4th Quarter :-)
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This time of year fills me with a feeling of joy ~ mostly brought on by memories of Holidays past, those yet to come, and the consideration of events that create a sense of thankfulness.
For me, the first holiday that kicks off my trilogy of year-end fun is nearly here: Thanksgiving!! This year my parents are driving in from Iowa to join Tracy and I for a gut-busting feast! (I am actually cooking!!!) Our grocery trip will be sometime today and we plan on buying a turkey breast and a ham to smoke~along with stuffing, taters, and several casseroles! Although we will not be saying grace over our tryptophan-laden meal, I do require that those that attend our meal discuss at least one thing they are thankful for:
I am thankful for the support my husband has given me over the past 18 months. I quit my full-time job to pursue a college education and in doing so, have placed us in a financial crunch. His support has been nothing short of amazing and without it, I may have gone insane while working 2 part-time jobs and attending class.
Now to all of you that will celebrate Thanksgiving next week OR those that do not (and yes, I realize not everyone on the forum does) ~ ~ what do you have to be thankful for?
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Naturally I don't celebrate thanksgiving.... But all the same I am thankful I will never ever ever be forced to eat turkey and listen the grand parents talk about the good old days when men were men and when war was fantastic.....
on a more serious note, my brother was in a car accident recently, thankful he is fine... not that we have spoken in a year or anything
Im thankful that the father is still trying to get to know me after being pretty much absent for most of my life... not that I pay any attention to him...
come to think of it really should start paying more attention to my family...
Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
No animal shall wear clothes.
No animal shall sleep in a bed.
No animal shall drink alcohol.
No animal shall kill any other animal.
All animals are equal.
This is obviously a hot button issue for atheists for several reasons. One of them is that many of us see Thanksgiving as an event that reminds us of transgressions committed by white men against Native Americans several hundred years ago. Another reason is that some of us insist on asking: Is someone assuming I am giving this thanks to a god? Or... who am I supposed to thank?
Dictionary.com defines thankful as:
1.Aware and appreciative of a benefit; grateful
2. Expressive of gratitude: a thankful smile.
With that context I hope we can use this thread to talk about the things we appreciate and the things we are happy to have in life. These are the things we are thankful for, and I'm having a hard time coming up with an example of something in which we are not personally responsible for ourselves. Most of us here are aware of that. While Renee is thankful to have her husband, he was not a gift from god, he was the result of her choosing a mate wisely. She set herself up to be able to be thankful for him. He's responsible for treating her well, and she's thankful for that... and at it's core thankful she had the sense to pick him. So without further adieu...
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I read a story today about a woman who shot herself in the face when the police came to evict her from her house that the bank foreclosed on. I'm sorry, I mean her house on which the bank foreclosed. Sorry everyone! Oh, by the while happy turkey day.
There are twists of time and space, of vision and reality, which only a dreamer can divine
H.P. Lovecraft
Yep! And I almost placed a disclaimer asking that we not get off topic and onto discussions regarding those transgressions - not that they aren't important - but I wanted to focus on those things we are thankful for (and you make a good point regarding WHO we are thankful to)
I take credit for almost everything that happens to me~good and bad!!
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My mom's retirement home is having it's Thanksgiving on Tuesday, and I have to work on Thursday in any case. So I will spend the day Tuesday with my mom, and BITE my tounge when the hosts bring up the religious stuff. But it is worth it because it makes my mother happy.
The only thing that bothers me on Thanksgiving is that they always have the Lions and Cowboys play. I get tired of those two teams every year.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
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I would change this too. The cowboys are my hubby's favorite team...I have to listen to him scream and yell every Thanksgiving as he watches the game!
Hope you enjoy the time with your mom, Brian
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1) I'm thankful for no longer feeling complacent. I, for reasons I am unaware, have stopped being content to just sit around and let life pass me by as easily as the past. I am trying to look at evertying closely and really think about things as they are.
2) Also thankful for my family. I know its an old cliche but I wouldn't change my crazy, semifunctional family for anything.
Also brian-- I would love for the NFL to switch up who plays on thanksgiving as well. The only reason I don't mind the cowboys playing is because it at least gives me a vesting interest in the game (I'm a giants fan so it's always fun to hate the cowboys). But definitely, a switch is long overdue.
I am thankful for:
- having the most amazing boyfriend ever.
- good doctors.
- having a job I enjoy.
I Celebrate Thanksgiving. I don't have any problem stripping religion out of it, and I never miss an excuse to eat.
I am thankful for a healthy and happy family. I am thankful that both myself and my wife have solid, enjoyable careers when so many don't. I am thankful that I picked up a tub of hummus the last time I was at Costco...I had never had it before, and now I am in love!
Everything makes more sense now that I've stopped believing.
EAT.
Happy consumption day!
I'm thankful I already celebrated it in October.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
So i opened up this topic, and low&behold what i saw on the ad banner...
I'm stuck between rofl and wtf...
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
http://www.jonessoda.com/files/tofurky_2009.php
Hahaha!
