bunnyfire says goodbye February 17, 2002 5:25 PM   Subscribe

May I have a moment of your time/
posted by bunnyfire to MetaFilter-Related at 5:25 PM (351 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite

I just wanted to let everyone know that this is my last post. Obviously, even with my best efforts I don't fit in here. I did want to say thank you to Matt for providing such a wonderful site as this, and for all his efforts in making metafilter what it is. He has been very gracious and helpful to me in my time here, and I wanted to express my appreciation. To all the rest of you, we may not always have gotten along, but I really did enjoy getting to know you all.

See you in the funny papers......
posted by bunnyfire at 5:31 PM on February 17, 2002


later.
posted by moz at 5:38 PM on February 17, 2002


I'm sorry to hear that. You seemed much fun. Hope to see you somewhere on the net sometime soon.
posted by nedrichards at 5:39 PM on February 17, 2002


Godspeed, bunnyfire.
posted by evanizer at 5:48 PM on February 17, 2002


Oh jeez, bunny, don't give up so quick. There's not a single one of us regulars who hasn't been piled on and shredded and some point and quite frankly nobody "fits in" here, it's really not that kind of place. All everyone was advising was a little more discretion in what you choose to put up. I actually found some of your post refreshing in that you were unafraid to defend religion(although I do think you should stop short of evangelizing.)
So, give it a second thought before you quit, quite frankly we need our token "born again.";)
But, if you do decide to split permanently, take care.
posted by jonmc at 5:52 PM on February 17, 2002


bunnyfire, you seem like a good soul. But you really need to not use this website as a sort of emotional release. It's not meant for that-- using the site that way will only supply you with more problems.

Maybe instead you need to talk to someone offline-- a friend, family member, professional, whoever, and reserve internet weblogs for talking about links, politics, etc, rather than about your own personal problems. I think it would be better for all of us that way.

On another note I don't think this site has a place for 'swan songs' where people annouce they're leaving. On your own site it's melodrama. Here it's just annoying.
posted by chaz at 5:52 PM on February 17, 2002


Bunnyfire, I think your bipolar cycle is just on a downward trend right now, and it's affecting your feelings. Take a couple days off and take care of yourself instead of worrying about MeFi, and come back when you're trending up again.

And before anyone tries to make any snarky comments in this thread: Saying anything intentionally negative to someone who's bipolar and trending downward is somewhere around the level of asking "Can't you hurry up and die?" to a terminal cancer patient on the Evil-O-Meter. So don't do it. If you don't like what bunnyfire's said, just ignore this thread.
posted by aaron at 6:01 PM on February 17, 2002


was it me? was it the unwelcomed touching?
posted by jcterminal at 6:09 PM on February 17, 2002


Bunnyfire - don't do it, girl! Who will I be the evil twin of now? Have you looked at it the other way round? People here have made quite an effort to fit you in - and it was worth it, because you did too.

I may scream sometimes; I may double my tequila jiggers; I may despair and beat my keyboard; but MetaFilter isn't MetaFilter without you. You're honest and good and you stand up for what you believe in.

Hey, haven't you noticed we're all depressed? Bipolar is just another word for manic-depressive, right? So come on back in, bunnyfire. I miss you already. Never thought I would, but I do. So there!

I blame your husband, myself. :)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 6:25 PM on February 17, 2002


Obviously, even with my best efforts I don't fit in here.

not so fast - "don't fit in"? what does that *mean*?!

MeFi is such a motley crew of characters, i can't imagine anyone "fitting in" to a particular mold. (In fact, I tremble at the thought of what that mold would look like...) That's what makes it so great. If this were a homogenous group, it would be excruciatingly boring.

I don't understand why you think you don't fit. Because people sometimes disagree with you? Go look at fold_and_mutilate's history. I'd guess that he gets shot down more than anyone on this board. I don't always agree with him - actually, I *never* agree with him - but I respect the fact that he has the courage to come back again and again and say what he thinks in spite of the hostile responses.

if you said you were leaving because you were bored, or MeFi just wasn't adding any value to your life and you thought it was a waste of time, I'd say "more power to you." But this "i don't fit in" bit sounds like you need some sort of validation from the rest of the community to keep going, and that's not how it works. this isn't group therapy; it's a forum for discussion. if you're looking for some sort of comfort, this is probably not the best outlet. Debate - if it's good - tends to be rather uncomfortable.
Karl Popper advocated argument for its own sake because he believed that even if neither side was able to "convert" the other, they rarely ended up with exactly the same position they began with. I think that's very true, and you see it all the time on MeFi.

posted by lizs at 6:37 PM on February 17, 2002


OH BUNNYFIRE PLEASE STAY BLAH BLAh blah blah blah
posted by mcsweetie at 6:45 PM on February 17, 2002


Thanks for proving aaron right, mcsweetie.
Jerk.
posted by darukaru at 7:06 PM on February 17, 2002


roger that, darukaru. that kind of cooler-than-thou smartypants attitude is what I think drove bunny away. Now i don't agree with her on much, but I think, with a little work, she could have contributed nicely to our little thing here. I'm not saying this place should be some Oprah-style lovefest, but it wouldn't kill us to be a little more welcoming to the newbies.
Remember, the word before "weblog" in the header is "community" not "club."
posted by jonmc at 7:12 PM on February 17, 2002


bunnyfire, nobody fits in here, like lizs said. I'm not "A-List", or the guy who makes funny comments, or the token conservative, or the guy working on his PHD. I always figure I'm just me. I poke my head out and comment when I feel like it, and anyone that doesn't like it can bite me.

I've always thought of you as "one of us." A regular around here. A complete religious wacko, but a real nice person. For what it's worth, I don't want you to go.

And I urge you to look over this thread and ask yourself this: Who are you to argue with one of the best-selling authors in Portugal?
posted by Doug at 7:20 PM on February 17, 2002


Oh, *sigh*.

There is only one reason to post a 'goodbye' thread like this, and we've seen it done before, and talked at length about it then.

Move on.

If bunnyfire has indeed left, in good faith, then she'll never read this anyway, aaron. If it's a 'let's see how many people I can get to make me feel all warm and fuzzy' tactic, and she's lurking and reading this (as I suspect), well, I refuse to be so hamhandedly manipulated, and I for one am not playing. Does that put me up high on the evil-o-meter, or make me a jerk? Possibly, even though I do agree in principle with what darukaru and jonmc et al are saying.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:24 PM on February 17, 2002


If it's a 'let's see how many people I can get to make me feel all warm and fuzzy' tactic, and she's lurking and reading this (as I suspect)

Stav, you probably suspect correctly, but ithink what's being discussed here is a more relevant problem than the "right vs. left" BS that was slung around during SDB and lileks's goodbye threads, so it's worth hashing out.

Does that put me up high on the evil-o-meter..?

Evil wonderchickens?! Someone call Underdog!
posted by jonmc at 7:32 PM on February 17, 2002


Does that put me up high on the evil-o-meter?

Were you ever low?
posted by MrBaliHai at 7:48 PM on February 17, 2002


Bunnyfire is the only one who can have me saying "damn, what is that bunnyfreak talking about???" one day, then e-mail me about a snarky comment I make to her, and have me completely respect her from that point forward.
posted by adampsyche at 7:49 PM on February 17, 2002


People who take this place, not Metafilter specifically, but the internet in general, so seriously, worry me. Sure, you meet people, but you don't really meet people. (oh, blah blah, I've met people and we hang out all the time blah blah)

People say things, but why take it so personally?

It's one thing not enjoying yourself.. but trying to 'fit in'.. I mean.. this ain't high school.

People need to chill out.. old and new.


posted by rich at 7:52 PM on February 17, 2002


I basically agree with the wonder chicken, in that this seems a bit like faking your death in order to see who shows up at your funeral, and what they say.

On the up-side, though, if she reads this thread and decides to come back, she will have committed a Christ-like act in terms of the same analogy, which would be consistent with her point of view on many subjects.

Personally, I'd be sorry to see her go, as we have several times ended up defending mind-altering medication together here.
posted by bingo at 7:55 PM on February 17, 2002


I'm not "A-List", or the guy who makes funny comments, or the token conservative, or the guy working on his PHD. I always figure I'm just me.

They all make boo-boos too. Made one here today meself and tried to get out of it, and maybe did sorta, but it was ultimately to no avail. What's great about this site, though, is that there are several such people you describe on here, and you wouldn't know it, usually. Like me, who never once said I was working on a PhD here, until someone pulled it out of me by acting high-falutin' about their credentials in an obscure weekend thread a week or so ago. Who cares? It's not how much knowledge you've proved to have had over time either, or whether you read the trendy pundit du jour or whatnot. You can still be wrong, or come off as a moron.

Consequently, Bunnyfire's opinions are as legit as anyone's. And it takes all kinds anyway. A cliche, but sometimes cliches are true - it's just that the phrases are used too much. Also, I think we do need an authentic pro-religion voice here, not one just in favor of backing religion when it suits his or her political purposes.
posted by raysmj at 8:06 PM on February 17, 2002


Also, I think we do need an authentic pro-religion voice here

Bunny was by no means the only person with strong religious beliefs posting here, she was just more vocal about it than most. My own faith is most decidedly not married to any political persuasion, but oftentimes, attempts at religious discussion here seem to break down rapidly into flamebait despite the best efforts to keep it apolitical; therefore, it's really not very interesting for me to talk about spiritual matters here.
posted by MrBaliHai at 8:24 PM on February 17, 2002


I mean.. this ain't high school.

No, it's grade school. High school's gonna rock.
posted by liam at 9:26 PM on February 17, 2002


I think I've been pretty nice here, diplomatic....but I can't help roll my eyes as of late.

It's not the niceties; I like nice. It's the fact that several of you are.....how should I say this?....too personally involved in Metafilter. Those of you who spend all of your time on MeFi, those of you that have to spill emotions (positive, negative, whatever) into this on a near-daily basis -- I think you should put down the keyboard and take a walk outside.

It's unhealthy to invest so much emotionally into this online community. I'm not knocking online communities; some of my best and loyal friends I've made online. But I am saying that there is a vital component you're missing if you're having most of your interactions, most of your dramas, online. It's seems like a handful of you need Metafilter to survive. That really concerns me. I hope you take a moment to reevaluate your social support system.
posted by jennak at 9:38 PM on February 17, 2002


jennak - well, not to survive per se, but for a lot of us who are in rather fucked-up circumstances who don't lead interesting lives and who lack design skills and supportive enviornments it's our only outlet for a lot of our creative impulses.
Now, from checking out profiles and visiting hompages and blogs of various people, I realize that a lot of you are persuing other outlets and have created terrific things on your own both online and out in the real world. Some of us (for various reasons) aren't so lucky, so we come here. And in any place where you spend a lot of time, some socializing an yes, some spilling of emotions is gonna take place. If that bothers you, I'm sorry, but if it's genuine I don't mind it so much.
posted by jonmc at 9:46 PM on February 17, 2002


So don't do it. If you don't like what bunnyfire's said, just ignore this thread.

Gee, thanks for the diatribe and dictates on how to behave...how would we ever get along without you?

Next time, though, perhaps you could content yourself with modulating your own reactions and writing your own posts.
posted by rushmc at 9:47 PM on February 17, 2002


Nicely put, JennaK. Similar to what I was trying to illustrate the other day with regard to the ParisParamus debacle that went horribly awry.
posted by Karl at 9:48 PM on February 17, 2002


Now i don't agree with her on much, but I think, with a little work, she could have contributed nicely to our little thing here.

Is it just me, or is that remark terribly condescending?
posted by rushmc at 9:48 PM on February 17, 2002


rushmc - FWIW, I've spoken to bunny via email and she knows exactly what i meant by that, so lay off hah?
posted by jonmc at 9:50 PM on February 17, 2002


Boy, you just don't give up, do you rushmc?
posted by Avogadro at 9:51 PM on February 17, 2002


FWIW, I've spoken to bunny via email and she knows exactly what i meant by that

So maybe it would have been better confined in email, since you have not made the rest of the 13,000 users here privvy to this information?
posted by rushmc at 9:59 PM on February 17, 2002


Boy, you just don't give up, do you rushmc?

No idea what you mean here, Avogadro. Care to be a little clearer?
posted by rushmc at 10:00 PM on February 17, 2002


rushmc - I hate being condescended to myself, so I am extremely sensitive to accusations of condescension. I was merely restating Matt's observation that bunnyfire should exercise a liitle more discretion in choosing her front page posts, that's all. Geberally speaking, rushmc, I like your style, but I've seen you when you get your hackles up, so don't put me on your enemies list, ok?
posted by jonmc at 10:05 PM on February 17, 2002


jonmc -- I'm out of work, have just moved to a different state, and I don't know a soul. I hang out a lot online, I read MeFi voraciously (I can point out a DP in 1.2374 seconds), but it's not my lifeline. I socialize, have formed friendships, but am not dependent upon the dramas that some create on a near-daily basis.

Hey Karl -- I'm not "Jenna". Poorly chosen username, I guess. :)
posted by jennak at 10:08 PM on February 17, 2002


Rushmc - God knows I love you and hang on practically everything you say, since you're always so interesting, intelligent, fair and funny. I've often emailed you and I consider you a real friend. So please forgive me if I publicly ask you to explain why you're making it so difficult for aaron. It seems insensitive and redundant. All he did in this thread was very sensibly request that people not make fun of bunnyfire's honestly stated - and temporary - shortcomings.

I like aaron's contributions a lot - specially since he's returned - and he's been exemplary in the way he's posted and reflected on his posting here. He's been unfairly singled out and scrutinized and yet he's kept his wit about him and gone out of his way to accommodate criticism. He isn't a friend as you are - and, if pressed, I would always side with you, even if you were utterly wrong, because everything else you write and do here is so important to me and, I think, to MetaFilter as a whole. But forgive me if I say you are guilty of acting on previous perceptions, not borne out by aaron's participation since he came back.

Aaron's appeal for people not to pick on bunnyfire for her stated circumstances could easily - and nobly - have been posted by you yourself. Why do you find fault with it now? You've often asked me to explain myself. I think it's time you yourself should take the time to clarify just what it is that keeps bugging you. Though, as I've said and want to make perfectly clear, I'm not a rational man, but a loyal one. So, if you choose not to answer, that's fine by me.

It's just that it seems, quite frankly, unlike - and beneath - you! :)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 10:10 PM on February 17, 2002


No idea what you mean here, Avogadro. Care to be a little clearer?

I'd be glad to. Out of all the comments you coud have chosen to smack, you chose aaron's, even though it was basically a message of support for bunnyfire and not something that attacks anyone else. I would like to think that you are a reasonable person, but your single-minded attack of him approaches parody. If you have an issue with him, take it up with him off-line. If you are trying to make him look bad, well, you aren't succeeding.

