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BS: What fills you with despair?
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Subject: BS: What fills you with despair? From: MGM·Lion Date: 10 Oct 12 - 08:41 AM A few years ago I found myself in that Macbeth-like state of "I have lived too long". The trigger for this despairing feeling was reading that a world-record price for an oil painting had just been paid in a NY saleroom: not for a Van Eyck or a Signorelli, a Botticelli or a Leonardo, a Guardi or a Canaletto, even a Picasso or a Matisse ~~ but for a Vladimir Tretchikoff; he of the green-faced women. World record. Tretchikoff. Got to be time to go. Farewell cruel world... This has been brought back to me by this very morning's Times, in the context of the news that someone had been arrested for defacing one of his works [tho, as a feature writer asked yesterday, how could they tell?], the highest price paid at auction for a C20 artist [presumable thereby outdoing even that blasted Tretchikoff], was for a Rothko. Oh God! Oh well -- I am 80 now... So -- what comparatively trivial but important-to-you manifestation of modern life fills you with that sort of "oh what's the use!" existential despair? ~Michael~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Wesley S Date: 10 Oct 12 - 08:51 AM The number of people in my town that think that yard signs and bumper stickers will influence how I vote. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Bobert Date: 10 Oct 12 - 09:00 AM Here's the best part about the crazy prices people pay for art... They have that kind of money to throw away... That is the despairing aspect, McG... I mean, the wealthy, be it in the US, the UK, Eqypt or, yes, even Greece, are drowning in cash... Also despairing is that artists are the one's benefiting... I recall a story about Robert Rauschenberg attending an auction where one of his paintings was going to be sold by someone who had purchased it years earlier thru a gallery... First of all, when artists sell their work thru a gallery the gallery generally gets a big piece of the price, like in the 40% range... So the artist ain't like getting rich... Anyway, I don't recall the exact amount that this Rauschenburg painting brought but it was big money... After the auction, Rauschenburg went up to the buyer and said, "Geee, if you wanted to spend that kind of money on one of my pieces I wished you'd just come to me..." Yes, that is despairing... Most artist's never see enough money for them to do it as a full time job no matter how good they are... Once they die then it's 16 men on a dead man's chest... That is despairing... But, hey, McG... You and me ain't in the Obits today so let's just knock back a few beers and call this day a good 'un... B;~) |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: MGM·Lion Date: 10 Oct 12 - 09:07 AM I'm not McG - but thanks for reply. ~M~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Silas Date: 10 Oct 12 - 09:09 AM Young people smoking. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 10 Oct 12 - 09:18 AM Just read in the auto section of the paper that many, many parents of young children don't provide them with safe car seats. Infants are not facing backward, though that's obviously safer for them. Some children are still rattling around loose in the car. Where are their brains? |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Silas Date: 10 Oct 12 - 09:21 AM I work in the motor trade and this is perfectly true. Many 'trendy' young couples with kids would rather pay extra for a special paint finish or side bars or some such trivia than invest in a quality car seat for their children - the most precious cargo they will ever carry in their car. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Midchuck Date: 10 Oct 12 - 09:35 AM The Republican and Democratic parties - and the idea that any third party is somehow "un-American." |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: SINSULL Date: 10 Oct 12 - 10:04 AM The thought of my son homeless on the streets and not a soul to give a shit about him once I am gone. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Megan L Date: 10 Oct 12 - 10:26 AM Why despair when you despair you think nothing can be done. a friend sent me this just this morning. Attitude There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three hairs on her head. 'Well,' she said, 'I think I'll braid my hair today.' So she did and she had a wonderful day. The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head. 'H-M-M,' she said, 'I think I'll part my hair down the middle today.' So she did and she had a grand day. The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head. 'Well,' she said, 'today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail.' So she did, and she had a fun, fun day. The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head. 'YAY!' she exclaimed. 'I don't have to fix my hair today!' Attitude is everything. Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle. Live simply, Love generously, Care deeply, Speak kindly, and pray continually. Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass... It's about learning to dance in the rain. It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived. Life is too short to wake up with regrets. Love the people who treat you right and pray for the ones that don't. ( and for those who dont do praying my mum's answer to someone in church who kept talking about praying for people and did nothing. "every time I bake a loaf or cakes and give it to someone, every time i make extra soup or stew so I can give some to someone and every time I whish something good for someone and do what I can tae mak it happen that is my prayer.") |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Bill D Date: 10 Oct 12 - 10:29 AM Right now, with US elections looming, I am appalled and filled with despair & dread at the high number of people who simply do not know how to think, and would prefer to have pre-digested answers fed to their baser emotions. I have know about this for many years... it's just that in a election year, the evidence is smeared across the landscape in myriad ways so that I can't even bury myself in books and music to escape. ---------------------------- Oh yes... and my declining ability to stay warm in the Winter. 