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Well, I am thankful for cheap crap on ebay.
Really, I have nearly a full recording studio in my living room. Most of it came from ebay.
My local music store will buy stuff from me at around 20~30% of retail and they sell used stuff at 78~80% of the same price. I am happy for them and I do buy stuff once in a while. However, big ticket items have to come from ebay because I cab get them for about 59% of retail.
=
Any excuse to get a day off, spend time with family, drink alcohol, and eat good food is a good excuse.
Our revels now are ended. These our actors, | As I foretold you, were all spirits, and | Are melted into air, into thin air; | And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, | The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, | The solemn temples, the great globe itself, - Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, | And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, | Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff | As dreams are made on, and our little life | Is rounded with a sleep. - Shakespeare
Obviously we don't celebrate Thanksgiving, but I am thankful for finally getting what seems to be a really good job, and for everyone out there who doesn't believe in gods and makes the world a little more tolerable.
Psalm 14:1 "the fool hath said in his heart there is a God"-From a 1763 misprinted edition of the bible
Argument from Sadism: Theist presents argument in a wall of text with no punctuation and wrong spelling. Atheist cannot read and is forced to concede.
I view the holiday as a traditional family gathering; I view thanksgiving as an american tradition not a religious celebration.
Grace is made before eating begins, they bow their heads; I do not. Everyone knows I'm an atheist and knows I do not bow my head. They can see that by peripheral vision. I think some of them are afraid to physically raise their eyes during prayer perhaps because it would make god angry. lol
It takes a bit of self restraint to keep from laughing during 'prayer' which results in a smile instead.
People who think there is something they refer to as god don't ask enough questions.
I also see the holiday as a family gathering which this year is different for me. I'll be in Denver with my daughter who recently had a baby. My son will also be there. Unfortunately so will my ex-wife, but I can ignore her.
Apparently, I gave both my children the chance to think for themselves even though they were raised Catholic. My son is an atheist and my daughter considers belief to be foolish. She is a DNA specialist and is extremely critical of unscientific thinking. My ex-wife is about the only believer around, though my son-in-law was also raised as Evangelical, but he seems to have backed off. If his parents are there they too are believers.
It is unlikely any grace will be said.
In Florida I usually would go to my ex-business partner's house or her family. They are believers but never bothered with grace.
I'm thankful that Bush is no longer President.
I'm thankful I have a healthy grand-daughter who will likely be raised in reason and rational thinking.
And as Answers in Gene Simmons points out, I'm thankful that people buy cheap crap on Ebay because sometimes it comprises half my income.
____________________________________________________________
"I guess it's time to ask if you live under high voltage power transmission lines which have been shown to cause stimulation of the fantasy centers of the brain due to electromagnetic waves?" - Me
"God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, - it says so right here on the label. If you have a mind capable of believing all three of these divine attributes simultaneously, I have a wonderful bargain for you. No checks please. Cash and in small bills." - Robert A Heinlein.
Okay,
Call me a glutton for punishment, but I was too curious and ordered the Tofurkey soda.
Fuck God... he had nothing to do with it.
Happy Turkey Day!
Well, considering that I am out processing from my job, pretty much lost my wife, am without my family, with no car no dog and in a place that I've never been before so I'm lost and don't know anybody, this day can fuck itself.
I hope it goes well for the rest of you though.
Hey Big E, you always have us.
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Been there, done that had Taco Bell for Thanksgiving one year, TV dinners another.
As one of my ex's say, it's just another day. Cheer up,
____________________________________________________________
"I guess it's time to ask if you live under high voltage power transmission lines which have been shown to cause stimulation of the fantasy centers of the brain due to electromagnetic waves?" - Me
"God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, - it says so right here on the label. If you have a mind capable of believing all three of these divine attributes simultaneously, I have a wonderful bargain for you. No checks please. Cash and in small bills." - Robert A Heinlein.
That sucks man.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
I am so lucky to have few atheist relatives who are not hung up about celebrating a pagan holiday. I don't know what I'd do without them, since the other relatives are all obsessed with religion, so much so that they cannot even bring themselves to celebrate any holidays - even Thanksgiving. Holidays (and life) would kinda' stink without the small part of my family who still haven't disowned me over religious differences.
I am grateful for the wonderful dinner someone else cooked. (I just chopped the celery).
I am so fortunate to have the family support so that I can go back to school and finish my degree, and not have to worry about where to go between semesters; to have sweet kids who came to visit us for our dinner; to have simple and precious memories and moments that I can cherish when the days are too long, tedious, or lonely; to know there is someone "back there" who loves and cares about me, and for whom I will also be available when the need arises.
I am grateful that I got to dance tonight with people who think I'm still young.
I am grateful that my education is paid for, and that I have a lot of great teachers and that my peers are so easy to get along with.
