ChudFusk wrote: Fri Apr 21, 2023 8:27 pm

jfv wrote: Fri Apr 21, 2023 7:25 am ("Woodstock" poster)

When I think of hard rock and heavy metal, the first thing that comes to mind is Woodstock

They're trying.

On my walk today a guy comes up to me.


Guy: "Hey man, I saw you walking here before, talking to my kids, what's up with that?"

Me: "I haven't talked to any kids here. You have the wrong guy."

Guy: "Where do you live?"

Me: "None of your business."

Guy: "Come with me, we'll ask my kids if they recognize you."

Me: "No I won't do that. I'm leaving now."

Guy: "If I see you here again, you're not walking out of here."

Me: "I'll go wherever the hell I want."


Interesting morning, as a Chinese might say.

I start my new job with the county parks system today, at Hamilton Pool. Yippee!

Dave N. wrote: Mon Apr 24, 2023 6:59 am I start my new job with the county parks system today, at Hamilton Pool. Yippee!

Hell yeah! And that place is great.

Imagine there's no gender.


I watched this video a while ago, started to be mindful of the very simple suggestions made, and it has altered things for me, in my sense of confidence and my sense of security, in slight but significant ways.

Moreover, it started to shift some things around psychologically. The fact that this advice is given by a woman specifically, made it reach me in a very different way. Had this been a guy, it likely would have a kind of aesthetic and vibe which would introduce the concept of manhood as a screen, which would fuck up everything, because now it all gets entangled in how I relate myself to manhood as something particular to live up to or reject and which I have all kinds of feelings and complexes tied to, and this would make it very difficult for me to take this advice on its face, because in my mind it would be "the kind of advice that will lead me to properly become a man", followed by the simultaneous thoughts "I don't want to / I am not able to / But maybe I have no *choice*", and a feeling of the thing I am striving for (confidence, security), being gatekept precisely by this MAN who demands me to become like him.

There is no such imposing figure here, at all.

This was unexpected for me. I even half-joked to myself beforehand "hey why not try this girl-advice wouldn't it be funny if it worked?". Undoubtedly this is because the person in the video appears to me as the other sex, so I carry with me the idea that they are essentially different in what they desire and strive for, EVEN THOUGH intellectually I firmly hold the opposite position, EVEN THOUGH I am getting used to being queer in my experience and my relation to gender.

So it's not that it's a vast imaginative leap for me to make, it's just that I had never before thought of making it, even regarding such a basic topic as "gaining confidence" - it shows that somewhere in this my mind is astonished to discover that a girl also can want confidence, independence, and so on, whereas were I to seek advice on such I would instinctively look for a man's advice - even though that very presentation is likely to make me feel insecure, resentful, hopeless, in very particular ways - and thinking of following advice on this topic from a woman would appear as a kind of novelty, would take the form in my mind as something other, something distant, at any rate something peculiar and different.

And whereas it IS this difference that made this impactful and effective for me - the fact that I was able to identify with the other-than-the-man-I-supposedly-am, it is at the same time the discovery that there was NO difference.

I could hold something as a comprehensive thought earlier, and yet this was now made practical in a way that, subtly but profoundly, altered my view of the whole thing.

For the first time ever, I asked Siri a question today.

“Siri, what is Juice Newton’s real name?”

Judith Kay Newton.

Dave N. wrote: Tue Apr 25, 2023 8:13 pm For the first time ever, I asked Siri a question today.

“Siri, what is Juice Newton’s real name?”

Judith Kay Newton.

Juice Newton was the first proper LP my parents ever bought me, I'm pretty sure.

Didn't take.

Finished my first week at my new job, working at a popular Central TX nature preserve. Lots of hiking, lots of talking to guests about the natural/geological/historical aspects of the park, lots of explaining to people why I can’t let them on the premises without a reservation. Had to fuss at a kid today for throwing rocks at the turtles because his mom gave zero shits. Please don’t poke the water moccasin with a stick. Stalagtite is the top one (hold on tite!) and stalagmite is the bottom one (it just mite reach the top!). Ma’am, you just put your day bag down in poison ivy. There’s a storm coming and y’all have approximately 15 minutes to get back to your cars before all hell breaks loose (everyone dawdles).

I’m tired, but satisfied.

Dave N. wrote: Fri Apr 28, 2023 7:31 pm Finished my first week at my new job, working at a popular Central TX nature preserve. Lots of hiking, lots of talking to guests about the natural/geological/historical aspects of the park, lots of explaining to people why I can’t let them on the premises without a reservation. Had to fuss at a kid today for throwing rocks at the turtles because his mom gave zero shits. Please don’t poke the water moccasin with a stick. Stalagtite is the top one (hold on tite!) and stalagmite is the bottom one (it just mite reach the top!). Ma’am, you just put your day bag down in poison ivy. There’s a storm coming and y’all have approximately 15 minutes to get back to your cars before all hell breaks loose (everyone dawdles).

I’m tired, but satisfied.

you are going to have to start a thread called "crazy shit i saw at work today"

you're going to have some great stories.

Dave N. wrote: Fri Apr 28, 2023 7:31 pm Finished my first week at my new job, working at a popular Central TX nature preserve. Lots of hiking, lots of talking to guests about the natural/geological/historical aspects of the park, lots of explaining to people why I can’t let them on the premises without a reservation. Had to fuss at a kid today for throwing rocks at the turtles because his mom gave zero shits. Please don’t poke the water moccasin with a stick. Stalagtite is the top one (hold on tite!) and stalagmite is the bottom one (it just mite reach the top!). Ma’am, you just put your day bag down in poison ivy. There’s a storm coming and y’all have approximately 15 minutes to get back to your cars before all hell breaks loose (everyone dawdles).

I’m tired, but satisfied.

That's awesome.

My now deceased great aunt and uncle bought and opened Krause Springs, if you're familiar - it's pretty close to Spicewood. My grandmothers brother bought the land and turned it into a campground in the 50's or 60's, so we visited a few times a year growing up and I have super fond memories of that part of the world. Several family members were married out there, I have cousins that I don't know who still live on and run the place.

CTX/the Hill Country is among my favorite places in Texas - There's a very unique feel to it when compared with other desert/plains/southwest landscapes. Springs and rock formations and lizards and snakes and shit. Live oaks and other semi water starved appearing vegetation, armadillos that jump straight in the air when they get scared. Parts of it feel like another planet if you're only used to the shit you see in cityscapes.

Hope it goes well. Sounds fun overall.