Introductions and Welcomes Showing 451-500 of 2,568

[Peter]

Servus Suzye (strange name, where from?),
we just tend to behave a little cynical/sarcastical around here. But no harm intended, mind you.
First question for you:
"Nihilism".
Hehe, mean me...
Nice photo of yourself, btw. I´m the guy with the crab on my head...
TLF

[Ken, Moderator]

Nihilism is not an answer, either.

[Ken, Moderator]

Thus spake Zarathustra...

[Savvy]

Friedrich Nietzsche

[Boreal Elizabeth]

forget nietzsche and nihlism
men with crabs on their heads probably should be ignored as you walk quickly away

my goodness l&g's shall we give the girl plaths complete works, anna karinina, and some vonnegut and tell her to fare well?

if you do read those depressing works be sure to balance it with jonathan livingston seagull, or hesse's Siddhartha or your fondness for words may lead you to despair

welcome welcome

[Ken, Moderator]

Let's see. My scorecard:

Sylvia Plath's poetry: Zzzzz.

Anna Karenina: A+ (but not the Anna plot, the Levin plot).

Kurt Vonnegut: I recovered from this phase.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull: Poop.

Siddhartha: Mostly Zzzzz, and the "Buddhists" show their true colors if you dare criticize it.


Anyway, jump in the other threads, Suzye, and make yourself at home. Some folks are crabby, others seagully, but we're all friendly (or else they are ostracized and smote down by the God of L&G, also known by the moniker "Debbie").

[Peter]

Suyze,
you can think about visiting Germany (especially Bavaria, the Alps), but you certainly won´t want to live here. Really not. I´m aiming for British Columbia, when I´ll finally have finished my studies. Open space, you know.
And no, "nihilism" was not a real question, just another statement to keep the mind in full gear.
Nietzsche, yep. Not my thing, actually. I liked "En Attendant Godot", though, Beckett. Or a "forerunner", Büchner´s " Woyzek". I´m obviously fascinated by spiritual abysses, hehe.

New (old) words and worlds:

"Entropy"
"Mene, mene tekel"
"Tiara"
"Event Horizon"

Best,
TheLurkingFear
Peter

[Ruth]

jonathan livingston seagull could lead me to place a gun against my temple.

[Boreal Elizabeth]

really-i thought it was upbeat when i was 16

ah well go figure people have differnt opines

i was just trying to warn her against some of the more morose explorations

p.s. i also thought rod mckuen was the bees knees in my teens

"...we had joy, we had fun
we had seasons in the sun..."

[Ken, Moderator]

Rod McKuen. Isn't he now the CEO of Hallmark Cards?

[Boreal Elizabeth]

you know him!


;)

[Ruth]

It's not that I don't think it's upbeat, Elizabeth. It's that I think it's bad.

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

I agree Ruth....dare I say that I lost an teeny bit of respect for my mother's judgement when she went gaga over it when it first came out and I thought it was a load of (bird) crap.
Song lyrics I like:
"Those were our young years,
Our wings were drying in the sun
Now the winter, at our window feels so cold"
Dragon

....and NE.......Goddess!!

[Ken, Moderator]

The GODDESS of L&G (with her mighty "smote stick"). How's that? Better?

Speaking of cult books, anyone going to admit to reading/loving/championing/loathing:

Kahlil Gibran's THE PROPHET
or
Carlos Casteneda's books (think crows)
or
I'M OK, YOU'RE OK
or
(add your own...)

[Boreal Elizabeth]

yes, jls, illusions

gibran and castenada all gave me somehting to balance the heavy psychological toll the "dark" works took on my burdgeoning psyche

i am perhaps a perpetual adolescent

i'm ok, you're ok was unreadable

ok, say what you want

but i support them using the scientific theory of perodicity

they were the water and nutrients delivered at a point when i needed unbounded optimism to offset my own tendency to nihlism

except castenada-he was sort of the romance novel of spirituality-again-fit the niche at the time

[Ken, Moderator]

I never even tried a Casteneda. I wonder if he still sells, or if he's strictly a 60s/70s phenomena.

[Ruth]

I tried Casteneda. During my midlife crisis. I even tried to be the kind of person who likes Casteneda.

Didn't work. And no wonder.

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

I never heard of him!

[Ken, Moderator]

"Listen my children and you shall hear, of the midnight ride of Castaneda revered..."

-- Some long fellow or other.

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

I googled it.....
In March 1973 Castaneda was the subject of a cover article in Time cover article March 5, 1973 (Vol. 101 No. 10). The article described him as "an enigma wrapped in a mystery wrapped in a tortilla." Following that interview until the 1990's Castaneda disappeared from public view.

He sounds like a common, garden-variety cultist to me....complete with female followers who shared his bed.

[Savvy]

I tried making music with 'castanedas' a few times in Mexico and Spain! ;-)

[Ruth]

Not so much a cultist, as one who claimed to have discovered the mysteries of life, and put himself out as a guide to the less-enlightened.

[Ken, Moderator]

I wonder if he's survived on the royalties (and the followers under the eiderdown...).

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

The 3 witches....they disappeared mysteriously after his death but were no treported missing because they had severed all contact with family and friends. They found the remains of one of them eventually and presumed that they had committed suicide after his death.

[Boreal Elizabeth]

the first book was supposedly a sociological, anthropological scholarly work
at 18 i thought it was
i read the series through the 80's and then reread them in 2002
i'd call them more parable or allegory
altho he did have his adherents
around that time i did see that he was still alive and kicking and doing workshops at several K a pop at new age centers and convention centers and hotels in the southwest (new mexico and arizona i think)
again to defend him-i got some valuable life lessons out of it especially once i could appreciate and utilize the metaphorical aspects

also, as a spiritual tradition it shares many things with buddhism, earth, pagan and nature based religions, including native teachings and is basically shamanistic

the later books are good stories, and i felt there were some beneficial emotional, spiritual and psychological insights

[Ken, Moderator]

A hearty defense. In truth, I cannot object or state otherwise. Usually I've read at least the opening page of a book (an old habit of mine), but not is CC's case.

