Babble-on: The Official Chat Thread

I had a hard time getting people to believe me when I said the leader dude punched me in the eye. I haven't gotten a bruise since the time when I was eight and caught a pop fly with my face.


It also explains why nobody believes me when I tell them that my wife beats me... ._.

O.o No bruises from 8 to 15? I bruise like a peach, so I'm kinda envious of you there.

Carissa looks like an angel, that's why no one believes you. hehe.

From 8 to 20, and counting. o.o

Everything from rocks to punches to hammers to airsoft BB's. No bruises. Just scars. I can't even remember how I got most of my scars. I still kinda want the hardcore warrior face scar that goes down across the eye, but I've yet to think of a legitimate way to earn one that doesn't potentially end with the loss of an eye, or just taking a knife to my face.

I was once asked if I've considered piracy, to earn it. But it turns out, I'd make a horrible Dread Pirate Roberts. Too much ninja in me, I guess. =\

Holy cow...that's amazing.

Bruises fade. Scars make interesting stories. I think it's a win.
Piracy is dangerous business, considering, you know, you could still get some damage done to you. xD

I have lots of scars. The most interesting of which consists of helmets, chairs, and giant Q-tips.

I've decided that once we can afford it, I'm going to start buying chocolate bars by the case. Because two or three of those bite-sized ones in halloween bags just don't cut it when the munchies hit.

Nik: It's actually cheaper to buy it by the case. I love Sams.


My most interesting scar... How bout the time I got into a fight with a piano and lost? Wait... there's 3 of those.

Yeah. We just can't afford it at the moment. It's something I used to do while I was single. My dad used to run the vending machines at the iron foundry we worked at, so I got to learn about buying snack goods for cheaper.

I want a chocolate bar bigger than my head...I really do.

Human nature is inherently bad, in spite of what people may tell you. We're selfish, rotten, evil folk, and the only way to buck that is through God.

Building thicker skin is commendable, but I must warn you; take care in how you do it. Tender souls are hard to come by in this day and age. I don't really know you, but I'd wager you have one, and I'd encourage you to cherish and protect it. Becoming hard comes with many strings attached, and is a high price to pay.

...I am not sure what to say to that.
I'm not sure which is better, in all honesty. Become hard, or be vulnerable.
Seems like a pretty lose/lose situation to me.

It is better to love and be hurt than to not love at all.

Now we don't have a Pollyana optimism, nor do we let people walk over us. But we love.

I'm probably not the best person to give advice about it. I chose to become hard, and somehow, it worked for me. I still have my issues, mind you, but I learned how to love again. Trust is something not so easily re-learned.

I learned to cope with heartbreak and despair by rolling with the punches, shrugging, and saying "eh, that's life". It helped me come to terms with being the expendable friend; the guy who was fun to have around, but who you never thought to call about wanting to hang out. I had to do all the calling. I learned to not care about a lot of things, and I think it's helped me survive some rather brutal times. Now it's coming back to bite me. I have to learn how to care when my wife says she wants me to get some things done while she's at work. I have to learn how to care about pulling my weight again, because unlike most friendships, I can't just take time off and not see my wife for a week or two.

Either way, there's a price to pay. The thing you have to ask yourself is this: which one is worth it in the long run? To love and be hurt by it, or to never be hurt and unable to accept love?

There's a time, place, and need for both, but one cannot have the best of both worlds, I'm afraid.

I guess if I had to boil it down to one point, it would be this: Pick your battles. Pick them wisely. And once you've chosen your side, give it your all. But when the dust settles, always leave room in your heart for forgiveness.

I guess it's something I'm just going to have to pray on. I'm not really sure which is the better of the two.
Though, I'm leaning toward, "To love and be hurt by it."


Thanks, Nik, for taking the time to post. =) I do appreciate it, very much.

I've noticed that around here anyways, people tend to put a warm, fuzzy glow on love. That's not love. That's infatuation. If you're lucky, that particular emotion will keep things spicy in your marriage for a very long time. If you're not, it'll wear off after about three months. If you're a cynic, it'll wear off about five months into the dating phase, and you're destined to be single forever, IF you base your understanding of "love" off those warm fuzzies.