(Back to your regularly scheduled thread...)

(right, what MC said...)
posted by Avogadro at 10:13 PM on February 17, 2002


so don't put me on your enemies list, ok?

I can assure you that I don't HAVE an "enemies list," and I certainly don't want to start one and put you or anyone else on it. I simply found your comment offensive in its seeming implication that bunnyfire was somehow a "project" or something. If that's not what you intended, then great! But that's how it read to me, so I commented on it. It's no secret to anyone here, I'm sure, that I've never been a fan of her thoughts, her values or her "style," as they have been expressed in this forum, but that is irrelevant when it comes to speaking out against the perception that someone is being patronized.
posted by rushmc at 11:22 PM on February 17, 2002


Miguel...you baffle me. All I can suggest is that you read all of his posts again. I am not trying to "make things difficult" for anyone; I am trying to defend what I believe to be the values of this community and to identify blatant and repeated transgressions of same. The same thing dozens of others do every day, in the spirit of improving, or at least preserving, the spirit of the site. I don't know what to say to those who seem to feel that there is something more to it than that--except that there isn't. I believe (as does almost everyone here) that certain behaviors are unwanted here, and like those who post their objections every day, I reserve the right to state mine and defend them, just like anyone else, until Matt decides that I am more destructive than constructive and chooses to remove me. Metafilter matters to me (no, it is not my whole life), so unlike those who may remain silent in the wings or email me in agreement yet refuse to post publicly, I WILL address what I see as problem areas. The only correlation in the fact that several of my observations/objections lately have related to aaron exists in their origin from the same personality, which generates similar behavior repeatedly. As far as I'm concerned, it could just as well been five different people doing five different things that I found objectionable. I don't know him, don't judge him, don't really even see him (or most here) as a fully-defined, identifiable individual--we simply don't get enough of a person here to draw those lines. If I see a meanspirited or bullying remark, I'm going to call it, whatever the source, because I believe that is contrary to the spirit of this community. This is no different from the discussions that go on here every day, and those of you who are imagining there to be some sort of high-profile rushmc vs. aaron feud are seeing something that simply isn't there, as far as I'm concerned. Metafilter is not professional wrestling, nor should it be.
posted by rushmc at 11:42 PM on February 17, 2002


Out of all the comments you coud have chosen to smack, you chose aaron's

Um...yes, that's true. Why would I "smack" one that I didn't find objectionable? Are you suggesting that I, feeling rancorous and spoiling for a fight, should point my finger at the screen and choose a post at random to object to? Or is there a quota--one is only allowed to object to Poster A's behavior, attitude or tone three times in a given week, even if he makes sixteen objectionable posts? Didn't see it in the guidelines anywhere, if so. I object to things that aaron (or trudy or billyboy) says because I find them objectionable or questionable in some way, and for no other reason. See my above reply to MiguelCardoso. It ain't personal.
posted by rushmc at 11:48 PM on February 17, 2002


It ain't personal.

Bullshit, as even a cursory glance through your posting history since aaron's return will show.
posted by sennoma at 11:57 PM on February 17, 2002


And to think she is missing all this :)
posted by jackiemcghee at 1:50 AM on February 18, 2002 [1 favorite]


What? Just because aaron seems to have been trying to be a nice fellow doesn't mean his comment here is above reproach. It may not be worth reproach, but it isn't above it.

Frankly, I'm not sure that waving bunnyfire's cyclical fragility around like a red flag serves her very well. If she stays (and personally, I hope she does), I am sure that she would prefer that none of us ever edit for politeness. Making this much noise seems counter-therapeutic somehow.

And if someone would care to point out where this* phrase isn't somewhat dictatorial, I'll be happy to listen:

*So don't do it. If you don't like what bunnyfire's said, just ignore this thread.

(In addition to its blunt, patronizing tone, this phrase is shark chum in a public forum - good intentions are no excuse for failing to perceive an unintended consequence.)

And, we have...

Saying anything intentionally negative to someone who's bipolar and trending downward is somewhere around the level of asking "Can't you hurry up and die?" to a terminal cancer patient on the Evil-O-Meter.

...which is inaccurate - it strongly suggests that eclipsing bipolars cannot distinguish between levels of insensitivity, and that they cannot measure intention, which is simply not always true. By its very existence, this 'warning statement' suggests that anyone who makes a negative comment subsequent to it must, at least in part, be doing so to cause bunnyfire personal distress - which in many cases will not be true at all. Thus the statement is harmful and provocative. Which is why I dislike wily commentary which tries to preemptively prejudice the remainder of a thread. (Of course, I do it all the time...)

Anyway, the fact that rushmc called him on it just doesn't seem all that remarkable to me. I am genuinely surprised at the reaction here. Aaron's is the only comment which tried to impose arbitrary and subjective limits upon subsequent discussion. Thus it is the only comment which rushmc harpooned. Whassa problem?

As for the new and improved avuncular aaron, I think niceness still chafes a bit - given time, I think he'll probably get good at it.

Bunnyfire, do whatever is in your best self-interest. If/when you return to this unimportant little node, I for one will treat you just as shabbily as I treat everyone else.

There. My work here is done. Don't make me come down here again.
posted by Opus Dark at 4:12 AM on February 18, 2002


Thus the statement is harmful and provocative.

In exactly the same way that saying "Can't you hurry up and die?" would be to a cancer patient. Cancer patients are oftentimes entirely capable of distinguishing intent, but I for one would not and would ... be disappointed in ... anyone who did say that. The same applies here, assuming she is in the downward trend, which is the antecedent of the conditional statement aaron made.

aaron's subjective limitations are justifiable, considerate, and given recent states of things, arguably desirable.

rushmc, much as I've loved him in the past, has been singling out aaron recently. Read his recent post history, it's all there. I do not doubt that if aaron had not said it, rushmc would not have argued the point.

In regards to this thread -- either bunnyfire has left or she is lurking. If she has left, I wish her well. If she remains, what stavros said.
posted by j.edwards at 4:26 AM on February 18, 2002


Well, if you read this bunnyfire (meaning you've managed to wade through all that, um, conversation):

I never realized you didn't "fit in." I thought you were one of the Metafilter regulars, one of the personalities that make Metafilter so interesting.

Good luck, whatever you decide.
posted by Badmichelle at 5:23 AM on February 18, 2002


Gosh, I can hardly wait until I publicly announce my withdrawal from MetaFilter and can watch all of you fight over little old me.

I think we should have at least one of these a week!

Matt -- can we have a new MetaTalk category called "metafilter-quitting"?

Or, maybe like "Survivor", each week we can all vote one person out until there's no one left but Matt and Kottke, and then all 13,000 MeFiers can come back for a big prime-time special and watch them compete over who can eat a whole bowl of mayonnaise for the $1M prize.

(p.s. if you don't want to participate in MetaFilter, just go and don't make a big stink of it; this public quitting trend is bullshit)
posted by briank at 5:58 AM on February 18, 2002


This Cult of Aaron is beyond bizarre.
posted by crunchland at 6:02 AM on February 18, 2002


A few days ago, there was a thread about aaron, and it turned into a thread about bunnyfire. This caused an imbalance in the universe.

Thus, this thread had to be created so that a thread about bunnyfire could become a thread about aaron.

This, of course, makes it clear that all of us are pawns in the hands of MetaFate.
posted by iceberg273 at 6:16 AM on February 18, 2002


Add me to the list of evildoers. I hate it when people turn their departure from a web site or mailing list into a Greek tragedy with themselves in the lead. Has this place really become so LiveJournal that we fall for such a cheap ploy to get attention? Bah. I'm saving my sympathy for someone who's willing to work harder to trick me into giving it, like Debbie Swenson.
posted by rcade at 6:42 AM on February 18, 2002


I do not doubt that if aaron had not said it, rushmc would not have argued the point.

And this is exactly the kind of bizarre attitude which amuses and frustrates me so. On what do you base such a remarkable claim? I have said repeatedly that my objection has nothing to do with the author and everything to do with the comment (and each response has been provoked by a comment, in the normal Metafilter cause-->effect pattern)...and yet you reject that out of hand? Why so? Have I a history here of lying? Am I a known shady character who habitually says one thing yet means another, all for the wicked purpose of...what? I cannot even imagine.

This is too silly. Obviously, you vendetta-obssessed folks are free to see the world through whatever distorting lenses you choose. I suggest, however, that you might do well to be not so quick to assume that you can parse the true intentions and motives of strangers better than they can themselves. I am pleased, though, to see that not all here are irrational bandwagon-jumpers; I was honestly starting to wonder.
posted by rushmc at 7:58 AM on February 18, 2002


That's pretty funny, iceberg273! But it also raises an interesting question: what IS the link associating bunnyfire and aaron? Because as you point out, there seems to be one on some level. I think the answer is pretty obvious, but I'm sure as hell not going to discuss it here--being a lightening rod is not my preferred role. But think about it for yourselves.
posted by rushmc at 8:03 AM on February 18, 2002


I *love* the Survivor idea. Where do we submit our votes?
posted by ook at 8:07 AM on February 18, 2002


rushmc: Huh? I don't get it. The telepathy is on the blink. Is it my tinfoil hat or what?

ook: Yeah, a big bowl of mayonnaise laced with garlic, onions, ginger, Chinese mustard, horse radishand shredded habañeros!
posted by y2karl at 8:13 AM on February 18, 2002


radish and
posted by y2karl at 8:14 AM on February 18, 2002


horseradish and
posted by briank at 8:24 AM on February 18, 2002


horse chestnuts?
posted by Spoon at 8:32 AM on February 18, 2002


remember rcade 'I WILL KICK AND SCREAM'...a obit thread? lets just list ALL our mental state, debts, warts and general maladies and incorparate it into the web and...jennak has a great point...lately it has been to much cut-up karl and the funky clique machine as evident above. the cut-up is getting stale...i was just startin to like the "B-fire" and what the hell is wrong with Aaron? is he in violation of probation or what?
posted by clavdivs at 8:37 AM on February 18, 2002


Well, I had this long comment written out... but I think I'm going this sums it up right here:

Take a deep breath and chill out...

I think it was said everyone takes themselves too seriously on the Internet and that's turning out to be the case in this thread.

I find the "goodbye threads" detestable and the reasons I do are clearly outlined by previous commenters.

"You must not poo poo this thread... bunny has a serious illness" If she does have a bipolar disease she shouldn't be using MetaTalk as a release/support group. End of story, she needs professional help if she really has manic depression.

This is a thread that should have been left untouched and probably deleted by Matt, not only does it have no purpose but it turns very fast into segregate and destroy people who do not have the same opinion as the loudest, whiniest person (I'm just generalizing, I honest to God am notimplying one single person and hiding it behind an insult).

This is why everyone leaves, because of self-righteousness.
posted by geoff. at 8:38 AM on February 18, 2002


freindly advice to both rushmc and aaron from MeFi's resident king of the fuckwits: you're both smart fellas and usually interesting to read, but this is getting to be a bit much, so please utilize your preview button and switch to decaf.
If you still feel the need to tear eachother apart after that, take it to email.
posted by jonmc at 8:57 AM on February 18, 2002


Ditto Johnmc + what my right honorable friend Mr. Thewonderchicken said.
posted by ColdChef at 9:05 AM on February 18, 2002


Jon, Aaron responded to this thread once. Rushmc responded NINE times. I understand you're trying to be fair and all, but telling Aaron he needs to take it to email just doesn't make sense.

I never thought I'd say this, but Aaron DOES get picked on. I can't imagine him writing anything LESS offensive than what he wrote here if it involved bunnies and butterflies.
posted by Doug at 9:23 AM on February 18, 2002


I heart aaron. The MeFi ConservativeCabal™ has to stick together, ya know. ;-P
posted by evanizer at 10:03 AM on February 18, 2002


boy am I glad I discovered all this on monday afternoon rather than monday morning.
looks to me like some people are taking this a wee bit too serious. what makes me smile is the fact that the weblog is so faceless yet treated so seriously, just like driving a car. because you can't see people, you form opinions and too easily want to crack heads when someone doesn't agree with you. of course if you met them face-to-face you'd probably get on like a house on fire.

i say so-long bunnyfire, you will be remembered in the hearts of many a spotty geek who spends too much time here longing to meet a real girl as sensitive as you.

i salute you (and hope you aren't really a man, who is faking it)
posted by Frasermoo at 10:09 AM on February 18, 2002


Supermegaextraevildoer hugs to rcade. You remain my hero.

As a person with a long history of fighting depression, let me just say that I am offended by the notion that people who suffer depression get free passes to be as melodramatic, self-pitying, self-centered, or as manipulative as they like. Speaking only for myself, I prefer not to be treated as if I am something broken, and I would consider it a disservice if a "friend" felt it necessary to make excuses for bad public behavior on my part by announcing to all strangers within earshot that I'm not right in the head, basically.
posted by Sapphireblue at 10:29 AM on February 18, 2002


she needs professional help if she really has manic depression.

She really does and she's really getting it. But bipolar disorder is REALLY touchy and nearly impossible to fix. Haven't you guys noticed a change in her posting lately? Didn't you wonder why? Bipolar disorder drives a person to extremes, and lately she has been. I've talked to her, she said she was going to take a break to keep the MetaFilter community from seeing her at her worst until she restabilizes. I'm a little surprised she decided to make it permanent, but she may change her mind once she feels more in control.

I don't like sappy goodbye's either, but I think some of you need to be a little more generous in this case. We don't need to endorse group hugging but we should be able to handle a little kind support without going all cold and shivery. If she does read this and does come back, how're you going to treat her? Like an erratic friend, or like the baglady with clay in her hair? Surely Metafilter can handle one or two erratic friends.

by announcing to all strangers within earshot
Thing is, of course, she's announced it, and she uses it as an explanation. I agree that a lot of things don't fully excuse flaky behavior, but I think that bipolar does come close.
posted by dness2 at 10:37 AM on February 18, 2002


I came back for a moment at the emailed request of miguel cardoso. I see that almost everything i have ever been accused of can be found in this thread-done by other people. Amazing.

i made the right decision to leave. I do indeed "really have bipolar". I wasn't trying to stir up any stupid thread, i simply wanted to say a polite goodbye and thank you- and to burn my bridges so I wouldn't be tempted to come back. That was for me, not you.

I can see that a lot of things weren't really my fault after all...the rest are no longer an issue.
You have a worthwhile discussion going re how you treat each other here. Perhaps you should concentrate on that and not worry about what my motives were re the original post.

Too many of you are just lying in wait ready to pounce at the faintest sign of a perceived weakness of another poster. Well, you get to live with yourself. I no longer choose to.

