Posts by arachnia

54

Ex witnesses in UK

by Michelleatkin in

i'm new to this site, found it whilst looking at panarama web site.

are there many here from uk, even lancashire?

if so, please let me know as it would be nice to speak to some ex-witnesses in uk.

I'm not from the UK, but thought I'd pop in and say hello and ask if anyone ever attended one of the Southampton congregations where Sarah-Kate Burgess and her family went? Her father James, and mother Sally - he is an elder and anointed, used to play bassoon in a symphony. Long story short - Sarah-Kate (S'kate) was a dear friend and I lost touch with her in 1996 as I was making my exodus. I've always hoped since then that our paths will cross once again, hopefully with her having left the Borg as well. Anyway, her phone number has changed, I sent a letter but suspect that she has moved from her flat in Midanbury where I last knew her to reside, and I'm not entirely sure she'd speak to me now. (I DA'd in 97). I've tried the BT.com phone directory, the Friends Reunited, but alas, no success. And of course, any searches for missing persons I've found are based on electoral rolls, and so that's useless. However, I'm still hoping. She was dating a fellow named Farid when I last visted in 1996 and he had yet to be baptised, so maybe they made their way out before he got trapped too. ;) Anyone perchance know her, or of her family? Her brother Kevin is a chiropractor and she has an older sister who left the dubs, she's married with kids. Help! If you know her please help me get in touch with her, I'd appreciate it so very much. :)

Thanks!

134

Where are the Feminine women?

by 4skins in

jw
friends

some months ago i took my annual vacation to the land of kangaroos--you know--where men are men and sheep are skittish?

as a social commentator i have a vested interest observing cultural changes and trends, etc.

in the professions and trades in oz the genders dress as androgynous as their counterparts in the us.

arachnia

> There seems to be some consensus between researchers that rape is a recurring feature in male/female fantasy.

My, that's a broad statement. Mind if I ask: What researchers? Which studies? When/where were they conducted? Source citations please. Or is your "research" defined here?:
> I know most women entertain fantasies of being raped and men entertain raping.

If that's the case, that is not "researchers." That's personal opinion, which isn't worth horse puckey in terms of drawing conclusions about the rest of the population.

35

hands up ex-pioneers

by sleepy in

jw
friends

so how many here were pioneers?

ha ha ha.

i used up my teenage years pioneering, good thing i didn't go to college or university i could be well educated and in a good job.poo.

arachnia

Auxillary pio'd the summer after graduation, started regular pioneering in September that year, attended pioneer school, had to quit after one year because I needed health insurance. I had some surgery earlier that year for a growth that the doctor was concerned might eventually turn cancerous, so it *really* wasn't an option to go without. Try telling that to the elders who met with me to tell me what a failure I was because I was quitting after only a year, though. I was happy to point out to them that both of them had insurance, as well as the daughter of one (he was our PO incidentally) who had been enlisted as my "big sister" some years back to study weekly with me etc. So it was difficult for me to accept their reasoning that "many pioneers forgo medical insurance to put kingdom interests first and rely on Jah to provide." I was like, "are YOU going to pay my bills if I go in the hospital?" Needless to say, my bad attitude was duly noted. ;) I auxillary pioneered for a few months afterwards but somehow couldn't maintain my enthusiasm. Did I mention, this all hit me at the same time as my grandfather died from leukemia? He was like a father to me. Nice loving sensitivity they demonstrated, huh? Well I'm rambling from a lack of food and a lot of bitterness so I'll end it here. ;)

134

Where are the Feminine women?

by 4skins in

jw
friends

some months ago i took my annual vacation to the land of kangaroos--you know--where men are men and sheep are skittish?

as a social commentator i have a vested interest observing cultural changes and trends, etc.

in the professions and trades in oz the genders dress as androgynous as their counterparts in the us.

arachnia

"Feminine" is defined in the dictionary (AHD4ed) as "Of or relating to women or girls" and "Characterized by or possessing qualities
			generally attributed to a woman." I suppose those qualities are personally defined differently by each individual, just as "masculine"
qualities are explained by each person in their own mind. As a general rule, however, until recent decades, culturally, the qualities 
of women were defined primarily by men (as were the qualities of men.) Want proof? Here's some: up until about 10-15 years ago, 
the majority of psychological studies only included male test subjects. Now that's hardly what one can honestly call realistic or fair, 
and when you consider that the data gathered in those studies has been used (and is still used) to define the human experience for 
both sexes, (albeit from one point of view that is drastically different from the other) it demonstrates how unrealistic the viewpoints 
about the female psyche have been (and as illustrated by some of the mysogynistic posts here, still are, unfortunately.) It's just 
going to take time for our cultures to adapt to the evolution of gender perceptions that is necessary and inevitable.

Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride...

Edited by - arachnia on 29 July 2002 18:37:47

11

SE Michigan Festivities Fun but Not Over Yet!

by outnfree in

jw
friends

hello, board!.

i am grinning this morning, happy to have spent most of the past 18 hours in the company of some wonderful people from this board and their friends!

i was supposed to post a report last night, but somehow a pillow and a comforter seemed a better choice than the desk chair, so i'm posting this in a hurry on my way out to brunch!

arachnia

I'm bummed that I couldn't make it. :( I forgot about an interview/show we had to cover for our website last night and it just wasn't possible to do both. Unfortunately the show was a big disappointment, although the interview with the band was great, so I guess it was a wash. Hope that I can make the next one! :D

Cheers,
~Trase

13

XJW Pagans

by SpiderMonkey in

jw
friends

to spice, moe, gsx, & many others i've met here, i have a question: whether xjw or just associated w/ jw's at some point in time, those who now consider themselves pagan: do you have a link to a pagan site that offers good chat & board services like this one does?

i'm getting to a point where i frequently find myself reading some very valid ideas against jw's and basically posting "yeah.

