...curious is all.

[Hephaestus]

"Learnings" may sound funny and look ungrammatical to you but parallel constructions of pluralized action words such as "teachings" and "findings" are actually commonplace and so that proves something ... also I use it all the time so by that fact it is entering into common use and you should welcome it to liven up your vocabulary a bit.

I approve. Dictionariness is not the only proof of wordhood. Sometimes you gotta roll your own within the more flexible rules of natural language.

[Spartan26]

What medications are you taking?

I share about myself if you share first. I just want to get to know you, curious is all.

Hello Je suis -

Will you be reporting your finding back to anyone?

I just took a vitamin C and milk thistle.
I like my steaks and burgers medium rare
I often come to this site to jump start my brain.

How's your uncle? Does he believe Obama is going to invade Texas as well?
What would you say is the most corrupt entity in the US?
You go to an amusement park, what ride do you go to first?

Welcome!

[Limes]

"Learnings" may sound funny and look ungrammatical to you but parallel constructions of pluralized action words such as "teachings" and "findings" are actually commonplace and so that proves something ... also I use it all the time so by that fact it is entering into common use and you should welcome it to liven up your vocabulary a bit.

oh!...fair enough then.

les goûts ne sont pas à discuter

*takes off velvet gloves and slaps both of faust's cheeks with them*
pah pah!

...in the meantime let me try to translate your signature from my memories of high school French. "We do not conform to the present era, but must transform for the renovation (?) of the mind, after which we can discern what is the volition of God, which is good, agreeable, and perfect."

close? ish??

This reminds me of a rant/open letter I sent to my former high school French teacher on social media several years ago, after his son appeared on a message board soliciting feedback from people who remembered his dad.
It was sort of like *cracks knuckles* let me tell you something about your dad...

He was one of the most hated screws to ever walk the halls of that shithole school. Openly bigoted and racist, he used to deliberately goad black kids into hitting him to get them expelled. He was hated by just about everyone and taught very little French.
The only reason that I can even count in French is because I'd have to do so, on a chair during class with my hands on my head, jumping up and down in some attempt at humiliation for responding to his vitriol.

I told his son (and he, by extension) that I've now traveled the world over as a successful consultant, including multiple French speaking areas and spoke only English, thanks in part to his ineffectual job performance and poor career choice, rather than any lack of capacity on my part, how he was a nasty bigot who should never have been allowed to teach children. I requested that his dad take a look back at his pointless career and realize what a parasitic waste of time and resources he was.

Anyway, *sigh* it's good to hear that there are people that made it out of high school with some degree of fluency.

[GnarlFox]

I had a Western burger earlier today from an old school side of the road mom and pop diner. It was delicious. I also really like Strawberry shakes and had one of those with it.

I stick around because I like reading what people have to say and this medium feels more natural for me than any other. Sometimes I don't like this fact while at other times I love it. It is what it is. I don't really contribute much because most things have already been said by the time I get to a discussion or it becomes long and polarized like the web advertisement thread. I try to avoid topics where people will be arguing past each other. One thing I've always enjoyed doing was understanding things from multiple points of view, but as I grow older I just don't have the patience to listen to black and white thinking. I guess what I'm saying is that I enjoy nuance and detest rigidity.

[LordLatch]

I just want to get to know you, curious is all.

A quick count revealed you hammered me with 18 questions. I feel the weight of them bearing down on me and I'm getting the emotions.

What would you ask were you only allowed one question? Once I have read that question, I can make an informed decision about answering it.

[jigglypuff]

i'm here cuz i've always needed multiple outlets for "self-expression" and over time i think this forum has become just one of those things serving that purpose, with the added benefit of having quite a few members who understand me quicker and better than people usually do. the second reason is plain habit (the foundation of many long-lasting relationships?). i found this community when i was in a different and worse place in my life and for better or worse the people i've met through this outlet have shaped my life since in small, indirect ways but in some cases in very significant ways.

[gator]

I like it here. It's comfortable being around people who are more readily able to understand. It's nice to let my hair down a little. I can say things here that I'm not able to say elsewhere.

As to my phoniness, I can't really comment. You could ask the dozen or so people here who have met me as to whether they think that my persona here matches the one I adopt in person.

As to your last question, I couldn't say. So much of America is foreign and unintelligible to me.

[interprétation erronée]

I am on the verge of deciding to burn the midnight oil on here as I didn't expect this thread to attract the attention it has. But alas I need to rest. I promise to return in the nest day to read all of your good comments and bang out some comments of my own that all of your posts deserve.

