GentlyFeral

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Posts by GentlyFeral

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  138

  What year Did you Stop Attending Meetings - How Long were you a JW ?

  by flipper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm trying to compare some statistics and figures on this to share later in the thread to see if more long-time witnesses are exiting- or are newer witnesses exiting after a shorter period of time.

  and - are more people exiting in the last 10 to 15 years than before.

  so your answers would be helpful in looking into this .

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  GentlyFeral

  Began studying late 1971; baptized summer 1973. Left and DA'd autumn 1995.

  gently feral
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  140

  What's a really good movie you'd recommend that most people probably haven't seen?

  by A.Fenderson in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  what's a really good movie you'd recommend that most people probably haven't seen?.

  my personal recommendation: synecdoche, new york.

  it's one of those movies that words fail utterly to capture--which really is the hallmark of a good movie, i suppose.

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  GentlyFeral

  beksbks,

  Jean de Florette!!!

  AbsolutelyJean de Florette!!! And its sequels, thought I think Manon of the Spring is the strongest of the three. But you really need them all to get the whole story. And while we're on Gerard Depardieu – The Return of Martin Guerre.

  chickpea,Babette's Feast is one of my favorites, too. Get the subtitled version if you can; Babette's French accent on the dubbed version sounds fake, and it's distracting.

  Let me add another vote for Pan's Labyrinth, with a warning that it is very intense; there are some brief torture scenes, neither flinched from nor lingered over salaciously. But a great film. Some others not mentioned yet:

  • Beijing Bicycle
  • Bubba Ho-Tep
  • Grave of the Fireflies
  • Mr. Stain on Junk Alley – here's the official website, but I found it on Netflix.
  • Ponyo – the latest Miyazaki flick. Oddly enough it didn't play everywhere.
  • Trembling Before G-d – a documentary on the lives and struggles of gay Orthodox Jews.
  • Vitus – here's Roger Ebert's review.
  • 7 Faces of Dr. Lao – the special effects still retain their charm, though they have dated. A morally improving fantasy, starring Tony Randall as a Chinese magician.
  • The Cuckoo: Three people – two soldier-deserters and a Lapp Sami woman – cooperate to survive in the frigid north, though they have no languages in common.
  • Hukkle – what if Jacques Tati had filmed a thriller?

  gently feral
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  6

  Instant dinner party

  by Quillsky in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  here's the scenario......... it's friday evening and you've arrived home from work, ready to enjoy the night at home watching a movie.

  your home is averagely tidy and clean, your fridge and cupboards contain the food and drink they're normally stocked with, nothing special.. at 7pm the doorbell rings.

  you open the door and two couples are standing there, friends of yours that two weeks ago you invited over for supper tonight.

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  GentlyFeral

  • Pot of basmati rice, in rice cooker. Possibly with white wine and portobella mushrooms.
  • Big salad or slaw.
  • Cooked beans (usually on hand) or tofu in food processor with herbs, onions, garlic, lots of savory strong-flavored things (tomato paste? miso? whatever harmonizes), shaped into patties and fried. Multiple skillets to speed the process.
  • Vegetable medley: broccoli, cauliflower, maybe asparagus, green onion, stirfried with garlic, salt, pepper, maybe some Asian condiments.
  • If it's not too hot to use the oven, fruit cobbler for dessert.

  And the guests would be in the kitchen keeping me company, maybe lending a hand from time to time.

  gently feral
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  69

  What advice would you give to your 20 year old self?

  by paul from cleveland in

  1. jw
  2. friends
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  GentlyFeral

  Wait, I take part of that back. I would have told myself: "Listen: in your lifetime, you will see:

  • a black president whose agenda is even more liberal than yours (remember, ca. 1970, I was barely aware that gay folks existed, let alone that their rights were being tromped on by the gummint – just to give one example. We can talk about O's actual action or lack thereof in another thread, mmmkay?)
  • the beginnings of entire industries dedicated to undoing ecological destruction
  • a "ProFood" movement that puts today's health food movement in the dust – but without today's health food cranks, it wouldn't even exist
  • indigenous women's rights movements in the most oppressive cultures of the world
  • indigenous peoples of the world suing multinational corporations that destroy their homelands (in other words, Avatar, but with lawyers)

  What you will not see is: anything remotely resembling the prophecies laid out in Watchtower literature."

  gently feral
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  69

  What advice would you give to your 20 year old self?

  by paul from cleveland in

  1. jw
  2. friends
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  GentlyFeral

  I was baptized at 18 and "drinking koolaid" by the quart. I wouldn't have listened to my present-day, magic-working, pot-smoking, gonzo-liberal self.

  Now, my 17-year-old self was in sore need of reassurance about the state of the world, but didn't have the courage or practical imagination to appreciate the proactive, inventive folks who were trying to teach her to think outside the box.

  So, yeah, I was a goner. But maybe I could have convinced myself to hang out with the Unitarians, at least.

  gently feral
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  115

  What kind of women do men want?

  by semelcred in

  1. social
  2. relationships

  i ve just read the blog asking what sort of man a woman wants!

  i am fed up in this world that men don't stand up and start letting the sisters in the world know what we really need.

  lets take the game to them!!.

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  GentlyFeral

  marriedtojw

  You think that having an unstructured family has helped the divorce rate?

  Actually, as gender roles have continued to erode, the divorce rate has begun to slide. It is now down around where it was in the 1940's. And it's even lower in states where gay marriage is legal. Seriously: when marriage is about people rather than gender roles, it becomes more attractive.

  "There was a great hue and cry as the loss of asymmetry began to rise, as the coverture doctrine that made women unequal, passed. While the changes at first raised alarm because there was concern about the deterioration of families. As suffrage and equality for women rose, the doctrine of coverture seemed more and more archaic. It took a very long before this trajectory of the removal of the state from ascribing religious spousal roles was removed. In other words, tradition weighs heavily. "Because of the Supreme Court decisions of the 1970s, the quality of marriage has improved, not diminished."

  — Liveblog notes on the testimony of Prof. Nancy Cott, during Day 2 of Schwarzenegger v. Perry

  I'm lost at why women want so much to be away from the kids and house for hours a day, again not talking out of necessity (such as a need for money to make ends meet).

  Would you want to stay home with your kids, all day, every day, rarely or never seeing another adult? Would you be satisfied with cooking and cleaning as a job – a job that does not pay a living wage in the outside world? And why should you work three jobs, even if you had the strength? You'd be gone all the time, and that is not good for a marriage! Why shouldn't she work one and you split the housework down the middle? And daycare: don't you think the kids would like to get out of the house?

  With two very young kids, I want a woman who lets me be her "knight in shining armor"

  A knight, a champion, is a great thing to have – but to be helpless themselves is something that women will not tolerate any more. Say "comrade in arms" and you might get further. Let the children be the precious lives that the two of you support and defend, together.

  gently feral
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  25

  Christmas dinner, my boys don't like ham, We are turkey'd out any ideas?

  by restrangled in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  on top of that one of my sons is bringing home a girl friend who is flying over from austria.. i'm thinking maybe lasagna.

  i'm pretty good at that, but it doesn't seem real traditional.

  the beef is so bad around these parts, i don't dare do a crown roast and besides that cost around $60.00.. what is your favorite dinner?.

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  GentlyFeral

  Take the family out for Chinese. Old American Jewish custom :)

  gently feral
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  15

  whohoo...gave out six xmas presents yesterday!!!

  by oompa in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  two to girls i bank with...three ladies at a hair salon who i have known for 20 years...and my massage therapist who is a former dub and went out for sushi and i have her her present there...the pic of us is in facebook and damm the winston rolls are awesome there...wrapped in cucumber curls.....and btw...vocal oompa has kept them all in the loop of my cult exit and all...and they all get it!

  !............so there was a lot of special joy going along with my first xmas............. it was soooo much fun shopping for the gifts and wrappers and cards and all....and i was just hoping to be seen by a dub or two in the santa section!....lol......................merry christmas all!

  !..........i love being pagan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!oompa....

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  GentlyFeral

  That was always my favorite part of Christmas, back when I had people who would play it with me. I raised my kids without it, and my husband is out of practice. My daughter-in-law taught my son how to play Christmas, and he's good at it, but my daughter really doesn't get it and my husband would just as soon leave it alone.

  Mind you, they're willing to play Christmas with me, but I can tell their hearts aren't in it, and that takes all the joy out of it.

  So I play Christmas by myself. I collected a bunch of pictures to be Christmas desktops/wallpaper (did you know one of the "advanced options" on Google image search is "use my desktop size"?), bought some odd Christmas music, and sent a few little presents to distant friends.

  My favorite gift to give, any year, is a charitable donation in a friend's name. Most charitable websites will let you do that any time. It's always well received when my friends get the email or the card. The first time I did it, several people told me it was the best gift they got that year.

  gently feral
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  38

  Science Fiction recommendations

  by JeffT in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  so i have my daughter (a 33 year old choreographer turned psych student) reading rah.

  so far she's read double star and tunnel in the sky, she stayed up all night friday night finishing tunnel.

  she's working on the moon is a harsh mistress now.

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  GentlyFeral

  JeffT,

  She's working on The Moon is a Harsh Mistress now.

  I was just about to recommend that book! Also, try Variable Star, started by Heinlein and finished by Spider Robinson. I think it may be a hair's-breadth better than anything Heinlein wrote by himself. Some other favorites:

  • Steel Beach, John Varley
  • Tom o' Bedlam, Robert Silverberg
  • The Stone that Never Came Down, John Brunner (last read it about 30 years ago; may be as dated as Stand on Zanzibar)
  • Anything by Howard Waldrop (not a hard-science writer; he likes to take cultural references and mutate them real good; start with his short story, "The Ugly Chickens")

  Speaking of Spider Robinson : If you don't insist on hard science stories, you'll probably enjoy his Callahan's Saloon series. Also, try Telempath.

  g ently f eral
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  42

  What advice would you give your 16 yr oil dself.

  by scotsman in

  1. jw
  2. friends
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  GentlyFeral

  • Believe it or not, you are more likely to have a thriving theatrical career than to see Armageddon come and Paradise follow. Don't join the JW's; go to theatre school like you know you want to. It's better to be the first-rate actress you could become than a third-rate evangelist with a fifth-rate message.
  • "The meek shall inherit the earth" is a beautiful idea, but you don't have to join this bunch of legalists to live by it.
  • The Bible is a book of power, but you don't have to be a Bible literalist or even a Christian to benefit from it. Read all the liberal theology you can get your hands on.
  • Remember that Tarot reading that predicted a "great change" in your life? Learn to do that yourself. Now, not thirty years later.
  • Ask Dad for your old job back. Do it right. Keep an eye out for an odd lady a little older than you are, who loves old blues and plays guitar. She knows Tarot, too.
  • Every six months, go out and apply for another job, just for practice.
  • You don't have to have sex just because someone asks you.
  • You don't have to be a virgin when you marry, either.
  • If the hot young man who's trying to convert you doesn't dump you when you reject his religion, marry him! But keep your job.
  • Yes, the world is a scary place, but go ahead and have kids. They'll do great things.

  g ently f eral