The Sheila Variations

Would you hunt animals for food? I don't mean, as your only alternative to starvation. I just mean, to eat, as opposed to "for sport".

Of course I would, dipnut. Sheesh. That's why I said "for sport". What else would I mean by that statement?

Okay, it was just kind of vague. I mean, hunting animals in order to eat them is, basically, for sport. You could just go to the store.

My nine-year-old niece will be hunting deer this fall. I'm very pleased. I'd like to try it myself, sometime.

There are a group of people, let me see if I can find the link ...

Ah, here's one (WARNING, WARNING, graphic hunting images linked in this link).

Anywho, there are these folks who hunt boar with a friggin' SPEAR! Yikes! That's some cajones there.

dipnut:

Vague? No, it wasn't vague. You wanted to make a point. I don't care if other people hunt for sport but I never will. I'd only kill an animal if I had to to survive.

Won't be opening up that link, Cullen.

Listen, hunter people - I don't judge you for hunting. I just never will do it.

Next!!

"I'd only kill an animal if I had to to survive."

Re-read my first and second comments, and your responses.

"Listen, hunter people..."

I'm not hunter people. Heck, I've never even fished. I was just curious.

Never sings in the shower.

The hell? There are two kinds of people: Those who sing in the shower, and those who lie about not singing in the shower.

dipnut -

I doubt you were just curious. Whatever. Let's drop it. I'm bored.

I prefer chunky peanut butter and I eat it almost daily. I do not own a home. I live in a rented apartment. Other than those three items the list describes me. I feel so average. Reminds me of one of the demotivation posters from despair.com

"Remember, you're special. Just like everbody else."

Lion - hahahahaha Maybe you're right!

Despair.com is hilarious.

Also, am I WAY out of touch or does "homes valued between blah blah and blah blah" sound like way too high a price to be average?

But again - I'm a renter. I could be way out of touch with property values - especially outside of NYC.

No such individual as an average person, of any nationality.. 'tis a statistical construction. [/pedant]

That said.. although I'm not sure the questions translate well..

I mostly answered - actually it was about 50/50

I agree on your poker answer, Sheila - skill wise [a skill I do not possess btw] - but if you're playing against the 'house'.. you lose and if you don't they'll change the rules to make sure you do next time. The history of card-counting in blackjack is a good example of this.

Mind you, I do gamble on the horses.. but only once a year.. the Grand National at Aintree.. what can I say?.. it's in the genes..

peteb - of course it's in the genes!! :)

I think I'm thinking mostly about the people who buy lottery tickets every day or sit in front of slot machines like zombies. Hoping to hit the jackpot.

Thanks, George Orwell, for making me see Byzantine political motivations behind such things as the lottery!

Sheila -- Mind if I steal this meme? I'm working on a rather long post and I need to put *something* up!

I like smooth peanut butter. But then again, I am most definitely NOT the norm. I'm actually averse to most bumpy foods to the point of near hysteria. I almost choked on a 100 Grand bar when I was younger so I fault that.

Oh that's right, curly. You have texture issues.

I understand.

tracey - Oh, go for it, woman!! :)

Sorry to nitpick, but the despair.com poster reads "always remember you are UNIQUE. Just like everyone else," which is much funnier.

And Red, don't you try and push your taste in literature on me, man. You just aren't capable of of proper interpretation, since I don't like Jane Austin, it's obvious that NOBODY SHOULD.

Is that so hard for you people to understand?

Sheila, the median sales price of an apartment in Manhattan is $775,000.

The median home price for a home in California is $560,000.

Nationally the median home price is $225,000; between $100,000 and $300,000.

Emily, I am also a nitpicker, so no need to apologize.

Patrick - EXCELLENT information.

I have no way of verifying if it is true or not - but I love how you just are RIGHT there with the information.

It is your field after all.

Thanks.

Depressing figures, by the way. Good Lord.

Emily -

we've gone round and round the block on the Austen thing, haven't we? You've even delinked me over it in a fit of rage.

Frankly, I'm tired of fighting.

Well, I'm not and won't relent until you admit that I'm right and you're wrong. ;)

And you were delinked for the Bronte sisters. Unforgivable stuff, really.

Admit it - you just typed that so another entry would show up when someone uses the search engine looking for "hot gay elf sex" (which I imagine happens all the time).

