In that case: I’ve carved out a pretty decent career despite no formal education at all, and virtually no network to lean on. I got where I am because I’m good at what I do, and my 30% paycheck increase when I was recently poached by a competitor proves it.
Remember Valentine’s day 2004, when San Francisco county started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples?
Thousands of couples showed up. Some from the other side of the planet, some from the other side of town. The County Clerk was overwhelmed and there weren’t nearly enough wedding officiants to keep up. So they put out a call for volunteers to be deputized by the Clerk as county marriage commissioners. I volunteered and officiated at dozens of ceremonies at city hall.
Still have my official commission hanging on my wall.
Going to talk therapy. Getting married and having kids really pushed me and helps me keep going on the hardest days. I cannot have mental illness affect their lives like it did mine growing up.
They made a rule against using bird houses in a demolition contest because of me. It’s not my fault they asked for the most effective way of getting through a steel plate instead of the most precise.
So there I was with something of an informal competition in front of me to make the “best” shaped charge to blow throw about a two inch steel plate. It was really just something like practicing skills and maybe showing off creativity.
Most people took “best” to mean most efficient, precise, or cleanly shaped hole in the metal. I took a different meaning. A Mongo minded meaning.
People showed up with their creations and proceeded to pack them with explosives. Most were C4 filled and under half a pound, many of them much less. Shaped charges made of coins, wine bottles, whatever else.
Removed the copper roof, put it in a 5 gallon bucket and proceeded to fill the bucket with as much C4 as it could hold. I don’t know how much. It was a lot. More explode means more good.
My charge had to go last for fear of disrupting everything else. I put a dachshund sized hole in the steel plate along with a massive crack. Penetrated the dirt a few feet down. Somebody even recovered the copper penetrator and turned it into a keychain.
After that they put a size limit on how much explosives you could use. Really not my fault there wasn’t a limit in the first place.
When I was still in a band we played the same venue that I saw one of my favorite bands play at once. That was really cool, even though it was on a Monday and we just played to other bands.
It just so happens I’m proud of something I did two hours ago as I write this sentence. A friend of mine said they needed a constant companion for the time being, and another friend said they needed a certain demographic to be friends with, and after realizing the first friend fell under that demographic, I thought “wait, do these two people know each other”. Three hours ago as I write this sentence, I introduced them, and they really hit it off. I just made three people very happy.
I cracked a joke that made a person laugh who is very difficult to make laugh. I’ve known them for nearly a decade and it was the first time I ever heard them laugh out loud.
That’s awesome - well done! Reminded me of something else, story below.
For anyone that watched MythBusters, you’re probably aware the two main hosts, Adam and Jaimie, didn’t like each other because they were two different clashing personalities and tough to work with. There was a pirate myths episode, and Adam went all out dressing as a pirate and using a very heavy faux-pirate accent. Jaimie was laughing so hard during that scene that his whole head was red! One of the most endearing moments of the show, and something I treasure because this show was so influential for me growing up.
Props to anyone like @Vanth that makes the normally serious person laugh!
¡I second this completely! Smoking is so hard to get over and you should be unbelievably proud of yourself for being so strong in doing the right thing for yourself ❤️
In 2007, I, a non-white non-Korean, took a job in South Korea. Then, I took another. Then, at the third job, I was hired, but the owner’s brother was amenable to some of the more racist thoughts that guided the approach to business in SK. He thought I would hurt the business. He resisted hiring another non-white, non-Korean.
The owner asked me to write a letter. Instead of saying, “that’s not my job”, I wrote the letter. I made the case. They hired another non-white, non-Korean after me.
Leaving Islam, I know this comment will spark some debate, which is pointless ( to me at least )… So fingers crossed nothing will happen
Muslims often say: “oh, so you’re an atheist!, tell us where do you get your morals?” And “Oh, you left Islam so you can live a life of sin, drinking alcohol and having sex with tons of people”…
The irony is that the reason you leave Islam ( or any other “organized” cult ) is because of your intact moral compass, you’re against violence ( murder and war ), homophobia, sexism, pedophilia, racism, slavery, genital mutilation, you’re against fear, control, indoctrination… And the list goes on… And even if it was true, I left Islam to live a life of sin, the prize of winning in Islam, is to live an internal life of sin in heaven so… 👉👈
I live in a Muslim country, and It’s safe to say ( not out loud, if you know what I mean ) that the only reason people here are muslims is because they’re indoctrinated, from birth… you hear the same arguments, the same logical fallacies, the same pathetic biases … from every person, that’s why I said it’s pointless…
It’s sad, to live undercover with “friends” and “family” who will let you go if they knew the real you, and it’s really a lonely life, and it gets even lonelier because I’m fucking gay, I used to think, not so much, but I thought of going back and trying to fit in, try to be like everyone else, maybe If I can live in a broken system, I’ll stop seeing how broken it is… But I can’t, and I won’t, it’s just doesn’t work like that, once you’re awakened, you can’t go back to sleep.
So, I’m proud because I feel like I’m a better human being, because when I look around and see Muslims praying on the downfall of Jews and Christians, ( and I don’t know about Christians and Jews so don’t ask me, I would say probably the same lol… 😂, they all hate each other…) When I see that, I see how religion divides us ( “in order to rule us” … Like Mr Robot said ) and how much hate people carry because of such beliefs
I have three kids. I was present for the birth of the youngest two. But I adopted my oldest. She was 12 so she had to tell the judge she was OK with it. I told her it came with two conditions: Nothing between us needed to change and she didn’t have to call me “Dad”. She calls me by first name to my face but she calls me “dad” behind my back. I’ll take it.
I took up an instrument for the first time in my late 30s and have gotten okay at it. If I was 8 years old people would nod politely to my parents after my recital.
Mandolin. Playing Bach, American folk standards and children’s songs. Started la vie en rose tonight. No original material but it’s been fun to do something I, for a reason I no longer remember, thought was beyond me. My wife loves it. My kids are annoyed that I follow them around like a restaurant mariachi playing the same songs over and over lol.
Sounds fun. Don’t forget about Losing My Religion! I play guitar and drums. When I first started with guitar, I only played covers as if the only thing that mattered was my technical capacity. Once I learned a scale out if curiosity, I discovered a wholeeeee new world. I no longer bother with covers. I hope you find some courage to engage in creating something new, and if you do, please share it with me if you feel comfortable 🙂
Thanks for the tip about scales. Music theory has been on my mind as something to learn after I get technically good but maybe I should move it up in the batting order.
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