The best way I've heard love described is "holding your wife's hair back as she's puking into the toilet". It's hard to feel all warm and fuzzy about someone while you're watching them vomit. Love is a choice, more than anything else. It's a choice you'll have to make every day for the rest of your life; often many times in a single day. Sometimes it's easy to choose to love someone - like when he brings you a box of chocolates and a dozen roses, for no reason other than "because I love you" - and sometimes it's dang well impossible - like when you asked him to clean the living room and instead he invited six friends over to watch the football game. Loving someone will cause you more misery than you'd ever wish on anyone. It'll also bring you more joy than you'll know what to do with.

I'm sure a few of my peers would love to interject some sort of God love object lesson into this, but that's them. For me, love is a practical, everyday thing that doesn't necessarily have to be about God. Some would say that God created us to love; both each other, and Him. But even people who don't know God can love.

Apologies if I'm not making much sense. It's 3AM, and this is my least favourite subject. I greatly detest discussing love with Christians, especially romantic or practical loves. I've noticed that they tend to focus more on either God's love, or the warm fuzzies caused by infatuation. Nobody stops to take time to explain that love has a dark side of sorts.

I have a very real understanding of love, but it's something that I can't translate into words very well, much as I'd like to. I dunno. Maybe I'm just narcissistic, to think that I have a better grasp on the "bigger picture" of love. I'm just not seeing what I understand love to be being conveyed in what others say when they speak of it. So, I tend to hold my tongue. 'cuz when I don't, it winds up looking like this, and when I come back in the morning, someone's going to have tried to tear this all to pieces and inject it full of philosophy and God and stuff.

I realize it sounds fairly heretical to make it out to be a bad thing to put God in something, but that's just the way I see it. While most here wouldn't agree with me, I think love isn't dependent upon God. But, that's perhaps an argument that can be dragged out of me at the Gathering.

Darth Twinkie wrote:

Justin: What does "Ard Righ" mean?

It's Scottish Gaelic for "High King," "Monarch" or "Emperor."

Sorry DT, didn't see your ?

I have several quotes about love, which I think is a multifaceted thing, and dangerous to idolize, there are dark sides to love, which will take over if and when it becomes the sole meaning of existence. Lewis says to love is to be vulnerable, and Gaiman even takes it further

Neil Gaiman

"Have you even been in love? Horrible, isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens your heart and it means someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses. You build up this whole armor, for years, so nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...

You give them a piece of you. They don't ask for it. They do something dumb one day like kiss you, or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so a simple phrase like "maybe we should just be friends" or "how very perceptive" turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a body-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love."

I'll come back with more thoughts after work today.

Nikolai wrote:

Jami: *bows* Thank you! It's the story I tell to explain the scar on my ribs. Quite convincing, no?

It is indeed. I'm convinced. Hehe

Justin: I love that quote...

Jami_Sue wrote:

Nikolai wrote:

Jami: *bows* Thank you! It's the story I tell to explain the scar on my ribs. Quite convincing, no?

It is indeed. I'm convinced. Hehe

I got a scar getting ready for Nik and Car. (RHYME) It's fading though.

Yeah, my hand scar is fading pretty fast. I'm tempted to break out my straight razor and make it more permanent...

Cutting is not the answer.

Right, 'cuz I'm slashing my wrists out of agony at how much my life sucks. It's one thing to cut. It's another thing entirely to re-etch a scar because you like how it looks.

I was talking about the latter.

........ I've heard about this man thing about scars....... but I didn't know it could go -that- far.

Nikolai wrote:

Right, 'cuz I'm slashing my wrists out of agony at how much my life sucks. It's one thing to cut. It's another thing entirely to re-etch a scar because you like how it looks.

I was talking about the latter.

Sarcasm, Boss.

Nikolai wrote:

I suppose that would depend who's defining the term "spam" now, wouldn't it?

Yelling at that kid was so not spam. He totally needed a wakeup call. He's just a whiney brat like I used to be. He needed to realize that his life was not as bad as he seemed to think.