[19:45] moritheil: Some part of music appreciation is knowing the difficulty of doing certain things and the options available to the musician.
[19:46] moritheil: Does dating involve that?
[19:46] sephraem: ah
[19:46] sephraem: hmmm
[19:46] moritheil: Would you say that appreciating a skilled dater in motion is like appreciating art, and thus, part of the enjoyment in dating?
[19:47] sephraem: interesting
[19:47] sephraem: i suppose dating is a skill
[19:47] sephraem: i find that notion strangely disturbing
[19:49] moritheil: Because we aren't supposed to involve artifice?
[19:49] sephraem: maybe
[19:50] sephraem: most of my relationships sprang up very organically
[19:51] moritheil: By "organically" you mean they just happened, right?
[19:51] sephraem: yeah
[19:51] moritheil: Well, how's that worked out?
[19:51] sephraem: hahaha
[19:51] sephraem: thank you for that
[19:52] moritheil: Is it possible that dating is a field in which - despite illusions and romantic fantasies - it's actually best to amass skill and power, decide what you want, and go after it very deliberately?
[19:52] sephraem: very possibly, yes

What is to be, only God knows.

Do we wonder that people fear God?

It seems that there is no escaping DearRicky.

Even after his arguments have been shown to be fundamentally self-contradicting and numerous people have raged against his very existence, something like this lovers' spat turns up.

The Internet, it has been said, is simply an enormous drama engine. So in a sense, why should Xanga be any different? Drama must take place. DearRicky is merely a cog in the vast, cosmic wheel. And yet, if there isn't more to Xanga than mere drama, what will set it apart?

What is there to do?

Seduce people. Break hearts.

Brad Goehring made a Facebook comment suggesting that liberals be hunted.

“If I could issue hunting permits, I would officially declare today opening day for liberals. The season would extend to November 2 and have no limits on how many taken as we desperately need to ‘thin’ the herd.”

Dumb? Very dumb. But in the interests of fairness - Nick Levasseur did this first. And pretty much nobody outside of the local conservatives made a peep.

"My interests include the hunting of neo-conservative Reaganites (a shooting sport brought to you by the republican party in more ways than one!)"

What's the difference? Levasseur is a Democrat in New Hampshire who has an anti-gun voting record. He has gone on record to express contempt for the idea that all Americans should carry guns. Goehring, on the other hand, is a Republican and upholds the 2nd Amendment.

It was a disorienting couple of days. I no longer recognized my life. I wondered how I would make sense of it - and then I remembered that I am in my element.

[01:12] Gakar: you know, i think i need the means and authority to zap any writer who uses the phrase "the heart wants what the heart wants" with a cattle prod
[01:12] moritheil: Well, it's generally a shortcut for something much longer, which they are being too lazy to explain properly.
[01:12] Gakar: no, its a justification for being a dick
[01:13] moritheil: Oh.
[01:13] moritheil: You mean philosophically.
[01:13] moritheil: And not in terms of writing technique.
[01:13] Gakar: just because my stomach wants that other guy's cheeseburger doesn't mean i can take it without him knocking my teeth in
[01:13] Gakar: both, actually

15:49 DragonDave The game is worse now than before they "fixed" it!
15:52 moritheil This sounds shockingly like the political process.

What do fragile hands signify?

Who's gonna call on Sunday morning?
Who's gonna drive you home?
I just want one more chance
To put my arms in fragile hands

-Anberlin

So . . . he's dating an anorexic girl?

What is the point of calling them fragile?

We're not talking about Fragile X.

It seems equally unlikely that the topic is Karen Carpenter.

What is he on about?

When your only friends are hotel rooms
Hands are distant lullabies
If I could turn around I would tonight

Loneliness.

In case you were wondering.

How can you be a princess . . .

. . . when you've got cancer?