that is 'too cool' for us... Anyway, every single time I'm around her I say something stupid and she just looks at me. Not with any expression-but I cringe inwardly. It's always over stupid things and she doesn't hold it against me...but I'm not sure what it is about her that gets me so out of sorts.

DH's favorite sister makes me feel that way sometimes. She's the one who stares at me for 2 seconds before she replies to something I've said. I've just decided it's just her way, though.

And avoid talking to her as much as possible. LOL.

... part of the reason I haven't gone to a skill share night is that I feel like I don't have a skill to share and plus they have a music circle at the end of each night and I do not play an instrument.

Have you considered making percussion type of instruments with your little ones and showing others how to make their own shakers/drums out of household items? That might be a fun activity on music night. There are quite a few ideas online for making your own instruments with children. And homemade instruments can be so much more fun than real ones.

[Cosmosmom]

YES! I'm totally going to overuse this.

Not very many people intimidate me, least of all people who would be considered cool. I've been around enough musicians and artists to generally be annoyed by hip people. I also purposely wear crocs and pastels to rock shows, just to offend hipsters wearing their vague shades of gray and Onitsuka Tigers.

I don't know what my internet forum personality is, but in real life, I don't really like very many people. Not that I'm unfriendly, but I make friends for keeps, so the list is short.

I don't even know what onitsuka tigers are...but I think crocs are cool!

I like that you don't like many people. Reminds me of my sister....it's a rare person that doesn't annoy her....and yup I'm sometimes on her annoying list.

I have two people other than DH and my sister that are my close friends IRL....one I met at age 15 and the other at age 16.

[demigraf]

Also, speaking of comfy shoes, I can't find the show blog someone mentioned awhile back. Can someone post the link again?

http://barkingdogshoes.com/

[Bridget]

in real life, I don't really like very many people. Not that I'm unfriendly, but I make friends for keeps, so the list is short.

This is exactly how I am. The friends I have I have had almost my whole adult life. I find most people I meet to be ingenuine. I will be really turned off by someone who does not participate in give and take conversation and really listen to me when I am talking instead of just waiting for their turn to speak. Oddly enough, speaking of stoner friends, I find that when I spend time with my hippy farmer friends, the people they introduce me to are really interesting and interested at the same time.

[missychrissy]

I call people who try to use the kidding angle "verbal snipers". They say something offensive and then retreat behind the cover of it all having been in the name of fun, and then try to pass it off like you need to lighten up too. It's cowardly is what it is.

--------
OMG. Erin, this whole paragraph was just hilarious. From your stories, I've always thought you were sitting on sitcom material, but now I'm also thinking your life would be reality TV gold, and I hate reality TV. A Haitian Sensation sounds way cooler than a Snooki or a Situation.

'verbal snipers'

And omg YES! I'd love to see an Erin Reality Show!

[Bridget]

Haaa! Verbal snipers is perfect!

[Ky'sMom]

Testing this emoticon here:




-------------

Cool. It worked.

Until they add it permanently to the standard set of APA smileys (and so they should), save the link below. Then, if you want to use it click the "Insert Image" button on the toolbar and paste it into the URL field.

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...23852776_n.jpg

Congratulations, Erin. Your first smiley. You earned it.

I am not easily embarrassed but that both embarrassed me and made me smile so thanks!! I am all excited about it now. I even thought that I should make some sort of speech in order to thank all the heathen women for their creative, intelligent conversations that made me able to be in contention for such a smiley!!

OMG. Erin, this whole paragraph was just hilarious. From your stories, I've always thought you were sitting on sitcom material, but now I'm also thinking your life would be reality TV gold, and I hate reality TV. A Haitian Sensation sounds way cooler than a Snooki or a Situation.


Have you considered making percussion type of instruments with your little ones and showing others how to make their own shakers/drums out of household items? That might be a fun activity on music night. There are quite a few ideas online for making your own instruments with children. And homemade instruments can be so much more fun than real ones.

