Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Discussion, in general

Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby cmsellers » Wed Nov 21, 2018 3:09 pm

IamNotCreepy wrote:Johnny Van Zant, brother of original band member Ronnie Van Zant and .38 Special founder Ronnie Van Zant (geez, who named these guys?

I'm sure it was their parents, Donny and Connie Van Zant.

jbobsully11 wrote:The meeting went fairly well until someone made a motion to go through the minutes from the last meeting (which were e-mailed to everyone a while ago) and no one seconded it, and then somehow the whole thing devolved into a screaming match (which is somewhat typical for them).

And people wonder why I'm still worried about 2020.
  • 3

User avatar
cmsellers
Back-End Admin
Back-End Admin
 
Posts: 9316
Joined: Sun Apr 14, 2013 7:20 pm
Location: Not *that* Bay Area
Show rep
Title: Broken Record Player

Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby octoberpumpkin » Sun Nov 25, 2018 8:51 pm

whedding2.png
whedding2.png (62.63 KiB) Viewed 6737 times
  • 7

User avatar
octoberpumpkin
Time Waster
Time Waster
 
Posts: 1968
Joined: Thu Mar 05, 2015 7:24 pm
Show rep
Title: Pinkasaurus Rex

Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby AboveGL » Mon Nov 26, 2018 1:00 pm

Being out and about as Kim and being recognised by my true gender, even when I have to talk and I've never trained my voice properly.

Now, if only I could pull that off straight out of bed, rather than fully made up.
  • 13

AboveGL
TCS Sithlord
TCS Sithlord
 
Posts: 1797
Joined: Tue Apr 16, 2013 4:37 pm
Show rep

Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby Piter Lauchy » Wed Nov 28, 2018 5:12 pm

AboveGL wrote:Being out and about as Kim and being recognised by my true gender, even when I have to talk and I've never trained my voice properly.

Here's a question. I know that adjusting one's voice accordingly is part of transitioning (at least I think I know that. Is it?).
That wasn't the question, though, so here: Isn't it exhausting and also possibly damaging for the vocal chords to always have to alter one's biological voice? Or is that just temporary and with practice (and hormones?) it becomes natural?
  • 7

The Oatmeal wrote:Live life passionately and love everyone like they are family, because Jesus is always with you. Jesus loves you seriously bigtime. He'd hug you until your eyeballs exploded out of your skull if he ever met you. He'd windsurf across oceans of dead Nazis which he personally slaughtered just to tell you that your new haircut is the bee's knees. [...]
Praise Jesus, especially when it's sunny outside because Jesus would totally be cool with you praising while you get a nice tan.
User avatar
Piter Lauchy
Time Waster
Time Waster
 
Posts: 1090
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2016 1:33 am
Location: Bier und Wurst
Show rep
Title: Idk, someone give me one

Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby AboveGL » Thu Nov 29, 2018 9:30 am

It's entirely doable without damaging the vocal chords, you just have to ensure you rest them, especially when you start training. Over time, you get accustomed to it.

In rare cases, the decrease in muscle mass from MtF HRT can shrink the neck and the larynx enough to make a marginal difference. Otherwise, we have to train (and surgery for tightening the vocal chords is also an option).

I guess the secret is not to overdo it, and if your throat feels tired, stop for a day.
  • 6

AboveGL
TCS Sithlord
TCS Sithlord
 
Posts: 1797
Joined: Tue Apr 16, 2013 4:37 pm
Show rep

Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby cmsellers » Sat Dec 01, 2018 3:29 am

I bought some plants, including one I've wanted for awhile and one I knew I had to have the moment I saw it, even though it was twenty bucks. I put those two on top of my bookshelf. I keep looking up at them, and every time I do, I feel a strange feeling, one which I haven't felt often enough to pin it down for years. That feeling, I realized, is joy. Maybe even happiness.

I think this might mean I am no longer depressed. Which would mean that either spending money I don't really have on plants was the secret to curing depression all along, or the other stuff I've been doing is actually working.
  • 14

User avatar
cmsellers
Back-End Admin
Back-End Admin
 
Posts: 9316
Joined: Sun Apr 14, 2013 7:20 pm
Location: Not *that* Bay Area
Show rep
Title: Broken Record Player

Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby AboveGL » Sun Dec 02, 2018 12:41 pm

I can relate to that, sellers. 100%. Whatever the reason, I'm glad your depression is much less of a problem now. It's a fantastic feeling when you know you have it under control, or are starting to.