One final thing. To those who find it so very offensive that i would take the time to simply say a polite goodbye and thank you....as a human being i simply cannot understand that at all, so i am not even going to try.


posted by bunnyfire at 10:37 AM on February 18, 2002 [1 favorite]


Sapphireblue: As a person with a long history of fighting depression, let me just say that I am offended by the notion that people who suffer depression get free passes to be as melodramatic, self-pitying, self-centered, or as manipulative as they like.

I think there's room for a bit of understanding between giving someone a "free pass" as you describe above and having zero tolerance for the fact that some people have problems that may occasionally cause them to behave in ways they might not otherwise.

posted by biscotti at 11:03 AM on February 18, 2002


feh. moz said all that needs saying.
posted by Dean King at 11:06 AM on February 18, 2002


Anyone know the origins of the phrase: "See you in the funny papers"? I always wondered. Is it from a movie?
posted by Karl at 12:18 PM on February 18, 2002


Doug: Rushmc responded NINE times.

Mrs. Bueller: Nine times?

Ed Rooney: NINE times.

Mrs. Bueller: That comes as a complete surprise to me.

Ed Rooney: Usually does.
posted by bingo at 12:19 PM on February 18, 2002


ditto saphireblue.
see ya bunnyfire.
posted by goneill at 12:33 PM on February 18, 2002


karl -- good question. Here's a google cache of a discussion of the origins of this phrase. Don't know if it answers the question, though.

What I wanted to know is why bunny used six dots for her ellipses.
posted by pardonyou? at 12:33 PM on February 18, 2002


Thanks, pardonyou. Incidentally, there is much debate among style-guides and grammarians over the proper spacing and use of ellipses. This site clears it up:

"The ellipsis (plural ellipses) is the mark that indicates the omission of quoted material, as in "Brevity is . . . wit"

Three periods, single-spaced.
posted by Karl at 12:50 PM on February 18, 2002


I can't recall agreeing with a single thing bunnyfire has ever written. I'll miss her.
posted by normy at 12:55 PM on February 18, 2002


biscotti: I think there's room for a bit of understanding between giving someone a "free pass" as you describe above and having zero tolerance for the fact that some people have problems that may occasionally cause them to behave in ways they might not otherwise.

I don't think the issue was about having zero tolerance, though. The issue was whether we as a community should have absolute tolerance. aaron's first comment on this thread was a pre-emptive condemnation of anyone who might make "snarky comments" about bunnyfire's post on a thread that she started.

I have battled depression quite a bit myself...as mentioned above, bunnyfire and I have been on the same side (pro) in several threads about the use of antidepressants. I think that based on my own experience, and my various relationships with other depressed people, this analogy is really bad:

Saying anything intentionally negative to someone who's bipolar and trending downward is somewhere around the level of asking "Can't you hurry up and die?" to a terminal cancer patient on the Evil-O-Meter.

I think it would be more accurate to say that arguments such as that one are like handing the cancer patient a cigarette, saying "what the hell, treat yourself," and then condemning everyone in the room for disagreeing with your action before they even had a chance to say anything.

In fact, bipolar disorder, severe depression, and other major mood disorders are, to me, comparable to cancer in this one respect: just because someone has the disease does not mean they want to be, or ought to be, treated like some angel who can't deal with reality. Sometimes cancer patients are rude just like everyone else, sometimes they use their position to manipulate others, and I do not believe that the healthy people around them are doing them a favor by letting them get away with it.

If the person is definitely going to die soon, there is some wiggle room here. But in terms of the analogy, someone with a severe mood disorder is not in that sort of situation. On the contrary, they often need people to help them deal with reality and the consequences of their own words and actions. That doesn't mean it's a good idea to tell them that they are worthless people, but creating a ring of sympathy around them by force is not necessarily what they need.

And I don't know bunnyfire personally...so I'm not pretending to speak for her. And I don't know aaron or jonmc personally either. I'm just saying that I was annoyed by aaron's initial comment, on this particular thread, and this is why.
posted by bingo at 1:14 PM on February 18, 2002


blah blah blah.

;)
posted by jcterminal at 1:38 PM on February 18, 2002


wow, all the celebrities are here.
Hi everybody!
posted by jojo at 1:53 PM on February 18, 2002


I have battled depression quite a bit myself...

Out of curiosity, was your battle with bipolar disorder or unipolar depression? They are not the same thing, at all. A person who's had unipolar (standard-issue) depression is not really any more qualified to say how a bipolar's brain is functioning, how their moods, perceptions and personalities are being altered during their up-and-down cycling, than a person who's never suffered from any mood disorder at all.

And no, I am not, and never have been, bipolar myself. I have done a good bit of studying of it, however. I had to sit in regularly with a group of bipolars at their twice-weekly support group meetings as part of a psychology research seminar I took in college. I got to know a number of them rather well. And although this coincided with the period in my life where my own unipolar depression was as bad as it had ever been, the only quick way to describe my experience with these people was that it freaked me the hell out, and every night I went back to my dorm thanking God that I only had regular old depression, as bad as it was (and it was BAD for me) instead of manic-depression, because these people were going through absolute hell day in and day out, and their perceptions of the world around them, their feelings about themselves, their abilities to interact with others were almost never normal, except for that tiny little sliver of time in the course of their up-and-down cycling when they happened to be crossing the center of the y-axis. I could not, and still can't, completely comprehend the way they experience their world on a daily basis, but it has always been obvious to me that it's nothing at all like what I experienced in my downtimes. There's a lot more going on with the down-cycling of a bipolar than there is with a unipolar.

In fact, bipolar disorder, severe depression, and other major mood disorders are, to me, comparable to cancer in this one respect: just because someone has the disease does not mean they want to be, or ought to be, treated like some angel who can't deal with reality.

The problem with responding to this statement is that bingo is not totally wrong. He's totally correct that assholes can get mood disorders too, and still be assholes when they're totally cured, and that people with mood disorders can sometimes try to use their disease as an excuse to get away with questionable actions that don't actually have anything to do with their mood disorder. (Anything much, that is; I am of the opinion that when you're under the effects of a seriously-manifesting mood disorder, it colors every single thing you say, do or think to at least some extent. But I think you understand my point.)

Here's the rub, though...

Sometimes cancer patients are rude just like everyone else, sometimes they use their position to manipulate others, and I do not believe that the healthy people around them are doing them a favor by letting them get away with it.

(Boy, that cancer analogy of mine WAS a bad example, because it completely skips over the fact that everyone with cancer - except some brain cancer patients - still has their personalities completely intact, while mood disorder sufferers do NOT, and that is key here.) The important word there is SOMETIMES. No matter how "certain" anyone in this thread might be about what bunnyfire's "true intentions" were, the simple fact is that the only person that could ever answer that question accurately is her own psychiatrist, and none of us are ever going to see his files.

Given that we don't have all the information and never will, the MEDICALLY proper thing to do is to simply offer our support to her and otherwise let the matter drop. Because if the snarky types in this thread are wrong - and the chances of that are quite high - then reading those rude statements caused bunnyfire actual PHYSICAL HARM, by sending her brain functions into an even further-depressed state. And I see no reason why I should just sit back and say nothing about that any more than I would if one of you decided to track down the home of some poster you don't like and physically beat them up.

And I'm sorry, but to me the medical needs of another human being will always come first ahead of other peoples' desire - not need, DESIRE, and nothing more - to post rude, mean-spirited, snarky comments aimed at another individual. We're not arguing over a possibly-blown call in a football game here, we're arguing over a human life.

All the pro-criticism (and pro-bashing, in a few cases) arguments in this thread are trying to make a case for some sort of moral/ethical reason why they should be allowed to post anti-bunnyfire statements. But this isn't a moral issue, it's a medical issue. And when it's a medical issue about the physical health of another individual, all the moral arguments in the world will never be on your side.

(And yes, all mood disorders, all so-called "mental illnesses", are as much physical diseases as a heart condition or cancer or anything else. The brain is an organ of the body, and mental illnesses are caused by malfunctions of that organ.)
posted by aaron at 3:00 PM on February 18, 2002


No matter how "certain" anyone in this thread might be about what bunnyfire's "true intentions" were, the simple fact is that the only person that could ever answer that question accurately is her own psychiatrist, and none of us are ever going to see his files.


Aaron, though I agree with almost everything you've just said, I must disagree with this one. The only one who can clarify bunnyfire's intention is bunnyfire. The psych-voodoo-scientists, as your post has shown, can only give their interpretation of it.

By the way, having not weighed in on the topic earlier, its nice to have you back, aaron. Its weirdly satisfying to agree with you, and certainly satisfying to disagree with you.
posted by Wulfgar! at 4:06 PM on February 18, 2002


Can Miguel have her user id?
posted by obiwanwasabi at 4:22 PM on February 18, 2002


Blah. Let's just ban "I'm leaving" notices. They cause too much trouble. If people want to find out why someone isn't posting, they can just email the person themselves.
posted by Charmian at 4:57 PM on February 18, 2002


The most elegant method is to include a brief farewell message on your user profile, as holgate did.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 5:07 PM on February 18, 2002


(Feel free to tune out the following message if you don't need to hear it.)

Why have you read all this nonsense? Perhaps because you're suffering from a mood disorder yourself, one the rest of us don't necessarily need to know about.

Whoever is reading this, if you need a few words of encouragement, here they are. Yes, people do pop back to life from depression, bipolar, and other personal hardships, and I sure wish I could tell you exactly when it's your turn, so you'd feel better about things. An old friend of mine went almost catatonic from manic depression. (Evidently he had an unusually severe and very rare case, the kind you're unlikely to get.) But he suddenly snapped out of his zombie state and came back to life when they finally found the right medication. Nobody could believe it. Best of all, now that he's at level flight, he turns out to be even more thoughtful and articulate than we ever imagined.

Yes, people do read your posts on MetaFilter, and it's quite possible that somebody enjoys them, even if they don't say so. At some point, the rest of your life will become sufficiently interesting and enjoyable that you'll stop typing messages into this website anymore. You might leave a note on your user page, or you might not. Here's wishing you fair winds, following seas, and a wonderful voyage.
posted by sheauga at 8:28 PM on February 18, 2002


wait a sec... someone posts their 'good-bye' post and everyone gets snarky, but someone does it and happens to be a little 'unbalanced' and everyone turns this into an opera?

man... i'll never understand people...
posted by jcterminal at 8:56 PM on February 18, 2002


And I'm sorry, but to me the medical needs of another human being will always come first ahead of other peoples' desire - not need, DESIRE, and nothing more - to post rude, mean-spirited, snarky comments aimed at another individual. We're not arguing over a possibly-blown call in a football game here, we're arguing over a human life.

All the pro-criticism (and pro-bashing, in a few cases) arguments in this thread are trying to make a case for some sort of moral/ethical reason why they should be allowed to post anti-bunnyfire statements. But this isn't a moral issue, it's a medical issue.


The problem that I have with this characterization of "responsibilities" is that we have none with regards to the mental or physical health or well-being of any Metafilter user. This is not a group therapy session. It is a public forum (more or less) to which people choose to come of their own volition. If reading what is posted here becomes somehow harmful to them suddenly, it is THEIR responsibility, surely, to remove themselves from the danger, not ours to twist and warp our community to accommodate these needs, real or perceived. For one thing, we can and will NEVER know whether they are genuine or otherwise, and for another, there are the needs (and, yes, desires) of 13,000 other people to take into account. Someone (and I don't mean bunnyfire, because she has never asked for this, but that's the direction this thread is leading us) may want or belive they would benefit from using Metafilter as some sort of psychological therapy or grounding tool, but that does not mean that we have to alter what goes on here to accommodate their desire to use it as such.
posted by rushmc at 11:10 PM on February 18, 2002


I miss holgate.
posted by muta at 12:05 AM on February 19, 2002


that does not mean that we have to alter what goes on here to accommodate their desire to use it as such.

Not only that, it could be dangerous - even if we were all psychiatrists, which we aren't.

posted by MiguelCardoso at 12:23 AM on February 19, 2002


Miguel, I think any credibility you tried to instill in Bunnyfires actions has been completely undone by bringing her back to read and post.
posted by Frasermoo at 12:27 AM on February 19, 2002


I agree with what rushmc said above; and in a sense he answers some of the points from aaron's last post more concisely than I might have. But since a lot of what aaron said seems to be more or less a response to my last post, I'll make a few more comments.

aaron writes:Given that we don't have all the information and never will, the MEDICALLY proper thing to do is to simply offer our support to her and otherwise let the matter drop...this isn't a moral issue, it's a medical issue.

I think that this is just a matter of semantics. The issue, to me, is still about the meaning of personal responsibility to others, and to oneself. You may feel that this medical issue has morals so strongly tied to it that they can't possibly be in dispute, but I don't feel that way.

aaron writes to me: Out of curiosity, was your battle with bipolar disorder or unipolar depression? They are not the same thing, at all. A person who's had unipolar (standard-issue) depression is not really any more qualified to say how a bipolar's brain is functioning, how their moods, perceptions and personalities are being altered during their up-and-down cycling, than a person who's never suffered from any mood disorder at all...And no, I am not, and never have been, bipolar myself. I have done a good bit of studying of it, however.

Perhaps it will suffice for me to say that my depression was unipolar, but that it was not the only mental disorder I was experiencing and the time, and that like yourself, I have had enough experiences with bipolar people to qualify me to speak about the condition as much as any other non-bipolar person. And I think that the following statement is a bit reductionistic:

...if the snarky types in this thread are wrong - and the chances of that are quite high - then reading those rude statements caused bunnyfire actual PHYSICAL HARM, by sending her brain functions into an even further-depressed state.

Shall we quibble about the meaning of "actual physical harm," or what exactly what it means for one's brain functions to be sent into an "even further-depressed state"? Can we just say that bipolar people can have their feelings hurt very easily, and that when they get upset, they get more upset than many people recognize?

And I'm sorry, but to me the medical needs of another human being will always come first ahead of other peoples' desire - not need, DESIRE, and nothing more - to post rude, mean-spirited, snarky comments aimed at another individual. We're not arguing over a possibly-blown call in a football game here, we're arguing over a human life.

I'm not posting those mean-spirited comments...at least not on this thread. But I think you're conflating several issues here, each of which are more complicated than you make them out to be.

I don't agree with you that what bunnyfire NEEDS is for the thread she started to be devoid of "snarky comments." If she's really that fragile, chances are she's going to hear one or two snarky comments elsewhere as well, especially offline. Whether or not a person has a right to make a single comment to someone who might not be on her meds, and therefore might be suicidal, and might need just one more such comment to tip the scales into shuffling off the mortal coil, and might not have heard another single such negative comment between the moment it's made and the moment when she gets help...I'm not going to say throw caution to the wind, but neither is it a cut-and-dried issue.

