Meanwhile... Pt. 1

[zryson]

I ended up saying thankyou to the person. Not sure if that was the right response or not but I figured it was the human thing to do.

[zryson]

Well this is unsettling. A neighbor was just here and said there was an attempted break-in at their house. The cops have been called.

[zryson]

Hmm, the Marvel superheroes poster I hung on my bedroom wall almost fell down a short while ago. I have hung it up with thick manufacturing tape but I might have to buy some adhesive instead.

[zryson]

I found out a little more news about the attempted break-in. Turns out the person (s?) used some kind of tool to try and pry some windows open. Kind of creepy thinking about it.

[Cei-U!]

This has certainly been an interesting election: every single candidate I voted for won (except the one Republican!) and all but two of the initiatives/referendums (charter schools were approved, goddammit, and the stupid "2/3 majority to raise taxes" thing passed for the fourth time and will no doubt be thrown out by the state supreme court again). Proud as hell of my state for approving marriage equality and legalizing marijuana. I've been voting since 1976 and have never had things go so totally my way. It kinda scares me!

Cei-U!
I summon the electoral elation!

[berk]

This has certainly been an interesting election: every single candidate I voted for won (except the one Republican!) and all but two of the initiatives/referendums (charter schools were approved, goddammit, and the stupid "2/3 majority to raise taxes" thing passed for the fourth time and will no doubt be thrown out by the state supreme court again). Proud as hell of my state for approving marriage equality and legalizing marijuana. I've been voting since 1976 and have never had things go so totally my way. It kinda scares me!

Cei-U!
I summon the electoral elation!

Quick -buy a lottery ticket!

[berk]

All you horror readers out there: what do you think of this Guardian blogpost on the state of modern horror, along with its comment section? There are a few names that sound interesting, some I've heard of - e.g. Thomas Ligotti, Ramsey Campbell - and some I haven't - e.g. Mark Samuels, Phil Rickman. I might give some of these a try, one of these days.

[dan bailey]

Proud as hell of my state for approving marriage equality

Just out of curiosity, do you & Rob have something to tell us?

And if so, is the gift registry at the Danger Room?

[Cei-U!]

Just out of curiosity, do you & Rob have something to tell us?

Sorry, pal, we're both happily hetero.

And if so, is the gift registry at the Danger Room?

That would be the case no matter who I married!

Cei-U!
I summon the wish list!

[tony ingram]

Everywhere we look these days there seems to be bad news. Crumbling economies. Reports saying people are more stressed and have excessive anxiety. The technology which brings us together seems to be driving more of us apart and making people feel lonely and isolated. But when I step back and look at it, with open eyes, the reality is that there has always been bad news. Life has always been fragile. Sometimes overwhelmingly so. I guess what has changed is that many people seem to have lost hope. They feel very alone. Often I see people telling others they are not alone but I'm not sure it changes anybody minds. For myself, when I feel down I like to read. Books, magazines, comics. Sometimes even the newspaper (how old fashioned of me). Reading has always been an escape for me. And I read a lot. Many people I know just sit for hours in front of a television. Usually complaining there is nothing on. All the while I will be curled up with a book in front of me. The evocative words printed on the page taking me from this world into another time in history.

Ironically, I think the fact that we can now communicate so easily in so many ways with people anywhere in the world at a distance has led to a lot of people basically just losing contact with the people around them, resulting in the loss of a sense of community and, in some cases, of some of the social skills necessary to deal with people face to face. People don't care about their neighbours anymore, or feel any sense of responsibility to them-but they'll obsessively follow the lives of people they'll never be in the same room with via Facebook and Twitter.

[dan bailey]

Soory, pal, we're both happily hetero.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[zryson]

tony ingram you make a good point about people following other people's lives obsessively. I see that happen a lot these days with people following other people via twitter, facebook and other social media websites; sometimes sitting for hours at a time following other people’s lives. For myself I tend to feel a little uncomfortable around people. That's not to say I don't like people because I do but there is usually some awkward feelings there. It's probably why I like doing things alone. Like reading, writing, going to bookstores. At first I found it lonely but there is also strength in doing things by yourself.

[berk]

I haven't gotten into twitter - still don't see the appeal of it, and there seems to be no way to try it out without actually going through the trouble of signing up.

[zryson]

Twitter has never appealed to me either. I think its more a series of one sentences or thoughts. But many of the things people write tend to be very self-centered and meaningless. Like people who write: got up, had breakfast, hit gym. But the point I make is why is that so important to write and tell the world about? It's sort of like people who set up fan clubs for themselves. Maybe the point I am missing is that it makes them feel important? Gives their self-esteem a boost to tell other people what they are doing minute to minute?

[Aaron King]

I haven't gotten into twitter - still don't see the appeal of it, and there seems to be no way to try it out without actually going through the trouble of signing up.

I like Twitter well enough, but I use it for a pretty specific purpose: I like to have it on while I'm at work for those little moments of needed distraction.

I pretty much just use it as a consumer; I subscribe to a few writers, some artists, a news source, and some humor accounts. It can be a refreshing thing to hop over, look at the last couple updates, and then get back to work. There's not as much of a chance for me to get sucked into things (unlike on CBR, Wikipedia, Facebook, etc.).

Instead, I just get a headline or two, some funny quips, and, if I'm lucky, a little picture of what, say, Walt Simonson is working on at the moment.