Arcadia

Which reminds me of a joke I heard recently. Two dogs and a cat go to heaven. God interviews them. He asks the first dog, "What do you believe in?" The dog answers, "I believe in loyalty and devotion to my master." "Very good," says God, "you shall sit at my right hand." Then he asks the second dog, "What do you believe?" The dog answers "I believe in love, companionship and faithfulness." "Very good," says God, "you shall sit at my left." Then He turns to the cat. "And what do you believe?" And the cat says, "I believe you're sitting in my seat."

Aw, I'm wanting me some of those boots.

Now you've got me scratching my head, because there weren't that many humans to choose from, were there? (And is it appropriate to resume a conversation a month later as if time never passed? ) In the Hobbit, there was Bard, and, um ... a lot of extras whose names and appearance are, er, irrelevant (sorry, bit players!) Oh, the weasly guy, who was far from pretty. Ditto the mayor. Everyone else in the movie was an Orc, I believe. Ooops, wait, there were a few dwarves, a hobbit, a wizard, and a Beorn. And far too many elves, but we all agree they are required to be beautiful and therefore indistinguishable. And in LOTR, there's Aragorn and Boromir, who have different hair color so should be easy to tell apart. And three Rohirrim, who should be hard to tell apart because they're all blond ... except that one's a woman, and one's old, so by default the third one must be Eomer. Faramir and Boromir could be mistaken for each other, maybe, but Boromir's dead at the end of the first movie, so logic would dictate that his lookalike must be someone else. Denethor's old, so that sets him apart from his sons. He could be mistaken for Theoden, I suppose. Denethor is the one without the beard, if that helps. Also, personally, I didn't find him very pretty, but tastes vary. Now, telling the Dwarves apart ... that is hard! Bombur's the fat one, Fili's the pretty one, Thorin's the one on screen the most. ... after that, you got me. Oh, Balin's the white-haired one. And Gimli's the only one. And in Tolkien's defense, he's not the only one!

Found this online.... There was an old man who lived by a forest. As he grew older and older, he started losing his hair, until one day, on his deathbed, he was completely bald. That day, he called his children to a meeting. He said, "Look at my hair. It used to be so magnificent, but it's completely gone now. My hair can't be saved. But look outside at the forest. It's such a lovely forest with so many trees, but sooner or later they'll all be cut down and this forest will look as bald as my hair." "What I want you to do..." the man continued. "Is, every time a tree is cut down or dies, plant a new one in my memory. Tell your descendants to do the same. It shall be our family's duty to keep this forest strong." And so they did. Each time the forest lost a tree, the children replanted one, and so did their children, and their children after them. And for centuries, the forest remained as lush and pretty as it once was, all because of one man and his re-seeding heirline.

Well, I probably shouldn't admit this, but I got 22 correct. Not from guessing, but because I actually remembered most of the names. Yes, I am THAT geeky. Nope, no orcs were mentioned in the making of this quiz. Most were elves, a few were kings of Gondor (and therefore derived, if I am remembering correctly, from Elvish) and the others were an assortment of hobbits, dwarves, and Bergil of Gondor. Who I remember because that was one of my favorite Gondor scenes. Also, I take anti-depressants, so maybe that's familiarized me with how their names sound? One I missed was Nardil. I realize now because it's so similar to Narsil, the name of Aragorn's sword before it was reforged. Which brings up the question; why can I remember that bit of very trivial trivia, but have to struggle to think of the word for "brick" or "library." Gah! Enjoyed the discussion of the difference between characters in the books and in the movies, sorry I wasn't around to participate. But basically I'm annoyed by that same things y'all are. If I had to guess, I'd say one reason for the changes is that movies have to impart information in a very short amount of time compared to a novel, so scriptwriters think they have to do away with subtlety in favor of clarity. Or not.

Possibly, but I'll never tell......

Hey, how'd you get a picture of my cat? Here's some more of her....

Actually, the health care's pretty good, it's the price off it that sucks. We need more taxes ....

Plum pudding??? Hey, if cake's not involved, the wedding's off.

To some extent, that's simply human nature, isn't it? Er... no? Not in the world I occupy, at least. But ... one thing the Trump era taught me ... I live in a different world than a lot of people. I always knew the gulf was there, but I never knew it was so great. I genuinely fear he has "legitimized" attitudes that will eventually destroy this country.

Me too, but I love all the things that come with it. Free roads. Free libraries. Free parks. Free education.