[LordLatch]

I am on the verge of deciding to burn the midnight oil on here as I didn't expect this thread to attract the attention it has. But alas I need to rest. I promise to return in the nest day to read all of your good comments and bang out some comments of my own that all of your posts deserve.

You became instantly popular.

[interprétation erronée]

This forum affords me something that is hard for me to have in meatspace. I can interact with people without feeling drained by it--because it's interaction that doesn't feel like it comes from behind a mask.

I know, that probably seems ironic, and depending on how you interpret the idea, it is. I'm not saying I'm never guarded, though I rarely am as guarded as I might be with physical presence involved. I am saying that in my normal interactions with people, at the end of the day, when I reflect on my behavior, and sometimes in the act itself, I become aware of how the person I was out there was a face I was wearing. It's a cosmetic image I've pasted on top of myself. Sometimes that really bothers me.

Here, possibly because the anonymity is sort of built in, I don't end up with that same strange stress. My fugue states produce things that make me laugh later, rather than groan. I like that. It's nice.

In mirroring the sincerity of your response let me start off by admitting I don't always represent who I really am either. Perhaps I have a low social aptitude because I don't quickly grasp how to negotiate among people groups combined with being overly idiosyncratic (more about that some other time). My social skills have always been the source of my problems. I am guarded in my normal interactions with people out of fear of exposing my social clumsiness and being judged. So I fall into the usual pattern and shape of behavioral fakery - someone hiding their insecurities behind a swagger and smile. It's a wall I've built that I justify by claiming that normal social interaction requires behavioral versatility, dynamic change to the people and events around me, and with this comes a certain level of dissembling as a defense to protect against others interfering with my life. It's probably not unusual, probably the norm these days. I mean who isn't fake at times or socially dysfunctional.

Welcome, curious one.

Thanks, Ptah. So like, is it valid to assume you're the creator of this website because you're the first person I encountered in the welcome thread?

les goûts ne sont pas à discuter

Bien sûr. Do you speak any foreign languages? Forgot to ask everybody that one.

I approve. Dictionariness is not the only proof of wordhood. Sometimes you gotta roll your own within the more flexible rules of natural language.

Mhm, I believe language is defined by what its speakers do with it.

What does your nick mean?

Hello Je suis -

Will you be reporting your finding back to anyone?

I'm just nurturing my curiosity by inviting others to share a part of themselves with me, Spartan26.

I just took a vitamin C and milk thistle.

I load up on vitamin C when I start feeling sick. My usual cocktail of supplements that may or may not increase short term memory recall are: Piracetam, Uridine Monophosphate, Acetyl L-Carnitine, DMAE Bitartrate, Alpha GPC, 5-HTP, Aniracetam, Huperzine A, CDP Choline, Vinpocetin, Bacopa Monnieri, fish oil, and multivitamins. Some of my stack are in the nootropics category. I'd be curious to find out how others benefit from taking nootopics.

I like my steaks and burgers medium rare

I appreciate delicious food. It's a pleasure I prefer enjoying with or without others. Pouring over the menu at restaurants is an exercise I particularly dislike though because I have to filter according to my dietary preferences: no pork, sea foods except fish with fins and scales, etc.. But once I've picked what I want to dine on I relish over the beautiful culinary experience I have awaiting me. How I will eat it e.g. systematically with silverware and etiquette or freestyle it with fingers and lots of napkins. I say, find what you like to eat and invite some friends. Bon appetit.

How's your uncle? Does he believe Obama is going to invade Texas as well?

My uncle believes that the U.S. created the space program as a scheme to bankrupt the Russians. He knows the moon landings were a hoax because there's proof...duh. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxH0EUbmV_o
I will have to have his opinions about Obama Texas invasion another time. Heh.

What would you say is the most corrupt entity in the US?

The porn industry.

You go to an amusement park, what ride do you go to first?

I visited Universal Studios last year and spent most of my time eating and talking with a friend. The few rides I went on felt fast and jerky and designed to satisfy the teenager's need for adventure. The one I enjoyed the most was the tour trolley ride. We ended up driving through the famous studio lot where Modern Family is taped and caught some of the cast in the act.

This reminds me of a rant/open letter I sent to my former high school French teacher on social media several years ago, after his son appeared on a message board soliciting feedback from people who remembered his dad.
It was sort of like *cracks knuckles* let me tell you something about your dad...