I am also sad that there are many, many people who won't sleep in a bed tonight, who are cold and hungry; people whose mental and emotional illnesses keep them isolated and stigmatized; people who have no hope. I am grateful that I can perhaps make a difference in someone else's life by not giving up on myself; and I am grateful that others have not given up on me. I am grateful for love and hope, for knowing that everything that we do as human beings matters - that everything I do matters.
I've never considered Thanksgiving to be a religious holiday. More of a wannabe anti-religious celebration.
Think about it. The story we are told is that colonists (pilgrims) came here to escape religious persecution because their beliefs differed from that of the English government. Something I feel I can identify with.
I like to fantasize that seated at the table in the story were a few people who actually felt like they could live side by side with the native americans in peace and cooperation before capitalism stepped in and flooded the country with white devils.
History doesn't give us much room to preserve those happy-ass thoughts. Does it?
So in honor and thansgiving of this most wannabe secular day, I offer my thanks to myself for keeping food on the table, bills paid, and a relatively happy life without relying on any religious assistance.
Dinner Wednesday was sloppy joes and Doritos.
Today(T-day) was every stereotypical american turkey day item including cranberry sauce and apple pie (yuck).
Tomorrow will be every thing left over whether they like it or not. lol. I saved some Doritos in the freezer just for me.
As soon as I get out of work tonight, I'm sleeping. Mountain Dew and Excedrin aren't even keeping me awake. It's sheer willpower right now. Must... Fight.... Power.... of... Turkey...
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Man, erebody knows basement's are where you put the studio...
I'm the illicit citizen, ILLICITIZEN as it were.
http://illicitizen.com
OK. Gotta know.
What's the stains on the carpet under the chair?
Also, the angle of the sunlight doesn't look like a basement shadow.
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Likely it is spilled stout. Well it is underground on the front of the house. It is above ground on the back of the house. The thing under the blanket is Mrs Illicitizen.
I'm the illicit citizen, ILLICITIZEN as it were.
http://illicitizen.com
lol.
Have the giant speakers been used as an alarm clock yet?
Atheist Books, purchases on Amazon support the Rational Response Squad server, which houses Celebrity Atheists.
That gag would not be worth the collateral damage.
Okay,
So I got my order of tofurkey soda, and... erm... it was absolutely disgusting. I mean, not in an "ewww... it's a turkey soda kinda way," but more like a "dear Darwin what is this weak ass shit?!" I mean SERIOUSLY... if you're going to make a turkey flavored soda, I want a turkey dinner explosion in my mouth (Well... that sounded a bit dirtier than I meant). I'm assuming the weak ass flavor was due to the Tofurkey influence... which ensures that I will never try a tofurkey.
On a lighter note, the sugar free sodas they sent with the abomination (which helped wash out the flavor of Tofurkey from the palatte) were actually quite good. I think the Tofurkey old school lunchbox was more than enough to compensate for the unpleasent experience that is Tofurky soda.
Lol. Serves you right for ordering one.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
congrats on going back to school!
this is a bit late, i know, but i'm just curious, why did you say grace? is your husband a theist or was it out of courtesy to the old folks?
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
Iwbiek :
Regarding school, thanks!! I am enjoying it...more than I thought
As for grace, you misread my post ~ I wrote that 'although we will not be saying grace...'
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so i did. my bad.
damn, and here i was all intrigued!
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
NP
It is a curious thing though ~ I wonder to if there are atheists out there that bow their heads at grace just to keep the peace...
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Well, I live in a condo. So no basement. Even so:
=
:::sigh:::
Can't argue with that... curiousity, always gets me!
yeeees, my darling...when one has a religious spouse, one does it aaaall the time...
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
a five-string base??? you're not one of those bass-players that tries to play like a lead-guitarist and won't just keep the fuckin' time, are you?
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
Hehehe... I play a six-string bass.
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i was being a bit snarky. actually my favorite bass player plays with the welsh group ffynnon. he plays a six-string fretless. ffynnon plays a mixture of traditional celtic songs and light jazz fusion. they sing mostly in welsh but also in english, breton, and various english dialects like northumbrish, and they consist of two female vocalists, keyboard, and bass. in this context, the six-string works perfectly. if you really want to learn something about bass, i'd suggest checking out ffynnon.
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
I will. I love watching people play 12 string basses.... SO ridiculous lol
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i've never seen that, actually. six-string is the maximum i will consider taking seriously.
also i should mention that leonard cohen's longtime bass-player and musical director roscoe beck plays a five-string and he's excellent. he's made instructional videos specifically for the five-string.
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
Obviously a twelve string won't fit in a band setting unless it's a lead instrument, but it is usually dominated by two-handing tapping, and is certainly entertaining.
Jean Baudin is well known (in the bass community) for playing 11 and 12 string basses.
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That sounded pretty good for bass. > >
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
Are you insinuating that bass can't sound good on lead?
haha
This is probably my favorite solo bass performance:
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Lol, nah, I just listened to that tune millions of times (own the game), and wouldn't have figured a bass could do that good a job on a tune made with multiple instruments. But then I'd never seen one like that either.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.