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[GarandMarine]

Blue? Not the Blue Hens Papersatan? Cause if it's the UD Blue Hens you're in my local!

[Redball]

And in a stadium seating 100k-plus, an amazing spectacle, as I recall.

[ankhtahr]

Damn, I wish I could go to a football game in the US. I've been a fan of our local football team for my whole life now, and I've seen them go from the top, down, almost to the bottom, and back up to the top.

American football is very uncommon here. I don't think most people know the rules. Everybody here watches soccer/football, but I think it's extremely boring, watching 20 people chase a ball for 90 minutes. American Football is much more complex, a lot more dynamic and more exciting in my opinion. But keep in mind that our German Football League is playing on a level which is comparable to your college football. To be honest I even prefer watching college football over the NFL, but now that ESPN America isn't being aired here in Germany anymore, and our cable provider doesn't offer the replacement channel, no football for us currently.

[Papersatan]

Nope, not the blue hens, University of Michigan. 

The crowd was 107,000 people, which is probably the most people I have been at the same place doing the same thing with.  The game came down to the last 5 seconds.  The other team was 4th and 3 to the endzone, and a touchdown would have put them ahead (for non football understanders, the other team had one try to get the ball 3 yards in order to win).  When we tackled the quarterback and it was clear his pass wasn't going to make it,  the entire crowd erupted, and it gave me chills. 

Oh, yeah, and there was a sky writer!:



(Michigan does not fuck about on football day)

[LTK]

When we tackled the quarterback and it was clear his pass wasn't going to make it,  the entire crowd erupted, and it gave me chills. 

Makes it sound like you went down there with the rest of the crowd and tackled him yourself! Ah, sports fan grammar.

[cesium133]

One of these days before I get my Ph.D. I might go to a football game here. I probably won't, though...

[Papersatan]

I'm actually not a huge sports fan.  But the point of the experience for me, and of having "team spirit" in general is a willing membership in a social group and a collective experience.  Allowing yourself to become a part of the group is, for me anyway, where the fun is.  To not think about how stupid this:

really is, but to just do it, because you are in a space where you know the consequences of giving in to the collective are... silly hand gestures. 

Also, here's my photo of the game:

[Patrick]

Yesterday I bid my mama farewell on her way to her new assignment in Australia as the U.S. Ambassador's secretary. That evening, I bid some dear friends (who I think of as siblings) farewell as they move on to bigger and better things.

Last night, as unhealthy as I know it is, I got shit-hammered.

[Barmymoo]

I spent today volunteering at a literary festival hosted by the writing group I just joined! It was hard work but great fun - I spent the entire day meeting people (authors, agents, publishers, sponsors and general public members), liasing with the admin team, the venue staff and the caterers, spotting and solving problems before they properly arose, keeping everyone fed and watered and making a record of what we were spending on hospitality. I am really good at this stuff, you guys. Good enough that I almost considered the possibility that I'm going into the wrong field - but I think the same set of skills is going to make me a good midwife too. And I can do events management on the side, volunteering at things like this. I was really pleased because everyone said I was doing a fantastic job, which without wanting to boast I think was true - but a lot of that was due to the fact that everyone I was working with was friendly and keen for the event to succeed. Just a lot of good will and happiness!

[Grognard]

I've been lazy today.

[GarandMarine]

I am painting ALL THE TANKS!

Glory to Soviet Motherland!

[Grognard]

I've got two BattleTech THUNDERBOLTs that need a final clearcoat.
time to go shake some cans, since GM shamed me into it. 

[Masterpiece]

I just spent my last day of vacation back home in my summer house in Turkey. I'm sorta drunk.

I really don't want to go.

[ankhtahr]

Did you seriously have to make me remember this scene? Did you really have to remind me of the regeneration of my favourite Doctor?

(I'm not actually mad )

[Masterpiece]

lol wasn't even trying 

What iduguphergrave said

[jwhouk]

Muck Fichigan.

Meanwhile - it appears we found out what the officiating crew from last year's Seahawks-Packers debacle are now doing. They were apparently the officiating crew at the ASU-Badgers game last night.

[Papersatan]

Here's the sunburn:

[jwhouk]

What a bright shade of crimson. Almost Badger Red.

[Radical AC]

Saw a dumb film We are the Millers today with the one friend I made here.  It was a lot of fun.  Went to a nice Japanese restaurant after and then took him to his first show Bleeding Rainbow.  Going to Tucson tomorrow to see Godspeed You! and then next week my lady friend is flying out for four days from Boise to see if we can patch things up and have a lot of fun. Either she moves down here or we are done for now(mega post about it in depression thread).  I love her more than anything so wish me any kind of luck you can  Great weekend so far.

