ask_realistic_optimist . what role do you think of yourself as playing in the dance of lifey death? 031122 ... REAListic optimIST reluctant leader, muse, and bard. 031122 ... Doar don't forget back up musician, plumber, the guy with the machine that goes ping! 031123 ... pipedream where are the caterpiggles? tell me now and i'll let you go easy.. *clicks her spurs ominously* 031124 ... REAListic optimIST they are still in my pawket, but you never checked my secret pawket in my big fluffy jacket, did you? *blink blink* well they are still in there, crawling about, munching on the various random foodstuffs i drop in there from time to time. 031124 ... Toxic_Kisses Have you ever noticed how music is louder in the dark? I'll go to set my radio to a good volume go stand next to my bed to make sure it's not to loud or not to soft and once I have it just right I'll go turn out the lights crawl in bed and realize that indeed the music -is- to loud and then have to stumble over everything in the dark to get to the radio and adjust the volume all over again - so why is it that music feels/sounds louder in the dark then it does in the light? 040111 ... realistic optimist hello toxic kisses. i too, have noticed this phenomenon. searching through the psychology class material stuck up in my head, i would say that the explanation which most resembles a reasonable answer would have to do with attention, attenuation, and habituation. you must, on a subconscious level, constantly divide your attentions in several directions in order to take in all stimuli, process it, and scan it for significant cues to attend to that one thing. this is part of our survival mechanism. so, while you are getting ready for bed, you are attending to many more things, both consciously and subconsciously, than when you hit the lights and light out between the sheets. when your attention is focused on just one thing, it is amplified. this goes for vision as well. if you try to focus on just one thing, it will become clearer, and your attention on the other things will attenuate, unless a cue to attend to something else is noticed. one example of this is the "cocktail party effect." when at a cocktail party, everyone's voices seem to wash over one another creating a sea of sound in which the distinguishing of a single stream of conversation can prove difficult. however, if someone says your name, it rings out with a crisp sharpness against that background conversation. you have learned your name as an attention cue. to figure out the "between the sheets" volume you could stop and meditate a second then attend to the volume before finishing your going to bed preparations. 040111 ... u24 very astute. Why do we have emotions? 040111 ... realistic optimist hello user 24. excellent question, and one which requires quite a bit of conjecture on my part. well, here goes! it occurs to me that we increasingly live on a superficial plane of existence rife with video images, media headlines, and creature comforts; far removed from the cadences of life. i say this only to indicate my belief that we have an increasing need to pay attention to the cues we are given about how we are living our life. i think we have several cues which help us to determine whether we are on the right path. when we are astray, we tend to feel depressed, and even physically ill. when we are on target, we have a more lasting sense of happiness, one that seeps in deep and permeates us past the stages of happiness reached by, say, eating chocolate. so emotions can serve as guideposts. additionally, emotions serve as a survival mechanism. when user24 punches me in the gut, i am filled with rage, which propels me to a stronger defence than i would be disposed to if i wasn't energized by the emotion. fear can serve as a similar survival cue, however both emotions often lead to actions which are not in our best interests. i think that to a certain degree, we have eviolved to a point where we can use our emotions to our benefit to a certain degree. (ie. channel that rage into determination to finish a project) and we can condition ourselves to not pay attention to our emotions as well. ideally, we have the ability to see past our emotions as well as allow ourselves to be swept away by them, making proper decisions about when is the right time for what. in summary, i think that emotions are a subjective thing which have many functions, some outdated, some useful, and some potentially self-determined. 040111 ... blah-ze where do your get a discount card for emotion repair? or short of that, does not sleeping have any function in DIY emotion repair? if it ain't useful, i can take these toothpicks outa my eyes. 040111 ... mon what's in the goulash? 040111 ... u24 truly an excellent answer. thankyou. 040111 ... Toxic_Kisses I second what User24 said!! not only did you answer my question but you were also quite helpfull, thank you Realistic Optimist! P.S. Can I keep asking you more Q's? or am I limited to the amount of Q's that I can ask you? 040111 ... pipedream hopping around with a fluffy jacket gnaw *digs around for the caterpiggles* damn fluffy jacket...swallowin' up my arm...unghhh...aAAAAH!! ITS CHEWIN' ME FINGERS OFF!! 040111 ... realistic optimist blah-ze: don't take the toothpicks out! you'll leak humor all over the place! um.. umm... try your local community mental health center? or perhaps your local rastafarian? 040112 ... realistic optimist mon: first i browned the hamburger. then i drained off the grease. then, i cooked some whole wheat rigatoni while i chopped sweet onions and added italian seasoning, chili powder, tomato sauce, garlic, steak sauce, catsup, red pepper, ground peppercorns, and aunt diana's magic seasoning. when the pasta is done, it is added along with some garlic powder. (you can never have enough garlic) the ghoulash then simmers as long as you can stand it. (simmer = flava) you can add corn, fresh tomato, and several other spices, however this is how i made it. leftovers of ghoulash are even better! 