Before I shut down for the day to return to hermitting, here are some links I’ve been collecting for you.
- Never mind that this prepper is living in New York City (whotta place to be in a crunch!). Never mind that he’s going public with exactly what ought to be most private. He’s right about a lot. For the rest of us if not for himself.
- Long but an interesting look at insanities of the past: Allen Ginsberg (in 1966) writing about “The Great Marijuana Hoax.”
- “Nine Things Remarkably Successful People Never Do” by Jeff Haden and “Nine Things Successful People Won’t Do” by Dr. Travis Bradberry. (Whether any of this is true depends on how you define success, but there are some good thoughts.)
And to get you in the Christmas spirit:
Via Borepatch: “The Carol of the Bells” writ rather large.
This 2014 commercial for the British store Sainsbury’s apparently infuriated a lot of people. I think it’s lovely. The only infuriating thing is that the guys in this famous WWI story went back to killing each other the very next day.
I was enthralled by the “Carol of the Bells’ video.
The Sainsbury ad was so poignant. I think it is lovely, too.
Thanks for sharing them.
Thank you, Connie. That Sainsbury’s ad affects me more every time I watch it. I think about what a pointless tragedy all those young men were sucked into and how at that one moment a few ordinary people found the humanity their leaders lacked.
The “success” articles are very interesting. Lots of good stuff there. The art of saying “no,” and not allowing the expectations of others control your choices are two biggies. Most important for trusting relationships, I think, is developing the skills needed to listen – honestly and creatively. And I’m not too worried about a little interruption. If you listen to good friends talking, they do that a lot, finish each other’s sentences and so forth. Listening should be genuine and courteous, obviously, and if someone isn’t really worth listening to that way, the honest thing is to cut it short and walk away.
“Before I shut down for the day to return to hermitting,…”
I had to chuckle when I read this, Claire. With all due respect and affection, you’re not a very good hermit. 😉
Sam, that’s the truth. I’m a terrible hermit. Totally suck at it. I’m going to keep trying, but so far I’m extremely unimpressed with myself. (And thank you for noticing.)
“The most harrowing story he was told came from a prepper, who in the run-up to Katrina, urged his neighbors to buy emergency supplies, food, and water. Few listened and, when New Orleans flooded, they came to him for help.
He gave out supplies initially, but, when the neighbors returned with a crowd, he explained that he needed the rest for his family. The crowd turned antagonistic. The man scared them off with a shotgun, but it wasn’t long before they returned throwing bricks through his windows in retaliation. He left soon after with as much of his emergency supplies as he could carry.”
I think this is every preppers nightmare. And many of the people (idiots?) commenting on the story are vivid examples of why every prepper should be fairly heavily armed.
Seems like prep #1 for me would be to move out of NYC. It is good that there is a group willing to teach others in the city interested in being prepared in some way.
I noticed both articles spoke of not being afraid to say no. This is something I’ve learned after several years of trying to please everyone and not offend. Now, if I know it’s going to weigh heavily on my mind and it doesn’t really do any good for anyone else, I’m more likely to say no. If it helps others then I’ll try to accommodate but just for show I’m not interested.
The house synchronized to the music was great. My brother works for the electric company and I’d like to hear his comments on it just for fun!
[4. They never interrupt.
When you interrupt someone, what you’re really saying is, “I’m not thinking about what you are saying. I’m thinking about what I want to say … and what I want to say is so important you need to hear it now.”]
Either that, or “If I don’t say it now, I will forget it in the minute it takes you to finish.” 🙂
As to saying no, a little secret: I often enjoy saying it. I know that is anti-social, heh…
I used to live in a neighborhood that turned into a competition to see whose house could have the most outrageous display of lights. It kinda irritated me. Mine was the only dark house in the block…
As to the Sainsbury thing, the Wikipedia page is interesting:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce
I was shocked at the people who hated it. What is wrong with them? Bootlickers of the ruling classes, if you ask me.
Paul, with all due respect the people who were shocked were the ones who thought it awful that Sainsburys would use the awful events of the first world war as an advertising campaign for their supermarket. What next? Wallyworld using events from 9/11 to advertise black friday? If you object obviously you are just toadying up to the elite…….
WW! is the seminal event in the destruction of western civilization. it brought on WWII and the cold war both. decimated four great empires and changed the demographics of the world. hwew we are 100 years on and the population of germany and russia are not much more than they were then, and they’re declining. As are most european countries. the world will be a vey diffrent place in 25 years.
Roger, the ones I am talking about made it clear they thought those acting in the truce should have shot all those Germans. It was not that they were scandalized a WW1 event was used in an ad.
Anyway I don’t care how people learn about that event. If it’s in an ad, more power to the advertisers. The important thing is that people learn about it. Also I didn’t think it was tasteless at all – what is tasteless is the “support the troops” (a euphemism for “support the empire”) crap that we usually get in ads.