Oddly enough my co-worker told me today that we should have a reality show of my family due to me asking him about fire fighter training facilities here in Atlanta. DH got accepted to take the physical abilities test in Chicago and wants to train in an actual FD facility and my co-worker used to be a fireman so he has some hookups for this.

Anyway I told him something wierd that DH said or did (I forgot what it was) but he did tell me that we should have our own reality show. I told him that DH has already thought of that but it doesn't involve regular every day life it is of the X rated variety and I shot that idea down really quickly even though it is not truly XXX or intercourse related, it is just something that DH likes to watch and he thinks someone else would want to watch it too. But I was like, um....No! My co-worker also thought that hilarious and the fact that I made sure to tell him I wasn't sexually harrassing him. Our company has had a lot of people get fired for sexual harrassment so any sort of conversation that involves gender or any reference to anything to do with sex, even if I don't mention sex or anything sexual, I make sure to introduce my statement as not intending to cause sexual harrassment. He also thinks that is hilarious as well (my co-worker, actually all of them, they swear they won't accuse me of sexual harrassment but I don't believe them).

And Bridget I agree with making your own instruments. Do any of the homeschoolers have any sort of African percussion instruments? If not you can make a lot of them out of gourds and beads and other easy to find materials. We made some sort of rattles out of gourds when I was a kid. I wish I could remember how to do it, I would let you know. But we made our own drums as well and had a percussion jam in a music program I was a part of.

I also don't have many true friends. Not including relatives I only have 2 people in my real life I consider friends. The one I mentioned before who throws the Mardi Gras party and one who was my roommate in college. He doesn't live far from me and comes over a couple times per week.

Most people get on my nerves though and I am honest and will tell people when they are getting on my nerves. Especially my former roommate as he can get needy and even though I always feel horrible later I am always trying to tell him how to manage his money since he is always broke and complains about not having money. But I also joke with them because I saw this movie with Jim Carey in it where he was a gay guy who figured out he was gay after he was married and have a kid...okay remember now it was called "I Love You Phillip Morris." And one of the parts of the movie that made me crack up was when he was talking about how he got into a life of crime because he didn't realize that being gay cost so much money to have all the designer clothes and go to parties and date and have a cool car. I always joke around with my friend since he is gay that he shouldn't be living the gay life so hard and he better watch out before he turns to a life of crime.

Erin

[missychrissy]

I always joke around with my friend since he is gay that he shouldn't be living the gay life so hard and he better watch out before he turns to a life of crime.

Erin

and..."I don't mean to sexually harass you, but..."

[Suja]

Yaknow, I'm not cool, I don't care, and I don't spend a second of my life worrying about it. I don't think any of my friends can be classified that way either. I am who I am, like who I like, take it or leave it. And if you decide that I'm not cool enough for you, then your loss, not mine.

[demigraf]

Yaknow, I'm not cool, I don't care, and I don't spend a second of my life worrying about it. I don't think any of my friends can be classified that way either. I am who I am, like who I like, take it or leave it. And if you decide that I'm not cool enough for you, then your loss, not mine.

You're so cool.

On a related topic, I have stopped talking about how cool I'm not, because that seems to have become the battle cry of the hipster too(ETA: not to imply that you were making any sort of hipster maneuver, Suja!).

Those pesky hipsters have co-opted everything!

[AmeriBrit]

(Did you like that last sentence, Ash?)

Fo' shizzle, I did! I even had to log on to my laptop so that I could type a reply since I was trying to keep up with the conversation on my phone and it was killing my eyes! Verbal snipers are a dime a dozen here in the UK....they try to pass it off as "their humor" but it don't fly with me!

OMG, you guys, me in high school...I was the weird girl that lived in her own reality. I was so uncool that I must have been cool. LOL. Kurt Cobain was my style icon, so you can imagine me there amongst the girly girls in high school with my wool cardigans and unkept hair. I cringe when I think about high school. I mean, it was great in some ways but in other ways, I was soooo unaware of how other people saw me. Oh, and I was a band geek, too. Nowdays, I am more girly in my style, but I'm still a quiet person. I like me, though. I'll do the whole Stuart Smalley routine in the mirror sometimes just for a laugh. Some people just talk all the time, though, like my MIL...she's a hairdresser, so it's in her blood to just yap yap yap! A lot of times, I feel like I should talk just as much back, but I just don't talk that much!

