Xander Harris

[QUOTE=Heaven's Cloud][color=indigo]My favorite hobby is commenting on my favorite hobbies on internet message board threads labeled "Hobbies Anyone", "What Are Your Hobbies", and "n00bs hobies #1 fan". I find it almost as rewarding as finger painting (oh! that is hobby number two). .[/color][/QUOTE] :D That's classic stuff, there. Into the sig with you! And getting paid to read books would be a totally kick butt job. I think I'd make a good editor...

In philosophy class today we dealt with theories of mind and body. There is no theory so bizarre that it has not had dedicated defenders over the years. I am curious to see what theories prevail among anime fans. Note that 'minds' include the soul. Idealism: There is no material world. It's an illusion. There are just minds, and we imagine that there are bodies, but there aren't. Materialism: There are just bodies. Only matter is real. There are no minds. What we consider to be minds are simply brain states that can be quantified by measuring electrical impulses. Interactionism: Mind and body both exist as distinct entities. They have an effect on each other. What happens to the body affects the mind and vice versa. Epiphenomenalism: The body affects the mind, but the mind has no effect on the body. Double Aspect Theory: There are no bodies or minds. They are just different sides of the same substance. Parallelism: It appears that what happens to the mind affects the body and vice versa, but that is not the case. They act independantly of each other, but there [I]seems[/I] to be a causual correlation between the two. Pre-established Harmony: Like parallelism, but what happens to mind and body is determined by God. Therefore, there seems to be a causual correlation between what happens to the mind and what happens to the body because God set them both on parallel courses. Occasionalism: My understanding of Occasionalism is that God controls the mind, and sees to it that the mental life has a close correspondance with what happens to the body. So, which of these theories do various OB members hold? Myself, I think I ascribe more to Interactionism.

I tend to wear khaki (sp?) pants, just cause I find them comfortable. I'm weird that way. Most people I know hate to wear pants like these and prefer jeans. Whatever. Jeans are o.k., I just don't have many. I tend to just wear T-shirts in my day to day life, but I have some dressier shirts I wear when I want to look good for a performance or something.

Well, one of my main hobbies is RPG games. Not the kind on message boards (although those are fun too, when I have the time and energy to do them properly), but the tabletop kind. I enjoy reading a lot about the industry and Gming games. I also enjoy writing about everything under the sun. I like video games of many varieties, although I usually get my butt kicked when it comes to realtime strategy games... I collect and read a lot of comic books, and enjoy good novels and nonfiction books when I have the time, as well as watching movies. I also just enjoy talking about life and theology and philosophy with people and batting around ideas. And singing. Typically in unorthodox venues. And making people laugh.

[QUOTE=Dagger IX1] A debate in which people present and refute arguments is one thing. A debate in which people start delving into their opponent's psychology and attempt to discredit him not by rebutting his evidence, but rather by acting as though his opinion is a direct extension of some deep mental flaw, is an entirely different animal. Am I the only one who keeps seeing the same two or three people hijack thread after thread? I feel certain that most of the members here would rather conduct an intelligent, rational discussion than be right at all costs. So why does this keep happening? ~Dagger~[/QUOTE] This is one of the oldest and most irritating of logical fallacies. People just need to be more vocal about calling each other on ad hominem. Also, I see a ludicrous amount of what is known as 'straw men' constructed and beat to death on these boards. Someone (I'm too lazy to find out who) has in their sig a quote along the lines of "Reread my post and respond to what I actually said, not what you imagine I said" or somesuch. People need to stop reading between the lines and putting words in other people's mouths, and just argue against what was actually said. Cheers, James Bierly EDIT: Lol. The sig I mentioned in the above post belongs to none other than this thread's starter, Lore...

[QUOTE=Dark Serena][size=1][color=royalblue][off-topic]Quick correction, with no argumentive intentions--there was no date at all in The Bible stating Christ's birth, or the commanded celebration of (or anyone elses's for that matter). In fact, he wasn't even born in the winter season.[/off-topic] :p Couldn't resist. ([/color][/size][/QUOTE] I never said that there was, or that he was. Just that our economy depends on a holiday meant to celebrate the event. Edit: Of course, it was origionally meant to celebrate Saturn... either way it's a religious holiday... "Reap what we sow"... too true, DarkSerena, too true. You have the words of wisdom :)

I dunno. I really like the lounge, because it's my speed. There's other message boards out there that I could join, but the posts pile up so fast it's impossible to keep ahead of them, let alone post anything yourself. Other sites have so few members it's impossible for a discussion to progress at a reasonable pace. OB is just right, although I would like to see some more new posters (it seems like lately it's the same 8 people over and over)... which I guess is what this thread is supposed to ascertain how to attract, correct? Also, like Siren said, people need to learn when to give things up and move on. The stupid things people say about relationships thread was fun until it turned into a free for all about wether or not a certain member should have asked another members age :rolleyes: I love political threads as well (heck, I'm seriously considering majoring in poly sci), but there comes a point at which everyone has said their piece, and there is no point in them repeating it, but they do anyway, over and over, wasting energy they could be spending making new threads. That's my 2 cents. Take it for what it's worth.

[QUOTE=wiccansamurai]Heh, I could never tell my mom any of this. It would either break her heart or she wouldn't believe me. She's been sick lately, and her back probably will never stop bothering her. It just doesn't seem like a good idea to dump this on her. I'm actually thinking about going to my school's social worker about it. She helps all my friends with their problems. Siren's kinda right. You can't just hide from it forever.[/QUOTE] Yes. Please. Take it to the social worker. Please. You can't deal with this level of crap by yourself. No human being can. Sorry to hear about your mom. I guess so long as this particular boy is no longer harassing you she doesn't need to know. But if he tries it again, there are other higher powers you can appeal to besides your mother. Please, talk to your social worker. She can give you much better advice than I could. But you really need to talk to someone real, not just people on the internet. It just breaks my heart when I hear about stuff like that. It makes me mad that these harassers are getting away with it. Talk to your social worker asap. I'll pray for you. Hope things get better for you.

[quote name='Morpheus']Yeah, no one says the pledge at my high school anyway. I really don't see why this is an issue. Many religious groups persecuted people of other religions they conquered. you have to say it for the text to be accurate. the text for the foundation of american colonies would say, "_________ Missionaries _______ed natives that _______ed _______ to ________ because they thought believing in __________ and ________ was evil."[/quote] Lol. Therein lies my frustration. You simply can't understand history without mentioning one of history's primary shaping forces.

[QUOTE=wiccansamurai]Heh, I guess I'll share the worst thing that's ever happened to me. When I was ten, I had a crush on a 13 year old. He was a family friend, still is, actually. Now, remember, I was ten. And all I remember are three of the incidents. There were more, but I can't remember them, no matter how hard I try. One time he kissed. The other time, he came into my room and undressed me. The third time, he took off my (EDIT: MY shirt, not his. Damn typos.) shirt, and his mouth was everywhere. I don't remember how it led to that, or where we were, what happened before or after. I just remember my confusion and sadness and anger. I had [I]looked up[/I] to this boy, he had been around since I was little. And none of that meant a thing I was ten, and had nothing a teen or grown girl had, and I didn't even understand anything about what he was doing. I told him to stop, and he just told me it was ok. That what he was doing was nothing bad. Stuff like this, the stuff I can't remember, went on for two years. When I was twelve, he stopped. I began to hate guys, well, I was more afraid of them than anything. I cut off all my hair and made sure a guy wouldn't look at me that way again. I spent three years hiding like that. Over eating, never caring about the way I looked. I'm a bit better now. Freshman year in high school I let my hair grow out and I've been taking better care of my body. But practically as soon as I did that, two of my guy friends started to sexually harrass me. I went back to my old ways for a little while, bu I was really lonely like that. Even today, I can't stand to be in my room without my door being locked, and I can't stand silence. I seriously have to blast my stereo all night, being able to hear the creaks in the night just freaks me out for some reason. I still get really scared around guys, even my boyfriend, though I hide it best I can. So, that's my story. I hate seeing him around my house, but he works here, and my mom treats him like a son.[/QUOTE] That's one of the sickest things I've ever heard. Doesn't your mom know about what he did? Why don't you tell her? You know, we have laws against that kind of **** in this country. I say grow your hair out, and if those *******s at school harass you again, you press charges. There is no reason why anyone should have to put up with **** like that. And get therapy, if you need help to get through the pain resulting from this. No one has to deal with this kind of stuff alone. Call one of the sexual abuse hotlines. Blech. Y'know, back in the day there was a death penalty for sexual harassment and rape. It's stories like this that make me think it should still be around...

