The journey through the wilderness.....is over!

[otherlander]

I just got back last night from an 8-day Outward Bound course in the mountains of North Carolina. Nature gets a lot less beautiful when you have to live in it and it won't stop raining and your tent isn't even real....but all the people were really nice and rock climbing was pretty fun.

So, what did I miss while I was gone? The last news I heard from the outside world was Lieberman refusing to shut up after he lost the race, and my dad saying in a mocking voice, "You can't vote me out! I'm declaring myself king of Connecticut!" What happened after that? Any big news? Any Lounge news? Any new wars or dead leaders?

Oh, and on the way back, we stopped at a Burger King off of the highway, and alongside the road, I was able to harvest some....



kudzu. :evilgrin:
It is now sitting on my kitchen table. WORSHIP ME, SANS-KUDZU PEASANTS!

[Blue Gardener]

1. Something about planes and terrorists

And we must all be afraid. So, nothing new.

[otherlander]

2. Ah, right.... the no liquids on planes thing...

the kids who were flying home got kinda mad about that.

[Haole Girl]

3. I have to ask..

do they still have the 48 hrs, or so, solitude time on Outward Bound trips? I always thought those sounded interesting (like a Native American vision quest). Just wondering.

[otherlander]

6. No...at least our group didn't.

The closest we did to that was when we were done rock climbing and they gave us a few hours to sit by ourselves on different parts of the mountain. Which was actually kind of nice, some time to think, but 48 hours sounds way better.

I did have this one dream, though, about all the things I wanted to do when I got home. I was thinking I'd go to the pool with my friends, and read, and take a shower and go on the computer, and I dreamt that I was on the computer, and the people on here were getting angry because of something the Republicans did. Then I halfway woke up and realized that everybody in our crappy tent was getting soaked by the rain, but I was still dreaming, so I tried to tell the people in the dream, "what if the people in the tent think like that? don't yell at them now, we have to get out of the rain..."

I kept thinking about that during the trip. I wasn't thinking that it didn't matter what the Republicans did, but I was thinking that maybe people didn't agree with them for the reasons people on here say they do; if that makes sense. As in, just an example, anti-choice people- people on here sometimes say it's because they're sexist, and they might be, but that's not their reason, their reason is because they think fetuses are people. And same thing with all the other issues.

So I started thinking that it's one thing to disagree with something, and be pissed off at the people who go along with it and to try to stop them, but if people then let themselves ignore the thinking of the other side and instead say that they think that way because they're evil, it might stop us from finding the truth. I know that's not exactly a vision, but it was something to think about.

[Jamastiene]

11. Oh. My. God.

They got to you, didn't they? They spiked your water with the Kool-Aid. We may need to perform an exorcism to get you back right. Oh no.

:sarcasm:


Yes, they do think fetuses are human beings even before the fetuses develop into feeling (i.e. with a central nervous system) organisms. Granted they may be right about the fetuses are humans part of the isse. Some of us, as women, though, tend to think we should have a right to our bodies and what we do with our bodies. That is where the sexist claim come in.

In any case, welcome back. I hope you enjoyed the trip.

[otherlander]

13. "some of us"? i'm not disagreeing with you

about that, i think the same thing. just an example... i mean, what if instead of talking about a better tomorrow for all races, MLK went around talking about the "white devil" keeping the blacks down because they were evil?

[Haole Girl]

17. Thanks for the reply

I do hear what you are saying. Listen to the individual rather than judge them. However, the abortion issue is very complex. And, if you delve into it (for instance, a term paper or speech) you will find many, many sides to this issue. It, as many things in life, is not simply black or white; it is not simply right or wrong. Many women, who have abortions, don't want them...there are many ways women end-up getting pregnant (molestation, rape, failed contraceptives). Just don't be too quick to judge the other way, either...k?

Still, over all, anytime a person has quiet time to reflect...especially while enjoying nature...is time well spent!