I don't see many either, although in my case I think it's more about the value for the price; most of them aren't enjoyable enough to warrant the $12-15 it takes to see them in a theater. (And that's the matinee price! I haven't been to a movie in "prime time" in ... oh, probably decades.) Still, some movies are best enjoyed in a theater. Louis Wain one survived quite well on a TV screen (altho my friend has a VERY large screen) but West Side Story, which I also saw recently, definitely deserved the big screen. Fortunately I had a free pass for that, otherwise I doubt I would have gone to see it. But I hugely enjoyed seeing a movie in a theater again, it's a whole different experience than watching one at home.

Gee, why didn't I think of that? Same here. But I dread going through the loss yet again. I hope so. For you, for all of us. I feel that way sometimes. Fortunately I have a couple friends who actually listen, but still, especially for awhile there, I really felt used. At the same time I know what it's like to need to have someone to talk to, and I don't necessarily want to shut needy people out. There's probably a way to deal with this but I doubt if I'm assertive enough to apply the method.... I had someone tell me once I was too nice - she said it with annoyance/anger, and I have always suspected what she really meant was I'm not assertive enough (which I know to be true.) But I do truly wonder if it's possible to be too nice. I think I'd rather be that than not nice enough. I think. Hmm. Human interactions are tough.... but so is the lack of them..... Gawd, I hear you. I don't want to do without a pet but between the expense and the worry of who would take care of it .... aggh. My cat has developed a medical condition and is costing me a fortune these days. Fortunately I have quite a bit in savings, but that money was supposed to be for retirement ... now I worry I'll never be able to retire. But I wouldn't get rid of her for anything. Where's that younger man? Send him my way and I'll book the altar!

So I finally got to see it, I loved it. I thought Ben did a great job with the character; in fact, it's been so long since I've seen him in anything new, I'd rather forgotten just how good an actor he really is. The story was indeed sweet, if sad. I was afraid it might be so sweet it would be boring, but I didn't find that to be the case at all. It was just a nice, quiet little character study, and a well done one. Also it was nice to see a story where so many people were actually kind. I actually can't remember a movie lately where that was a trait of even one character, let alone several. Refreshing. I do agree, however, that there were not enough cats. No wonder the movie sank without a trace.

I just spent the past two hours catching up on this thread. Got started and couldn't stop. I no longer have access to live television, and not much time to read the newspaper, so I'm not able to keep up with news the way I once did (or tried to). What I do see scares me to death, so maybe it's just as well. What's going on in Ukraine is sad and frightening. I hope they survive with their country intact. I hope we all survive. But I'm curious ... now that a great deal of investigation has gone into the past US election, does anyone here still believe that the vote counting was illegitimate? I.e., that there's something suspicious about Biden winning? Having been an election official in my past life I know how difficult it is to actually commit voter fraud. Everything I've read indicates there weren't any more attempts than usual, and that those attempts were just as useless at changing the outcome. As Carol likes to say, most people are decent ... there's not that many that actually resort to voter fraud. It distresses me to see that some people believe that, just because their person lost, that must mean the rest of us are cheating. The funniest story I read about it (and as usual, I forget the details) was a case where the Republicans successfully forced a review of all the votes, and discovered there had indeed been some illegal ones ... and they were all for Trump. And since I'm commenting on past discussions, I have to make it known (because that's the way I am) that I have always supported Biden, even when he ran in previous elections. I think he's a sensible, capable, and moderate politician (and no, I don't believe "politician" is a slur) and a decent human being, not at all nasty. I'm sad to see him so poorly regarded in polls, so I feel like at least one person has to say something nice about him. So there you go. My civic duty done. 😛

Hey, VBS. I'm in sort of a similar situation, in that my life has changed a LOT in the past couple years and for awhile there was really struggling with my aloneness. I thought I was ready to be alone, and I wasn't; it's been so much harder than I thought it would be. But I'm gradually adapting and feeling more reassured by the connections I DO have. I'm still alone, but adjusting to it and increasingly enjoying it (to the point where I'm actively avoiding my neighbor who wants to get together all the time.... ). So, this isn't an answer, but just confirming that life can get hard but you can adjust to it. I do worry about my future, when I'm no longer able to take care of myself, but hopefully I'll figure that out too at some point.

Egad. Now I know why this thread has been dead for over a year.

You were too good for us, VBS, we couldn't keep up with your sparkling reputation. 😛

So, any resolution? Inquiring minds etc.

I wonder if some sort of work-from-home snafu might be involved, too.

Because they improve your life? I use dryer sheets because of the static thing too. Mine are barely scented so I don't notice that part.

Normally I'm pretty quick to leap to the defense of federal employees, but THAT is pretty pathetic...... I'd be curious to hear their explanation. If you get one. Which I doubt....

We're led to believe it's a secret sister, but it's actually a secret brother. In episode 3 it's revealed he's been cross-dressing the whole time.