040112 ... realistic optimist toxic kisses, ask as many questions as you need to ask. there is no formal limit. 040112 ... realistic optimist pipey: please phrase your horrified screams in the form of a question. 040112 ... pipedream ghoulash- stew made of ghosties, casper and aunt hilda/zelda/sabrina et al. goulash- hungarian stew yum yum heh. 040112 ... meme how do you make concrete? and how do you write on paper that's so covered with drool that it's disintegrating? 040112 ... TK have -you- ever made concrete? what 3 subjects do you feel you know more about then any other subjects? what is something you don't know and would like to learn about? 040112 ... realistic optimist meme: i'm not sure if this is the concrete to which you are referring, but once you see how i make it you should see why it is called concrete. first, take some bacon grease and put it in a large skillet. then cook some sausage (i recommend trying different types), browning it and chopping it with the spatula until it is fully cooked and chunked rather small. this next step is what necessitates calling this dish concrete. add flour until you can add no more. soak up all that grease until no more flour can be soaked up. keeping the heat around medium, brown the flour you have just added. this will help color the concrete. at this point, add whatever spices you plan on using. i have experimented with several different ways to spice the concrete. then, turn the heat up a bit, and add milk - whole milk or thicker only - slowly. stir it in until it begins to thicken, then add a little bit more. keep this up until you have a ginormous amount of concrete. it is a good idea to cook some biscuits late in this concrete process so you have something over which to pour this concrete. after eating the concrete, do not plan on moving for quite some time. 040112 ... youyou yep, that's what i was thinking of... memories of goulash set me drooling... many thanks... and a more in-depth question for you... you make the claim "thou art god"... care to explain? 040112 ... youme s.b. thou_art_god, sorri 040112 ... realistic optimist death by smewches: during my brief stint in architecture we learned how to make concrete, and that you must smack it 25 times with a stick to ensure that it has no bubbles trapped inside. however, i have never had the distinct pleasure of making that particular type of concrete. subjects of great knowing: cognitive reasoning behind human behaviour ... man this second question is difficult because i think i've spread myself rather thin. ... um, cooking and the english language wow i feel i kind of gave that a half assed answer because i have no clue what my top three subjects would be. i would like to learn more about the biochemistry of the body, and specifically, the brain. 040112 ... realistic optimist "thou art god" god is the creator, he who creates, and he who decides fate. we, as humans, have been given the ability to create, to be creative, and to make decisions and perform actions which influence and ultimately decide fate. recognizing that in each other, and helping to foster that in each other, brings us closer to god, to ourselves, to our "godselves." i could just as easily say "namaste." 040112 ... realistic optimist forgive the sex-specific pronoun i used to refer to god. i was raised fundamental baptist, and old habits and ways of thinking sometimes manifest themselves in my words, if not in my thoughts. 040112 ... Toxic_Kisses What is it about the English language that prompted you to learn so much about it? what is about English as aposed to some dead/dieing and/or forin language that made you want to know and learn so much about it? My dad once told me of something he read about how they did this test on some lab rats wear they made one rat (lets call him rat A) would run a maze untill he got to the finish line at a fast speed and then thay Killed rat A and fed its brain to rat B and then introduced the same maze that Rat A had ran but that Rat B had never previously ran or seen befor, rat B learned how to run the maze quicker and w/ fewer mistakes then rat A then once rat B learned the maze inside out they then killed rat B and fed it's brain to Rat C who allso had never ran or seen said maze b4 and he ran the maze w/ the fewist mastakes and faster then the other two rats during it's first time through the maze, thus I wonder, if I ate the brains of geniuses would I inreturn eventuly become a genius as well? or do you think that only works on rats? and why do some ppl eat cow brains? 040112 ... realistic optimist english is what the people around me spoke and understood. so, in order to properly express or inerpret the expression of those around me, english was the language of choice. i have learned french, and am aspiring to learn spanish, however. that rat experiment is an interesting anecdote to contemplate alongside stranger_in_a_strange_land. i suppose i read that experiment, as it does tickle some memory, but i am surprised i haven't given it much thought. i mean, what if they ate the brains of stupid rats? what if i ate the brains of a stupid, cud chewing, flatulent cow? the mind boggles. if i ate cat brains, would i rub up against stuff, headbutt people to say they are cool, and smile with my eyes? wait. oh shit. i already do that! OK WHO SPIKED MY CHEESECAKE WITH CATBRAINS?! i have no idea why anyone would eat cowbrains. maybe they taste good? what a stupid ugly animal. how can india worship those fucking creatures? did they used to be cool before being bred to be slaughtered for so long? (no offence people of india i just don't understand is all.) 040112 ... realistic optimist and what of monkey brains?! WHAT?!?! 040112 ... realistic optimist oh, and a belated answer to blah-ze: sleeping can, in fact, have a reparative effect on one's own emotions, d-i-y or otherwise. but it is a short term effect, and i was speaking of more long term effects. sometimes there isn't much of a d-i-y you can do, as it is more biochemical or an obscured conditioned esponse that has yet to be uncovered. i made a lot of