I have spent a lot of time around people with various mental illnesses. I was one of them. I still am, to an extent. And one thing I learned is that, if you want to preserve your own sanity, you can't go around second-guessing the labyrinthine paths of other peoples' neuroses. I am not suggesting that you're wrong to care about bunnyfire; we don't know for sure that she's in a bipolar swing; maybe she just got sick of Metafilter; but if she's ill then by all means I hope she gets better.

But I do think you're wrong to suggest that anyone who makes an antagonistic comment has created some sort of grave sin, just because the person they're commenting against is a known bi-polar. bunnyfire has taken plenty of criticism and derision here before, she is an intelligent adult, and she started a thread about her own departure. The physical world of her real life is no doubt not going to grind to a halt and coddle her because she had another mood swing (if indeed that's what this is about to begin with), and I don't see why MeTa should be any different. "Saying anything intentionally negative to someone who's bipolar and trending downward" (your words) is not something I would personally advocate, but if that's the worst thing someone ever does, I think there is still room for some people below that person on the evil-o-meter.





posted by bingo at 12:38 AM on February 19, 2002


Miguel, I think any credibility you tried to instill in Bunnyfires actions has been completely undone by bringing her back to read and post.

How is that, frasermoo? What credibility? Bunnyfire made no mention of her mental condition here. She just posted to say goodbye. I asked her to stay. She gracefully declined. She accused or blamed nobody - explicitly or otherwise. Perhaps we all need psychiatric help too. At least she's dealing with her condition. With the right, up-front attitude too. End of story.

By the way, it's a pity the fascinating discussion here between aaron and bingo isn't on a thread of its own. My whole family is bipolar - meaning we have regular rapid-cycling episodes - and I too adhere to the chimo-bio-neurological pov. It is mainly organic - a question of plumbing, really. Otherwise, why would a single chemical substance(lithium)be so effective?

Knowledge plus personal experience is a wonderful thing. I was reminded of William Styron's book("Darkness Visible?")and the more recent account of depression by Lewis Wolpert. I read both but it's too early in the morning to go looking for refs. Refs, not meds ;)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 1:12 AM on February 19, 2002


ya know, that explains why you don't sleep much Miguel. suddenly I don't feel so inadequate. :)
posted by dness2 at 1:39 AM on February 19, 2002


Bunnyfire made no mention of her mental condition here.

Neither did I. I was simply referring to her "I am not posting, that is it, goodbye"

Did you ever notice when a kid falls in the playground, if it can't see anyone, it will dust itself off and continue playing. If it sees a parent it will burst into tears.

We never grow up.


posted by Frasermoo at 1:40 AM on February 19, 2002


Picture General Eisenhower's expression upon hearing Truman had fired MacArthur. The Oh, the humanity! aspect here in terms of feelings and personal histories exposed leaves me truly bemused. I found bunnyfire irksome at times but also part of the package and it's sad to read her swan song. Edifying to see hitherto unknown aspects of familiar names here, too. A loss is a loss, no way around it, and the tension between comfort and continuity, and, novelty and change, remains. Too, I think of a psychologist I knew talking about locus of control theory--the more intelligent, the more prone to depression: so the statistics say. What a bright, bright bunch you all are. Not many recitations of Invictus to be read here.

And thank God for that.

I must say I find this particular exchange amazing and fascinating. It makes me want to go back to school and major in virtual anthropology or something similar.
posted by y2karl at 2:04 AM on February 19, 2002 [1 favorite]


Miguel, I think any credibility you tried to instill in Bunnyfires actions has been completely undone by bringing her back to read and post.

How is that, frasermoo?


I read frasermoo's comment to mean that asking Bunnyfire to come back accomplished nothing good. Her follow-up post was melodramatic ("Well, you get to live with yourself. I no longer choose to.") and just made her look worse. Also, it seems to have caused her some pain to have read what other people said, and that could have been avoided if you'd merely let sleeping dogs lie. Way to go.

posted by anapestic at 7:55 AM on February 19, 2002


Why is it that everyone on the web seems to have some sort of disorder or disease or major personal issue (abused or something similar)?

Where are all the normal, well-adjusted people that existed when ADD would have just been 'overactive boys will be overactive boys'?

I mean, I love depression since you can get some great writing done, but it seems we're turning into a culture of disorders. From ADD diagnosis for kids that just have short attention spans (god knows, I'd probably be diagnosed with ADD today) to murderers blaming their sudden outburst of carnage as a cry for help from their abusive upbringing.

You're nobody if you don't have a problem, and I see more people on line that wear their problems like a badge than anywhere else.

"Oh oh! I have depression too!" they all yell. Now, I'm not trying to be insensitive to everyone who does have a problem, but I think there tends to be an embracing of this stuff and using it to explain every single action somebody takes - having it define the person you are - instead of you defining who you are and having that just being an aspect.

Erg. I'm having a hard time forming a good description. Must be my latent ADD. (grin). For the record, though, I do see a tendancy for certain people to jump on certain other people.. taking things personal. That's why I usually don't commit to memory who writes what, just *what* was written, and if I want to refer to it, I scroll back and try and put the person's name in.

I recognize names like y2karl, but couldn't tell you anything about their political, religious, or opinion standings. Just that they make good points now and again.
posted by rich at 8:24 AM on February 19, 2002


Thank you, rich. An excellent comment that states pretty much how I feel about this whole thread. People come, people go, they come back, they leave again, they lurk for days a time in silence then post or comment. Most of the they have something interesting to say. My motto for reading and or posting or commenting on MeFi Or MeTa is "Take what you like and leave the rest." I don't feel the need to argue a point that is my opinion. I will probably not not change mine nor will mine change someone elses.
posted by bjgeiger at 9:48 AM on February 19, 2002


rich: Where are all the normal, well-adjusted people that existed when ADD would have just been 'overactive boys will be overactive boys'?

You seem to be confusing ADD with ADHD. And even ADHD has more to do with fidgeting and getting distracted easily than having the overwhelming desire to go outside and play basketball.

I mean, I love depression since you can get some great writing done...

I think we live on different planets.

You're nobody if you don't have a problem, and I see more people on line that wear their problems like a badge than anywhere else..."Oh oh! I have depression too!" they all yell.

They are "yelling" if for a few different reasons, at least in this discussion, which is itself partly about depression in online people. The point of my revealing my own depression here was to specifically say that I don't think chronically depressed people (including me, of course) are entitled to special treatment from the general public.

hjgeiger: My motto for reading and or posting or commenting on MeFi Or MeTa is "Take what you like and leave the rest."

That motto originated in Alchoholics Anonymous, the prototype for all 12-step programs. Draw your own conclusions.
posted by bingo at 11:21 AM on February 19, 2002


For those of you who are devastated by bunnyfire's departure, some good news: I will continue participating in MetaFilter. Anyone else?
posted by kindall at 12:02 PM on February 19, 2002


Probably not... I'm just too broken up about it all.
posted by crunchland at 12:04 PM on February 19, 2002


I, too, will continue to participate. And post on the front page. And run with scissors and you can't stop me neeener neener!

*trips, falls*

Okay, the sky is so blue outside it makes my eyes hurt, it's warming up, I can smell spring in the air, and it's time to go down to the water and fly my kite.


posted by ebarker at 12:15 PM on February 19, 2002


Anyone else?

I'd like to see what the majority is doing before I decide.
posted by iceberg273 at 12:19 PM on February 19, 2002


hjgeiger: My motto for reading and or posting or commenting on MeFi Or MeTa is "Take what you like and leave the rest."

That motto originated in Alchoholics Anonymous, the prototype for all 12-step programs. Draw your own conclusions.


Yes I know, draw your own "conclusion". And I will continue to participate. And post on the front page. And run with scissors and you can't stop me neeener neener!


posted by bjgeiger at 12:39 PM on February 19, 2002


kindall, I am soooooo happy you are staying. I think that it will be really really good for you to have all the support and love that metafilter, as a community, will provide for you during this difficult time. We do all of our counseling for free so that you won't run out of funds. We are also absolutely non-judgemental (well, our leader, aaron is) the rest of us aren't quite so perfect, but we try! ;-). Anything goes here, there are no rules or 'snarky' comments, in fact, there are no opinions of any kind here!!! Please, feel welcomed, and relaxed at Metafilter.
posted by goneill at 12:40 PM on February 19, 2002


Bunnyfire: i made the right decision to leave

Which time?
posted by terrapin at 1:11 PM on February 19, 2002


Consider when MidasMulligan finally decides to skip bringing tablets of wisdom down from Mt. AynRandafrat and sticks to hobnobbing with world leaders and creating jobs for the hardworking poor. We'll all be in the dust, weeping and wailing and gnashing our teeth. Visualize the comment thread for that day.
posted by y2karl at 1:31 PM on February 19, 2002


Anyone else?

Well... OK then.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 1:40 PM on February 19, 2002


Bingo - Attention Deficit Disorder vs Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder. They're both somewhat over-diagnosed in my book. I never related them to being about going outside and playing ball, and I think I did mention the whole "can't concentrate/distraction" aspect of it. Anyway...

As for loving depression, I was only referring to the normal depression (and being a bit cavalier in attitude), not the debilitating manic type.. but my point about all the yelling and all is just like with all these other disorders, many seem to claim they have them when really, they're just really depressed or just socially inept.. but institutionalizing the disorder has given (some) people more of a hypochondriacs version of manic than anything else for the attention-getting. (yes, I do believe the conditions exist, but I think 'mild' cases are suspect for inclusion)

I wasn't specifically refering to anyone here yelling about having a disorder, but just the general malaise overall on the net, and in the real world that I see our society turning into one of diagnosed mental/chemical imbalance/whatever problems. (as for special treatment, I think it all depends on the severity.. but if the person is 'well' enough to take part in everyday conversations and social situations, then they shouldn't get any special treatment like 'Oh, but you know don't say that to Mary because she's manic and anything might set her off')

Do people really have a problem, or are they just fucked in the head like Kasey's(whatever the spelling) Mom or Jeffrey Dahlmer?

posted by rich at 1:43 PM on February 19, 2002


Hey y2karl, aren't you pushing your luck a bit? In the current climate someone's bound to haul your ass over to a "Why is y2karl picking on poor old MidasMulligan?" thread and then we'll all be given the full objectivist enema. ;)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 1:44 PM on February 19, 2002


Do people really have a problem, or are they just fucked in the head like Kasey's(whatever the spelling) Mom or Jeffrey Dahlmer?

A little of both, rich. I certainly wouldn't try and boil it down as simplictically as that. The fact is, people who have mental problems are generally fucked in the head. But I don't think I can (and I would hope no one else can either) walk around laying a moral judgement over what these people think. Save it for how they behave, with the understanding that you can accept the illness and still revile the consequence. In other words, you don't have to tiptoe around her, but if you say something that sets "Manic Mary" off, please be prepared to accept responsibility for your role in doing so, rather than just boiling it down to "she's fucked up".

posted by Wulfgar! at 2:41 PM on February 19, 2002


then we'll all be given the full objectivist enema. ;)


Not me. I read "Atlas Shrugged" and immediately superglued a humanist pie plate to my ass, just to avoid that very thing.
posted by Wulfgar! at 2:45 PM on February 19, 2002


DOH!, hit post too soon. I meant to add, that I'm better full of my own shit than Ann Rand's. (Hows that for a gross thought).
posted by Wulfgar! at 2:48 PM on February 19, 2002


Oh my, wolfgar!, I just laughed so hard I saw stars.
posted by kittyloop at 3:01 PM on February 19, 2002


Oh my, wolfgar!, I just laughed so hard I saw stars.

Yeah, well. You ought to see how weird I look in tight jeans.

posted by Wulfgar! at 3:18 PM on February 19, 2002


rich: Attention Deficit Disorder vs Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder. They're both somewhat over-diagnosed in my book. I never related them to being about going outside and playing ball, and I think I did mention the whole "can't concentrate/distraction" aspect of it.

I was referring to this quote:

Where are all the normal, well-adjusted people that existed when ADD would have just been 'overactive boys will be overactive boys'?

Perhaps I didn't get the same nostalgic flash you were going for. Was there ever a time when a teacher or parent would look at an otherwise sedentary kid squirming in his chair, and say "overactive boys will be overactive boys"?

Do people really have a problem, or are they just fucked in the head...

Being fucked in the head is exactly the type of problem such people claim to have.

Still, I agree with your conclusions (it's not the responsibility of the public to tiptoe around unbalanced people), if not how you got there.
posted by bingo at 3:21 PM on February 19, 2002


Well, as a person who's had a more serious disorder than that which you diagnosed the bunnyfire, I can safely say that if you are lucid enough to log onto and use MeFi and communicate in complete sentences, then you are probably lucid enough to be responsible for your actions.
I've never used my past disorders as an excuse for any of my bad behavior.

But I have to add that I have worn my homosexuality on my sleeve. If that is a crime then consider me guilty. What are everyone's disorders, differences, problems, quirks, alternative lifestyles. Let's air them now, so when we act weird, we can just refer back here instead of further histrionics.

and y2karl, don't you mess with my man MidasMulligan!!!

you neither Miguel. And watch the Ayn Rand remards as well. ;-P
posted by evanizer at 4:26 PM on February 19, 2002


"For those of you who are devastated by bunnyfire's departure, some good news: I will continue participating in MetaFilter. ..."

NOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!




posted by jcterminal at 4:52 PM on February 19, 2002


OK evanizer, I'll confess. I REALLY enjoyed Supertramp as a youth.
posted by machaus at 5:00 PM on February 19, 2002


[burp]
posted by quonsar at 5:07 PM on February 19, 2002


Let's air them now, so when we act weird, we can just refer back here instead of further histrionics.

I am composed entirely of frozen water. My bluish hue is the result of trapped air bubbles. I carry a copy of the periodic table of the elements in my wallet.
posted by iceberg273 at 7:10 PM on February 19, 2002


I'm simply not circumcised.
posted by dong_resin at 7:26 PM on February 19, 2002


What are everyone's disorders, differences, problems, quirks, alternative lifestyles. Let's air them now, so when we act weird, we can just refer back here instead of further histrionics.

What a brilliant idea: MetaFiles! I'm always mystified by abbreviations in American lonely hearts classifieds. But they would sure help things along here. I'm going for gnmahmsdnjcma - garrulous narcissistic middle aged happily married smoking drinking non-observant Jewish conservative MetaFilter addict.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 7:29 PM on February 19, 2002


I don't have nipples. Not on my chest anyway.

And I was raised by clams deep in the Kelp Forest. Even now, when the moon is new, I fancy I can hear their clam-songs lulling me to sleep with the ebb and flow of the waves.
posted by Kafkaesque at 7:37 PM on February 19, 2002


Miguel, is it just me, or have you all of a sudden started adding a (by the way, I'm a conservative!) tag-line to every one of your posts here? Why the sudden enthusiasm?