[Simba]

Hello everyone, I'm Simba, I just joined. I'm from Ireland. I like languages, words, books, and songs, though I'm afraid I know little about cults. I am given to forget my capitals and overuse commas and parentheses.

[Ken, Moderator]

Hi, Simba. Are you a native of Ireland or did you move there? I always hear great things about the island (and supposedly its economy has been humming, which is why more of the Irish are leaving Boston and environs to return home!).

[Simba]

I'm a native. Are you from Boston?

[Ken, Moderator]

I'm from Connecticut but now live in a suburb of Boston. As you know, there's a heavy Irish presence around this city!

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Hi Simba....our moe forgets capitals too. My forebears (some of them) came from Ireland....County Kerry.

[Boreal Elizabeth]

i don't forget then
i just choose not to use them

blame it on ee cummings and the internet

and...um...a bit of laziness

[Simba]

I've heard there are far more people of Irish descent in America than in Ireland, which is always interesting. I look at people and wonder "Are they a distant relation?". I met an interesting lad from Boston who kept asking me if I could fight, because all the Irish he knew did so.
Kerry's great. You don't usually get real weather near Dublin.
I think my spelling has improved on the internet because it had previously deteriorated under the influence of txt-speak.

[Simba]

Oh, and your IBF certification was well-deserved. :)

[Ken, Moderator]

What we went through to GET that certification! I've grown comfortable here because of it. In other groups, I often go under the nom de guerre "Thread Stopper."

[Old-Barbarossa]

Well met, folks.
Joined this group a few hours ago, so thought I'd say hello.
I'm a Scot living in the wild West of Ireland (though I have no Gaelic - of either type) so please ask for clarification if I use non-standard English.
So far enjoying the whole goodreads thing.

[Ken, Moderator]

Welcome, "Barbarossa." I like that we're getting more of an international feel here. In the beginning, poor Debbie was doing ALL the work, but now she's getting help from Greece, Caledonia, Malaysia, Philippines, Ireland, and New Jersey. I mean, what exotic locale will be next? (I'm still holding out for Fiji or Tahiti.)

[Simba]

Hail, fellow-well-met! I like your name.
Someone from the U.A.E would be cool.

[Ken, Moderator]

I'll work on it. It so happens I'm sending my Secretary of State (Ms. Debbie) to the U.A.E. this October.

Wasn't there an "Operation Barbarossa" in WWII?

[Prabha]

Hi all

my how we have grown.. 300 members and counting!

welcome to all the new and the not so new and the re-newed members!

re-introducing myself..

Hi - I'm a teacher from Malaysia, and very new (again) to Goodreads. My interests are in special educational needs and ed psych. I'm a single mum, with 3 wonderful kids who teach me new lessons in life and learning everyday.

English is not the first language nor is it the medium of instruction in schools in Malaysia. As such, you may find some bizarre and distorted usage of language and grammar which is completely 'acceptable' here. (e.g. - Express check out lane sign in supermarket saying "Only 5 items or less")
There is a lot of first language interference as well.

Since 2003, Maths and Science is being taught in English in schools in Malaysia, which i think is a huge step in the right direction towards raising standards of English in the country as a whole.

Will try to contribute my two sen (hey i'm only Malaysian!) worth to these discussions...

[Boreal Elizabeth]

your sense and cents are wonderful contributions
i will always remember your description of your election

[Old-Barbarossa]

Yes, there was an Operation Barbarossa (Germany's invasion of Russia), but I'm a history buff and took the name from the Barbary Corsair...and my beard is indeed red.

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Prabha!!!!! You got my invite! And moe, I love what you are wearing.....who has my black russian...can't seem to find it! UAE NE? I will be far too busy to go there....

[Ken, Moderator]

Oh, then send your UNDER Secretary of State (there's plenty from the Land Down Under, no doubt). Thanks.

Prabha, it's so good to deja vu you. And to think, the first time you introduced yourself (Post #2, was it?), our membership in this group was maybe five. FIVE! Hope to see you now (and again) in the threads.

Barbarossa -- a Barbary pirate, was it? Fiercer than Bluebeard, Capt. Blood (great book by the way), and Long John Silver? Perfect (and now I have an image of you, too).

[Tyler]

No, wasn't Barbarossa the one who had his bones boiled after he died during the Crusades?

[Ken, Moderator]

Ummm... who's that dude in the iconographic photo, tyler too? Is it Barbarossa, pre-boiling, post-shaving? Kidding. Very nouveau and all that.

Oh. Re: your pregunta. I'd have to scroogle.org it to find out.

[Tyler]

Relyt has changed his name to Tyler and changed his photo as well, thus relaunching himself as a sort of RELYT 2.1 edition. I must demonstrate my existential freedom, like Debbie has.

[Ken, Moderator]

I love existentialism (went to school with Albert Camus), but it doesn't move me to change my picture. Oh. And you're still called "relyt" on MY screen. Or were you joking about the name change?

[Tyler]

Can't change the screen name because too many posters have addressed me that way in various groups. Besides, I don't want the NSA to know who I am.

Existentialism moves me to do many strange things.

[Old-Barbarossa]

relytyler: Boiled Bone Barbarossa was the Holy Roman Emperor who died during a bathing incident on his way to the 3rd Crusade. Known as Fred Barbarossa in the family.