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snortpocket posted:Stay away from books with too many words. Do you have any that tell a story by putting a series of drawings in little squares? Why yes 
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Oct 25, 2013 19:51
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Benny the Snake posted:Well it's more like I feel that my current one isn't addressing my needs. Meanwhile I'm going to do some reading. Any book recommendations? Right now I'm reading Gibson but next I'm thinking Steinbeck. I haven't read any of his works. You remind me of a friend of mine. She has little or no critical thinking skills, is constantly making bad decisions and obviously trying to cover for it by name-dropping and reading books that she knows other smart people read. Benny, you aren't being smart - you're ACTING smart. It's the difference between actually having a coherent thought process and just aping what you've seen other smart people doing. HOWEVER, your initiative to get your meds evaulated again and changed is one of those decisions which will put you on a path to making better choices. I applaud that, but seriously stop throwing around authors' names like anyone gives a poo poo what you read.
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Oct 25, 2013 21:58
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What happened with the other job where you were canvasing neighborhoods again?
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Oct 25, 2013 23:39
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Ms. Happiness posted:What happened with the other job where you were canvasing neighborhoods again? I'm pretty sure based on what he said that was a temp job at best and had no real hopes of ever being something that would lead to a full time and/or stable position. But hey, a short-term job that pays is still a job that pays, right? Money is money. I'm still rootin' for you Benny. Get some Bukowski. His worldview might make you perk up a little bit.
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Oct 26, 2013 00:31
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natetimm posted:You remind me of a friend of mine. She has little or no critical thinking skills, is constantly making bad decisions and obviously trying to cover for it by name-dropping and reading books that she knows other smart people read. Benny, you aren't being smart - you're ACTING smart. It's the difference between actually having a coherent thought process and just aping what you've seen other smart people doing. Uh there's nothing wrong with asking for recommendations for books, and someone really into "acting" smart would pretend he'd already read those authors anyway. Benny, I'd make recommendations based on what you like already. If you're getting a kick out of Gibson, there's other good sci fi out there. I really enjoyed Heinlein but you have to spend some time contextualizing the world he was writing in to really appreciate some of his weirdness. Asimov is my personal favorite and I love the Foundation Trilogy (which is a fun read that is a pillar of modern scifi), and The Caves of Steel. Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C Clarke is another one that really struck me even though I went in pretty skeptical. A lot of people suggest A Canticle for Leibovitz as a good next step from Neuromancer, which is what I assume you're reading. For Steinbeck I admit I haven't read it all but I fell for Travels With Charley in Search of America, which is short and nonfiction. While it elucidates a lot of his views I wouldn't consider it all that representative of his body of work. If you haven't read Ender's Game yet you should probably do that before the movie comes out. Also read Ender's Shadow which I hear has a lot of plot in the movie. There's a lot of great books out there! If you tell us more about what you like to read I bet lots of goons can tailor good recommendations to you.
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Oct 26, 2013 01:05
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natetimm posted:You remind me of a friend of mine. She has little or no critical thinking skills, is constantly making bad decisions and obviously trying to cover for it by name-dropping and reading books that she knows other smart people read. Benny, you aren't being smart - you're ACTING smart. It's the difference between actually having a coherent thought process and just aping what you've seen other smart people doing. Oh and thanks for the Heinlein recommendation InEscape. I actually read Starship Troopers back in high school for a project. Is his other stuff politics heavy?
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Oct 26, 2013 02:00
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Nobody thinks you're pretentious, don't worry. You're just a guy who hasn't read a lick of John Steinbeck.
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Oct 26, 2013 02:06
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Benny the Snake posted:
Fascinatingly, definitely yes they are but not really the SAME politics. I'm really reticent to tell you too much about Stranger in a Strange Land because I went into it blind and it was really fun that way but it has some extremely leftist politics. On the other end of the spectrum (sort of), The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is generally considered a libertarian novel. Heinlein's always really political but not always consistently. Also read hitchhikers guide if you haven't yet. Since you're a writer and an English major, you'll really appreciate the wordplay.
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Oct 26, 2013 02:58
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lexan posted:Ulillillia got a job today, you can too! Is there a Ulillillia thread here? I miss his website 
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Oct 26, 2013 03:49
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Seven Hundred Bee posted:Is there a Ulillillia thread here? I miss his website Yeah, in Games: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3426257 He's friended a bunch of goons on Facebook recently, so it's a whole new world.
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Oct 26, 2013 04:13
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Benny the Snake posted:I've written essay after essay... Ahahahahahaha
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Oct 26, 2013 06:00
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Benny the Snake posted:I won't have someone tell me that I'm being a pretentious tool or that I don't have a coherent thought process. Yes you will, but it's ok, because you'll forget all about it when the new Spiderman comes out.