Did you see the news out of California today? A Christian history teacher had several of his teaching materials seized by the principle. Why? They contained references to religion. Among the banned items? The Declaration of Independance (!!!!!!!) and George Washington's diaries. Said one of the parents who supports the principle: "Well, my understanding is that he was trying to give them stuff that contained religion" So? I don't get it. Whether you're Christian, Muslim, Athiest or satanist, you can't deny that 70%-100% of history is about religion. How can you possibly teach history at all if all religion is prohibited? It seems somewhat impossible to me. This isn't an attack on Christianity, as some would make it out to be. It's simply an attack on intelligence and reason feuled by an idiotic ideology. The follow up story was about penguins performing in Japan for Christmas. (pretty cute penguins, too.. I laughed. But I digress) Yep. Ban any referance to dieties in our schools, but our entire western civillization's economy is based around a holiday celebrating Christ's birth. Idiocy. How can you teach history, let alone current events without referencing religion? We're at WAR with a militant branch of a religion (Disclaimer: Yes, Islam is a religion of peace yadda yadda... obviously I'm not talking about mainstream Islam. However, the terrorists are strongly religiously motivated by their twisted interpretation of the Koran. End Disclaimer.) You might as well just ban references to Newton's laws and then expect someone to teach a physics class as expect someone to teach a History class with no religious references. The principle should do the human gene pool a favor and go jump off a cliff. ;)

Oh yeah! The Darkness! Love those guys! "I believe in a thing called love.... WHOOOO OOOO OOOO!!! GUITAR!!!!" That's what I'm talking about. And I love how that one guy can go from singing normal to singing really high instantly. Plus, any group that includes giant teddy bears in their videos gets props from me. The Darkness rocks my world.

Wow, that is a tough situation. You have my sympathies. :( As hard as it may be, I think you have an obligation to society to press charges, especially if he is making a habit out of doing things like that. Identity theft is a huge issue in our nation right now. People are having their lives destroyed. For the good of society, stuff like this needs to be acted against hard. I actually think that the loving thing to do for your brother is to see to it that he faces the consequences of his actions. If you let it go, eventually he may do it to someone else and take a lot more than $300. He would than be in far worse trouble than he will be if he is prosecuted at this point. Tough love may be all that stands between him and a life in prison. Stop him at the top of the waterfall, before he crashes to his doom. Hope that helps.

I'll reply to the first part of the message. I don't mind card games and crap for lots of different Anime series. People must be buying it, or else they wouldn't make it. What I don't like is when an entire series is structured around selling cards. That's just boardering on absurdity.

someone PMed me about playing the scorpian, but they haven't posted the sign-up yet...

You can make requests over in the art forums.

I think it's really cool. It has form, but it's kind of dark and edgy and slightly surreal. I would maybe shift the light source a tad bit to the right, but that's just me.

Idiotic things people say: "X and Y would make SUCH A CUTE COUPLE!!!" often said by happily dating drippy females. It's even more annoying when you are the X they are talking about. Whether you like the girl they think would be so 'cute' for you or not.

OOC: Great idea for an RPG. First one I've felt like signing up for in months. This may be a lighthearted RPG, but the central themes embody some of the central plight of the human condition. There's something better out there, something greater than the fallen world we live in. All creation waits for it, even the animals. Interesting little fairy tale. Great character driven stuff. I'm totally in. Also, have you realized the similarities between this and The Wizard Of Oz? I'll talk a little more about this once you start the Underground thread... Name: Roberto Nachios Age: 19 Region of Origin: Mexico City Background: In his youth, Roberto wanted to be a great artist, like Diego Rivera. He spent many days in the capital building, studying the mosaic paintings on the walls. His mother, a devout catholic widow, encouraged him in this persuit, working long hours as a street vendor to pay for his tuition to art school. On the day Roberto turned 13, his mother died. Two days later, he stood weeping over her casket, as the priest read from the Bible and she was lowered into the ground. Furious with God and the world, Roberto joined a local drug-selling gang. He prowled the crowded streets of Mexico City with a rowdy gang of toughs at night, partying hard, selling crack, and beating the **** out of anyone who didn't pay up to the drug lords. Then, one day, as he awoke in his sparse little apartment with a hangover, he had an experience that would change his life forever. A small scorpian had made it's way into his room, and sat perched over his feet. Roberto felt fear clench his chest. The scorpian raised it's stinger... Then Roberto thought he heard it speak. At first he thought it was just a risidual effect from the 6 tequilas he had the night before, but it seemed so real... [I]May it be the shadow's call Will fly away May it be your journey on To light the day When the night is overcome You may rise to find the sun[/I] The scorpian turned, then, and left. Roberto fell to his knees and offered thanks to God and the saints for sparing his life. That day, he sent word to the drug lords that he would no longer work for them. Then, knowing he would soon be killed if he stayed in the city, Roberto gathered up all his worldy possessions and a fistful of money. He headed out onto the road. Along the way he passed a poor old begger women. Just then a pidgeon landed on his shoulder, and pecked at the bag where he kept the extortion money he had gotten for his work as an enforcer. [I]May it be an evening star Shines down upon you May it be when darkness falls Your heart will be true You walk a lonely road Oh! How far you are from home[/I] Again, an animal was speaking to him! Roberto felt guilty that he had so much money he had gained through sin, while this poor women had nothing. He drew the money from the bag, and the pidgeon snatched it up, and flew it over to the old women. Once outside the city, Roberto hitchiked away. Reaching into his bag to eat his last candy bar, he was shocked to draw out the scorpian from his apartment! They had long talks on the road together. The scorpian, who Roberto named Diego after the famous painter, explained to Roberto that it had sensed he was a unique individual, an individual suited to aid it upon it's quest. A quest to find a marvelous place known as Sanctuary. Roberto agreed to accompany it, and his adventures began...

