Re (from
ColorsWolf):
"Sorry if I ever made your feel as if I was upset with you, I wasn't and am not ..."
Yeah, I guess "frustrated" (in the past) would be the better word for me to use. It's back there in one of those older posts, and I can look it up if needed but too lazy at the moment. Thing is, whether it be anger, upsetness, frustration, etc., it poses a problem for me for which I have no good answer. I wouldn't propose that you're not allowed to feel this way or that way, but I do ask that the expression of any given feelings be calm and considerate. Can't emphasize that enough, cause I'm plum out of the emotional resources to warn again rather than act. The counter must remain right where I set it, sorry it has to be that way.
Re:
"For future reference: if I am typing words on the screen just like this without 'caps,' 'bold,' etc., it means I am speaking in a very calm and mellow voice."
Which is an excellent start. But be duly warned: The intent, content, and direction of your expressions can also pose a problem (for me) no matter how soothing the tone of "voice." I spoke of that somewhat in my infamous
October 30 post, a post which is probably always a good post to review, but perhaps I could be a bit more clear and advise caution about what's being said as well as how it's being said.
I'm neither utterly intolerant nor set on a hair trigger, but I do intend to make judgment calls based on how stressful any post feels to me, even if the stress be solely my fault. In other words, no promises about what will or won't keep me active in the conversation, and it's not like I can be held to any technicality.
Everyone's participation on any thread in this site is without question voluntary, and can be based on any criteria any particular person wants (for themselves and their own participation). That's the caution I want to express. I don't need to withdraw for any reasons that anyone else would understand. As long as I understand the reasons, it's good enough.
Now having said all that, let me be clear that I'd really (ideally) like to continue our conversation, and I sure hope that the cautions/warnings I've already given will suffice to keep both of us on the right track. Sorry communication couldn't be a simpler or easier process, but unfortunately it does often involve interactions between souls with widely-spaced perspectives, hard-to-reconcile opinions, diverse language usage, and thin skins. In those cases, both/all such parties need to be really freakin' careful how they express themselves and what they say, otherwise it's just a matter of time before the conversation breaks down and disappears. Sometimes that's just the nature of the beast and we all have to live with it (in our own various ways).
The best I can promise is that I'll be as careful as I can in interpreting/digesting whatever needs to be said. In turn I hope you'll agree to be hella careful about your approach, both tone-wise and content-wise. Wish I could offer you a better deal, but sadly that's all I got.
I am glad to hear that you are "feeling this idea" of turning over a new leaf and rising to a whole new level of acceptance towards things that might have previously, well, frustrated you. I'm sure you feel it's a much better, more logical use of your time and energy, as well as a welcome opportunity to spread the love around, so to speak. Receiving those vibes from you is a reassuring experience, and I do appreciate it, honest injun. If I could tap into that improved mindset and reset my counter, I would. But as it stands, I've found that I myself probably won't be able to so easily turn over a new leaf. So please, keep all the already-established cautions and warnings in mind as I'm sure they'll all remain in effect. Doesn't make me feel happy to say so, but there it is.
Your reasons for use of italics, underlines, caps, boldface, and quotes all seem to line up with established internet protocol, so as long as I can count on you to adhere to those usages, we should have a good foundation of mutual understanding to build on. Note that we agree that caps usage almost always indicates some kind of shouting, so basically I'd recommend swearing off caps usage altogether unless there's a
*really* unusual instance where they
*definitely* wouldn't infer shouting of any kind.
Re: use of a variety of colors in your text ... that's fine by me, though you obviously noticed that some folks might prefer boring old black. I do resort to navy-blue-colored text here and there, to match up with my asterisked words/phrases, but it'd be pretty rare for me to go further with color than that. On the other hand, your username is
ColorsWolf,
, so I can see how colorful text would suit you well.
Pink seems readable as long as it's not light pink; purple seems readable (and I'm a bit of a purple fan). Just curious, are you considering using other colors as well such as green or whatever?
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Re (from
YouAreHere):
"Social acceptance is certainly part of it, and I don't think 'shame' is the right word, but the urge to be part of the larger social unit and not 'rock the boat.'"
That sounds a bit more like it fits in the "modesty" class of motivation. Which is really just a side note; my main deal is to say that what you're describing sounds fairly innocuous to me. If we were talking about hurting people, then I would say that "fitting in," "going along," or "keeping the peace" would be inadequate reasons for doing it. But wearing clothes doesn't really hurt anyone, unless you wanted to argue that it was hurting yourself (either due to stifled self-expression or because it was too hot to be wearing anything). Oh, I suppose you could argue that wearing clothes hurts society as whole, due to setting a bad example or exerting bad peer pressure on those who feel the need to go nude. But I'd see that as splitting hairs with respect to deciding where my nose ends and yours begins.
Re: hygeine and whatnot ... yes, I, too, have heard about nudist communities' standard of using towels to sit on, and yes all joking aside you do "conform" to a particular community's standards if you obey that rule. It's just that it's a sensible rule, that's all.
In all fairness, I can tell that ColorsWolf isn't advocating 100% nudity all the time, just nudity when the mood strikes for whatever reason. On the other hand, what about those of us for whom the mood
*never* strikes? Is that proof that we're brainwashed, thus obligating us to "force" ourselves to be in the "mood" at times (especially when out in a common public area)? and even assuming that, how are we supposed to determine when it would be appropriate to force ourselves to be in the mood? Since we're (purportedly) brainwashed, our judgment in that regard is (by definition) quite hobbled.
Side note: The standard convention for hot weather isn't
*undressing,* it's
*dressing down.* Not saying the argument for nudity doesn't increase as the temperature continues to rise, just saying there
*is* a middle ground in there that could also be argued for in most cases.
Re:
"The cats can't start kneading your lap without a lot of pain involved."
Haha, damn, that's it, that's the reason I clothe myself, because there's a cat in the house! Bad kitty, very very bad.