Besides; "Real conservatives don't need ta' advertise!"
posted by Marquis at 8:15 PM on February 19, 2002


I miss holgate.

I think he still visits once in a while, even if he doesn't post. I got a rather Hobbesian (nasty, brutish & short) email from him regarding a post of mine shortly after his "departure." For the record, I wish he'd come back, too. Even if he rabidly disagrees with me.

posted by lizs at 8:18 PM on February 19, 2002


Third nipple here. Really.
posted by ColdChef at 8:50 PM on February 19, 2002


I'm simply not circumcised.

hence, the resin on the dong, I presume.
posted by jonmc at 11:28 PM on February 19, 2002


I was raised by clams deep in the Kelp Forest

..but.. I..thought ..I was ...the only..one like..me...

Ah f*ck it ! Let's go ride our bikes !
posted by Frasermoo at 12:14 AM on February 20, 2002


Whereas I am circumcised, and there was nothing simple about it.

Are any of you my covert KGB contact? Because I lost my codebook at a stripcluhhh...library.
posted by cortex at 1:20 AM on February 20, 2002


Well, I was not born so mush as bred in a FBI/NSA/Secret Service black-op project on banality gone horribly awry... it happens
posted by tj at 1:49 AM on February 20, 2002


oh, and to answer the question posed at the start of this thread... no
posted by tj at 1:51 AM on February 20, 2002


I have no bones.
posted by Karl at 6:29 AM on February 20, 2002


Y'know, Hitler only had one ball.

</carlin>
posted by jpoulos at 6:59 AM on February 20, 2002


I have no bones.
posted by ebarker at 10:15 AM on February 20, 2002


Yea verily: she is not here, but is risen. Remember how bingo spake unto you?
posted by Dean King at 3:27 PM on February 20, 2002


Yea verily: she is not here, but is risen. Remember how bingo spake unto you?

It is this that I spake unto thee as a prophecy. Thou couldst not receive it when I didst prophesy, as thou couldst not see that I spoke as one who saw the future, but now all has been fulfilled.
posted by iceberg273 at 4:27 PM on February 20, 2002


iceberg is our master!

iceberg decides who will stay and who will go!

oooooooooooooohhh!
posted by Kafkaesque at 4:59 PM on February 20, 2002


*fumbles bonelessly with keyboard, begs for understanding*
posted by Karl at 5:45 PM on February 20, 2002


iceberg is our master!
iceberg decides who will stay and who will go!


I decide not, but speak only of the future as it will be. I speak now to thee:

On the eighth day after the rain
The blue paper will show the way
The gears and chains groan and creak
A terrible wind dries the clay.
posted by iceberg273 at 6:19 PM on February 20, 2002


Have you got any little milk chocolate people? About three inches high? Men and women? I'd like some of them filled with raspberry cream. And some mango juice.

There must be a word for it... The thing that lets you know time is happening. Is there a word? She looks smaller from outside her head. Is there a word for forgetting the name of someone when you want to introduce them to someone else at the same time you realize you've forgotten the name of the person you're introducing them to as well? They put yellow stuff on they said was butter but it tasted like earwax. I think you're very nice. I think twinkle's a nice word. So's viridian. I met a lady once who had an imaginary fish. Someone once brought me a flower, clandestinely. That means I don't know who it was. And I never saw the flower either. Maybe they never brought it at all. If you don't have a name what do people call you? I mean, do they just wave and smile, or jingle little silver bells or what? I'm making little froggies. I knew it was going to be in the last place I looked for it, so I looked there first. Let's stop driving! We must get out and jump up and down and up and down and dance around and around! You know if this car had great big runny legs like a centipede it could run very fast and we'd get there quicker. You know the best thing about aeroplanes? Apart from the peanuts in the little silver bags I mean. It's looking out of the windows at the clouds and thinking, maybe I could go walking in there. Maybe it's a special place where everything's okay. I think you'll have invisible insects all over you now for all your life and for ever and always. What's the name of the word for the precise moment when you realize that you'e actually forgotten how it felt to make love to somebody you really liked a long time ago?

I'm finished. Mostly. They've gone all sticky anyway. And I don't like mango juice.
posted by ZachsMind at 6:41 PM on February 20, 2002


thanks delerium.
posted by lotsofno at 6:46 PM on February 20, 2002


yeah, i recognized delirium too. supposedly she's based on Kathy Acker.
posted by bingo at 8:41 PM on February 20, 2002


"What's the name of the word for the precise moment when you realize that you'e actually forgotten how it felt to make love to somebody you really liked a long time ago?"

Marriage.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:44 PM on February 20, 2002


mr_crash_davis, you make me laugh. As a matter of fact, this whole thread makes me laugh. Laughing is good.
posted by ashbury at 12:35 AM on February 21, 2002


I giggled at tj's post! The smartassedness of mefites (or metairs?!) is innnnncredible.
posted by kv at 2:54 AM on February 21, 2002


the world is over. see the front page.
posted by goneill at 7:45 AM on February 21, 2002


Well, that's just completely and utterly pathetic.
posted by crunchland at 8:17 AM on February 21, 2002


let us not forget, crunchland, that bunnyfire is <whisper>bipolar</whisper> and therefore is not responsible for her own words and/or actions.
posted by mlang at 8:34 AM on February 21, 2002


mlang: I don't buy the bipolar=non-responsible equation either. But:

a) I don't think bunnyfire ever used that idea in her own defense, and certainly not on this thread, and

b) I think your baiting her on MeFi with a personal jab unrelated to her post is extremely counterproductive. There is already a thread dedicated to the issue, and we are in it. There is no way she, or anyone else, can respond to your bait from within the MeFi thread without further derailing it. Is that what you're trying to accomplish?
posted by bingo at 8:56 AM on February 21, 2002


a) I don't think bunnyfire ever used that idea in her own defense
Yes she has. She posted a MeTa thread as an explanantion to one of her threads. She's often mentioned her mental state in threads. Hey, If you mention an Achilles heel often enough, people will use it against you. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for y6y6y6's return. I like him a lot.
posted by macadamiaranch at 9:10 AM on February 21, 2002


Liar liar, pants'o'fire.
posted by Neale at 3:17 PM on February 21, 2002


one swallow does not make a spring.

These are not the droids you are looking for...
posted by bunnyfire at 4:38 PM on February 21, 2002


Why did you come back?
posted by Frasermoo at 12:36 AM on February 22, 2002


one swallow does not make a spring.

"I don't have to tell you, once you get a corpse caught up in conversation, your battle's half over."

- Miracle Max
posted by iceberg273 at 8:33 AM on February 22, 2002


"They're so perky!"
posted by Frasermoo at 9:06 AM on February 22, 2002


So how many swallows DO make a spring?
posted by briank at 10:38 AM on February 22, 2002


I'm making this thread my new homepage. Will I be writing to myself, or will others join me?


posted by goneill at 12:42 PM on February 22, 2002


Sorry, my dear. There are just too many "cult" threads to keep up with. But, I may peak in on you every now and then.
posted by ColdChef at 8:58 AM on February 23, 2002


hey coldchef - i actually didn't notice that you had come. is it a cult if it is a cult of 1?

i hope you pop along from time to time anyway -
posted by goneill at 11:47 AM on February 25, 2002


It's a cult if the one that is the cornerstone of the cult is completely fucking bonkers.

I have lots of cults. I even have little handshakes for myself, and cool catch phrases like "You gots the fishwife, bagaloo! It's all up in you, loooong time!"

I sit alone on the bus a lot.
posted by dong_resin at 9:33 PM on February 25, 2002


I used to be in a cult called the oopsters. we were a group of high school girls who said, "oops" not "sorry" I was the chief bottle blower. I had to make a very low sound, and then everyone would move their heads from side to side, and bring their arms down to their waists and say, "spoo" [oops backwards: edited for content by goneill]; they would have to say spoo in the same tone as the bottle noise.

Ah, high school. It sure was fun.
posted by goneill at 7:46 AM on February 26, 2002


am I going to hell?
posted by Frasermoo at 9:35 AM on February 26, 2002


Not if you follow me. Follow me; if you don't follow me, you will be set straight to hell.
ps. you must always, always, wear white sneakers. keds.
posted by goneill at 9:58 AM on February 26, 2002


I will not participate in this cult thread. I don't care if I have to repeat myself dozens and dozens of times. I refuse!
posted by ColdChef at 4:32 PM on February 26, 2002


coldchef, please ladder lace those laces. I command thee. And no more eating sesame seeds. They will interfere with your transmissions.
posted by goneill at 8:01 AM on February 27, 2002


chef: fwiw, i paid to see the mod squad at (i think) the arboretum movie theatre on easter sunday 1999, and it was just so godawful that i had to leave after the first twenty minutes. but i wasn't content with just leaving, oh no, i had to 'make a point' about what an awful movie it was and ask for a refund which, after consulting with the manager, the ticketseller did give me...in cash.

my point being that at least one movie theater in central texas gives refunds and if the one in the arboretum does then one would have to think that all of the movie theatres in that chain (i think it's regal?) must provide for same unless it was a managerial decision because the lady in charge feared (as no doubt did my ladyfriend who had foolishly accompanied me to the theater (no, i wasn't spending easter sunday alone at the movies; i'm not that pathetic)) that i would become irate and opted to 'head this situation off at the pass' as it were hence creating the unusual state of affairs described above i.e. the cash refund rather than the offer of mere discount coupons et al.
posted by mlang at 11:12 AM on February 28, 2002


goneill: hi!
posted by mlang at 11:15 AM on February 28, 2002


did you have a girlfriend before me? who where how? in texas no less.
posted by goneill at 1:08 PM on February 28, 2002


LOL! I was just coming here to write a lovenote to goneill for her sweet words here.

The Arbor is the easiest theater in Austin to sneak into. There's always one person at the ticket booth, and one at the counter. You walk in as if you're going upstairs to the bathroom, and when you come down, you pick a theater. Ha. Man, I think people got really uptight with me on that thread.

The Gateway, BTW, is the one that refuses to refund tickets, but they're hard to sneak into. Unless you go withHarry Knowles, that is.
posted by ColdChef at 1:14 PM on February 28, 2002


Hey everyone:

Preface: I am a programmer, and sometimes think very literally, so I am about to number my thoughts

1. CC: You were in big big trouble there, and no measure of curbing with enthusiasm was working. No jokes were being laughed at.

2. ML: I just wanted to write to you too, because I didn't want you to feel jealous.

3. FM: Hi

4. DR: what the fizuck is izup?
posted by goneill at 1:27 PM on February 28, 2002


Coldchef - go help mlang quick!!!
posted by goneill at 1:39 PM on February 28, 2002


Oh, and here is something interesting
hint: it's about bunnies on fire!
posted by goneill at 1:51 PM on February 28, 2002


ColdChef - you are really the best.
posted by goneill at 1:59 PM on February 28, 2002


* winks *
posted by goneill at 2:52 PM on March 1, 2002


Grahwnya
or "Gronya"
Gráinne
posted by goneill at 1:54 PM on March 4, 2002


Hmmm...Is that French?
posted by ColdChef at 1:57 PM on March 4, 2002


Nevermind. I am an idiot.
posted by ColdChef at 1:58 PM on March 4, 2002


Grainne: a mythical woman who stopped time to run away from the leader of the country to marry the man she loved.
Gráinne: an 18th century pirate who successfully fought Elizabeth I.
Gráinne: a 21st century computer programmer.
posted by goneill at 2:52 PM on March 4, 2002


BTW, congratulations! I bet you play a mean harp.

Also, could I borrow some money?

And one more thing, it was mean of you to lead me on when it's obvious where your true feelings lie.
posted by ColdChef at 4:59 PM on March 4, 2002


the amazing thing, mr. chef, is that one of your links actually points to the correct grainne o'neill! can you guess which one?
posted by mlang at 7:45 AM on March 5, 2002


Oh, crap. Okay. Gimme some time. Let me guess.
posted by ColdChef at 7:47 AM on March 5, 2002


i'll give you a hint: she's not a lottery winner (too bad for me, eh?).
posted by mlang at 8:47 AM on March 5, 2002


For your sake, I hope she's not a harpist.

Hmmm. "Thespian Lesbian" has a nice ring to it.
posted by ColdChef at 9:12 AM on March 5, 2002


that's true; thank god she's not a harpist. but she does play the flute. and i listen.

also, lesbian school was very entertaining (and grainne was the best actress in the show) but it didn't come anywhere near its potential, considering that title. whoever wrote the play needs to rent more videos.
posted by mlang at 10:49 AM on March 5, 2002


p.s. she's not posting today because she's not at work. her great-aunt passed away and grainne is upstate with her family. i'm going to the wake later this evening; i'll convey your sympathies and your regards (she'll be happy that we've been chatting in her absense, but jealous).
posted by mlang at 10:52 AM on March 5, 2002


Hey, thanks. Let her know she's in my thoughts today (and that they aren't of the "Thespian Lesbian" variety). Have a safe trip.
posted by ColdChef at 11:15 AM on March 5, 2002


so...it appears that at least one of us has had some past legal troubles and is a serious afficianado of rotocraft, whatever they are.

but don't worry, stanley hubertson...errrrr...'coldchef', your annonymity is safe with us.
posted by mlang at 1:34 PM on March 6, 2002


NOOOOO.....ummm. I mean...I do not know what you mean...for I am mild mannered reporter Clark Kent (where did I put those fucking glasses?)

So, yeah. The first one is my DAD who's being sued for god knows what.

And the second is my grandfather, who flies rotocraft, which are experimental helicopters. Because what you REALLY want in a helicopter is the element of surprise...

However, I'm a little disappointed in you. If you'd have googled me, you'd have found something far FAR geekier.
posted by ColdChef at 4:26 PM on March 6, 2002


us?
I have no knowledge of CC's other life, other than the following:
he is a theiving filmic storyteller, who admires johnny cash. His dad is a crook, and his grandfather flies helicopters.

Now: nobody's grandfather is on the internet so /me suspects that the Chef is a rotocraft afficianado. (well, Mlang's mother is quite the webmistress, but that's it I tell you.)

I don't know the chef's other name, although he knows mine.
posted by goneill at 10:34 AM on March 7, 2002


ColdChef: you have been quite obscene today. Yes, I mean obscene. I'm horrified.
1. Uncircumsized penii are quite attractive to a woman of experience and knowledge.
2. Virgins are not sitting around waiting for you to defile.
posted by goneill at 12:57 PM on March 7, 2002


Goneill: I blame my father...the criminal. I apologize for any disturbance I may have caused you, but:
1. I find both gender's sexual organs poorly designed and frightening. Especially the penis (in both the crewneck AND turtleneck variety)
2. I have no response to that.
posted by ColdChef at 2:31 PM on March 7, 2002


you are right - both sexual organs are frightening - it was my other self, the wanna-be liberated radical feminist self who was advocating turtlenecks. oh dear - this has devolved.

