Hello! : )

Nice to meet you! = ]

These are all wonderful goals and just the sort of thing I was hoping to read. To want to finish one's education at the point in life when most people are thinking of retirement is an extremely positive goal. For my own part, every year I consider more strongly whether I should attend college or not. I know that it would make my parents ecstatically happy, and of course it wouldn't actually HURT me (although I can see myself getting into lots of trouble in a college setting).

As far as "ambition"--I did try to point out, though I may not have done a good job of it, that I had ambition when I was younger. I do not have ambition now; I'm really just having a great time. Perhaps it's something unique to our age group that "progress" and "fun" can be one and the same...? xoxoxo

If you enjoy torturing yourself or being tortured by another person, you are masochistic. If you enjoy torturing others, you are sadistic. I know that sounds like a small paradox, but by strict S&M standards (HAR!! "strict S&M standards"--get it?) you are only genuinely sadistic if you enjoy torturing someone besides yourself. If you only torture yourself you're just a plain old masochist.

I hope this was helpful. YOURS IN CHAOS!!!!!!!! SCARLETT!!!!!!!

Complaining about the horrid criminals and boors on the internet doesn't do anything but alert the criminals and boors to the fact that you might be worth taking advantage of.

I'm not being a jerk to ya--that's just how it is. You wouldn't carry a wad of hundred-dollar bills in your hand through a crowded bus station, right?

The internet is, when all is said and done, a really wonderful thing. I mean, I literally couldn't make a living without it, my day job is completely linked to the internet. It also makes socializing a lot more safe and fun, in my opinion.

One always has to be careful in a social setting, regardless.



Word.

I hope you start feeling better. yours in Chaos, Scarlett

Helmut says there's no question that she's hot (I regard him as being something of an authority on this matter) and that he would ravish her in a heartbeat--but he would be even happier if it was a threesome between him, Ms. Palin, and Ms. Cindy McCain. xoxo

Welcome! :)

I think I might know. There was one social site I formerly belonged to that had an unusually large number of men who lived only a short drive from me. There was even a guy I exchanged a few PMs with who lives in the same town as me, which is very unusual. (I do not actually live in Denver, but in a rural area outside of Denver.)

So I thought it would be nice to make some friends with some local guys for a change.

What a cluster f!ck that turned out to be. I wasted hours and hours of my time IM chatting and talking on the phone with several guys who seemed nice. Three times I made actual arrangements to meet these guys and three times I was stood up.

I can usually deal with rejection fairly easily, but that was just like the absolute last straw.

Other local guys would message me and just expect for me to come over to their house and have a "discreet encounter" with them. Yep, driving for an hour or more to have some married dude use me like a blow-up doll--I'm all over that sh1t. (Not.)

And then there was the inevitable string of bitter divorced men who really just need a babysitter for their bratty kids and don't feel it's worth their while even to speak to someone who lives more than a 20-minute drive away.

So it didn't take me long to get REALLY sick of that, too.

The other side of the coin of meeting local people over the internet is that it's much more likely that the person you're talking to is just looking for a quick shag and that's it. And I mean, I don't need the internet for that, ya know?

If a person takes the trouble to meet you even though you live some distance away, you know that person is at least going to put forth the effort to make the occasion memorable.

Anyway, these are just some thoughts I have on the matter. I hope you find them useful. yours in Chaos, Scarlett

I don't know...? And now that I think about it: I don't care, either. I'm used to getting an enormous amount of attention in so-called "real life", usually for things that I haven't even done; therefore the internet is like a refuge where I can actually behave in a natural manner and show people what I'm really like without having to front. yours in Chaos, Scarlett

I think that many people get "mind control" mixed up with "brainwashing".

Mind control is a good and desirable thing, when it means "getting control of one's own mind".

Brainwashing involves taking control of the mind of another.

As noted above, no religion (or business, or social club, or any group of humans, large or small) can be said to be exempt from the charge of "brainwashing" to a greater or lesser degree. That's just how people are; there's always going to be a pecking order, and there's always going to be someone with an ulterior motive, and there's always going to be someone who wants to be in charge--and of course there are always those who want to be told what to do more than anything in the world. (I use the term "always" loosely here, not to suggest "infinity" or "forever".)

Those who are motivated to gain control over others come in many varieties and flavors. Some see themselves as being benevolent and fair-minded, and some are basely and overtly self-interested, but the attitude toward control is really the frosting on the cake. The cake itself is control of others' thoughts and actions. (Mmmmm.... cake.... ) I hope this was helpful. yours in Chaos, Scarlett

Hello! : ]

Nice to meet you! : )

As someone who sat with tears in her eyes and watched the Broncos get their ever-living butts kicked all over the place in a few superbowls: I'm pretty much over them. I wish them well and all, but, well... what more evidence does anybody need of the involvement of organized crime in major league sports? Me and my dad used to argue bitterly about whether it was possible for a major league team to throw a game. (Now I owe my dad five bucks.) yours in Chaos, Scarlett

Well this is about a hateful passive aggressive little rant, aint it?