[LTK]

Reading about memory function as part of the course I'm following on conscious and unconscious processes. In the first lecture, our professor showed an example of how psychotherapists, thinking they are treating 'repressed memories' on patients who are 'in denial', are outright fabricating memories in their patients through the power of suggestion, memories that often involve childhood abuse. Sometimes it's enough for someone to become completely alienated from their family as a result of these false memories from psychotherapy.

And even without creepy suggestive influences, our memory is still extremely fallible and people have no trouble filling in the blanks of their personal history with events that they assumed or imagined happening, that happened to someone else, that happened in fiction or that never happened at all. People who are writing autobiographies or memoirs are especially prone to this. Makes me want to keep a diary just so that I have a way of verifying my own life events once I become old enough that I start forgetting about them, because I'm pretty sure I've forgotten a fair few already.

Do any of you keep a diary, or have you done that in the past? I suppose if you posted in blog threads with high regularity, that would count as well. Actually, now that I think about it, if we're ever seeing the memoirs of people who lived in the age of social networking, it would probably be pretty easy to verify their information solely because everyone posts their life on the internet nowadays. That makes my idea of writing a diary seem rather anachronistic.

Oh yes, part of the reading material I was assigned is here and you can access it for free. Highly recommended.

[ackblom12]

If I remember right, the estimation is that 25% of the average person's memories are entirely fictional.

[pwhodges]

For years (decades, even) I had a clear memory of seeing my mother in an aeroplane seat holding a baby (my sister); I even thought of it as my first definite memory.  When I eventually mentioned it to her, she told me that the plane trip concerned (the only one I went on in my childhood) was part of a holiday to help her recover from the death of my first sister (from SIDS), well before my second sister was born, so the memory was impossible.

[LTK]

If I remember right, the estimation is that 25% of the average person's memories are entirely fictional.

If indeed 80% of all statistics are completely made up, there's only a 5% chance that what you're saying is true!

[ackblom12]

MATHS!

[ev4n]

...and he is suing the mother for child support even though he gets social security and doesn't need the child support)

Not to derail, but that seems like a non-sequitur...

[Barmymoo]

I find it interesting how our memories are coloured by subsequent experience. For instance, when you find out that someone has been lying to you, all the good memories you have of them are clouded, even though they were genuine at the time.

[pwhodges]

This can explain how relationships can fall apart so dramatically, leading to divorce, for instance.

[Jace]

...and he is suing the mother for child support even though he gets social security and doesn't need the child support)

Not to derail, but that seems like a non-sequitur...

Well it ties in with the father not needing the money to support the child so it'd effectively just be extra income for him. Of course I'm getting secondhand information but what I've heard is that he isn't spending the social security money he gets for her on her needs already,  so adding more isn't likely to cause an increase in spending on her needs. He isn't entirely negligent, but is making mistakes is what I've gathered.

[Masterpiece]

So I've decided to not eat anything for the last 24 hours and it's surprisingly easy.

[Barmymoo]

Why have you decided that?

[Valdís]

So I've decided to not eat anything for the last 24 hours and it's surprisingly easy.

I'll say. I forget to all the time, no decision involved.

Is yours part of that intermittent-fasting health-thing? Where some days in the week you don't eat?

My older brother's doing that, though I don't put much stock in it personally.

[Barmymoo]

I'm very dubious about intermittent fasting. My understanding of the way the metabolism functions leads me to believe that it just causes the body to start breaking down muscles and storing extra fat. I've lost more than a stone in 18 months by running twice a week and becoming vegan. I can see myself living this lifestyle for years to come, whereas I could never keep up calorie counting more than a few weeks.

[snalin]

I become very, very angry very quickly if I'm hungry. At tiny little, insignificant things. If I tried fasting, I'd probably end up in jail within a short time. I need food regularly to not go absolutely crazy.

I never get angry otherwise, so I can pretty much fix any emotional instability with a bowl of cereal. Which is nice, I guess.

[Welu]

I tried to do intermittent fasting for a couple weeks but with an erratic work rota, it was hard to get used to it. As you can guess, I felt very tired on the fasting days and couldn't do a job where I had to be on my feet for hours with it. Although it has taught me to plan my daily meals better.

[LTK]

I can't figure out why I woke up at 8 this morning with my stomach rumbling, when I got up at 12 yesterday and only thought "maybe I should eat something" an hour later.

I found that if I have a really big meal beforehand and avoid physical activity for the rest of the day, I can easily make it 24 hours, but it's not something I plan to make a habit out of.

[Masterpiece]

It just happened. I returned from my holiday in Turkey and couldn't get myself to start cooking on my own again. I just watched Youtube LetsPlays all day and as it happens, the feeling of hunger stopped pretty soon. I know it's super unhealthy though, but I can't get myself to cook.

I'm also super light-headed right now and I think it's because of the same thing.

But I've already decided to make myself a vegetable-chicken stew with noodles. It's fucking cold here in Munich and I need something to warm me up and to provide substance for the bar crawl I have planned this evening.

[nekowafer]

Yeah you definitely can't go out drinking on an empty stomach. Recipe for disaster and puking.

I can't go more than 3 or 4 hours without eating, or I get weak, shaky, and unable to focus. I'm made fun of for eating so often, but I have to. I tried adjusting my diet so I only ate every 4 hours, with no snacks in between, and I almost passed out at work.

[Loki]

Masterpiece, you do know that food just slows down the absorption of alcohol into your blood, right? Also, eat.

[Masterpiece]

Loki: Yeah I know that. It's still easier to go out drinking with something in your stomach.

Update on the light-headedness: I just listened (and danced to) the Portal 2 Soundtrack, and the light-headedness is gone. I drank some water and got rid of the resulting head-ache.

But now I'm hungry again.

I promise I will eat later, but for now I'm still wondering as to how this will end.

[Barmymoo]

That's how the metabolism works. When food doesn't seem to be regularly forthcoming, the metabolism slows down and hunger pangs are compressed after a while, because there's no point distracting the body from looking for food by weakning it with stabs of hunger. If I don't get up and do anything, I can do without eating until about 3pm, but then I haven't got any energy to do anything all day. Eating regular meals is the best way to lose weight as well - people think that skipping meals will help but it actually makes it worse.

[Welu]

I almost never eat breakfast. That's partially due to sleeping late and getting up late. If I wake up after 11am I don't see a point in eating because then I always have lunch at 1ish. Although if I wake up earlier and skip breakfast, I don't feel satisfied for the rest of the day, regardless of how much I eat. Plus I usually only get up early because I have something to do, so I eat so I won't feel tired and weak during whatever I'm doing.

[Jace]

Yesterday we had four people at practice. Horatius, thomas, Enzo, and myself. We paired off three times to fight, I had a not terrible record against Horatius and Thomas, but the most fun was against Enzo. He and I are similar body types but completely different fighting styles. A couple great shots I got on him was a fake stab to fake headshot to leg. I noticed when I went for the stab to headshot combo he put his shield up, so when I tried it again, instead of throwing the headshot I redirected it down into his thigh. Also when he throws shots he would pump up with his sword arm so I tabled my shield under his sword and forearm, stepped to the inside and blasted his bicep. I also was doing really good at pushing in fast and throwing shots then disengaging, essentially keeping the fighting on my terms as much as possible.

[lepetitfromage]

Bluhhh.....I am sick. It is my first day back to work since Tuesday and only because I have no more sick time left. And my birthday is tomorrow. And I have a packed weekend and a packed week next week, so the last 2 days spent on my couch hacking my lungs up are going to be the only rest I have for a while.



Oooof.

[Grognard]

Jace,
I never knew you did SCA.  that's really cool.

[Jace]

Been at it for about 1.5 years. I was kind of concerned that I was falling behind with my fighting skill but this last practice let me know that those concerns were completely unfounded and I think I finally have hit my groove of how I like to fight. Now I just need to find one of the knights in our area that fights like that and ask him to teach me.

[Grognard]

I had a roommate in college who did kendo. 
I tried, but ended up being the semi-mobile, non-proficient whacking dummy.
Helped a neighbor in MI with his SCA unit.
I spent a weekend pummeling random people.
t'was a great deal of fun.

[Barmymoo]

Exciting day visiting the hospital I'll be doing my training at - I've got my ID! Very cool. But I just had to RSVP no to a close friend's wedding She's getting married in Texas on January 2nd, and I'm in Norway then and have an exam on January 7th so I just can't manage it. I wish people weren't so far away. They're having a UK reception next year though, so I'll go to that hopefully.

[Papersatan]

I know a guy who is pretty ok at Kendo.

[nekowafer]

Ex boyfriend is very into kendo and the SCA and Darkon and all that nonsense.

[GarandMarine]

I have covered else where my distaste for Kendo and many forms of martial art that pretend to be a martial art while actually being a sport. I like SCA in that regard, it doesn't pretend to be ARMA, and it doesn't take itself very seriously either for the most part.

Sigh... I wish I could find a kenjutsu or iaido school out here.