As for me... I graded to purple yesterday! I really enjoyed the grading, especially the v-circles (though my memory of them is rather hazy).
  • 12

AboveGL
TCS Sithlord
TCS Sithlord
 
Posts: 1797
Joined: Tue Apr 16, 2013 4:37 pm
Show rep

Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby cmsellers » Fri Dec 07, 2018 5:59 am

I was worried that I had killed my Cryptanthus bivittatus, because it was redder than when I got it and a lot of the leaves on the bottom are dead.

However looking closely, I realized that not only is the center part alive, but it produced two offsets which I repotted. Though given they don't have root systems yet, maybe I should put them in just water.
  • 4

User avatar
cmsellers
Back-End Admin
Back-End Admin
 
Posts: 9316
Joined: Sun Apr 14, 2013 7:20 pm
Location: Not *that* Bay Area
Show rep
Title: Broken Record Player

Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby jbobsully11 » Sun Jan 06, 2019 11:09 pm

Including today, I worked about 38.5 hours this week (my hours are counted from Monday to Sunday even though I have Tuesday and Wednesday off, because why not?), which is more than I’ve ever worked in a single week at this job.

Oh, and I bought a pencil sharpener and a pair of pants that probably fits me (the store didn’t have fitting rooms, at least in the men’s section) today, and they cost me almost nothing because I had a gift card.
  • 5

Crimson847 wrote:In other words, transgender-friendly privacy laws don't molest people, people molest people.

(Presumably, the only way to stop a bad guy with a transgender-friendly privacy law is a good guy with a transgender-friendly privacy law, and thus transgender-friendly privacy law rights need to be enshrined in the Constitution as well)
User avatar
jbobsully11
TCS Moderator
TCS Moderator
 
Posts: 3643
Joined: Mon Apr 15, 2013 10:22 pm
Location: not the outskirts of nowhere anymore, NJ, USA
Show rep
Title: The Chronically Underemployed

Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby NathanLoiselle » Mon Jan 07, 2019 12:50 am

I picked up Private Investigations by Dire Straits and Hot Fuss by The Killers for christmas.
  • 4

User avatar
NathanLoiselle
TCS Junkie
TCS Junkie
 
Posts: 4483
Joined: Wed Jul 09, 2014 3:49 am
Location: You'll Never Know!
Show rep

Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby jbobsully11 » Wed Jan 16, 2019 9:23 pm

I got my car fixed. The check engine light came on, and it turned out there were like 10 things wrong with it. After I got it back, I immediately had it inspected and renewed the registration, which took a long time considering it’s a workday, but not that long considering that it’s the DMV.
  • 5

Crimson847 wrote:In other words, transgender-friendly privacy laws don't molest people, people molest people.

(Presumably, the only way to stop a bad guy with a transgender-friendly privacy law is a good guy with a transgender-friendly privacy law, and thus transgender-friendly privacy law rights need to be enshrined in the Constitution as well)
User avatar
jbobsully11
TCS Moderator
TCS Moderator
 
Posts: 3643
Joined: Mon Apr 15, 2013 10:22 pm
Location: not the outskirts of nowhere anymore, NJ, USA
Show rep
Title: The Chronically Underemployed

Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby Pedgerow » Sat Jan 19, 2019 1:43 am

Two wonderful things have happened to me in the past two days:

Firstly, I identified a song I have always wanted to know the name of. Two or three times in the 1990s, on the radio, I heard a song that went, "Mexico, Mexicoooooo." That's all I had. So you can see how it would be hard to track down. Any searches on YouTube for "mexico song" would always have the same problem as another song I like, The Border by America, always used to have: thousands of videos about illegal immigration and absolutely zero groovy nostalgic tunes from my childhood. So for two thirds of my life (perhaps even three quarters of my life), I've been looking for a song about Mexico with no other information than that. Around 2009, my dad inexplicably suggested The Battle of New Orleans, which barely even mentions Mexico. But yesterday, by pure chance, I was listening to radio from around the world through one of the greatest websites in existence (it's called radio.garden and you need it in your life), when a radio station played the Mexico song! This was it. My one chance. Fail to identify it now and it would probably be the 2030s before I heard it again. I frantically made a mental note of any lyrics I could make out, and searched for them. And within a minute, after a quarter of a century of fruitless hunting, I knew that I had been looking since primary school for Mexico, by 1970s German party band the Les Humphries Singers. Which, in the maddest part of this story, does actually use the same lyrics as The Battle of New Orleans, just with added "Mexicoooooo". They got in trouble for copyright violation and everything. But it feels so good to finally know what that song is. I think I now only have one more song from my childhood I can't identify, which I only heard 30 seconds of once and had no lyrics and I can't even hum. So that's no good, and therefore doesn't belong in this thread. Let's focus on the win.

The other wonderful thing to happen to me was just after work today, as I was walking through freezing weather, in the dark, through the infamously depressing ghetto where I work, when a teenage girl approached me and said, "Hi, I'm making people's day by giving them money. Here you go." I uncomfortably mumbled a refusal, because I bet I'm considerably richer than most people who live round there, but she pressed the coins into my hand anyway, before chirpily walking away to perform a random act of kindness for someone else. It was only 13p that she gave me, about $0.17 if you need that in American money, but that didn't matter. I continued on my way to the supermarket I was going to, thinking, "What a weirdo", but the kindness grew, and my heart was warmed in the icy darkness until long after I got home. Once I had accepted that a stranger really was out there being nice for no reason on purpose, I didn't stop smiling for about two solid hours. All in all, it's a pretty good return for 13 pence. God speed, mysterious teenager. May your positive effects snowball throughout the community, until you are smiling as much as I was, but every day, forever, reaping the joy you have sown today.
  • 8

User avatar
Pedgerow
TCS Regular
TCS Regular
 
Posts: 345
Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2018 2:09 am
Show rep
Title: PWOT refugee

Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby cmsellers » Sat Jan 19, 2019 4:55 am

Your story reminds me of a similar experience I had once.
  • 2

User avatar
cmsellers
Back-End Admin
Back-End Admin
 
Posts: 9316
Joined: Sun Apr 14, 2013 7:20 pm
Location: Not *that* Bay Area
Show rep
Title: Broken Record Player

Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby jbobsully11 » Sat Jan 26, 2019 11:37 pm

I filed my taxes last night. I started them the day before, but the site wouldn’t let me submit anything right away because reasons. Anyway, I should be getting a refund worth a little over one week’s pay.

Oh, and at the risk of jinxing myself (again), I had a job interview yesterday that went really well. It also occurred to me that soon I’ll be considered a permanent employee where I am now, which means another raise even if I don’t get the other job. (Edit from two days later: lolno)
  • 5

Crimson847 wrote:In other words, transgender-friendly privacy laws don't molest people, people molest people.

(Presumably, the only way to stop a bad guy with a transgender-friendly privacy law is a good guy with a transgender-friendly privacy law, and thus transgender-friendly privacy law rights need to be enshrined in the Constitution as well)
User avatar
jbobsully11
TCS Moderator
TCS Moderator
 
Posts: 3643
Joined: Mon Apr 15, 2013 10:22 pm
Location: not the outskirts of nowhere anymore, NJ, USA
Show rep
Title: The Chronically Underemployed

Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby IamNotCreepy » Mon Jan 28, 2019 1:59 pm

I got pulled into the office on Thursday to discuss my yearly raise. My supervisor started off by saying that my raise would be calculated based on company performance, the performance of the department, and my own individual performance. In past years, the raise has been a modest 2.5-3%.

She slid a paper to me, facedown. I flipped it over and nearly had a heart attack. I got a raise of 25%! That's basically unheard of. Apparently, the company had record profits the last two quarters, and I've been knocking it out of the park with my performance.

I don't know if I shared the story of my horrible job interview last year when I had strep throat and almost passed out. The managers doing the interview were super mean and accusatory towards me, pretty much questioning why I was even bothering to apply for the position. I was really disheartened afterwards, and I couldn't bring myself to apply for any other internal positions the rest of the year.

So this has been a real lift to my spirits. Between this and due to the fact my daughter will be eligible for VPK this year and we can save a ton of money a month on childcare, we can finally start build up some savings and chip away at our debt.
  • 8

User avatar
IamNotCreepy
TCS Admin
TCS Admin
 
Posts: 1521
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2015 5:00 am
Location: Inside the "Cone of Uncertainty"
Show rep
Title: Chasing after the Wind

PreviousNext

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests

cron