40 years ago, I was a human toaster. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: theleveller Date: 10 Oct 12 - 10:37 AM Well, I'm not sure if anything fills me with complete despair, despite the parlous tste of the country etc. But I'll tell you what fills me with hope and lifts my spirits every time - a walk up in the beautiful Yorkshire Wolds, where the unique and incomparable landscape and wonderful sense of belonging are the best natural anti-depressant ever. They've been there for millions of years, albeit changed over the millennia by man, and they'll be there for millions more, offering their uplifting effect for generation after generation. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Bill D Date: 10 Oct 12 - 10:43 AM So... NOW I am in despair because *I* shall never get to see the Yorkshire Wolds.......... ;>) |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: MGM·Lion Date: 10 Oct 12 - 11:05 AM "Young people smoking." ..,,. Yay yay yay, Silas. Ain't that ever one! I mean, when I was young we all smoked. It was, sort of, maybe a little eccentric, not to. But then, we didn't know. Then when they found the connection, oh the opposition; the resentment; the odd air of blaming the researchers for what their research had established [SHOOT THE MESSENGER, as ever!]; the letters to the papers aiming to prove that it couldn't be so; the gradual acceptance that, dammit, yes, indeed, it was so... Now they DO know. And still they do it. Incredible! ~M~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: theleveller Date: 10 Oct 12 - 11:13 AM Never mind, Bill, be happy for those who will in the future. On our walk on Sunday, I'd taken with me the peeled willow thumb stick that I often use instead of a walking pole to help my ageing legs up the hills and which I call my memory-stick because, just as Edward Thomas believed that paths retain the memory of all the feet that pass along them, I reckon my stick retains the memory of all the walks we've been on. Anyway, as we were walking in Millington Wood which, as mrsleveller remarked, is "very Lord of the Rings", we passed a family our for a stroll and the little girl turned to her father and said, "Daddy, is that man a wizard?" Wonderful to see such a highly developed sense of place in one so young :) |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: mayomick Date: 10 Oct 12 - 11:15 AM You're staring defeat in the face , and you should never do that old son –nobody ever should , because having defeat staring you in the face never does anybody any good …………unless you're an African chiropodist , I suppose Fletcher's advice to his despairing cell mate in Porridge as I remember it. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Bee-dubya-ell Date: 10 Oct 12 - 11:22 AM People who visit my pottery booth at art fairs and then want to go home and shop for the very same thing on-line at double the price once shipping and handling charges are added on. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: DebC Date: 10 Oct 12 - 11:34 AM The sheer number of men, women and children in developed countries (like the USA) who are hungry and have no where to live. That causes me endless despair because I KNOW we could fix it if we really really wanted to. All we need is to take the billions being spent of these elections. We could feed and house the poor in this country adequately. Debra |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: GUEST,olddude Date: 10 Oct 12 - 11:48 AM sick kids, abused kids. I would do anything to stop their pain ... breaks my heart |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Musket Date: 10 Oct 12 - 01:18 PM Worldwide regression into superstition. Especially as it is based on controlling people rather than seeking answers to existence. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Little Hawk Date: 10 Oct 12 - 02:01 PM Hmm. Well, I'd rather not dwell on stuff that fills me with despair...but I will mention that Shane McBride once fell into despair after breaking into a Molson's brewery after work hours, and realizing that there was more beer in the place than he could possibly EVER drink or cart away and hide... When the police found him, he was just sitting there weeping, surrounded by empty beer cans. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: GUEST,Eliza Date: 10 Oct 12 - 02:06 PM That THING in Ilfracombe. ('sculpture' called 'Verity' by Damien Hirst) A huge bronze of a pregnant woman holding aloft a sword. It's the other side of her I find repugnant. She's been cut away like an anatomical dissection to show muscles, guts and even the unborn foetus. It's been called 'The Belly of the South'. As one headline put it, "What's Ilfracombe Done To Deserve This?" I despair that people call this sort of thing Art and pay vast sums to stick it in a prominent place for all to suffer. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Stringsinger Date: 10 Oct 12 - 02:45 PM I think that I agree with Thom Hartmann. Despair is not an option. Sometimes I think, to paraphrase H.L. Mencken, never underestimate the stupidity of the American electorate. Particularly if Romney becomes Prez and they vote for him although the GOP is determined to steal this election as they did the others. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: VirginiaTam Date: 10 Oct 12 - 03:31 PM Not being able to go home to live. Experiencing the ripeness and the sharpness of the Virginia seasons. The lush raunchy laughter of daughter, sister, mother, aunts, female cousins and friends. Women with the same language and idioms. Women with shared memories and diabolical sense of humour. Autumn in England is harbinger of months of drear isolation from my people, from my village, from my tribe when I am in most need. I have been in so much pain and hence medicated to senselessness since October last year. I've not had much to contribute to Mudcat. And afaid I still don't, if i ever did. So now I will go back to mostly lurking. Mudcat visits often brighten my outlook a bit. I find echoes of what I love about my homeland abound here. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Elmore Date: 10 Oct 12 - 03:54 PM My three right wing stepsons. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: GUEST,David E. Date: 10 Oct 12 - 04:03 PM I have no idea who you are SINSULL or of the situations that have brought your son to this, but, as a parent, I am so very very sorry. Wishing you Peace. David E. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Ebbie Date: 10 Oct 12 - 04:06 PM "Not being able" to go back home, Tam is kind of a defeatist, if not misleading phrase, wouldn't you say? Surely you agree that it has to do with choices. I can easily see that a decision can be so loaded with options that it leads to inertia or worse. In my case, I have lived for the last almost 25 years a thousand miles from the remaining members of my birth family and childhood friends. There are times when that disturbs me greatly because as the youngest of my family I see all of them get more frail and, well, older. Most of them are now in their 80s and they have become increasingly outspoken about my absence. Sometimes I recognize the selfishness of my decisions. At the same time, I also recognize the futility of making decisions based only on the hypothetical, i.e. "What if they need my help? What if I can help make their lives better?" I am sharply aware that if I moved back there solely on that basis, and they died, there I would be, torn from this place that I dearly love and "not able" to come back, because one never returns to the same place. One comforting thing I have accepted is that when my presence there is needed I find myself there. That has happened several times and I trust that it will continue to be so. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: GUEST Date: 10 Oct 12 - 04:08 PM Lance Armstrong doped. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Ed T Date: 10 Oct 12 - 04:49 PM For me, the sadness for the many abused young people in the world, who have never experienced the joy that some of us had in experiencing a happy childhood. ""You know all that sympathy that you feel for an abused child who suffers without a good mom or dad to love and care for them? Well, they don't stay children forever. No one magically becomes an adult the day they turn eighteen. Some people grow up sooner, many grow up later. Some never really do. But just remember that some people in this world are older versions of those same kids we cry for."" ― Ashly Lorenzana |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Ed T Date: 10 Oct 12 - 05:00 PM ""No one's ever going to shag you if you cry all the time."" ― Richard Kelly |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Kim C Date: 10 Oct 12 - 05:04 PM Reality tee-vee. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: VirginiaTam Date: 10 Oct 12 - 05:09 PM Ebbie I am not wealthy. I've never had the luxury to save money for retirement and will likely work until ill health takes me completely down. I could move back home with my mother but it would also mean putting an extra burden on my 84 year old mom until I could get work. It would mean leaving my lovely and loving husband who is a UK citizen or asking him to do something which is a sacrifice. Move him away from his family and friends. It really all boils down to my health problems and how they would break us financially if we chose to move to Virginia when he retires. My choice you say. As long as I cannot access health care or a job with health insurance in the US then I am stuck in the UK. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: GUEST,Lighter Date: 10 Oct 12 - 05:09 PM 1. The pervasiveness of evil. 2. The universality of suffering. 3. The short-sightedness of humanity. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Henry Krinkle Date: 10 Oct 12 - 06:19 PM Knowing that the moon landings were all fake. (:-( ))= |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: kendall Date: 10 Oct 12 - 07:27 PM We have been sinking into superstition for eons. Some call it religion. I don't do despair. If I did I would have blown my head off when it became clear that I will never sing again. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: SINSULL Date: 10 Oct 12 - 07:38 PM Thank you, David. The moments of despair are few and far between. I am back to "he is still young enough to change". But if I am ever diagnosed with a fatal disease I intend to systematically eliminate drug dealers great and small. They are disgusting parasites in need of extinction. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Ed T Date: 10 Oct 12 - 08:25 PM ""How little our careers express what lies in us, and yet how much time they take up. It's sad, really."" ― Philip Larkin, Philip Larkin: Letters to Monica |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Joe Offer Date: 10 Oct 12 - 08:47 PM My daughter, who is mentally ill and generally unwilling to accept help. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Bill D Date: 10 Oct 12 - 08:58 PM Too early for real despair, but the IDEA of Mitt Romney getting to appoint a couple of Supreme Court justices...*shudder* |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Joe Offer Date: 10 Oct 12 - 09:00 PM Agreed, Bill. But don't think such thoughts. Think positive. -Joe- |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Ebbie Date: 10 Oct 12 - 09:56 PM If the electoral numbers are tied- if the Supreme Court did another number on us- even if they chose the Democratic side this time I would feel no better. It would clarify definitively how very sick we are. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Janie Date: 10 Oct 12 - 10:10 PM Lovely, Megan. I won't say I have never experienced a state of despair, but what I always know is it is a transient space in which I will not dwell for very long. Reading world history is a great antidote to despair, as is a very superficial interest in science and evolution. The world survived the great comet that knocked out the dinosaurs. Life survived and continued to evolve. The universe, whatever that is, will continue to change and evolve. The earth does not revolve around my belly button, and the universe does not revolve around humankind, and I can not read the future. Re: humankind and the current state of human affairs (or local or national politics) - read Barbara Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror, The Calamitous 14th Century" for a little perspective. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Richard Bridge Date: 11 Oct 12 - 03:03 AM The UK coalition. Every time I think they cannot get more evil or think of another evil thing to do to the less fortunate in the UK they prove me wrong. And those who despite being dispossessed and discriminated against by these dogmatic arrogant and over-privileged bigots, support them. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: GUEST Date: 11 Oct 12 - 03:53 AM Than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, . Be not dismayed whate'er betide, God will take care of you! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. Sincerely, Gargoyle Dispare/Depression ... is the outward manisfestation of unrequitted sin in one "s life. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: GUEST,Eliza Date: 11 Oct 12 - 04:22 AM I'm a practising Christian Gargoyle, but it seems obvious to me that God doesn't take care of people. Where was He when little April Jones was taken? I've seen the most terrible things in Africa. The people were patient and resigned, and believed sincerely in God, but they suffered in every possible way. He didn't appear to take much interest in them. Secondly, it's a bit thick to say the least, to expect people not to give in to despair when beset with heartbreaking events. It's a natural consequence of suffering, surely? I've always found the book of Job impossible to swallow. The poor chap was tormented left right and centre, yet was admonished for being a trifle peeved. Sorry God, but we aren't made of stone. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: GUEST,Shimrod Date: 11 Oct 12 - 06:48 AM I notice that no-one has mentioned the continuing degradation of the environment. There's going to be an awful lot more human suffering, in the near future, until we realise the truth of the phrase: "The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment!" |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: kendall Date: 11 Oct 12 - 07:52 AM Check out the video George Carlin on God and religion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&v=gPOfurmrjxo&NR=1 |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 11 Oct 12 - 11:17 AM Sinsull and Joe, I deeply sympathize. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: GUEST,Mudcat Date: 11 Oct 12 - 01:37 PM What makes me despair? Mudcat. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: katlaughing Date: 11 Oct 12 - 04:46 PM I was going to say threads like these...until I read it.:-) I try to remember what Janie mentioned above, that it is a transient thing and will pass, but I've had my fair share over the past few years. More personal, but national and global events lurk around the edges of my consciousness, most in line with what BillD has observed, also. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: GUEST,Lizzie Cornish Date: 11 Oct 12 - 07:18 PM Apathy |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Leadfingers Date: 11 Oct 12 - 07:21 PM Trying to get into Yahoo Groups to look at Getaway pictures |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Big Al Whittle Date: 11 Oct 12 - 08:40 PM The Radio Times Every week, I think I've seen that already - then I realise I'll probably watch it again. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What fills you with despair? From: Little Hawk Date: 11 Oct 12 - 09:54 PM I am reminded of a joke. An emotional therapist is counseling 3 men who have trouble expressing their emotions, using group therapy. He gives them a homework assignment for next Tuesday's session: "Next week I want you each to dress up as an emotion which you've had trouble expressing in the past. Use clothing, color, body language, speech, props, costumes, and anything else you can come up with, and LIVE that emotion to the very core of your being when you arrive at class next week." Next Tuesday comes. At 2:00 sharp the door creaks open and the first man stalks silently into the room, glaring about in all directions in a sulky manner. He is dressed in a lime green jumpsuit. "What emotion are you demonstrating?" asks the therapist. "Jealousy and envy," snarls the man. He sits down in one of the chairs and refuses to say another word. "Marvelous!" says the therapist, scribbling busily in his notebook. The door fairly bursts open as the second man storms into the room, shouting abuse, cursing, and waving his fists. He grabs a wooden chair and smashes it to bits, then grabs the bust of Freud off the desk and hurls it out the picture window, then rolls around on the carpet in a frenzy, literally chewing the rug. The therapist is a bit taken aback, but nevertheless doesn't lose his cool. "And what emotion are you demonstrating?" he asks. "RAGE!!!" bellows the man. "Wonderful!" smiles the therapist. "You have done splendidly. You really make it convincing. Now have a seat. We must see what Mr Elroy has come up with...I trust he'll be here any minute..." At which point the door again bursts open and Mr Elroy charges into the room stark naked, with a large ripe Bartlett pear impaled on the end of his erect penis. The therapist's jaw drops. ""What emotion are you demonstrating?" "I am fuckin' dis pear!" shrieks Mr Elroy. |