Now: mlang and I are interested in procuring tickets to your wedding. we buy really nice presents, I got a singing telegram at my work on valentines day, and he got a fountain pen.
posted by goneill at 2:57 PM on March 7, 2002


Both fine, fine presents. (What KIND of pen, BTW?)

Sadly, my wedding will not be in Austin. One love of my life is taking me away from the other. A stipulation she put on the whole deal requires us to move back to Louisiana if this relationship is going to continue.

But, if you feel the need for a little gumbo and zydeco, I think an invitation could probably be arranged.

You know, now that I think of it, this is probably how people get killed by internet stalkers...
posted by ColdChef at 3:34 PM on March 7, 2002


Do not be afraid coldchef. We are not stalkers, just friendly people who don't have enough friends. There is nothing wrong with us at all. * /me does jedi mind trick * */me recoils in pain because /me hates anything star wars related * */me wonders to self why /me associates the whole '/me' thing with star wars *
posted by goneill at 3:56 PM on March 7, 2002


bunnyfire gave a shout out to mlang on blogmoleum...
radical...
of course, she didn't name names...
you aren't famous...
i troll the bunny.
posted by goneill at 5:43 PM on March 7, 2002


Now that you know my secret identity, I suppose I'll have to tell you where I hide the key to the fortress of solitute, too.

Re: The Rabbit
Wow. She says that she doesn't want to be found, doesn't know whether she wants to come back, and then suggests that she may come back incognito--all in one post. MetaFilter IS cracklike, I guess.

BTW, she's probably reading this as we speak. *waves* hey, hon!
posted by ColdChef at 6:24 PM on March 7, 2002


I actually don't know your secret identity. But I'm up for any secrets that you want to share - especially fortresses.
Last summer I went to Grainne-the-pirate's fortress. It was a big tall thing that didn't look like it could have any rooms in it. Just pretty much a tower, and it overlooked an inlet that was the key to her pirate power.
posted by goneill at 6:49 PM on March 7, 2002


Ohhhh-kay...
posted by ColdChef at 7:35 PM on March 7, 2002


*peep*
posted by tj at 9:55 PM on March 7, 2002


That did seem a little random, but it was all true. true I tell you. I never expected a dismissal from you CC. Harumpf

Hello tj, welcome to the clubhouse.
posted by goneill at 7:05 AM on March 8, 2002


hi, and now a theory:

ya see, the real secret is to keep your *hero* identity secret. that way your secret identity isn't secret at all, and much easier to keep people from finding out about it.

ow... I think I just blew a synapse there
posted by tj at 11:50 AM on March 8, 2002


I am often confused, but right now I am more so, can you help me tj?
posted by goneill at 12:17 PM on March 8, 2002


you're asking *me*? has something I've written on this site made you think that I'm good at this whole insight thing?? I'm a freelance movie reviewer/tech support monkey/web designer for chrissakes. I don't have the attention span for that sort of thing.

or this some sort of "help tee-jay-three kinobi" thing? If so I'm gonna have to find some kid wearing a white belted gi and ace bandages on his legs to help me out.

(I believe my initial thought was that it's harder to keep something secret the more you try, or something like that. I'm not sure, 'cause I think I killed that brain cell tonight.)

and i apologize for the Star Wars references ahead of time, I just watched it about a week ago
posted by tj at 12:40 AM on March 9, 2002


No wait! I remember: if no one know about the whole superhero thing, then the secret identity isn't neccessary?

so I guess I meant that if you have superpowers, only use them for apathy.

that doesn't sound right...
posted by tj at 12:46 AM on March 9, 2002


heh sorry, I was TUI (typing under the influence)
posted by tj at 10:00 AM on March 11, 2002


Can't you guys just email each other or something?
posted by daveadams at 9:11 AM on March 15, 2002


no.
posted by goneill at 10:41 AM on March 15, 2002


so i'm having a good time here in dublin - even though the dublin mefi cru has not emailed me or contacted me at all. there's really no need for them in order to have fun. i've gotten a hold of two out of three people that i have wanted to see. bad ass.
posted by goneill at 9:56 AM on March 21, 2002


Have a beer and stalk The Edge for me!
posted by ColdChef at 7:49 PM on March 21, 2002


I'll give you twelve grand for anything that comes off of Bono, goneill.
Twenty-Four if it's bloody.
An even forty if he needs it to reproduce.
posted by dong_resin at 10:59 AM on March 24, 2002


please don't bring me stuff from the airport giftshop this time, pumpkin. if you forget to buy me something or (here's your way out) don't see anything cool enough that it deserves to get bought for me, don't be afraid to come home empty-handed.

this is not to say that i don't love the plastic bird-of-paradise bookmark/letter-opener from the curacao airport, but i don't need a 'piece of the blarney stone' or anything like that. if you could bring back some circulated euros, that would be pretty cool, though. and a bottle of bushmills or jameson...although we can get those here. how about some good irish whiskey that doesn't normally cross the pond. anybody have any suggestions? redbreast? powers? tullamore dew? crested ten?

from my quick & dirty preliminary research, it appears that redbreast and powers are winners (but you have to read the fine print with redbreast and make sure that you're getting the 'pot still' and not the 'blend'). apparently, jameson is basically the coca-cola or budweiser of irish whiskey, which doesn't surprise me at all.

oh, and if you bring back gifts for d_r and the chef but nothing for me, well, then there might be trouble.
posted by mlang at 6:15 AM on March 26, 2002


(In Ted Knight voice)
"You'll take your dancing leprechaun Air Lingus keyring and like it!"
posted by dong_resin at 10:29 AM on March 26, 2002


guys you are so active -

i'll bring back some paddy for you mlang.
d_r: a used condom from a born again christian (am i reading you right?)
chef: i don't mind a band t-shirt, but could we make it a little bit more current than u2?

regardless, i'll buy some potoin that is packaged and fake and some absynthe that is packaged and fake, and darling, don't worry i've already stocked up on out of print edna o'brien novels!

posted by goneill at 10:49 AM on March 26, 2002


I'd like a postcard that's really, really inappropriate. Something that will make the mailman blush for days and have to consult both the Kama Sutra and a copy of "Field and Stream" magazine.

Or a bookmark that says "kiss me, I'm Irish."
posted by ColdChef at 6:29 PM on March 26, 2002


hey guys...

she brought back a lot of irish whiskey. any way some of you could make it up to brooklyn for a mefi alt.cabal party? hell, i'll even invite bingo.
posted by mlang at 10:37 AM on March 28, 2002


yo - he means a lot...

a real lot...
posted by goneill at 2:11 PM on March 28, 2002


From: Connie Reagan [mailto:conniereagan@hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, March 29, 2002 1:20 PM
To: Grainne Elizabeth O'Neill
Subject: Irish Whiskey



Y'all be careful and for goodness'sakes at least have a designated
driver...

cordially

the soon returning bunnyfire




_________________________________________________________________
Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com
posted by goneill at 1:34 PM on March 29, 2002 [1 favorite]


Fine advice...

...for girls.
posted by dong_resin at 4:30 PM on March 29, 2002


yeah dongster - i'm a bit tired of this gurl bee in your bonnet i'll take you on if you need taking on any day. my dukes are up and they are flying around in concentric circles. lets GO. damn it lets GO. didn't you see who this waws FROM? herself!! i'll drink my whiskey and drive across country with a gram of speed in my big rig. picking up truck stop hookers and hitchhikers with fear in their eyes. the open road.
posted by goneill at 6:48 AM on April 1, 2002


you'll have to excuse grainne, doctor dong. she just spent the whole weekend with her family (my future in-laws). and, let me tell you, three days with those people is enough to drive anybody to the edge, or even over it, as in this case of kerouacian romantization of 'ballin the jack' et al.
posted by mlang at 7:38 AM on April 1, 2002


also, it's interesting that she has the time and inclination to be posting here when she hasn't yet called or emailed me this morning...particularly since i waited outside her house from 6:00-6:30 this morning, thinking that i was taking her to the train. but she didn't come out and the lights stayed off inside. why didn't i just knock or ring the doorbell? if you knew this family, you'd understand.
posted by mlang at 7:41 AM on April 1, 2002


well, if she doesn't want to hear about the hijinx that ensued when my sister's college roommates came over for easter dinner and everybody got drunk and played basketball in the driveway while blasting k-104 on the car stereo, then i guess that's her loss.

also, i almost had to go to the emergency room. but i'm sure she doesn't care. maybe i should just email palegirl.
posted by mlang at 7:46 AM on April 1, 2002


the suspense is getting to me.....what happened?
posted by bunnyfire at 9:20 AM on April 2, 2002


Well, as it turned out, Bunny, the Empire foolishly didn't recognize the Ewoks as any kind of a threat, being little more than a technologically backwards tribe culture of midgets with that weird furry costume fetish that's all the rage nowadays, so the imperial forces that had been sent to Endor's moon were ill-equipped to deal with their combined onslaught with the alliance.

In a parallel bit of coincidence, Emperor Palpitine overestimated the Dark SIde's hold on Anakin, who, having been beat by Luke into a crippled mess of failing cybernetics, betrayed him in a last bid to regain his humanity. Then, there's a bunch a gay-ass fireworks and dancing

Also, Goneill, I can't very well trade discs with you if you don't e-mail me your shipping address. It was you saying "please" that made feel enough like an antisocial shit to whip them together in the first place, and now you leave me (and mlang) hanging like that little flap of ruined skin that forms on the roof of your mouth when you eat too much Cap'n Crunch, except that at least mlang gets some quality booze.
Here I swing in the breeze like so much old man scrotum, booze free.

Don't you want your Stryper/ Andrew W.K. megamix?
posted by dong_resin at 2:33 PM on April 2, 2002


Hello all, welcome to the thread!
posted by goneill at 3:01 PM on April 3, 2002


Thanks-so how WAS the Emerald Isle, by the way? I'm jealous.
posted by bunnyfire at 6:08 PM on April 3, 2002


GO NOW
posted by goneill at 7:31 PM on April 3, 2002


Technically, goneill, this is Bunny's thread.

Unless you meant for her to go to Ireland, which might be fun for you, Bunny, if only for your interaction with some of the other religious faithful they have there.

They've such open minds.
posted by dong_resin at 7:32 AM on April 4, 2002


Actually I am really into celtic christian music. I dig the sound...

goneill, don't let me run you off.....But Brother D. is right, I DID start this thread, if we have to get legalistical....why does everybody assume i bite?
posted by bunnyfire at 8:59 AM on April 4, 2002


Actually I will leave since you do look like you were having fun before I got here and i don't really want to spoil it for you. But well and truly- I DON'T BITE.
posted by bunnyfire at 9:02 AM on April 4, 2002


Alright dong - you turncoat - how about we change things. Let me suggest bunny that you take a trip to Eamon Daleys. You might like some of the Irish punk that's coming out these days too. Blood or Whiskey is a really great band. It's pretty and green there though. The people are friendly and it's got a kind of rainy toughness that you might enjoy. I really love Dublin and the west. Bars are very friendly and sociable places - you really won't get the irish experience unless you go there for some craic. Even if you don't normally drink, I suggest trying a pint, just for the cultural experience.
posted by goneill at 10:10 AM on April 4, 2002


no, bunnies don't bite
but they multiply so fast
Anya fears them

self-loathing or love
both walks down street hubris
boring to others

such loud displays
never sure if it's a troll
like this very thread
posted by dong_resin at 2:24 PM on April 4, 2002


Brother D, what the snot are you talking about hon? You sucking on toads again?

anyway, g, what you describe sounds lovely...unfortunately i have to skip the pint unless someone is willing just to let me have a sip of theirs, as my meds and alcohol just don't mix...but the ambience sounds tonic to my ears at the moment. I am reminded of the scent in LOTR where one of the hobbits(Merry or Pippin most likely)was thrilled to discover"it comes in pints!"


posted by bunnyfire at 4:08 PM on April 4, 2002


Bunnyfire: nobody reads this, will you confess to me that you are really kidding? This is all made up and you are the greatest of all times? I'm on to you... I read you as such. I enjoy - you've definitely put the spice back in MeFi!
posted by goneill at 5:24 PM on April 4, 2002


Just what do you think I'd be making UP, daarlin????
*befuddled grin*
posted by bunnyfire at 6:01 PM on April 4, 2002


I knew it!
posted by goneill at 6:36 PM on April 4, 2002


Yup.
posted by dong_resin at 8:51 PM on April 4, 2002


Aw, man....Dr d, YOU tell her. Tell her this persona REALLY IS ME.

Perhaps that is the scariest thing of all....I fit in nobody's box...nobody's nice neat little category. What you see is what you get.

If you want me to leave the thread I will. I wanted to play and tease you about it, but I won't deceive you about who I am...this is it....really.
posted by bunnyfire at 7:09 AM on April 5, 2002


it is true! the most brilliant troll of all time! bang on, bunnyfire.

that story about your husband, the bit about the 'worship team'; it's these little details that almost make it believable. lots of trolls set up fake websites for their avatars, but none so perfect as yours. you certainly had me going for a while.

not only did i 'feed the troll' here on metafilter, your creation was on my mind costantly. all that goneill and i talked about offline for a while was bunnyfire and what to do about 'her'. i thought that the metafilter community was too large to be effectively disrupted and almost torn asunder by just one character. you proved me wrong.

and the best part, the thing that you do so overarchingly well, is to ingenuously pretend that your conservative political views are what make you disliked. you've obviously followed metafilter for some time and you know that the cry of anti-conservative bias makes the happy feel-good all-inclusive liberal crowd feel guilty and make exceptions for the bad behavior of conservative members.

and while hiding behind this shield of 'minority political opinion', you continue posting coyly inane banalities; filling metafilter with the lowest level of aol chatroom tripe. and leaving people simultaneously furious and powerless. i am in awe.
posted by mlang at 8:09 AM on April 5, 2002


You know, I could wish you were right. then my friend wouldn't really be fighting cancer.

I can give you the urls to HIS website, with his updates(they are kinda behind...the webmaster is not all that uptodate on his skills, either...but he does it for free. )

Half my time I spend crying in my room over real life stuff that I have no control over like the real life suffering my friend is going through. Metafilter takes my mind off a lot of crap these days.

If I was a troll, I'd be even more brilliant than you think because I have you all hook line and sinker too.

But I am too honest to play the genius when I don't deserve the title. Sorry if I spoiled your fun...but every single word on Blogmoleum is the truth. Even the dead hamster.

The real truth behind my breakdown on mefi, besides the bipolar, is the last three months(my friend was diagnosed on christmas eve) is that my friend and his wife were pretty much the people who I could tell all my stuff to no matter what. They weren't just the worship leaders, they were close friends and spiritual advisors-and they understood bipolar. i was freshly diagnosed last fall, and theyd had friends with the disorder for years, and they understood what i was going through with trying to adjust with meds and everything else...so when he got diagnosed with stage 4 cancer on Christmas eve, our whole groups world got rocked in a major way...and if you have read this whole thread you will know that stress affects people with my disease in a physical way, not just in an emotional sense....well, that is probably way more than you care to know about me.

But you need to know that out there that IS me-and there is nothing wrong with it. I can accept you as you are. The question is-will you accept me as I am?
posted by bunnyfire at 9:14 AM on April 5, 2002


On the other hand, if you wish to enjoy my mefi escapades
on the level you previously described, i really don't mind... I just didn't wish to deceive you, that's all.

I am NOT a serious Bunny most of the time....really....;-)
posted by bunnyfire at 9:27 AM on April 5, 2002


you are too good...
posted by goneill at 9:33 AM on April 5, 2002


TO
THE MOST HIGH,
MIGHTIE
And
MAGNIFICENT
EMPRESSE RENOVV-
MED FOR PIETIE, VER-
TVE, AND ALL GRATIOVS
GOVERNMENT GONEILL BY
THE GRACE OF GOD QUEENE
OF METAFILTER METATALK AND
IRELAND AND OF NEVV YORK,
DEFENDOVR OF THE
FAITH, &c. HER MOST
HVMBLE SERVAVNT
EVAN IZER
DOTH IN ALL HV-
MILITIE DEDI-
CATE, PRE-
SENT
AND CONSECRATE THESE
HIS LABOVRS TO LIVE VVITH THE ETERNI-
TIE OF HER
FAME.

posted by evanizer at 11:47 AM on April 5, 2002


You guys are still here?
posted by daveadams at 12:50 PM on April 5, 2002


What this joint needs is a good retroactive delete key...

posted by bunnyfire at 12:55 PM on April 5, 2002


Oh go on Bunny, keep the fire burning bright.
i told you nobody reads this, and I was sort of off base, but seriously - these guys won't tell that you are the troll-master, ssssshhh. I think ev suspected all along anyway, didn't you?

evanizer, i'm not sure if I wrote this anywhere before, but is there any chance that you could ever fall for a lady? I can strap on with the best of them
posted by goneill at 1:11 PM on April 5, 2002


How many threads are you people in? Certainly there is someone among you who can host a site in which all of you can chat so that you aren't on Matt's dime, or at least, you could give him some cash for de-facto hosting your chat-rooms.
posted by Avogadro at 1:16 PM on April 5, 2002


Curmudgeon.
posted by goneill at 1:18 PM on April 5, 2002


I...AM....NOT.....THE.....TROLLMASTER......*hops up and down in frustration, lands in bedraggled heap*

why won't she BELIEVE ME........*muttered to self in low tones*
posted by bunnyfire at 1:22 PM on April 5, 2002


hopping te he.
posted by goneill at 1:39 PM on April 5, 2002


Curmudgeon.

Well that's an intelligent comment that certainly reflects your wisdom and enriches MetaFilter. I'm serious, goneill. There are better places to talk in a chatty, conversational manner such as in a chat-room, via e-mail, IM, or on the phone. It's sad to watch thread after thread descend into this sort of crap especially if there was a conversation going on and especially if you aren't donating the bandwidth and the servers to carry it.

And bunnyfire, you are doing the exact same thing that got you removed from MetaFilter in the first place. If you can't handle being here, then you probably shouldn't. It is not doing you any good to talk about yourself everywhere you go and to obsess about how others think about you. If you can't handle it, then don't.
posted by Avogadro at 1:43 PM on April 5, 2002


Avvie, this is one of these sort of private places mefi has.

Really few members know about it, and let's keep it that way. You have got in between a private conversation between goneil and myself. Trust me, I am fine and dandy- and you really have no idea what I am talking about with her.

If you have any other questions please email me. other than that, this conversation is ended.
posted by bunnyfire at 2:05 PM on April 5, 2002


Avvie, this is one of these sort of private places mefi has.

Well, as private as any website that is Googled daily can be.
posted by iceberg273 at 2:14 PM on April 5, 2002


Note to self: change screen name...
posted by bunnyfire at 2:18 PM on April 5, 2002


Really few members know about it, and let's keep it that way.

Obviously more than you think. Avogadro is correct about this being Matt's dime, and hence it's not the place for a "private" anything.
posted by Wulfgar! at 2:38 PM on April 5, 2002


Oh bunny, you are priceless!
I was almost annoyed by the single 'L'. You can still get to me and I KNOW
posted by goneill at 3:05 PM on April 5, 2002




DARLING I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!!!
posted by goneill at 7:48 AM on April 9, 2002


i miss bunnyfire.
posted by mlang at 11:51 AM on April 12, 2002


paging the creator of the bunnyfire persona...

i've got a spare mefi username that i'm not using; you can have it if you can invent another troll that's even half as good as her.

email me.
posted by mlang at 11:56 AM on April 12, 2002


will do.
posted by goneill at 12:09 PM on April 12, 2002


whatever, pumpkin. you couldn't even troll a dinner party full of rabid zionists. or canadians, for that matter. learn from the master, why don't you.
posted by mlang at 1:46 PM on April 12, 2002


When I masturbate, it's usually to that picture of little John Kennedy Jr. saluting as they burry what's left of his father, but only when it's not to Mein Kampf.
posted by dong_resin at 11:24 PM on April 12, 2002


Too subtle?
posted by dong_resin at 11:27 PM on April 12, 2002


dr: the american body politic has been collectively masturbating to that image of john-john for nearly forty years. and i know for a fact that trent lott's copy of mein kampf can't hardly be opened for want of finding two pages that aren't already stuck together.

you're gonna have to try harder.
posted by mlang at 6:15 AM on April 13, 2002


Mother applies the lube.
posted by dong_resin at 6:51 AM on April 13, 2002


where did you learn to troll, soldier?! aol chatrooms?!

i don't care if you used rose kennedy's decomposing right hand to apply the lube...

i don't care if you deposited the 'product' of your personal moral debasement (your 'dong resin', as it were) into one of princess diana's worm-ridden eye-sockets...

you've got to do more than shock; you've got to do more than run down national heroes: you've got to profane personal heroes.
posted by mlang at 8:08 PM on April 13, 2002 [1 favorite]


e.g., rcb applied the lube...and mathowie begged you to give him a facial.
posted by mlang at 8:09 PM on April 13, 2002


you drove palegirl to 'lookout point' for a bit of necking...in your cadillac escalade. and as you were leaving, the gleam of your headlights revealed paris paramus...giving yassir arafat a rusty trombone.
posted by mlang at 8:29 PM on April 13, 2002


Jeez, stop yelling at me.
This is so much easier in real life, where I can just take a leak on a carpet, and then punch the people who complain.

Uh...

Uh, it was only after Goneill and also Goneill's mother allowed me dulling Dirty Sanchezes that I realized what a festering pustule of smarmy emotional need that her complete faggot of a boyfriend was.
posted by dong_resin at 9:27 PM on April 13, 2002


Oh wait, you said "heroes", didn't you...
posted by dong_resin at 9:29 PM on April 13, 2002


Er, dueling, fignuts.
posted by dong_resin at 10:20 PM on April 13, 2002


first of all, goneill's mother is a hero. she's had to endure years of cultural starvation at the hands of her heartless husband who forced her to live in america...and upstate new york at that!

and how dare you suggest that goneill and i aren't metafilter hero[in]es! even miguel has said that 'mlang and goneill make a terrific couple and their give-and-take, wit and affection are an example to us all.'. everbody on mefi wishes that they had a relationship that was half as fulfilling as ours.
posted by mlang at 8:10 AM on April 15, 2002


obviously, your troll was quite effective that time, since i was forced to respond...and the bit about the 'festering emotionally needy faggot' just cut so deep that it took two hours from the time i first read the post before i could even deal with the other issues.

well done.
posted by mlang at 8:22 AM on April 15, 2002


plus, i had to look up 'dirty sanchez' and thus learned some new expressions: the 'cleveland steamer' and the related 'chilidog', as well as the elusive 'dog in the bathtub'.

also, did you know that there's even a movie, the adventures of dirty sanchez? haven't had a chance to watch it yet (i'm at work), but i'll be sure to check it out.
posted by mlang at 8:35 AM on April 15, 2002


and, speaking of smarmy and emotionally needy faggots, i'm wondering exactly why it is so important to you that you prove your trollibility to little old me. i sense that you may suffer from a lack of real self-confidence, mister resin.
posted by mlang at 8:40 AM on April 15, 2002


This is what it sounds like, when dong cries.
posted by dong_resin at 12:52 PM on April 15, 2002


dunt dunt dunt dunt....

dunt dunt dunt dun....


I had a dream last night that I was a rock star. will you appear in my imaginary band and sing a duet with me dr?
posted by goneill at 6:45 AM on April 16, 2002


Only if we can name the band "Dunt".

"Who's opening for you?"
"Dunt."
"........ excuse me?"
posted by dong_resin at 8:18 AM on April 16, 2002


From: Grainne E. O'Neill
Sent: Monday, April 15, 2002 9:45 AM
To: Martin J. Lang
Subject: It's over...

I've been thinking alot about what dong_resin said and...I'd never noticed it before, Martin, but you really ARE a "festering pustule of smarmy emotional need." And maybe a faggot too, to tell you the truth.

So I'm breaking up with you. And if you show up at the next MeFi NYC party, don't expect me to talk to you.

Your toothbrush and collection of John Grisham audiobooks are in the mail.

Have a nice life.

BFF,
Grainne
posted by mlang at 8:33 AM on April 16, 2002


fucking thanks a lot, donger. i never even got to give her a cleveland steamer!
posted by mlang at 8:38 AM on April 16, 2002


but i guess this means that i will be available to the evanizer next thursday. maybe he'd be into making some amateur scat videos.
posted by mlang at 8:45 AM on April 16, 2002


There's such balance in nature, mlang.


So.

Grainne.

You like cranky guys? Cranky guys that smell like feel?
posted by dong_resin at 9:06 AM on April 16, 2002


Or feet.

How about guys that can't type, how do they swing `ya?
posted by dong_resin at 9:09 AM on April 16, 2002


dr: the thing is that I actually DO like cranky guys that smell like feet.
Indeed, the first time I read that first sentance: 'Cranky guys that smell like feet' I read it as feet anyway.
But, you seem to be able to read. Mlang was my first and last literate boyfriend. It was all confusing, and left me no room to be 'the writer' (as in ' the one who could leave a note to the other one regarding doing the dishes.') I'm strictly a loser-guy girl.
posted by goneill at 12:55 PM on April 16, 2002


Drat.
Literacy -1, dong 0.

No.

Literacy +1. dong 0.

Wait...

dong -1, li
Whatever.
More sweet booty denied me for my damnible vowel movements, is the point.
I struck out just like this when I went after Shakira. I thought she was hot because when she's not dolled up for filming her videos, she looks exactly like Bob Hoskins, which is exciting.

So, one night I lured Shakira back to my pad with one of those Little Debbie oatmeal pie things and tried to read her some Ezra Pound.
Y'know, chicks like it when you pretend that they can comprehend big words and stuff.

Anyways, Shakira got bored real fast, and inside of ten minutes was chewing on the pages of Portrait d'une Femme like some kind of chemically-treated, syphilic billygoat.
I got upset and sprayed her with oven cleaner. She clawed at her eyes, and screeched something in that made up language they speak from whatever banana republic continent she's from. Esperanto, or Glockenspiel , or Hasselhoff, or whatever it is.

*sigh*
I'm going to die alone.
Just me and my hundred and thirteen little wind-up novelty hopping penis toys.

Who will wind them up after I die?
Not Shakira. She'll almost certainly have formed cataracts by then.
posted by dong_resin at 2:39 AM on April 17, 2002


OH that is the saddest story.
I'm sorry that Shakira turned out to be a bit of a waste. I could most certainly be lured by a little debbie oatmeal pie. Martin won my heart with an off-brand product called "Bobbles". In my neighborhood we can't afford "little debbies". We have "Small Herman Oat-product FoodStuffs" where I live. You must be rich! [Rethinks illiteracy requirement which never really fit in to well with that pesky "wealth" requirement all the other girls are always yammering about]

Dong, (I think that we have become familiar enough that it will not be inappropriate for me to call you by your first name) I think that the moral of this story is that chicks don't like it when you pretend that you can comprehend big words. From what I've learned in this albeit short life, the important things are best left to women, men should all be off playing around in that made up business world/ navel-grazing, child-molesting, literary world. It's much better if we keep things the way the are. I'll play with your penis toys, while you are away with your briefcase, with all the other men and those whoors you call secretaries.
posted by goneill at 6:54 AM on April 17, 2002


she's not joking when she says that she likes cranky guys who smell like feet. i could not think of a better description for her last boyfriend (before me — i'm blissed out and i smell like patchouli).

and i'm not speaking from hearsay; i had to buy this guy huevos rancheros and take him shopping at hobby lobby as part of my 'martin spends the day with grainne's boyfriend' routine that i have to go through with all the morons she dates.*

that guy's 'upside'? he played accordian.

downside? when the two of them cycled across ireland last summer, grainne had to carry all the camping gear, etc., since her boyfriend's carrying capacity was maxed out with the three accordians that he has to bring with him everywhere he goes.

*so be warned, doctor dong, if you're not lying about your failure with shakira and are serious about getting together with my ex...you won't get past second base until you've been vetted (by me) over a hearty tex-mex brunch and a bit of domestic-oriented shopping.
posted by mlang at 9:19 AM on April 17, 2002


do you kids know why this is the best cult thread?
  1. it's the fastest loading of the bunch.
  2. i like everyone who posts here (i.e., no kafkaesque (j/k...dickhead).)

posted by mlang at 9:23 AM on April 17, 2002


it's the best cult thread because it's about me. and people surrounding me. and for some reason I have hit a blue period. and it's not that I am painting in blue. I'm just feeling blue. in the sense that the love of my life, just asked me why i am so anxious and upset today. the love of my life being coworker sasha kapil.

so then i reacted with a spew of stuff that culminated in sasha saying that his friend uri's girlfriend really was "hot" and that near-brought me to tears. because i didn't think that she was hot, but apparently she is. i'd like to go out for a beer after work, but I don't have any friends. and now i'm stuck in the middle between alchoholism and television.
posted by goneill at 10:42 AM on April 17, 2002


thank you, i feel better now.
posted by goneill at 11:17 AM on April 17, 2002


at least the student assistants in your office didn't replace your new york mets fortieth anniversary season desktop wallpaper with an obnoxious tiling yankees logo.
posted by mlang at 11:18 AM on April 17, 2002


I am feeling full of life and happy now. I reject the bf thesis that bipolar people are necessarily dumb.
posted by goneill at 3:01 PM on April 17, 2002


where is mr. resin, did I frighten you away?
posted by goneill at 7:05 PM on April 18, 2002


What are you kids doing in here!? I'm telling mom!
posted by y2karl at 7:16 PM on April 19, 2002


no no don't tell anyone...

this will be our little secret, now that dong is gone... ( or is he? )
posted by goneill at 6:56 AM on April 20, 2002


Who in their right goddamned mind puts mint flavored jellybeans in with the fruit ones?
Does orange juice taste nice after you brush your teeth?
NO, IT GODDAMN DOES NOT.