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Oct 26, 2013 11:00
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Benny, I binge read your entire thread from the beginning. Your story reminds me a lot of what I was like when my depression was at it's worst. I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do and who I wanted to be, but I was absolutely terrible at going about it. I just kind of floated around and put in a minimum effort to look functional to outsiders. It's great that you're asking for book recommendations, but I see that and all I can think of is how I would ask similar questions so I could pretend that I was still a person with interests. Are you really going to read those books, or are you going to sleep and dick around on the internet all day? It's okay if it's the latter, depression really fucks you up. You need to sit down and think about what you want. Not necessarily what would make you happy, but what would make you proud of yourself. I thought I wanted to be an art teacher; everyone told me I was good at art, so I should do something with art. But it wasn't until college that I realized I actually sucked. Yeah, compared to everyone in my small town, I was great. But compared to the big leagues? I'm mediocre at best. That's okay, I still like to paint. I just know that I can't make a career out of it. Similarly, just because you like to write, doesn't mean that's what you need to be doing as a profession. I wish somebody had told you that before you went through school. Whenever someone has asked you about your career goals, you've been vague and noncommittal. Clerical positions, maybe eventually a big time published author. But is that what would really make you happy? There are so many careers out there that you could do. Take time off of the job hunting, and really hunt for a regular therapist. It sounds, to me, like you need to be seeing somebody once a week at least. Maybe even an outpatient program. A diagnosis is really only the first step at getting better. Finding the right medication and therapy combo is going to be really hard and discouraging. But it will happen if you give it time.
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Oct 26, 2013 16:06
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InEscape posted:Fascinatingly, definitely yes they are but not really the SAME politics. I'm really reticent to tell you too much about Stranger in a Strange Land because I went into it blind and it was really fun that way but it has some extremely leftist politics. On the other end of the spectrum (sort of), The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is generally considered a libertarian novel. Heinlein's always really political but not always consistently. My main issue with Heinlein is always the weird sex stuff.
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Oct 26, 2013 16:21
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Benny the Snake posted:This is who I am and I won't have anyone tell me otherwise. I'm pretty sure most people that post in this thread know that. That's why they keep teasing you.
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Oct 26, 2013 23:34
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I'm not sure if this has been recommended or not as I've only read Benny's posts, but why don't you do freelancing online? I mostly work on oDesk even though it's the shittiest one (I discovered it before the others) and make fairly decent money off it ($18/hour). There are other ones like elance or freelancer and I'm sure many more. With the amount of effort you've put into job hunting in real life, I really believe you can build a great profile and create a great impression in the online freelancing world. Good luck!
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Oct 27, 2013 01:00
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Asterie posted:I'm not sure if this has been recommended or not as I've only read Benny's posts, but why don't you do freelancing online? I mostly work on oDesk even though it's the shittiest one (I discovered it before the others) and make fairly decent money off it ($18/hour). There are other ones like elance or freelancer and I'm sure many more. This has been suggested many times. Benny has not had much success with it.
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Oct 27, 2013 01:27
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Asterie posted:I'm not sure if this has been recommended or not as I've only read Benny's posts, but why don't you do freelancing online? I mostly work on oDesk even though it's the shittiest one (I discovered it before the others) and make fairly decent money off it ($18/hour). There are other ones like elance or freelancer and I'm sure many more. You've read the posts, this was never about improving his life or being a functioning adult. Mom got mad and he needed goons to take his side.
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Oct 27, 2013 06:05
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I think that's unfair. He's been stubborn as holy gently caress about certain things but he has taken some brave steps toward other goals.
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Oct 27, 2013 19:23
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Go back and read the beginning of the thread, it wasn't the OP's idea to move out or get a job or do anything like that, he was essentially pressured into these things by feeling responsible to the thread. The fact that people occasionally hound the OP for updates shows that this isn't really a 2 way dance. Benny vented about a fight his family had and then it spawned into some life improvement thing. The original subject matter was never, "my life has stalled help me get it back on track", that's just what the thread became after everyone learned through multiple posts that OP was 24, unemployed, still living at home. I'm not being unfair to anyone, the way the thread petered out in the last few months with no resolution shows that this was never intended to be any kind of ongoing self-improvement.
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Oct 27, 2013 21:53
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Oh, sure, I see what you're saying. But he did respond to certain advice, like "get a job" and "work on your writing" and "make sure you're actually healthy". Even if it was incidental to the purpose of this thread, I feel like he's grown. I think his writing is a little clearer and more direct. And yes, he has tried to abandon this thread. Fair enough. I guess I have a soft spot for this dude. Please don't make me go back and read all the weird junk at the beginning about "The Nuclear Option" and his mom's terrible relationship with his brother.
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Oct 27, 2013 21:56
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Benny the Snake posted:Applying to jobs like mad. Good news is I'm no longer paranoid: bad news is I'm lethargic. I sleep in 'till 11 now and there are days where I'll nap for five hours straight. I'm going to see a new psychiatrist and talk to him about the lethargy. I swear it must be the meds. 11:00am - Wake up 12:00 - 1:00 - Lunch 1:00 - 6:00 - 5 Hour Nap 6:00 - 800 - Dinner, Comics When exactly are you applying to jobs like mad?
