What's everyone up to right now?

[ElleBelle]

Finished dinner with my pants off. Goal achieved.

[BrokenQuill92]

It is totally bath time for me

[ElleBelle]

It is totally bath time for me

Best time of day.

[Angrboda]

Just got home after my evening Buddhist meditation meeting. Enjoying a coffee and cola after pausing briefly to dump the grounds from the last pot on the floor by the garbage can. I haven't wired up all the remotes to my room lighting yet, so I'm sitting here in partial darkness, with just enough light for the keyboard. (I have to look at the keyboard when I type, since my hand is flying all over the place when I type. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to type a bunch of text, only to look up and realize you've been impotently typing it in the wrong window, or that it's all in caps.)


Well the Buddhists in my life continue to disappoint. Everybody there tonight has been coming for weeks, so no introduction to the practice or guidance was needed. Nonetheless, in the middle of the starting 30 minute session of silent meditation, our "peerless leader" starts offering guidance, telling us just to breathe in and out, and let it all go. I was furious. I had reached a place near the state of samadhi that I had reached 20 years earlier, and the resulting distraction and feelings of anger meant I never got back there again during this evening's meditation. On the plus side, because we were in silent meditation, I couldn't react immediately by drawing my patented "Sword of the Goddess" verbal wit and combat technique. After a few minutes I recalled some insights that I developed as a result of being demoted as moderator. I was able to unfurl my ball and let my imagination blossom into alternative responses other than my usual confrontation and conflict style. It's going to take a long time to develop these insights into practical skills, but tonight was the first real practical application of my new wisdom. It would be nice to live long enough to fully develop these new skills, but I doubt that will happen.

And it didn't end there. We normally end with a 20 minute session of silent meditation, but he wanted us to talk about the practice some, so he devoted that time to discussion. He gently asked if anyone had any questions they'd like help with. What followed was an atrocious blend of vapidly empty stock "Buddhism For Dummies" style Dharma catch phrases, intermixed with "Chicken Soup For The Soul" caliber existential philosophy. And apparently this person has had considerable tutelage from Japanese and Chinese adepts, as well as considerable length of practice. In recounting an anecdote about a Chinese teacher, he slaughtered the pronunciation of the Chinese word for heart so badly that I didn't recognize the word — and I know that word like the back of my hand. Fortunately he's learned to pronounce my name properly so I no longer have to ponder where in a Unitarian church I can dispose of a corpse.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIb9QUGjdIc

[Polaris]

Checking up on the new AMD reveal.

[Angrboda]

Jager.

[Polaris]

Eating cereal.

[Tea Earl Grey Hot]

Eating cereal.

You:

[Angrboda]

Trying to decide if drinking Jager from a shot glass instead of straight from the bottle is increasing or decreasing my consumption.

(I got free "Jager" shot glasses by buying a Christmas gift package at the beginning of the month. Shot glass or no, I'll be drinking a fuck ton tonight.)

(ETA: Resoleved: shot glasses just mean more work for the same effect. Back to the bottle. They had a good sale on a liter bottle of Jager, but that's a bit hard for me to lift, so I bought the 750 ml bottle with the shot glasses instead.)

[Mystical]

Gotta get something off my chest.

I took my neice and nephew to the store with me tonight, and told them they can either get a $5 movie or suckers and they pick suckers. During the shopping experience, the 6yr old nephew gets warned three times to stop smacking the signs and stuff as we walked and I threatened to revoke the movie if they didn't stay with me like they should. He stops whacking stuff, they both were good after that, so we go check out and he and sis choose a sucker over the movie and I give it to them and they pop them in their mouths. We're literally midway out the door when I realize the detergent bottle is leaking, so we turn around, go to customer service, go all the way to the back of the store for a new bottle of detergent, and he's smackin signs again. I turn around and say, "that's it I'm taking your movie back, I've had it" (I was tired) and he smiles wide and says "You mean our suckers?". He sucks reassuredly on his sucker like he'd won and I said, "Yeah your sucker. Give it to me." He didn't think I'd do that...
We then go all the way back to customer service to exchange the detergents. I realize the paper I'd put the sucker in would just ruin the sucker if I left it, so I give him his sucker and say "I took your sucker away because I warned you three times to stop hitting stuff in the store. Take your sucker, and let's go home".
He refuses to take the sucker.
So I say, ok I'll just throw it away then.
"Nooo I want my sucker!"
"Okay, here you go"
The little mmmmmph reaches for the sucker, and stops just an inch from the sucker like he expects me to place it in his hand.
So, I threw it away. I threw a six year olds sucker away! I'm evil!
I had has his sister go get a new one, same kind, and I bought it and put it in my purse and told him he could get it on friday if he got good
reports from school the rest of the week.

Question: What could I have done better or differently? How eVil am I?
I feel like an evil (yet oh so vindicated) auntie.