The Bard

I am watching your unit.

Thank you for going out of your way to misunderstand everything I'm saying. Touching all this, for which I thee beseech. So hold thy peace; thou slay'st me with thy speech.

Nobody likes a song solely for the lyrics; music is what give the lyrics an emotional weight, give them meaning even though when you look at them detached from the music, they might be pathetic and corny. Again; all of the reasons you gave for liking a song are vaild. I guess I'm just being presumptious for thinking that people should be self aware enough to understand their preferences and telegraph them through language.[/a weighty infinitude of sarcasm] If there is no point in defending your taste in music, why are you here, defending the idea of its complete defensibility? People don't need to do anything, but by some sort of imperative, most of us are drawn to discussion, to argument, to anything that can give us insight into what we like, and into what drives others to differ from us. So by way of this, I'm assuming that the first and only impression you allow yourself to have of a person is one that is holistic and formed by extensive experience, and discourse? No. This is not the way we understand people. Our perceptions are mediated by culture, and are vague patchwork constructions that we add to, but that inevitably need some base to work from. Are you assuming that the first I hear of a persons musical taste, that I inscribe that in my consciousness forever, never to be altered, or at times, discarded outright? Again, this is what I said: Because you don't have the benefit of the myriad ways people have been identifying with each other for thousands of years when your interactions are limited to the internet. Our ideas of who we are are informed by our entertainment consumption for the large part, and then the snippets of anecdotes we skim and chuckle at in the good/bad threads. On the internet, our perceptions of each other are by nature unformed. Look at Chair's recent thread regarding "rising tensions." Why do you think that these exist? They exist because our projections of our personalities are greatly exaggerated online. Any animosity I may have with a person online instantly dissolves when I meet them in person, just because they become real, fleshed out, literally. And what I'm saying extends way beyond music too. When you sit down to talk with someone for the first time, you always come to the table with predispositions regarding what you think the range of the conversation is going to be. Its natural, and anyone who claims otherwise and holds to abstract egalitarian principles is a fucking mental midget.

Inductions, of course, because you can't deduce a persona; it is (in most people) multi faceted, amorphous and evasive. Then again, I get the feeling that your whole argument is based on a bad induction derived from a simplistic idea of what it really means to be "subjective," as well as a misunderstanding of what I said as being "judgmental." ie. "Music is subjective, ergo, you can't get a sense for a person by virtue of their taste." Sociologically though, this is just bass ackwards. How do you explain the colossal overlaps in taste that occur, or the social and cultural groups that find an anchor in music? How do you explain that the cultural progression in much of the 20th Century is demarcated by its own soundtrack? Secondly, this blatant bulshittery has been touted by all sorts of troglodytes as a means for evading discussion, because their tiny minds and weak mentalities can't fucking fathom having to defend their opinions in public discourse, because of some neanderthal idea that opinions are things, the sanctity of which should not be done the dishonour of questioning. There, you've done it. You've gotten me riled up about something. Back to the idea of an induction; this is particularly important in music, as in people, because I don't believe people are very different. The tiny differentiations in experience aren't so important to irreversibly cause our emotions from being irreconcilable from person to person. In this way, vagueness is also important, once again, because music is incredibly vague in terms of explicit content. It doesn't deal in details; lyrics do add, but are inevitably superfluous, and unimportant in music, because, to paraphrase Schopenhauer, they are like one of many examples superimposed on a universal principle. There is no perfect music to a particular lyric, or vice versa. Music is a universal language, with a few stipulations. Those being that people often close themselves to emotional experiences that they don't feel reflect some internal projection of their personality. And again, what you're doing is misunderstanding me; we don't learn what a person "takes away" from a piece of music; what we learn is, for example, when a person will listen to any form of melodic metal that comes out Gothenburg religiously, but eschews all other forms, that there are some weird mental acrobatics going on simply to justify these preferences, which inevitably leads to the question "Why?" Secondly, its easy to speculate what a person takes from a piece of music based on where that music comes from, the ideals it represents, and the emotions it seems to be trying to evoke, and inevitably, our predispositions and discourse are largely based on speculation. Last of all, I never said anything about disliking people. Except you .

Inevitably though, as with me, while I have always been aware of my own musical preferences adding to my identity package, I have also always been interested in music in itself. Music is just sounds that you learn how to hear, practically anyone can love any type of music so long as they just open themselves to it. Unforunately, music is also the law of diminishing returns, the more you hear particular patterns, the more you 1. begin to become bored of those patterns 2. start to hear those same patterns crop up everywhere. You develop a tolerance to this wonderful, benign aural opiate. Thus begins your quest for more and more esoteric forms of music, something that is never going to translate well to conversation, because your musical development is very much your own culture.. But alas, most people tend to only like music that comes pre-prescribed; they're afraid to venture into the depths because they're unsure about what it will say about them.

I still maintain that the music a person listens to tells you more about that person than practically anything else will over an internet discussion, and as much as music in the abstract can be said to be purely subjective, the fact is, music today is not wholly abstract, but is doused in many varieties of socio-political identity, which is itself worth talking about...and in my case, lambasting various dumbshits for

Yeah, my dad tried to "teach" me as a kid, which really just resulted in him beating my ass without explaining the rules, and then bellowing a Morpheus-esque "Again!" when really, I just wanted to go upstairs and touch myself.

I have to admit; I can't play chess, which is a bit embarrassing.

This is uncanny. Also why in real life I'm very reticent until intoxicated. Or if I know you well, in which case I pretty much won't stop talking at you. I don't know what I'm known for, because the only people I've ever asked are people who are close to me, who will obviously and undoubtedly have a bias and interest in keeping me happy, as the only other state of mind I have been known to possess is that of rage. I guess, out of my friends I'm known/ falsely percieved as being the "smart" one, with a borderline unrelatable/ annoyingly contrarian sense of esotericism. As far as self perception goes; I overburden myself with ambitions that I have not the time nor the talent to fulfil. Everything I've done in my life has been on the back of an unwavering sense of want, that has, for the last year or so, been quickly dimishing. I'm not depressed; I'm just bored, with everything, and the only thing that's propelling me is a sense of duty to the weight of expectation that I owe to other's perception of my capabilities. In all honesty though, its only because I've isolated myself from the people I care about, moved back home, don't have (and don't want) a job, and just finised a degree that has taught me more than anything else, how wrong I often am, and to dwell on this point as much as possible. I feel, at 22 years of age, old. Old to the point that since no talent I may possess has crystallised into something I can use as a cudgel to keep my own sense of disappointment at bay, it will always remain this way. Which is not true, but fuck, when you're trapped alone in a house for two weeks, you tend to be possessed by morbid thoughts. Inevitably, I guess I'm known for things that I don't wish to be known for. Actually, I just wish to be known, not with flattery or reverence, just as an acceptable, normal dude who bears no real grudges. Despite all this, I have quite a positive disposition. I know I'll be fine; I've just got end of an era syndrome. I don't want to leave uni. So much so that I'm considering moving to San Francisco and doing another undergrad. ...where's the fucking valium.

I solve that problem by not having any friends

Ah bro, you know I love you, and I've kinda been in a similar position, so I feel all the more gutted for you, but if you really feel strongly about staying together, you should argue that point with her, until you're blue in the face. That is, unless you feel that you can't really foster an ongoing relationship thats based on just a few months, and maintain it long distance, which is where I think you're coming from on this. Then again, I know you decently, you're a smart and good looking lad, so don't let your hurt come from some idea that you'll not find anyone like her again; you will. As I say; "Love is the state in which man sees things most widely different from what they are..." and more than being based on the individual qualities of the people in the relationship, its more a willingness to love that allows a relationship to thrive. As long as you can allow yourself to move on, you're golden. Jesus, I'm such a fucking pansy recently. Genuinely losing all previously accrued man cred.

