[quote]Varqanir wrote:
[quote]SexMachine wrote:
Although a cynic would probably say I do that stuff to make myself feel good.[/quote]
Well, don’t you?[/quote]
Yes sure. Helping people makes me feel good and that’s good for me and good for the people I help. I know what you’re thinking. A nihilist doesn’t believe in good or bad. Save that thought for another time in PWI maybe.
Puff’s Theory of Life in a Nutshell.
You’re going to experience some cognitive dissonance and uncertainty either way, regardless of what you believe or don’t believe.
You’re going to experience a wounded world, and you’re going to experience suffering and struggle, either way.
My life is often better for acting in a way I want the world to be, or would hope the world would be.
For example -
Do I believe I’ll ever been really good at ballet? No, but my life is better for the attempt. And am I better at ballet for acting like it could happen and just doing it.
Was Mother Teresa able to really make a dent in the world’s suffering? No. But she made life a little better for a few. And her life meant something for living a life of faith, regardless of what she may have believed. I assume she was happier for living in a way she wanted the world to be.
If you believe you can’t have a meaningful long term relationship with a woman, and it’s something you want (or envy in your cousin who has that and a new baby), then start doing the things that make it happen, regardless of how you feel or what you think. Sometimes your life is better for the attempt. An often the effort makes you a happier, better person. It doesn’t mean you don’t need to be your authentic self, but a lot of things require practice.
Paraphrasing here, but I believe Jewbacca said something along the lines of how he’d been a fairly self-centered person until his wife died and he had these little girls who utterly depended on him. The experience of being present for them, really caring for them, taught him how to feel more deeply. I hope I’m not putting words in his mouth, but he said something similar and it made an impression on me. That the ACTION of doing it made the feelings happen.
A lot of this has less to do with what you think and believe, and more to do with how you CHOOSE to live. For people like me who may always struggle with faith and doubt, and with balancing my sense s of reason with emotion and affection - Maybe it’s more important to just live my life as if the hopeful dream is a reality. This thread isn’t really the best place for this, so that’s the nutshell version.
I’m Essentially a person of faith, not a nihilist.
And - Men wear Tom’s here in SoCal all the time. Van’s makes some slip-ons that are very similar. It’s beach culture. I even see a few manly dudes with them at the gym doing arm day.
[quote]pushharder wrote:
[quote]Varqanir wrote:
[quote]pushharder wrote:
[quote]smh_23 wrote:
…I hope you don’t stay a nihilist, SM…
[/quote]
For sure. It’s a worthless life and the world needs no more worthless lives.
[/quote]
Socrates said that the unexamined life is worthless.
If SexMachine’s nihilism is the result of rigorous self-examination, as it seems to be, then his life is, by Socrates’ definition anyway, not worthless.[/quote]
You really have no idea if any rigorous self examination has occurred.
And if it has it’s irrelevant and my point still stands unassailable.
In addition, deep down inside, the nihilist knows it and Socrates is no salve that soothes the aching soul.[/quote]
You really have no idea what the nihilist knows deep inside, nor whether his soul aches. Your assertions are conjectures, based upon projections of how you imagine you would feel if you lost your faith, which is the primary thing giving your life meaning.
[quote]pushharder wrote:
I suspect, Varq, that your musings on this subject might very well have something to do with your own rigorous self-examination and subsequent conclusion that you too are in the nihilist camp, no?[/quote]
Not really.
I mean, yeah, lots of rigorous self-examination. There is no place like the saddle of a bicycle on a lonely highway in the middle of the night in a Southeast Asian country undergoing a military coup for intense introspection.
But no, I have never considered myself a nihilist, even after the likes of SexMachine and you insisted that I was one.
[quote]pushharder wrote:
…my faith [/quote]
[quote]Powerpuff wrote:
Puff’s Theory of Life in a Nutshell.
You’re going to experience some cognitive dissonance and uncertainty either way, regardless of what you believe or don’t believe.
You’re going to experience a wounded world, and you’re going to experience suffering and struggle, either way.
My life is often better for acting in a way I want the world to be, or would hope the world would be.
For example -
Do I believe I’ll ever been really good at ballet? No, but my life is better for the attempt. And am I better at ballet for acting like it could happen and just doing it.