[otherlander]

18. I'm not agreeing with the pro-lifers, i'm just

saying what appears to be their reasoning. I don't think they're right. Did it sound that way?

[Haole Girl]

19. A little

But, glad to hear you don't buy into the bs! :)

[otherlander]

20. maybe i should have used a different example...

Say some people got killed by terrorists. And i said to you, "the terrorists killed them because they hated their freedom." And you said to me, "no, i think the terrorists killed them because they wanted their government to take its army out of their country." Does that mean that you're agreeing with the terrorists? No, it just means that you want to understand their reasons for doing things you disagree with.

[Haole Girl]

4. Kick

:kick: Are you still here?

[idgiehkt]

5. where were you camping?

I'd love to know, so I can be even more homesick...

[otherlander]

7. I can't remember the name of the mountain, but

when we were at the top of the cliff we had climbed, an instructor told us that the mountain right next to ours that we were seeing was Grandfather Mountain.

So you're from North Carolina? That's cool. Asheville's a pretty great town. It kind of seemed like Cambridge minus the snooty-ness.

[idgiehkt]

8. yes I was born in Asheville but grew up in VA.

I came back from 88 to 96, left again, came back from 2000 to 2003 and left again thinking it would be easier to make a living in the Charlotte area. But I hate it SO much it's not even funny. It's just gotten so damn hard to make a living in Asheville, there isn't much of a middle class, everyone that is not a retiree is some flavor of trustafarian, or working two jobs just to barely make ends meet. I was there during the best time, late 80's to mid 90's; it's so different now it's not funny which is why you see those bumper stickers that say "don't move here". Asheville is the liberal mecca of the south (east). If I could actually make a living there I'd move back tomorrow. I'm in school to get some kind of medical skill or something because there are so many retirees in that area that's about the only solid field up there. Besides service making $6 or $7 an hour. The only thing I don't like is sometimes in the winter I feel a little locked in by the mountains, it gets kind of desolate in a way.

[otherlander]

9. I was talking to a woman who worked at a store there...

she was talking about all the artists and young college people who were turning it into a 'cool town' and how that was about to make the prices skyrocket. It's a shame how that happens; some overlooked, inexpensive town will provide a place for the artists to live, and after they've moved in and made things better, the rich people just come along and take it. The free spirits just get used up like catalysts.

[idgiehkt]

16. Asheville was pretty undiscovered for a while

It think it was the celebs moving into the mountains for 2nd homes that had some kind of impact, plus a lot of people from the North and West moving in. All the 3rd and 4th generation people, like my family, sold off their land to rich folks from Florida and NJ, etc. But back in the early 90's Asheville was great. It still is, it's just chain-ified and the traffic is bad and the air is bad most of the time in the summer. I also lived in Sylva for about a year and it's beautiful out there and it isn't too far away, but it all comes down to jobs, jobs, jobs. I don't know what that lady is talking about, Asheville has always been 'cool', it just was a better kept secret for years and now because of all these 'best small town' lists and stuff it's attracting people who can live without having to work, and all the plants/mills are closing. You could used to survive there, my first house I ever rented there was a cute two bedroom cabin in Fairview for $250 a month. I was making $4.00 an hour at the time and if I was poor it didn't make much of an impact on me, 'cause I don't remember suffering or anything. The quality of life there is so high that money really doesn't matter, but housing and rent are so outrageous now that all the creative types that made the town what it is are being forced out because you can't even afford to be poor there anymore. I mean even if you fully expect to be poor and accept it, it's still really hard to make it.

[RebelOne]

10. I live in No. Georgia and all I have to do is step

out my back door to harvest kudzu. So, worship me, as I have an abundance of the stuff.

[otherlander]

14. .....

:applause: *mutters to self* you'll be sorry when the revolution comes...

[wildhorses]

12. you will be sorry about the kudzu....IT WILL TAKE OVER...

just like the thread, it will just keep growing and growing and growing...

[otherlander]

15. But....it's dead.

Really. :shrug: