OT: Sens Lounge LXXVII | A Fridge Too Far Edition

[Baby Ryan]

Advil (10mg per kilo, so you may need three tablets) plus ice should start to work and help get the swelling down.

I've been taking 2 tablets, hasn't worked very well so I'll take your suggestion. Merci.

 

[DrakeAndJosh]

If anyone here likes reading Canadian authors and is into really weird ****, check out We So Seldom Look On Love by Barbara Gowdy. I'm writing an essay on it right now and it is ****ing strange.

 

[Quo]

No on Canadian authors, yes to weird. Decisions. I'll probably check it out.

 

[DrakeAndJosh]

No on Canadian authors, yes to weird. Decisions. I'll probably check it out.

It's a short story in a collection with the same title. It is really strange.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

Short stories are awesome

 

[DrakeAndJosh]

Short stories are awesome

I love short stories, especially for essay writing. I can read it a good ten times and know it so well that my arguments become flawless.

 

[Quo]

It's a short story in a collection with the same title. It is really strange.

Looked it up on Amazon, seems to be right up my alley.

Publishers Weekly - These eight short stories employ both satire and morbid humor to explore the lives of emotionally and physically abnormal characters. Among the protagonists: a pathetically goofy hyperactive child in foster care; Siamese twins equipped with two pairs of legs, two sets of female genitalia and one active libido; a little girl who creates chants to shrink the head of her hydrocephalic playmate; a young woman, unable to find satisfaction in her marriage, who poses nude in front of her living room window to excite the voyeur who lives across the way; and the two necrophiliacs of the title story, which takes its name from a Frank O'Hara poem. While their behavior is sometimes macabre, these people show extraordinary gutsiness, refusing to allow their abnormalities to diminish their capacities for life and love in whatever form it takes. Canadian novelist Gowdy ( Falling Angels ) writes with a bite that grants her characters earthy courage without allowing them to lapse into self-pity. Her daring high-wire act may not appeal to everyone, but her stories are not easily forgotten.

No, that appeals, appeals plenty. Not the necrophilia of itself of course <shifty eyes> but sounds like a winner.

 

[DrakeAndJosh]

Looked it up on Amazon, seems to be right up my alley.



No, that appeals, appeals plenty. Not the necrophilia of itself of course <shifty eyes> but sounds like a winner.

if you check it out let me know how you like it. If it's good I'll read the rest of the collection.

 

[Icelevel]

I once new a guy who had a friend or family member murdered each and every day. Right in front of him. Watched helplessly while they screamed in agony. He got depressed.
He's ok now though. He says life couldn't be better. Doc gave him some meds. Now he happy.

 

[Benjamin]

I get paranoid about depression. I dont think I have it and dont think I ever have. But I always get thoughts like what If I do and just cant tell or Ive been depressed for so long I dont even realize it.

I definitely have mental problems though. Severe social anxiety and days where im so unmotivated that I cant even leave my room.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

So Robin Williams was at the beginning of Parkinson's

Things make a bit more sense now: that's super scary stuff and I'm very glad no one in my family has developped it

I've had bouts with depression but have won everytime (last time was a year ago), it's doable but I'm also in a pretty good situation in life: for me the most important was just calling my parents and just talking for hours about all the things I was sorry for and all the things I never gave them enough credit for and doing so almost everyday

Seriously people, your parents aren't going to be around forever: cherish them

It sounds corny but holy hell did it ever do a lot of good

 

[Benjamin]

The Extreme Makeover episode of Always Sunny is one of the funniest things ive ever seen.

 

[Cosmix]

I get paranoid about depression. I dont think I have it and dont think I ever have. But I always get thoughts like what If I do and just cant tell or Ive been depressed for so long I dont even realize it.

I definitely have mental problems though. Severe social anxiety and days where im so unmotivated that I cant even leave my room.

If you are being truthful about this, then i think it may be helpful to talk to a someone, particularly a psychiatrist about it. Depression and anxiety can go together. Talking to someone about it could provide strategies for dealing with such feelings. I'm not an expert but have seen depression in others close to me.

 

[MakeOttawaGreatAgain]

People get down and life can be hard, unfair and infuriating. When something bad happens, it is a normal reaction to be down. I think some people misuse the word depression. A normal reaction to something sad or heartbreaking is to be...sad.