" i'm not interested in leaving this board entirely, but i am interested in finding a board that suits my current beliefs & interests more fully... i want to accentuate the positives more so than the negatives in other words.... this is in no way meant as a slam against this board; this board has helped me as nothing else ever has.

arachnia

Well, it's a low-traffic discussion board, but the only way to change that is to get more people talking on it. ;) So if you'd like, here's a link to my site, which has discussion boards:

http://www.exjwpagans.org

Cheers,
~Trase

43

WERE YOU CONSIDERED A GOOD EXAMPLE?

by minimus in

jw
friends

have you ever had to deal with the thought that you really weren't that good of an example?

perhaps, the congregation was encouraged to pioneer or reach out for bethel service or go to seldom worked territory, etc.

and when you applied, you were told that you didn't qualify.

arachnia

My parents got me in the "big sister" program at about age 11-12, had a sister about 6 years older than me come over to study every week, take me in field service, take me to the meetings when they didn't go (turns out they were doing the fade-away whilst leaving me quite "in") and take me to JW-approved social events. "Make sure your child gets brainwashed/indoctrinated by a crazy religion and then YOU won't have to worry about them getting preggers, doing drugs, etc.etc." was apparently their thinking. So by the time I was 16 and getting baptised, I was held as an example because I was doing it all despite my parents being practically inactive. All the kids in my congregation except for me and one other (we are talking about 15-20 people here) ended up in some sort of judicial trouble (they were just being normal teens, looking back...) Auxillary pioneered in the summer, reg pioneered out of high school. Then...the summer afterwards, I started dating my (now-ex) husband. THAT made for trouble. Suddenly I wasn't a good example. Well, I guess I understand, as after six years of marraige to him I finally believed my mom and his mother's suspicions that he was, in fact, gay, and just refused to confront it. Thus, the prefix ex-. ;)

But all along I had a rebellious streak that they were trying to tame. Glad it finally got the better of me. :D

63

How about some embarrassing 80's pics?

by LyinEyes in

jw
friends

let's post some of our 80's pic, or even further back if you want to.

it would really be fun to see some of you in your finest witness attire, bookbag and all.

baptism pics would be a blast to see.. wild turkey had this idea ,but he already started two threads.

arachnia

Heaven - I used to sneak clothes and makeup in my suitcase-like purses to school and change there and change/wash it off before arriving home. Bad girl, I know. ;) I still love The Cure and The Smiths...actually my husband and I run a Gothic/Industrial website: http://www.murknet.com/main/ and we are pretty involved with the local scene. It's so nice to not worry about being an example any more! Now I just have to worry about conforming to a corporate dress code. But, as has always been my station in life, I set the trends and push the envelope and so far I'm getting away with it. (I have several ear piercings, a nose stud and blood red streaks in my bangs with black hair.) I love finally being able to be myself, although it puts my mom in a tiz that I'm not more of a preppy type. Oh well. As one of those great 80's bands, Talk Talk sang, " It's my life....Don't you forget...." ;-)

46

Any muscian types on j-w.com?

by pomegranate in

yes no?

any examples on the net?

arachnia

I used to play bass and then when I left my ex and the dubs and moved into an apartment, went back to school and started working 40 miles from home, I didn't have the time to do it during hours my neighbors considered appropriate. Now that I'm in a house, I traded in my old Washburn P-Bass copy that I was never a big fan of and got a Schecter Stiletto 4-string. Not the top of the line, but I like the sound, the neck was thinner (thus better accomodating my Lisa Simpson fingers), it's lighter, and the price was right. Plus, it is black. :D I'm getting back into playing slowly but surely. :)

63

How about some embarrassing 80's pics?

by LyinEyes in

jw
friends

let's post some of our 80's pic, or even further back if you want to.

it would really be fun to see some of you in your finest witness attire, bookbag and all.

baptism pics would be a blast to see.. wild turkey had this idea ,but he already started two threads.

arachnia

Nikita - thanks - yeah, I'm much happier now than I was in those old pix for a variety of reasons and so I guess it shines through in my new look. ;) It was great when I went to my 10 year reunion - absolutely NO ONE knew who I was. We had little B/W photos of our senior pix on our nametags and that was the only reason they recognized me. Hee hee! It was fun.

Heaven - Oh yeah, in Junior High I had so many "Madonna" o-ring bracelets I could wear them past my elbows and keep going (actually I still have them and started wearing them again...LOL gotta love fashion recycling..) and I loved Thompson Twins too. My tastes in high school swung more towards The Cure, The Smiths, Bauhaus (still do) but I wasn't allowed to "goth out" so that senior pic represents me getting about as "edgy" as I could back then. Whoooo!

Incense - thank you - I'm sure many people who know me IRL would agree with you that I'm full of "something" but I don't know if it's necessarily a compliment! ;-)~

This is a fun thread!

Oh and I too had the "wall of bangs" hair thing going on round about 1989. Scary times, hair-wise. But even better than Aqua-Net, for my hair anyways, has been "Freeze-It" 24-hour hold hairspray. Yeeowsa! It does the trick. :)