If you really dislike women that much, maybe you just need a good strong Ken to love you up right...?

I think your profile is fine--you probably just aren't being outgoing enough, maybe. With a social site, you have to contact a lot of people to get things going. Try to keep in mind that out of 50 people that you message, probably less than half will respond. Out of those maybe 5 will keep the correspondence going past "I'm doing great, how are you?" Out of those probably NONE of them is going to be someone you will really want to get cozy with after you really get to know them.

Your expectations are probably set a bit too high; you may be one of those guys who will view a lady's profile and then if she doesn't view yours in return, or if she views you and doesn't message you, you move on. I know: You don't want to seem like an aggressive jerk, right? But you pretty much have to start the ball rolling yourself. That's just how the internet is; it's a lot different than a nightclub or other social setting.

In a bar if you look at someone and she glances and looks away and doesn't look again, then you know it's probably not worth your while to go any further, but the internet is a lot different. In a bar she can see how you're dressed and what kind of shoes you're wearing, and may even know what sort of car you drive and so on. On the internet, none of those things is apparent and most people on social sites are at least marginally aware of how easy it is to post fake pictures and stuff.

I'm not saying that's what you're doing, necessarily; but when guys make the kind of complaint that you're making about a social site, that's usually the case.

Do try to keep in mind that two dates is like untold riches to some men. A lot of guys would give their left, er... little finger to have even ONE date.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts. Feel free to disregard them. Good luck! yours in Chaos, Scarlett

Er, that's not really the topic, though. I was wondering if anyone else had, ya know, plans for the next 50 years, lol. I don't want to publicize this magazine, I sort of got into it with the senior editor (who I think doesn't even have plans for the next couple of years, much less 50; in fact he seems to have given up on life entirely). : D

If you message me about it I'm happy to give you the information, but you'll likely find it anticlimactic. xoxoxo

I think sometimes people set filters on their social site profiles because they think they have to, without really thinking it through.

There were MANY people on another site that would check out my profile and even message me, and when I would look at their profile I would see that I was filtered out either by age or some other filter like "smoking/nonsmoking" or whatever.

It's kinda frustrating but there are ways around it.

For example, you can change the age on your profile so that it falls inside the filter limit, message the person and explain to her that she has filtered you out but since she viewed you, you thought you would say hello, and then change your age back to whatever it really is after that.

Naturally I am not suggesting to anyone that they out-and-out lie about their age on their profile; just demonstrating that there's a workaround to a problem like that without actually having to, you know, STALK someone.

I hope this was helpful. yours in Chaos, Scarlett

Within the last couple of years I've accomplished one lifelong objective, which was to become published in a paying magazine. I have written ever since I was a kid, but never submitted anything for publication (that was unsolicited) until 2007. The first things I submitted, in fact, were accepted. (How many writers can say that? Most writers are rejected over and over again before their work is accepted for publication.) (Yes, I admit to some pride on this account! So sue me, lol!)

I remember as a child and teenager I did feel like such a failure because, though I spent so much time writing, I had not produced anything I deemed worthy of publication. I knew that other people who were very young had had books published and I compared myself unfavorably to them.

At this point I realize that I was beating myself up over nothing. I don't think that I really produced anything that was really good until the last few years, in fact. When I read stuff now that I wrote in my 20s and 30s I sort of cringe because, though my story ideas and dialog are pretty good, my style seems so... undeveloped. So now I'm attacking the whole writing thing with a lot more enthusiasm and confidence. Over the next few years I hope to have a lot more of my work published. (NOTE: I have had a lot of stuff published in magazines, especially back during the 1980s when I was writing reviews of rock musik and books, but I was never paid for any of it and it was all stuff that I had been asked to write by the magazines' editors, so that doesn't count in my opinion.)

But I have other goals for the next 50 years of my life. I would have to say the biggest one, that is really a long-range goal, is to own and operate a vineyard and winery.

I am curious regarding whether anyone else in this group has set goals for him or herself similar to this.

What are some of your goals, if any, for the next 50 years of your life? Would you consider them long- or short-range goals?

Thanks for taking the time to read! yours in Chaos, Scarlett

I think that's an excellent idea. Instead of trying to explain things to the kid--because she's too young to understand--just go there for a visit and surprise her. Even if she's upset with you now she'll forget all about it at the surprise of seeing her dad unexpectedly like that. Good luck!

My expectations are almost nonexistent, and I'm generally happier. I will note that others I know who keep their expectations high are often disappointed and angry. yours in Chaos, Scarlett