Man, it's not even close to being as bad as it was back in the day. I think that in any forum of discussion, people are inevitable going to butt heads, and as long as nobody's ego is mortally wounded it's all fair game, right? To be fair, I think there is a consistent majority among forumers that seem willing to go out of their way to to console or offer advice (misguided though it may be ) to others, rather than to go out of their way to offend. Which is cool, and is kinda what sets this place apart from other forums I've been on. Ah, if only I was the same old Bard from years ago =p. Just can't get riled up about shit anymore.

After the fucking miasma of shit reading that was forced upon me during my degree, I've become a bit averse to fiction for the moment, and as a result I'm reading the fantastic "The Antichrist - A Criticism of Christianity" by Nietzsche. I know the god-hating it something a hangover from my teenage years, but its his facetious, derisive and plainly mocking style that makes it so entertaining to read. That and his mindblowing intellect. Gonna move on to King Lear after (which shamefully, I've never read)

Man, stay away from those Catholic chicks; Jesus is such a cockblocker. Kurtle, you're way too self loathing man. Where does this all come from?

Yeah, so like, er... Fuck you

That's fair m'dear. Sure, but don't tell Dyson

I'm saying that the "conventional" idea of what constitutes attractive has a great deal more influence than some people realise/ let on. Also: That was a perfectly serviceable paragraph

NAIVE. By way of argument, everything is in the eye of the beholder, since everything we know is perceptual. Fortunately for us, as humans, we have this ability to subvert pure subjectivity by the fact that our mental constructs are in huge part collaborative. The more of a social being you are, the more you are aware of these existing rubricks of taste or beauty or any other aspect of subjective perception, and perhaps, the more you are tempted to adhere to them. While the minute differentiations in taste might make everyones idea of attractiveness idiosyncratic to a degree, its the overlaps that make us able to relate. Its the overlaps that we call "culture" and ordain such a high place in society, because its the very thing society is based on. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" is such a thinly stretched figure of speech/ proverb/ whatthefuckeveritis that really doesn't mean much on its own, but unfortunately, people take it as some profound thing and make baldly false assertions based on it.

I think the fact that I was dressed as a snooker player detracted from/ made my drunkenness seem totally appropriate. Yes/No/ It's happened so many times that it's not worth reporting . If you want to know, it was his ex...yeah. Although he told me to/ we're such good friends that I think he was pissed off at her for embarrassing me =p. Yes. I'm cretin. I'm the template from whence all cretins are spawned. Also, Kurtle: You look young, which I'm guessing means your angst derives from regular teenage predispositions. Don't worry, you have a right to be angsty, its a foreshadowing of the gruelling learning experience that female interactions can often be. Seriously, the amount of retroactive cringing I've done because I've been an absolute mong is unreal, but then you realise that nobody does nor will ever care, because they've been there too, so you may as well go out there and fuck some bitches. AMARITE?

The night of that fateful groping incident. So fucking monged, after banging down two quadruple vodkas and a bottle of wine with dinner.

FEEL FREE TO RECIPROCATE ON THAT GPU DAN. Also; I like stuff, and clutter, so I will be hanging on to my shit indefinitely.

Ü are my...Chair? Come to the meet, I found this cool blind spot behind a tree where I can whisper sweet nothings and play with your hair. Don't worry, nobody will find/ approach us, on account of last years many territorial pissings. Beginning of April, its all good though, except for the fact that going out with someone very attractive for a few years tends to raise your expectations . Much love dawg.

...yup.

You don't go to them, they come to you. Chicks smell confidence a mile off, so learn to fake it. If you're going to go and try and talk to a girl, make sure you aren't going to trip over your words or make it awkward. Just be aware of your surroundings, say hello, make a random observation/ joke and watch the conversation fly. Straight into her panties.

I miss London =(.