Erin, your comment about how you had to preface your conversation to your colleague with that you weren't sexually harrassing him reminded me of a conversation I had with a teacher friend the other day. She was telling me about how she'd taken a group of students of France for a week and when they'd gone to a goat's cheese farm, the kids were asking to do something and she'd told them they weren't "risk-assessed" for that. She said after that, for every activity the kids wanted to do, they'd say, "Miss, are we risk-assessed to do this?" LOL.

[missychrissy]

Erin, your comment about how you had to preface your conversation to your colleague with that you weren't sexually harrassing him reminded me of a conversation I had with a teacher friend the other day. She was telling me about how she'd taken a group of students of France for a week and when they'd gone to a goat's cheese farm, the kids were asking to do something and she'd told them they weren't "risk-assessed" for that. She said after that, for every activity the kids wanted to do, they'd say, "Miss, are we risk-assessed to do this?" LOL.

Kids are so funny like that!

[girlwonder]

I Love You Philip Morris was a GREAT movie.

[missychrissy]

I haven't seen it. I should though 'cause I love Jim Carrey.

[AbbeysMom]

I've now ordered a ton of shoes off Zappos, because I need new shoes. I just need one pair, but I have sensitive feet and I'm very particular about how shoes fit. I really only have one pair at any given time, then when I notice they start to wear out, I order another. They don't carry my old shoes, so I need to find a new kind.

I ordered 7 pairs, I had to return all of them, I ordered 7 more, and all are going back as well (free shipping both ways). Today I ordered 7 more and the credit card people finally called my husband and said "I don't mean to alarm you, but this women has ordered a high quantity of merchandise from an online shoe store. Can you validate the purchase?" He just said "Well she has sensitive feet, and it's hard to try on shoes with a toddler." I think the guy meant "approve" and not "validate" but Dh took him literally.

Anyway. I never understood how some women have just a ton of shoes or a "shoe fetish" because I can't stand this. And how do they find that many pairs of shoes to fit their feet?!

Thanks for link Myles, I'll be doing research tonight.

[missychrissy]

I love shoes-the older I get, the worse it is. But for as many as I might have (and it's not many compared with what other women have), I only wear 1 pair every day. The others are my 'special occasion' shoes. I can't order online though because the few times I tried they didn't fit me at all. I don't go shopping for myself often because I hate it, but every time I do I try on at least 10 pairs of shoes. I rarely buy myself a pair though because I can never find a pair that fits me well.

[Bridget]

"I don't mean to alarm you, but this women has ordered a high quantity of merchandise from an online shoe store. Can you validate the purchase?" He just said "Well she has sensitive feet, and it's hard to try on shoes with a toddler." I think the guy meant "approve" and not "validate" but Dh took him literally.

.

I literally lol'ed. Startled Sawyer!

[Smplyme89]

I hate shoe shopping My feet are really skinny and I have a super high arch so its a PITA to find shoes!!!

[Cosmosmom]

I'm most likely going shoe shopping Saturday. I have flat feet and a heel spur....no way could I order shoes online. So off to Minneapolis I go....nice part is no taxes on shoes and clothes in MN and I'm guessing a new pair will likely run me between 120-280 so that helps. After that is the Lego store at MOA.

I really need something to wear as I have been in my sandals all spring/summer/fall and well it's getting cold! And I can't wear my tennis to work. My Naot shoes from the past few years are just too worn and not comfortable anymore.

Going here http://www.schulershoes.com/Search.a...0'Tailored'

Kind of interested in trying this one http://www.schulershoes.com/Womens-F...ebec-P308.aspx
Maybe this one http://www.schulershoes.com/Womens-B...ila-P6762.aspx
Or maybe http://www.schulershoes.com/Womens-R...-03-P2887.aspx