He was one of the most hated screws to ever walk the halls of that shithole school. Openly bigoted and racist, he used to deliberately goad black kids into hitting him to get them expelled. He was hated by just about everyone and taught very little French.
The only reason that I can even count in French is because I'd have to do so, on a chair during class with my hands on my head, jumping up and down in some attempt at humiliation for responding to his vitriol.

I told his son (and he, by extension) that I've now traveled the world over as a successful consultant, including multiple French speaking areas and spoke only English, thanks in part to his ineffectual job performance and poor career choice, rather than any lack of capacity on my part, how he was a nasty bigot who should never have been allowed to teach children. I requested that his dad take a look back at his pointless career and realize what a parasitic waste of time and resources he was.

Anyway, *sigh* it's good to hear that there are people that made it out of high school with some degree of fluency.

I feel like life's seasons can inevitably bring about meaningless irritating experiences with people – like those people who deserve to be removed from their positions of influence because they suck. The source of irritation causes suffering and creates unwanted variety in our lives. I was taught that the appropriate response is to kindly ignore them to mitigate unnecessary conflict which can help both parties develop ethical maturity, because it's the “right” thing to do. But who does that? I'm interested in knowing how you deal with the people element with all the foreigners that you encounter on your job whether you're in China or Europe or wherever. You must have developed set of skills making you successful functioning in social situations. What about conflict? The pattern I usually follow involves direct confrontation. My body language turns aggressive and it gets me no where in managing my emotions and the situation. I need help to get better at expressing my feelings toward people or ignoring them. *Shrugs*

I had a Western burger earlier today from an old school side of the road mom and pop diner. It was delicious. I also really like Strawberry shakes and had one of those with it.

I stick around because I like reading what people have to say and this medium feels more natural for me than any other. Sometimes I don't like this fact while at other times I love it. It is what it is. I don't really contribute much because most things have already been said by the time I get to a discussion or it becomes long and polarized like the web advertisement thread. I try to avoid topics where people will be arguing past each other. One thing I've always enjoyed doing was understanding things from multiple points of view, but as I grow older I just don't have the patience to listen to black and white thinking. I guess what I'm saying is that I enjoy nuance and detest rigidity.

Why do burgers and fries and milk shakes taste good together? This topic deserves some digging into.

I enjoy nuance and dislike rigidity, too. I dislike my job in paint counter sales because of how rigid and stressful it is. Actually I hate it. But it's a means to an end. I'll need this job on paper to get another better one in the future. They say you needa' job to getta job, or something.

A quick count revealed you hammered me with 18 questions. I feel the weight of them bearing down on me and I'm getting the emotions.

What would you ask were you only allowed one question? Once I have read that question, I can make an informed decision about answering it.

It's been said that people are either living in the regret of the past or in angst of the future, failing to find the balance of grounding themselves in the enjoyable experience of the present. Which are you living in? How does it affect your life? How would you like to be? Feel free to be specific.

i'm here cuz i've always needed multiple outlets for "self-expression" and over time i think this forum has become just one of those things serving that purpose, with the added benefit of having quite a few members who understand me quicker and better than people usually do. the second reason is plain habit (the foundation of many long-lasting relationships?). i found this community when i was in a different and worse place in my life and for better or worse the people i've met through this outlet have shaped my life since in small, indirect ways but in some cases in very significant ways.

I remember visiting the previous iteration of intpcomplex.com, intpcentral.com, and briefly pausing to appreciate the potential of what such an interactivity outlet could have on my life i.e. source of poweful advice, shared experiences to gain wisdom from, etc. I also remember some long thread about a dude named MacGuffin being chastised by other dudes after being banned or something. Strange memory to hold onto. Who cares...

I like it here. It's comfortable being around people who are more readily able to understand. It's nice to let my hair down a little. I can say things here that I'm not able to say elsewhere.

As to my phoniness, I can't really comment. You could ask the dozen or so people here who have met me as to whether they think that my persona here matches the one I adopt in person.

As to your last question, I couldn't say. So much of America is foreign and unintelligible to me.

A fascinating insight. You seem friendly and open. I'm attracted to these qualities in a person like this kangaroo is to his teddy.
Isn't that cute!

You became instantly popular.

It was easy posting every question that popped in my head. Commenting is a whole new experience. With it comes thinking of more expressive ways of responding than I typical would in the presence of all these exciting and interesting people. I'm not nervous...