For people who cannot figure out why they are sad is the depression that is more serious and therapy can definitely help.

I think the late teens and early twenties gang are probably not as good with coping strategies coming from overprotective parents, myself included as my teenager and my other kids are probably going to find out! Of course there are many exceptions to this and this is not meant to categorize anyone here particularly, just a general observation.

People who post those "remember when" threads of kids being kids, not wearing helmets, playing until dark without supervisions, etc...like to romanticize about growing up in the 70s or 80s compared to parents of today. I am guilty of this as well, over-protective, caring too much because parents of today are so much more involved than my parents were. Kids in the 70s were out all day because parents were busy working, trying to get ahead and we had scarce family time compared to the amount of time I make for my kids. Hard to leave them out of my sight and sometimes hate myself for being there for every little thing.

Would it be better to let my kids figure things out the hard way? I don't know why I have to subject my kids to suffering if I can help them, but at some point they have to try and figure things out. I won't be here forever to wipe their nose and clean their scraped knee. I get the feeling that the first instance my son is challenged, he is going to fail to cope with life's challenges, and he will become depressed, need meds, etc...worries the hell out of me as he is starting grade 8.

My then 9 yr old daughter was bullied socially two years ago and she coped with it from November to February with our help. It was very hard to watch, heartbreaking because girls can be so incredibly mean. Exclusion is the absolute worst. We tried to cope on our own, I tried to teach her, as did my wife, how to deal with these issues until one day it became violent and then I went into full beastmode at school against the teacher and parents of the other girl. Needless to say it got fixed. The principal asked me why I waited so long. I told her that if I told my daughter to tell me every instance that she was bullied from November she would never know how to solve her own problems. She looked at me like I was from Mars.

When I volunteer for some school events you hear the word "bully" all over the schoolyard to the point that teachers are completely desensitized to the very notion. It has lost its power, believe me. No one is teased, punched, tripped, made funof, etc.. anymore. Just bullying. A kid says it, the others gasp at the word and scatter as they do not want the label so it is effective between kids, but the teachers? Not so much.

What did she learn? Well again, new year different girl and she was bullied and she was able to cope with it and solve it ON HER OWN.

Back in the day the crap that is called bullying was almost expected, accepted in the 70s and 80s. Are our kids weaker or are parents over-protective?

Sorry, just started typing and it got away from me.

I think you nailed it. Kids need to learn and experience things. I think people take children for granted. They treat them like toys or playthings instead of treating them like people who will one day be out in the wild.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

If anyone here likes reading Canadian authors and is into really weird ****, check out We So Seldom Look On Love by Barbara Gowdy. I'm writing an essay on it right now and it is ****ing strange.

Canadian authors and strange seem to go hand-in-hand. I watched Pontypool a few years back and found out (through the IMDB boards) that it was based on the book Pontypool Changes Everything by Tony Burgess. It's a rare case where the move was far, far superior to the book.

The book was very odd. The first half was amazing. The way it was written, you're never quite sure what is real and what is just abstract & imagery. The second half was awful. The two halves of the book are so different it almost feels like it was written by two authors.

 

[bacon25]

No idea, probably some good stuff for back to school.

Best Buy has some good stuff on Black Friday, but that is a little late for back to school stuff.

 

[Harbinger]

That's crazy man. Good on ya. You probably just increased your life expectancy by 10 years. Your knees will certainly thank you.

What kind of changes did you make?

Smaller plates for smaller portions. More water to keep me nice and hydrated and of course, exercise. It also doesn't hurt that I'm a giant and my basil metabolic rate is 4700.

 

[L'Aveuglette]

I get paranoid about depression. I dont think I have it and dont think I ever have. But I always get thoughts like what If I do and just cant tell or Ive been depressed for so long I dont even realize it.

I definitely have mental problems though. Severe social anxiety and days where im so unmotivated that I cant even leave my room.

Yeah, as mentioned above, anxiety is often times a bi-product of depression, albeit it could be a moderate form of it. I've had the same problem when isolated for too long as I work from home and I tended to become a bit of a hermit after a while. The trick was to force myself to go outside regularly and socialize more often. Exposure therapy works pretty well in this case, but I've also had to use medication for periods of time when things just got too out of control in terms of anxiety. Usually though, it was due to general circumstances and I needed to make changes in my life and learn better coping methods.

Anyway, I suggest seeing a therapist if you've never done it before. Doctors will only prescribe meds and that should be a last resort.

 

[Cosmix]

Yeah, as mentioned above, anxiety is often times a bi-product of depression, albeit it could be a moderate form of it. I've had the same problem when isolated for too long as I work from home and I tended to become a bit of a hermit after a while. The trick was to force myself to go outside regularly and socialize more often. Exposure therapy works pretty well in this case, but I've also had to use medication for periods of time when things just got too out of control in terms of anxiety. Usually though, it was due to general circumstances and I needed to make changes in my life and learn better coping methods.

Anyway, I suggest seeing a therapist if you've never done it before. Doctors will only prescribe meds and that should be a last resort.

Yes, you must watch out for doctors prescribing meds. Way back in antiquity, when i was attending university, i was having stomach problems. I went to see a counsellor and he prescribed valium, thinking that i was under stress. That seemed reasonable to me at the time. I took them for awhile but it did not solve the problem. After a little while i figured out what was causing the problem. Sometimes after spending the evening at university studying, we would head home in the car pool and stop at Junior's restaurant for a chilli burger and chilli fries. Well, that was the cause of the stomach problems, eating greasy food at 11:00 pm at night.

 

[Benjamin]

Yeah, as mentioned above, anxiety is often times a bi-product of depression, albeit it could be a moderate form of it. I've had the same problem when isolated for too long as I work from home and I tended to become a bit of a hermit after a while. The trick was to force myself to go outside regularly and socialize more often. Exposure therapy works pretty well in this case, but I've also had to use medication for periods of time when things just got too out of control in terms of anxiety. Usually though, it was due to general circumstances and I needed to make changes in my life and learn better coping methods.

Anyway, I suggest seeing a therapist if you've never done it before. Doctors will only prescribe meds and that should be a last resort.

This is exactly what im doing.

I live in a super small town and dont really know anyone. Last few years I've been on auto-pilot of doing nothing. I got sick of it and finally decided to do something. Going to college so I can actually get out and start living.

 

[Caeldan]

Canadian authors and strange seem to go hand-in-hand. I watched Pontypool a few years back and found out (through the IMDB boards) that it was based on the book Pontypool Changes Everything by Tony Burgess. It's a rare case where the move was far, far superior to the book.

The book was very odd. The first half was amazing. The way it was written, you're never quite sure what is real and what is just abstract & imagery. The second half was awful. The two halves of the book are so different it almost feels like it was written by two authors.

Recently found out about a book that I think tops the list for strange and Canadian authors, because it also won a Governor-General's Award. Bear - Marian Engel

 

[Caeldan]

I think you nailed it. Kids need to learn and experience things. I think people take children for granted. They treat them like toys or playthings instead of treating them like people who will one day be out in the wild.

Disclaimer: No kids (that I know of) to date. However I did have to deal with bullies from elementary school through to graduating high school, and I dealt with it - including to the point where some of those who bullied me eventually either became friends, or at least guys whose respect I earned and would stand up for me as if they were a friend when it was necessary.

I feel like a lot of the problems started when everything started going all black and white zero tolerance. If you're being bullied, what options does a kid in school have nowadays?

At least when I was in elementary school, could get into a fight when necessary and not have more than a sit outside the principal's office for the remainder of recess. High school, a little trickier - but I never had to involve my parents and only once did I feel like I had to go to faculty.

 

[DrakeAndJosh]

Recently found out about a book that I think tops the list for strange and Canadian authors, because it also won a Governor-General's Award. Bear - Marian Engel

The running joke in my canadian lit class is that pretty much everyone ever has won a governor general's award.

 

[YouGotAStuGoing]

I get paranoid about depression. I dont think I have it and dont think I ever have. But I always get thoughts like what If I do and just cant tell or Ive been depressed for so long I dont even realize it.

I definitely have mental problems though. Severe social anxiety and days where im so unmotivated that I cant even leave my room.

Sounds similar to my situation, too. Yesterday I had one of those days where even the thought of leaving bed made me want to curl up in a ball and call in sick. They're rough, but thankfully for me they tend to be fewer and farther between than they used to be.

 

[Quo]

Aye, me and Benny, peas in a pod here.