Why don't you just go read your books full of hot gay elf sex and LEAVE ME ALONE??

Dammit - I do know that I linked to a ridiculous piece a long time ago about the sex lives of elves - based on an extremely obsessive (and kind of creepy) reading of Tolkien -

Emily, did you send that to me? I can't find it.

But there is definitely hot gay elf sex on this blog SOMEWHERE. Or ... actually, elves don't really have a hot sex drive, do they? Aren't they kind of indifferent to procreation?

Am I insane?

So much stuff comes up though - it's not there.

I remember that article - I can't find it anywhere now though. I do believe I sent it to you, because I remember your replying to something about the hot gay elf sex because it said something like "just because Tolkien didn't write about a lot of hot gay elf sex going on, doesn't mean it didn't happen."

Don't waste your time searching this site, anybody. All you'll get are some posts about EB White and other random stuff. I've checked. This is important stuff.

hahaha that's right - basically whenever I say the word "gay" it comes up in the search results.

Not very efficient if you're looking for "hot gay elf sex".

"I remember that article - I can't find it anywhere now though."

Of course you can't Emily.. of course you can't..

Look, just because *you* keep it bookmarked...

dammit.

...actually, elves don't really have a hot sex drive, do they? Aren't they kind of indifferent to procreation?

Am I insane?

You had to know I'd be the one to try to (relatively) seriously answer this question, right? ;-) Since elves are immortal, but appear to have fairly few children (usually no more than 2 or 3, with Feanor's seven sons being the record, and that's hardly that much for beings who live thousands of years), they obviously must 1) be highly infertile or 2) not have sex very much. Probably both, since the two aren't mutually exclusive.

Normally I prefer smooth peanut butter, but since being pregnant I crave chunky, and it must be Jif. The only sandwich I'll eat these days is PB&J (although some pregnancy nazi's say I should completely avoid PB to reduce the risks of allergies to the child. Whatever! It's bad enough I gave up sushi).

I'm just a whisker over 6 feet tall, and I do sing in the shower now and again. Other than that, average as average can be.

Thanks to you, I now have stuck in my head the vision of Moe, Larry, and Curly singing a barbershop rendition of "Old Man River"...

...in the shower, naturlich. ;-)

I think there was a nasty old joke about people who DON'T sing in the shower - that they're busy doing something else. (I don't have much of a voice but I do enjoy singing in the shower)

As for gambling, eh. I wouldn't do it. Don't necessarily think it should be banned but where I live it sure looks like a tax on the poor. Most of the people who buy the largest number of lottery tickets are the ones who can least afford it.

I do consider the sort of "casual" gambling where folks get together in someone's house to play poker or bunco for a "kitty" that everyone kicks $5 or so in to to be a totally different class of gambling (er, "gaming") than what takes place in the big Indian casinos around here (as one of my students commented: "We took their land. Now, they're winning it back from us, piece by piece").

I also have some issues with the "get rich by virtually no effort" attitude - it seems to me that that only leads to misery for the vast majority of folks it happens to. (I guess I'm saying: I'd rather live comfortably if not lavishly but be able to say I earned what I got.)

In defence of some gambling [see above].. poker, where you're playing against other individuals, not the 'house'.. or the horses, in the example I used, it's not necessarily about get-rich-quick - although that is a potential reward - the Aintree National, as opposed to flat racing, is generally promoted as a lottery of picking the right [lucky] horse.. but if you study the form of the horse.. is it a good jumper? liable to get round the course without falling? does it have a turn of speed for the final sprint? how badly will the weight handicap affect its performance?.. will it win? or only place?.. it becomes a game of skill, not chance.

It's in the genes.. :)

Yep, another Sheila.

Homes here used to cost that, but now they are over twice what they were. A home that cost $150,000 now costs $350,000 or more.

Apartment's that cost $830.00 a month plus Electric now cost $1300.00 plus elec. and more!

All because the banks convinced everyone that the lower interest rates would save our lives. Yeah Right!

So what is their answer now for

NO AVAILABLE HOUSING or the LACK of housing for anyone that makes a regular salary.

That's another joke. Wages have NOT gone up, but for a few, like only 8 % so now what?

Oh, and I don't sing in the shower either.

I used to, and I do miss it, but these days I just worry about how am I ever going to get back into a house at the current prices.