[/quote]
That was Albert Camus’ advice too. He explains it with an analogy to Sisyphus pushing the rock up the hill forever even though he knows he’ll never get it to the top.
http://dbanach.com/sisyphus.htm
Yes, I really like Toms. I have a unique style of dressing anyway and could care less what other people wear or don’t wear. I know what suits me and looks good on me.
[quote]SexMachine wrote:
[quote]Powerpuff wrote:
Puff’s Theory of Life in a Nutshell.
You’re going to experience some cognitive dissonance and uncertainty either way, regardless of what you believe or don’t believe.
You’re going to experience a wounded world, and you’re going to experience suffering and struggle, either way.
My life is often better for acting in a way I want the world to be, or would hope the world would be.
For example -
Do I believe I’ll ever been really good at ballet? No, but my life is better for the attempt. And am I better at ballet for acting like it could happen and just doing it.
[/quote]
That was Albert Camus’ advice too. He explains it with an analogy to Sisyphus pushing the rock up the hill forever even though he knows he’ll never get it to the top.
http://dbanach.com/sisyphus.htm
Yes, I really like Toms. I have a unique style of dressing anyway and could care less what other people wear or don’t wear. I know what suits me and looks good on me.[/quote]
That’s why you started a fashion advice thread right?
Did you join T-Nation to learn to become an Alpha Male?
[quote]pushharder wrote:
Hey Varq, FYI, I just wrote the first few sentences of my Great American Novel. Maybe I will hire you as editor for the project.[/quote]
Really?
Good luck, my friend. It’s a helluva ride, and 99.99999 percent of the time, you don’t even get this lousy t-shirt. But it’s worth taking, I reckon.
One piece of advice: Pick up a book you really like and study a couple page’s worth of dialogue. Note how and how often attribution (e.g., "said Ishmael or, as I prefer, “Ishmael said”) is offered. Note when attribution is skipped completely. That is the one thing that (in my experience) doesn’t come naturally, even to a great writer.
[quote]Captnoblivious wrote:
[quote]SexMachine wrote:
[quote]Powerpuff wrote:
Puff’s Theory of Life in a Nutshell.
You’re going to experience some cognitive dissonance and uncertainty either way, regardless of what you believe or don’t believe.
You’re going to experience a wounded world, and you’re going to experience suffering and struggle, either way.
My life is often better for acting in a way I want the world to be, or would hope the world would be.
For example -
Do I believe I’ll ever been really good at ballet? No, but my life is better for the attempt. And am I better at ballet for acting like it could happen and just doing it.
[/quote]
That was Albert Camus’ advice too. He explains it with an analogy to Sisyphus pushing the rock up the hill forever even though he knows he’ll never get it to the top.
http://dbanach.com/sisyphus.htm
Yes, I really like Toms. I have a unique style of dressing anyway and could care less what other people wear or don’t wear. I know what suits me and looks good on me.[/quote]
That’s why you started a fashion advice thread right?
Did you join T-Nation to learn to become an Alpha Male?
[/quote]
Do you not feel stupid after this:
Note the apostrophe in “yours” just in case there was any doubt. Really, haven’t you had enough?
[quote]pushharder wrote:
[quote]smh_23 wrote:
[quote]pushharder wrote:
Hey Varq, FYI, I just wrote the first few sentences of my Great American Novel. Maybe I will hire you as editor for the project.[/quote]
Really?
Good luck, my friend. It’s a helluva ride, and 99.99999 percent of the time, you don’t even get this lousy t-shirt. But it’s worth taking, I reckon.
One piece of advice: Pick up a book you really like and study a couple page’s worth of dialogue. Note how and how often attribution (e.g., "said Ishmael or, as I prefer, “Ishmael said”) is offered. Note when attribution is skipped completely. That is the one thing that (in my experience) doesn’t come naturally, even to a great writer.[/quote]
I need all the help I can git, I reckon. Bring it on.[/quote]
You’re very good with words, so here are the small but important things that I think are the most essential (beyond a fundamentally good eye and ear for language):
– Most importantly, what I mentioned above. There is a strong temptation to do “said John,” “said Mary,” “said John,” “said Mary.” The result is awkward, jolty dialogue, and dialogue is very important to the flow of a novel. Cormac McCarthy sometimes goes twenty lines of dialogue without attribution (if there are two alternating speakers). I find that a little much, but it’s definitely worth keeping in mind that the reader can naturally and without effort keep track of who’s speaking for a good long while. Then there are the tricks: “Hey” – Tom Hanks was pointing at his own chest – “I love you.” We know Tom Hanks is the speaker, and you didn’t have to waste a “said.”