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Oct 27, 2013 22:43
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Arch Stanton posted:11:00am - Wake up I'll have you know, Benny the Snake is currently involved in high level negotiations. Benny the Snake posted:Still looking for a Pochyenna and a Shinx. PM me for my friendcode. Benny the Snake posted:So anybody have a Pochyena? I have an Evee for trade.
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Oct 28, 2013 01:33
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I hear that Pokemans is some serious business.
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Oct 28, 2013 07:27
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Adults play pokemon?
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Oct 28, 2013 16:57
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natetimm posted:Adults play pokemon? Non-minors play Pokemon. I don't think anyone is calling Benny an adult here.
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Oct 28, 2013 17:01
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I think the real question here is what John Steinbeck's favorite Pokemon would be.
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Oct 28, 2013 17:40
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Christ people, Benny's done plenty of dumb things but thinking about reading a book is not one of them. No need to rag on the guy for writing the words "John Steinbeck".
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Oct 28, 2013 18:24
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BKPR posted:Christ people, Benny's done plenty of dumb things but thinking about reading a book is not one of them. No need to rag on the guy for writing the words "John Steinbeck". You know when you don't wanna do classwork, so you get the teacher to go off on a rant about something? "Hey goons, what's your favorite book? Any recommendations?" is a touch less transparent than "What's so sexist about the friendzone?"
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Oct 28, 2013 18:48
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BKPR posted:Christ people, Benny's done plenty of dumb things but thinking about reading a book is not one of them. No need to rag on the guy for writing the words "John Steinbeck". Why would a graduated English major need reinforcement from the internet to read books by John Steinbeck? Especially when it's obvious he would rather spend his days reading comic books and playing Pokemon. It's a front. He's waving something in everyone's face that has the air of legitimacy or sounding productive while continuing to be a huge manchild. He might as well pop into the cinema thread and ask if he should watch The Godfather when we all know he's just going to go watch another comic book movie anyway.
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Oct 28, 2013 19:20
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Can someone enlighten me on the Pokemon thing? I mean, I'm "old" at this point, but the last time I remember hearing about Pokemon was what, the mid-late 90's? Is this still a thing? The fact that there's now two useless manchild threads in here with that being a key focal point, I don't get it?
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Oct 28, 2013 19:32
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ThatCguy posted:Can someone enlighten me on the Pokemon thing? They keep making up more of them and putting them in new games.
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Oct 28, 2013 19:37
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ThatCguy posted:Can someone enlighten me on the Pokemon thing? You post about wrestling and call people manchildren for playing pokemon? Benny you need to get a loving job already.
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Oct 28, 2013 19:58
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Do it ironically posted:You post about wrestling and call people manchildren for playing pokemon? Well, no, that's actually not what I wrote, but good attempt at reading comprehension there. I'll type slower next time.
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Oct 28, 2013 20:07
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ThatCguy posted:Well, no, that's actually not what I wrote, but good attempt at reading comprehension there. I'll type slower next time. What the gently caress are you doing, in here? You wonder in, talk about kids, pokemon and being old. Here's what you do, gramps. Go to https://www.google.com enter "Pokemon" with your two index fingers, hit the "Google Search" button and read about Pokemon. cname fucked around with this message at 20:16 on Oct 28, 2013 |
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Oct 28, 2013 20:14
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What's so childish about wrestling? Oh the fake kind... haven't watched that poo poo since I was 13
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Oct 28, 2013 20:18
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cname posted:What the gently caress are you doing, in here? You wonder in, talk about kids, pokemon and being old. Here's what you do, gramps. Go to https://www.google.com enter "Pokemon" with your two index fingers, hit the "Google Search" button and read about Pokemon. That is a lot of ire raised over a Japanese kids cartoon.
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Oct 28, 2013 20:19
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It's not about Pokémon being childish, it's about Benny sleeping all day and playing video games while people pretend he's making any headway towards becoming the functional adult he needs to be. He sleeps all day, posts mostly about games and stuff, all the while avoiding this thread where people expect him to check in with news of some meaningful progress. I don't think Benny wants a job. And that's okay, not everyone likes working. But the point is, he's avoiding it, he's inhumanly incompetent, and probably full of poo poo. Let's not pretend he's made any progress, guys. He's right where he was when he started: jobless, listless, and too dim to navigate a cart safely away from parked cars. Just let him live at home all day writing about how Batman kicked the poo poo out of Oswald Gobblecock for the hundredth time; it's his true calling.
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Oct 28, 2013 21:02
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Sawboss Jones posted:It's not about Pokémon being childish, it's about Benny sleeping all day and playing video games while people pretend he's making any headway towards becoming the functional adult he needs to be. He sleeps all day, posts mostly about games and stuff, all the while avoiding this thread where people expect him to check in with news of some meaningful progress. I think we could wait for the medication to equalize a bit before we abandon all hope.
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Oct 28, 2013 21:47
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Benny's doing pretty well. There's a roof over his head and he's pulling Pokemon money from somewhere.
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Oct 28, 2013 22:31
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