Everyone but dong is stupid and does things wrong. The pope, Kathleen Turner, that guy from Sugar Ray who'd be homeless if every girl on earth didn't want to fuck him silly, EVERYONE. ALL STUPID.
posted by dong_resin at 4:18 PM on April 20, 2002


I missed you so much!!! my darling dong - i don't want to fuck anyone else silly!
posted by goneill at 4:57 PM on April 23, 2002


Okay, everyone but goneill.
posted by dong_resin at 8:48 PM on April 23, 2002


ah sweetcheeks! you are back and wea re all here enjoying the day, and all the rest of the days where we are back here...

no more small size writing, say it loud and clear!
posted by goneill at 9:06 PM on April 23, 2002


No.
I like to make you squint. I have such a thing for asian women.

posted by dong_resin at 1:17 AM on April 24, 2002


Nothing clears out a thread faster than a little A&F style pseudo-racism.
posted by dong_resin at 8:27 PM on April 24, 2002


I've just been trying to respond suitably. but i'm having trouble. I hope you also like girls in glasses, because that's what I do with your teeny tiny er um, font.

Men seldom make passes
at girls who wear glasses
- DP
posted by goneill at 12:18 PM on April 25, 2002


Does the fact that "cult threads" are now gauche make our love more or less exciting?
posted by ColdChef at 8:22 PM on April 29, 2002


Our love is simply more forbidden; I suppose it is more exciting. Lets keep this little nook to ourselves, I won't be writing anywhere else for some time.
posted by goneill at 9:58 AM on April 30, 2002


Everything okay? (feel free to email me if necessary--dong may get jealous)
posted by ColdChef at 12:03 PM on April 30, 2002


did I make it to stile ever (dong told me of your little suggestion, cc, and don't think i'm not flattered...)
posted by goneill at 2:13 PM on April 30, 2002


In my defense, I only suggested that you be added to this photo.
posted by ColdChef at 2:18 PM on April 30, 2002


can i be facing them? sternly looking at them?

dong's version was a little more risque...
posted by goneill at 2:40 PM on April 30, 2002


Curse you, Dong_Resin! May you grow boils on your hidden manly places!
posted by ColdChef at 3:45 PM on April 30, 2002


can i be facing them? sternly looking at them?

Sternly, sure...demonically even...just cast your winsome gaze upon me...

When you look sternly at RTEMT, will you scold him for not existing...

posted by jonmc at 6:34 PM on April 30, 2002


and thanks to dong_resin's endorsement everyone wants a CD.

Nobody offerred sexual favors though..

*sniff*
posted by jonmc at 6:54 PM on April 30, 2002


where is young dong?

Are you reading donggy dear?
posted by goneill at 8:55 AM on May 1, 2002


I thought I'd give doing what I'm told a run, just for novelty, and have avoided coming back here.
That's all over with now, and frankly, I feel dirty for having dabbled in it.

I thought I'd hassle more visible threads with our forbidden thing, goneill, but this has so far proved fruitless.
posted by dong_resin at 5:57 PM on May 1, 2002


don't be jealous, dong;
we really are broken up.
want proof? ask nic wolff.
posted by mlang at 6:21 PM on May 1, 2002


Dag, my world is rocked.

Over at 9622.net jpoulos started chanting my name like a cheerleader in the "Butt Painting" thread.

Nice, but I'd prefer witchstone and metrocake in Dallas Cowgirls uniforms. Prolly won't happen though...
posted by jonmc at 7:50 PM on May 1, 2002


First, Cold Chef, I don't have any hidden places.
Not to you, anyway, *wink*, you sad song slingn' cowboy of love.

Second, Goneill ,you wouldn't believe what Chef wanted me to do with you and that hockey monkey from jonmc's profile.
Ick.
Don't even ask `bout the stick.

Third, mlang, if you're really broken up, I think we all know someone who evidently feels a tad dejected, and could use some lovn' in goneill's stead.
That's right, Mike Tyson.
Papa bear needs a hug. And some thorazine. And some bail.

Fourth, and most importantly, HOLLY HOPPING SHIT ARE YOU DEAD ON WITH GETTING THE MIGHTY WITCHSTONE AND METROCAKE INTO UNIFORM, JON.
ANY UNIFORM.
ANY UNIFORM AT ALL.

Sweet Jesus, you mefi gals foto naaahice.
posted by dong_resin at 1:56 AM on May 2, 2002


Or was that too boyzone.
I can't keep what complaint about who's behavior goes where.
posted by dong_resin at 2:18 AM on May 2, 2002


who do you think you're kidding, dong_resin? everybody knows that you're a happily married housewife, logging onto metafilter from your sono mcmansion.
posted by mlang at 4:56 AM on May 2, 2002


Any uniform? Even a Burger King Uniform?

God, if witchstone and metrocake ever read that, I'll probably die from embarrasment. Although, along with being gorgeous, they're both mega-cool*.
Metro even met the Replacements, She shook Tommy Stinson's hand. So when I met her I shook her hand. Applications to shake my hand are available by email.

*as is goneill, don't wantcha to think I leavin' ya out ...
posted by jonmc at 8:09 AM on May 2, 2002


uh yeah - i mean this is my thread, back to me, and how super cool i am. oh wait that was months ago, resume this conversation now.
posted by goneill at 8:14 AM on May 2, 2002


I would like to explain my red eyes here:

my pupils are always very dialated. (I did have some help from our friends that night, but regardless) They are always very black; they are the windows to my soul you see. So when pictures are taken with me in them the black turns to red, creating 'red eyes'. If you meet me in person, you will probably remark, "have you been doing drugs?" Now, that may be true, but even if it isn't, my pupils will be very dialated due to a shortage of rods and cones, or something like that that I learned about in biology class.
posted by goneill at 8:40 AM on May 2, 2002


who didn't invite me to 9622.net? who ls responsible for this injustice?
posted by goneill at 9:14 AM on May 2, 2002


Just e-mail eyeballkid, goneill, he'll letcha in.
posted by jonmc at 9:49 AM on May 2, 2002


I'd just like to say that this is my MetaFilter birthday and no one sent me flowers...

*sniff, sniff*
posted by ColdChef at 12:51 PM on May 2, 2002


Can't... type.. responses...
Still picturing... Witchstone... greasy... telling me I can "have it my way."

posted by dong_resin at 1:44 PM on May 2, 2002


1. if i hear one more word about witchstone, i'm gonna crack some heads. you wanna talk about witchstone, go start another cult thread, for the love of god. she's cute, yeah, but this is grainne's place.
plus, check this out: ( . ) ( . )
if you look closely, you can just make out part of grainne's brassiere in each of those links! (but no nipples. sorry, boys.)

2. no flowers, coldchef, but did you get that forbidden fruit gift cert. i sent you?

3. i emailed admin@9622.net at, like, eight o'clock this morning. no response. wtf? am i not 1337 enough? fucking a-list bullshit, if you ask me.

4. dating mike tyson would be a piece of cake after dating grainne. he'd be the very picture of sanity and rationality by comparison. also, i'll bet he's more willing to engage in a little 'anal exploration'. grainne balked whenever i tried to insert more than two fingers!

wait...am i 'sharing too much' again?
posted by mlang at 4:57 PM on May 2, 2002


Public Service Announcement Follows:

From: "Connie Reagan"
To: geo1@cornell.edu
Subject: the former bunnyfire's new blog
Date: Thu, 2 May 2002 17:54:00 -0400

Well, since I was deported from metafilter(I sure hope you had nothing to do with that) I have started a new blog-altho I have killed the bunnyfire persona. (I do keep it for my bipolar forum stuff but that's another story.)

So if you and your ilk want to keep up (and realize that I wasn't a troll) please visit at www.conniereagan.blogspot.com. And yes, I expect to see this on the cult thread.
the former bunnyfire, exiled to....somewhere other than metafilter.

posted by goneill at 5:17 PM on May 2, 2002


MARTIN!!! No more boob talk!!!

But, yes, no more witchstone talk either, Dong, you are supposed to have a crush on ME. You are supposed to be talking about ME oiled up saying have it your way, and then I am supposed to be pretend-offended, and then you are supposed to apologise, and then we resume conversation, and then you say something else about ME...

That's how it goes.
Ok?
posted by goneill at 5:20 PM on May 2, 2002


OK, no more witchstone...how about grainne, metrocake and twenty cans of vanilla buttercreme frosting. mmmm, fetch me a paper knife.
posted by jonmc at 5:21 PM on May 2, 2002


Thanks for the gift certificate, mlang. I got these. Saving them for the honeymoon.
posted by ColdChef at 8:02 PM on May 2, 2002


You're all just sitting there trying to picture me in my new skivies, aren't you?
posted by ColdChef at 5:21 AM on May 6, 2002


can't speak for anyone else, but i've spent the whole weekend masturbating while cramming my mouth full of fruit rollups (the closest thing to edible manties i could find on such short notice).
posted by goneill at 8:20 AM on May 6, 2002


shit. that was me; forgot to log her out. but i'll bet y'all greatly preferred imagining goneill masturbating and eating fruit rollups than me. sorry to disappoint.
posted by mlang at 8:25 AM on May 6, 2002


but i originally came here to jumpstart the flagging dong_resin lovefest. we already know he's perceptive; he couldn't be as funny as he is without some decent smarts...but i still love it when he testifies.

dong_resin:metafilter :: jason kidd:new jersey nets

oh, and just let me be perfectly clear about one thing: i'm not one of those guys described in the article. never passive-aggressive or overly accomodating am i! right, grainne? yes? back me up?
posted by mlang at 8:35 AM on May 6, 2002


for those of you keeping score at home, yes, i
  1. kissed ass in an effort to please dong_resin;
  2. acted defensive about my emotional needs and even included a sports reference in order to demonstrate 'true' manliness;
  3. required validation and justification from my 'partner'.
hmmmm. maybe doctor dong could give me a 'personal seminar' on manhood? i've got some fruit rollups left...
posted by mlang at 8:39 AM on May 6, 2002


All this talk of manliness, it feels so....primeval. Makes me wanna perform some gallant soldiering...or maybe just sit in a tree and fling crap around.
posted by jonmc at 10:30 AM on May 6, 2002


Yeesh.
You can always spot the shit I type before I have a few hits of coffee, huh?
Take me serious! Love me! I have something important to say!
Ick.
Good thing I don't go too long without coffee.

As for Grainne, masturbating, and fruit roll-ups... the less said about how that goes in my head, the better.
posted by dong_resin at 12:32 PM on May 6, 2002


Hi everyone, I'm back from an exciting weekend betting at the races. One too many mint juleps (not to mention the fruit rollups)... Anyway - lets just say that I watched the Pamela and Tommy Lee Saga and Startup.com, (almost the same movie by the way) in similar states of cringe, and almost got killed by a 367 pound bull dog that my friend calls 'Truck'.
But dong_resin, ColdChef, Jonmc, I have missed you all. (I haven't missed mlang, because I came home to find him sitting on my couch...)
posted by goneill at 6:11 PM on May 6, 2002


Really, goneill?
Last night I came home and he was sitting on my couch, drinking my beer, eating my peanuts, wearing my underwear...It was rather disturbing.

BTW, mlang, wash that gold lame thong before ya return it, okay?
posted by jonmc at 7:41 PM on May 6, 2002


sorry to say that i ate your thong, jon. got mixed up, what with coldchef's new drawers and grainne's fruit rollups and everything.
posted by mlang at 8:32 PM on May 6, 2002


but you don't know just how accurate a picture you painted. grainne walked in the door to find me sitting on her couch and drinking her irish whiskey, wearing (my own) boxer shorts and sporting sleep-mussed hair.

this was particularly awkward since we'd recently had a fight and weren't on speaking terms.
posted by mlang at 8:35 PM on May 6, 2002


(don't ever give me a key to your apartment; you'll never get it back.)
posted by mlang at 8:39 PM on May 6, 2002


but everything worked out. we (provisionally) made up and went out to dinner (at the blah-blah lounge, in fact). where i guess we acted too familiar or couple-y or whatever, costing me an opportunity to go out with the cute waitress.

oh well, all's well that ends, i guess.
posted by mlang at 8:44 PM on May 6, 2002


Ah, the post-sleep lounging about in your underwear in someone else's pad, drinking someone else's booze.
*sigh*
I miss being a choir boy for the catholic church.
Those were some good times at the rectory.
I don't miss the hemorrhoid doughnut.
Other kids will make fun of anything.


Hey, I'm so happy you two are safely back together, mlang.
Really.
I'm going to pith these dozen fuzzy baby chicks with this fondue fork, now, and wing their still living carcasses at that paper boy who has Down's Syndrome, but only because I'm bored. Not because jealousy is eating at my innards like Star Jones set lose in a meat locker. No sir.
posted by dong_resin at 1:08 AM on May 7, 2002


no no no. we aren't back together like that... we really aren't. we are working through this awkward phase as best we can; but we aren't TOGETHER. not like that. i promise...

dong_resin, if it weren't for the continental divide, if only... it could really be you and I; can't you get a job in da city? would you like a job in financial services doing whatever it is you do?
posted by goneill at 7:02 AM on May 7, 2002


yhbt
posted by mlang at 5:36 PM on May 8, 2002


what does yhbt mean?
posted by goneill at 4:34 AM on May 9, 2002


oh, that's funny.
posted by goneill at 4:35 AM on May 9, 2002


that google toolbar comes in handy, eh?
posted by mlang at 7:54 AM on May 10, 2002


I haven't yet used it...
posted by goneill at 8:20 AM on May 10, 2002


i do think that you should use less abbreviations though, my pounding head can't take the figuring it out, and I don't speak mud
posted by goneill at 8:21 AM on May 10, 2002


Where did our love go?
posted by ColdChef at 2:14 PM on June 19, 2002


« Older Random weblog homepages   |   What happened to the reading discussion? Newer »

You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments