Canderous and Cade's Crazy Cantina: a shiny new fanfiction social thread!

I'm glad the Tumblr girl is alright. All the fuss probably helped her. People need to know that others care...even for a stranger.

I work up at 4 AM with a sinus headache. I can't get back to sleep. It is snowing. The kids might have a snow day.

Some random person PM'd me asking me to review his story on FFN. That's weird. Is that any of you guys with a different screen name?

 

Briannakin: that sounds like good-ish news concerning the apartments. Could you live in 'not the best part of town'? Good luck with the other place though. I'm trying to move out and it's not easy!

Dantana Skywalker: I am relieved to hear that she's ok. There's a quote in a music video that I like: "don't underestimate the kindness of other humans".

 

Did four tours of duty in the psych ward for breakdowns. Honestly, I doubt that I'm done with those. Though, I will say one thing about the psych ward; you do feel safe in it. Everything feels like it's now under control and after the first few days, you've settled into a comfortable routine. After a while, the thought of being released terrifies me.

It's good to know that that girl on tumblr is fine. Hopefully she has a support system and can find someone to talk to.

 

There was a quote from the movie Starman that really touched me. The alien was saying what impressed him the most about humans was they were at their very best when things were at the very worst.

No snow day for the kids. I hope the roads are plowed.

 

Just snow flurries here. It's teasing me. I want snow so badly. I have skis and snow blades that I want to use!

 

I'm glad the Tumblr girl is okay, and I really hope she'll get the help she needs now.

I hate it when people shrug off suicidal thoughts or depression as "eh, you'll get over it" or "it's cowardly" or "it's all just in your head". That's so stupid. It takes a lot to push a human being past their self-preservation instincts, a hell of a lot. And as for it being in your head, sure, but to paraphrase Dumbledore, why should that make it any less real? Depression is so, so difficult to deal with. And whatever a person's situation is, if they're contemplating suicide, I'm going to assume that it's serious.

And everyone says "just talk to someone", but even that takes courage. For some people, it takes everything they have to say "I'm not okay". That's heartbreaking in and of itself, but it's a fact. The stigma around mental health problems, especially something like depression, doesn't help. I've never been suicidal, but I did deal with depression when I was in college. It wasn't bad, but I remember how it feels and no, you can't "just get over it". You don't have to wallow in it, either, there is help available and it really does work, but it is a real problem that requires real attention and real help.

Okay, rant over. I'm going to add my name to the list - if anyone reading this ever feels like no one cares or they have no one to turn to, please talk to me. I may not know you very well, but we can change that!

 

Iverna: a great use of Harry Potter there!

When I was being bullied at school I did feel suicidal because of it. Part of the problem was that I didn't know who to turn to for help. To me it seemed like there was no one. I didn't want to talk to my parents as I didn't want them fussing over me or causing problems with the school, and I couldn't turn to any of the teachers because it was only ever me who got in trouble. Even though I was the one being bullied I was the one being punished. It's kind of the same with depression. I might not be getting into trouble over it, but I don't feel like I can talk to my family about it, and not knowing if anyone understands what I'm going through is a big barrier too. Another barrier is what the cause of the depression is. I find that it's the little things that have the biggest effect, so a really big problem might be fine to deal with but a lot of little ones can be impossible, especially if they're all related and you can't deal with them one at a time.

 

moosemousse I always think of that quote when people try to dismiss mental health, or imagination, or anything really. It's so stupid to dismiss that stuff. Most everything happens in our heads - that's where we register pain, emotions, everything. A broken leg is "only in my leg" but no one uses that to argue that that isn't real... and I think my head is far more important than my leg. I can live without a leg, I can't live without a head, so.

"a really big problem might be fine to deal with but a lot of little ones can be impossible, especially if they're all related and you can't deal with them one at a time." YES. I totally get that. It's so difficult sometimes to sort through all of that; it's not seeing the proverbial forest for the trees, I guess. That's why, in my experience at least, talking to someone helps, because someone standing outside the situation is usually better able to see all the connections and the bigger picture. But depression's slippery like that. Sometimes the only cause is a chemical imbalance. I still have no idea what caused it for me, I'm pretty sure it was some kind of hormonal imbalance thing. But it's hard to talk about it. I don't think I ever talked to any of my friends about it. If my mother weren't awesome I think it would have been a lot tougher.

I was bullied in primary school, and I did tell the teachers, and they did nothing. Then I told my mother and she basically threatened the kid and sorted him out. But the teachers? They couldn't care less. The big thing to remember is (and I know this is a cliche, but it's a cliche for a reason) that it isn't your fault if you're bullied, and it isn't your fault that you feel the way you do. No one has the right to bully or harm anyone else. And you have a right to your feelings, whatever they are.

 

I beat the crap out of my bully. She was the biggest girl in the school and I was the smallest. I wonder why she decided to pick on me. What a coward. She found out what Yoda said is true. "Size matters not!" You don't believe that? Then try giving a cat a bath.

I am not advocating violence, but she started the fight and I ended it. I didn't have any trouble from ANYBODY from then on.

 

You have the soul of a Jedi!

 

I did something similar in elementary. I was 8, he was 13 and had been held back. I beat the snot out of him mainly because he didnt expect a hobbit to punch an elf in the face. Thats how bad the size difference was.

Then there was the incident where I pounded the tar out of a JV quarterback...

I am really tired of having weird dreams where I'm, like, driving a pickup truck, somehow from the backseat of the cab, can't brake properly, and then I find someone has put bicycle wheels on it. What is THAT about?!

 

I tried to beat my bully, but I was a skinny six-year-old and he was nine and a lot burlier. So no dice. Later, as a teenager, there was a girl in my class who thought it was fun to push me down stairs and walk behind me in the corridor, stepping on my heels. I yelled at her once, in the middle of the hallway, called her a bad word. It was the first time they ever heard me swear, and it made an impression. But that girl... ugh. I wasn't a typical bully victim because it never cracked my self-confidence or anything, but it was bad enough. I can't imagine what it would've been like to go through that alone, without being able to talk things through with my mother, without anyone to back me up at home.

I did push a girl down the stairs once when she annoyed me. She was on crutches for a few days, I think. And I beat up a few boys who tried to bully my little brother. That wasn't happening on my watch. I think the whole anti-violence thing is rubbish. I mean, I don't like violence, and I would never ever start a fight for no reason. But I take the Kyp Durron approach. If someone attacks me or someone close to me, I'll fight back. If they don't like it, all they have to do is back off. Sometimes, a punch or a kick is the only language someone will understand. Sad but true.

 

Yeah. Same here. The bully when I was 8 was the whole school's bully, really, and he was picking on my 6 year old friend. He stooped bullying after that. Never knew if the pipsqueak he was after would hit back harder.

 

I got bullied all the time in high school. Kids (usually the younger ones) would put their feet under my electric wheelchair wheels and 'pretend' I ran over their toes. I guess they hoped I would get in trouble, but I never did. The vice principal saw it once and when they tried to get me in trouble, the vice principal said "If you don't want her to run over your toes, maybe you shouldn't put them in the way." After that day he pretty much told me to run anyone over if it happened again. One time I actually stopped before I did run over a little snot's toes and freaked out on him. I was a senior, he was in grade 9.

 

I regularly hit my bullies. They didn't even need to throw the first punch. They got hit regardless.

 

There was this kid in my grade, he was pretty much the school bully throughout high school but because I helped him get through Math, he was a half decent guy to me (but was a buttbag to all my friends). Anyways, in grade 10 English I was having a minor medical emergency and I had to leave class but he was sleeping and had his feet stuck out and I accidentally ran over his foot. I felt so bad and he knew it was an accident, but no one else believed me, so I was getting high fives the day after, even from the teachers.

 

I'm glad the tumblr girl is all right. It's true that sometimes just knowing there are people are out there who care, even if they are complete strangers, really can make a difference.
I'll add my name to the people saying if anyone ever wants to talk, I'll listen!


I was made fun of when I was in grade school, so badly that my mom pulled me out of my school and took me out of district for 5th and 6th grade. I don't remember it but she says that after my first day she asked me how it was and I replied, "Mom, everyone is so nice!" and she knew I was in the right place. People continued to make fun of me through out school, but I found my group of nerdy band/theater kids and just danced to my own music.
I did have some of my 'friends' in high school who kept telling me a girl could never be a geek, but I think they've since come around.

 

My folks never pulled me out of school, even though I was tormented so badly that I begged and pleaded to go to another school. My brother got to go to another school, because my bad reputation was rubbing off on him, but I was still stuck at my old school. Toward the end, I was actively trying to get expelled. Senior year ended with my first tour of duty in the psych ward.

The moral of this story is this: If your kid is coming home upset every day, begging and pleading to go to another school, and telling you that no one will leave them alone, their grades are in the toilet, the faculty isn't doing a damn thing to intervene, and they are at their wit's end, you had better damn well find out why and pull them out of that school. It will not get better.

 

And that is exactly what I did for my sons. My oldest who is fourteen only weighs 90 pounds. He is a tiny thing and used to get picked on when younger. When he was in elementary school his teeth were horribly bucktoothed that they called him beaver boy. I told his dad that was going to be taken care of also…we just had to wait until more permanent teeth came in. He has a $5000 smile now and is in a charter school that he and his brother love. I may spoil them, but I was spoiled by my parents and I turned out alright. I can honestly say I absolutely loved my parents. I wouldn't change a thing about my childhood with them. My siblings and I were very lucky.

 

On another note, this person walked right into my reply.

I had to. I just had to. The opportunity was presenting itself like a flasher.

 

I guess that means you see a lot of flashers around Gettysburg, then.

 

Okay, is anybody else having problems editing on this website? After I paste something from Word the editor no longer lets me highlight a word to correct spelling or whatever. Things I write and don't paste in I can edit. Also when I go to edit it now appears in the edit version with all the code. If I want to edit again it won't let me do it. I have to refresh the page and then it will allow me to edit again.

I am just wondering because I have a new computer with Windows 8 and even Office looks different to me. I hate having to learn new computer stuff!

 

Yes, an update was applied to the forums to fix the edit issue in Firefox 23+, but that created more problems. We're currently waiting on Grimby to roll it back. See this post and subsequent ones in the same thread for more details.

 

Okay, thanks. I thought it had something to do with my evil Windows 8 computer.

 

Windows 8 is just evil.

Is anyone going to any Doctor Who 50th anniversary showings? The movie theater in town is having a one night showing of Day of the Doctor the Monday after it airs in the UK. I already have my ticket and a ton of my friends are going. I'm also dragging my sister.

Also. I'm annoyed with my Political Science prof. He says we HAVE to have at least 5 academic sources for our paper (I currently have 3). The problem is, I am finding way better, not to mention more up-to-date information from government publications and newspapers. I'm a history student and we are taught to find primary sources and come to our own conclusions from the data, rather than just spewing out what someone else has said. I said I was having this problem and he just told me to research further (I've already spent more time on this than I should have). I'm at the point where I'm just going to say, screw you and your research requirements, I have bigger fish to fry. The paper is only worth 20% and I'm doing pretty well in the class anyways.