– Everybody knows that cliche is to be avoided at the plot/narrative level, but it’s just as bad at the phrasal level. Tits should never be “heaving.” A character should run neither “like the wind” nor “like lightning.” Cheeks should never be “rosy.” Cold should rarely be “biting” (though I do like the idea of, for example, “he leaned into the toothy winter air”). Basically, every phrase you use should be one that you think up yourself. This almost always entails going back through what you’ve written, finding the ready-made cliche phrases, and replacing them with something that’s your own. This figures into Orwell’s essential essay about English (some of the specifics are dated, but the gist is timeless):
http://www.resort.com/~prime8/Orwell/patee.html
– I don’t get the anti-adverb dogma that’s in vogue, but do limit or altogether eliminate “suddenly.” Also, watch adverbs in dialogue attribution, e.g. instead of
“I’m trying,” John said angrily
consider
“I’m trying, dammit. I’m trying.”
– Past perfect. Know when something “was broken,” and when that thing “had been broken.” This gets tricky when you’re going into a longer “had” section. In that case, you generally use “had” a few times at the beginning, and then drop it in favor of the simple past.
– Make chronologies, timelines of events, etc. Making shit up gets really, really confusing after a while.
– At some point near the middle, you’ll decide that the whole thing is pointless, worthless, stupid. You’ll decide to give up. Just keep fucking going. 1,000 words/day minimum, if possible. If not, 4,000/week, or 8,000/fortnight. Whatever it is, stick with it like it’s a strict diet and training regimen and you’re in the NFL.
– Read and dissect and reread and re-dissect this short story, because it’s just about perfect:
– Drink and fuck, because that’s what the greats did, and if it worked for them…
Keep me updated! I love this shit.
[quote]pushharder wrote:
[quote]smh_23 wrote:
Good luck, my friend. It’s a helluva ride, and 99.99999 percent of the time, you don’t even get this lousy t-shirt. But it’s worth taking, I reckon.
[/quote]
Trying to fall asleep a couple nights I formulated the first few sentences in my head.
I had just concluded (for the second time in my life) Vardis Fisher’s “Mountain Man,” a literary masterpiece if I do say so myself. That book was the inspiration for the Jeremiah Johnston movie starring Robert Redford.
Have you read it?
I loved the book for its wordsmithing as well as the fact that I’ve been every single place mentioned in it and can picture all its scenes.[/quote]
Haven’t – but just bought it. I love all that stuff, American stuff, be it mountain, plain, or desert. I’ve read both Lonesome Dove and Blood Meridian many times.
[quote]pushharder wrote:
[quote]smh_23 wrote:
Good luck, my friend. It’s a helluva ride, and 99.99999 percent of the time, you don’t even get this lousy t-shirt. But it’s worth taking, I reckon.
[/quote]
Trying to fall asleep a couple nights I formulated the first few sentences in my head.
I had just concluded (for the second time in my life) Vardis Fisher’s “Mountain Man,” a literary masterpiece if I do say so myself. That book was the inspiration for the Jeremiah Johnston movie starring Robert Redford.
Have you read it?
I loved the book for its wordsmithing as well as the fact that I’ve been every single place mentioned in it and can picture all its scenes.[/quote]
Probably the best book I read as a kid. It transported me to the mountain. The movie didn’t com close to how the book made me feel… Redford or not.
@ Camus and The Myth of Sisypus. You couldn’t choose a better illustration for a BBing site. Push heavy rock repeatedly, and be ennobled, better for the effort. The feeling of it is quite a bit darker than the way I view the world, but I like it.
Also brought to mind this. “All of the significant battles are waged within the self.” - Sheldon Kopp. Of course, those are really the only battles worth caring about. That’s where courage, integrity and selflessness come from. From the perspective of someone who is essentially a believer like myself, these are the only battles God is truly interested in.
BTW, this thread has just been all over the map.