I should so get some mistletoe for the entryway to my dorm room. It would at least get a laugh.

[quote name='DarkSesshoumaru][COLOR=Navy][SIZE=1]I eat fast food constantly. I mean, it's not like I skip out on meals my mom makes, I eat that stuff too. I work in a mall so the food court is always appealing. The alluring scents from Wendy's are all but easy to turn away from. I think Wednesday evening I had a triple quarter pounder with cheese, biggie fries, biggie drink, and 4 jr. cheeseburger deluxes. It was super yummy. Then I went home (because this was after work) and ate the spaghetti my mom made. I only had like 3 bowls vs. my usual more than 3. Anyway, back to the point, I eat fast food alot. I try balancing it out by eating a chicken caesar salad twice a week. I buy one of those big backs of Caesar salad mix and a thing of Perdue pre-cooked chicken pieces, throw it all together and eat it covered in Caesar dressing. I think the Caesar dressing takes away from the healthiness. You're probably thinking "OMG, it's Jabba the Hutt," but I'm not big at all. I usually run in the mornings, well not in winter because I like my body to not freeze, but I do situps/crunches and push ups fairly often. I'm not captain tall either. I'm about 5'8" and weigh a healthy 130ish pounds. I love my high metabolism. :devil: [/SIZE'] [/COLOR][/quote] Yeah, I know some people like you. They just eat and eat and eat even more than I do, but remain rail thin. I actually am trying to start running again. but like you say, it's C-c-c-c-COLD out lately!

[QUOTE=DeathBug] What idea keeps coming up in the film, echoed by Syndrome and Dash? The idea of some people being "special". Dash says it himself: if everyone's special, isn't that just another way of saying that no one's special? In modern society, we constantly tell our children that they're all special, and can do anything when reality tells us otherwise. Incredi-Boy's insistance that he could be a super-hero was the logical regergitation and perversion of that philosiphy: I can be anything I want; why can't I be a super hero? [/QUOTE] Heh. Yeah, after we came out of the theatre I said to my dad "y'know, that movie had a surprisingly strong conservative ideology behind it" Take that as good or bad as you will. The movie leaves you with some stuff to think about on the equality of people.

[QUOTE=Chabichou][COLOR=#004a6f] I would also like to point out that it's importanat to realize how important and sensitive this issue is to Jews and Muslims. Christians too, but I haven't seen much argument in a Christian point of view. [/COLOR][/QUOTE] Well, I'll give my opinion again in a religious context (I'm a Christian). I don't think that who owns the territory has any bearing whatsoever on our religion. Some people act like it does, and certain Christians want to have posession over various holy sites (hence the debacle of the Crusades). But Christianity does not depend on a piece of land. The Bible says that the body of Christ (all believers) is the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is worldwide, not isolated in Jerusalem. Wherever people pray in Jesus name and show God's love to their neighbors, that is where the Kingdom of God is. Therefore, I think we have no biblical obligation whatsoever to support Israel over Palestine. We do have a Biblical injunction to show justice and love mercy. That commmand should be what guides Christian policy makers in regards to the middle-east. We are also called to show love to and make disciples of both Jews and Muslims. We shouldn't favor one over the other based on our religion. There's my two cents from a Christian perspective.

I don't tend to eat too much fast food... too expensive. Perhaps my eating choices at the caf could be a little more healthy... a little less ice cream a little more brocolli ;) But overall I think I eat fairly healthily.

[QUOTE=Lady_Rin] Why the hate? There's no reason for it. I am a pacifist by nature, Ranger is by choice, yet there are times when I think his is the right answer. Wipe both countries, Isreal and Palestine off the face of the earth. Destroy it all, go ahead because all that has come from this thread which started innocently enough is the hate, fear and distrust I see on the news. Fight your war, kill each other, destroy both sides. Nobody is going to care about any of you and the world will breathe a sigh of relief when all of you are gone.[/QUOTE] I like my North Dakota solution better. Less bloodshed. ;)