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Someone tell a joke or start a story.. (Original Post) kimmerspixelated Jan 2012 OP
I'm writing a novel Sanity Claws Jan 2012 #1
Oh, you bet I'd be interested in that! kimmerspixelated Jan 2012 #2
On paper, about 8 pages Sanity Claws Jan 2012 #7
Sure. I started writing something similar to that years ago, Cleita Jan 2012 #5
I started years ago Sanity Claws Jan 2012 #8
I kind of went in a different direction and Cleita Jan 2012 #10
Books with premisses far more out SheilaT Jan 2012 #28
Where does a 1-legged pirate go to eat? Saokymo Jan 2012 #3
I LOVE IT! kimmerspixelated Jan 2012 #17
Oh, I have more >:D Saokymo Jan 2012 #24
Anybody want to help me with a personal problem? Cleita Jan 2012 #4
I'd be glad to help you, if I'm able. Sanity Claws Jan 2012 #6
It's kind of silly and yet bothersome. Cleita Jan 2012 #9
Oh dear. Sanity Claws Jan 2012 #11
To answer you. Cleita Jan 2012 #12
What a player Why Syzygy Jan 2012 #14
Thanks friend. Cleita Jan 2012 #15
of course Why Syzygy Jan 2012 #16
Or, a cloak of invisibility (not joking) BanzaiBonnie Jan 2012 #31
Yep! Why Syzygy Jan 2012 #32
Here's a favorite of mine. DeSwiss Jan 2012 #13
ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! kimmerspixelated Jan 2012 #18
I wish there was a REC button BanzaiBonnie Jan 2012 #30
Well, if a theory can explain the universe (as we know it)... MrMickeysMom Jan 2012 #33
Well, I'm STILL writing a novel, several years later. kentauros Jan 2012 #19
Do you have a name for the rogue djinni? Sanity Claws Jan 2012 #20
Yes, I have a name for her: Rachel kentauros Jan 2012 #21
I totally claim my ignorance, but kimmerspixelated Jan 2012 #22
It's the Arabic spelling for "genie". kentauros Jan 2012 #23
How about some Rodney Dangerfield? kentauros Jan 2012 #25
One potato, two potato... BanzaiBonnie Jan 2012 #26
HAHAHAAHA! kimmerspixelated Jan 2012 #27
Okay, you don't *even* want to know the things I just typed and erased. BlueIris Jan 2012 #29

Sanity Claws

(22,031 posts)
1. I'm writing a novel
Mon Jan 23, 2012, 08:58 PM
Jan 2012

Would you and the public would be interested in reading a novel about Gaia in which gods and goddesses (drawn from myths of different cultures and eras) work together and sometimes against each other to determine the future of Gaia?


I'm not sure how it will turn out but it is supposed to a metaphor for what has been going during the last 50 years or so.

A part of me thinks the whole premise is too out there. Another part of me is concerned that believers will be offended. We already know the Christian right will deem me a Satan.

kimmerspixelated

(8,423 posts)
2. Oh, you bet I'd be interested in that!
Mon Jan 23, 2012, 09:06 PM
Jan 2012

I wouldn't be too worried about what others think. Plus, works in progress take a lot of twists and turns in the adventure of writing. This is so cool! How far have you gotten?

Sanity Claws

(22,031 posts)
7. On paper, about 8 pages
Mon Jan 23, 2012, 09:58 PM
Jan 2012

In my head, I have several more scenes written out.
I'm doing my writing in the morning and sometimes during the commute home, I think of new things to write.

This is an idea that has been taking shape for a couple of years. I think it is now ready. Or so I hope.

The encouraging thing for me is that some of the characters are actually taking on personalities. I can't say they are completely rounded personalities yet but they are speaking with different voices.

Cleita

(75,480 posts)
5. Sure. I started writing something similar to that years ago,
Mon Jan 23, 2012, 09:49 PM
Jan 2012

but I never finish anything so I'd like to know what your version is like.

Sanity Claws

(22,031 posts)
8. I started years ago
Mon Jan 23, 2012, 09:59 PM
Jan 2012

and the thing took different shapes.

Maybe your idea just needs to ripen a bit. No need to be so final about it and say, "I never finish anything." As Yogi Berra said, "It ain't over til it's over."

Cleita

(75,480 posts)
10. I kind of went in a different direction and
Mon Jan 23, 2012, 10:15 PM
Jan 2012

am working on something different. It will never get finished either cause I keep changing it.

 

SheilaT

(23,156 posts)
28. Books with premisses far more out
Wed Jan 25, 2012, 02:52 PM
Jan 2012

there have been published, so don't worry about that aspect.

Just do your best to write the best possible novel you can.

Saokymo

(273 posts)
24. Oh, I have more >:D
Tue Jan 24, 2012, 10:43 PM
Jan 2012

Why did Frosty move to the Caribbean?
Because snowman is an island.

What do fairies study in school?
The elf-abet.

A priest, a pedophile and a drunk walk into a bar.
That's just the first guy.

Cleita

(75,480 posts)
4. Anybody want to help me with a personal problem?
Mon Jan 23, 2012, 09:47 PM
Jan 2012

It's rather ordinary though not requiring any spiritual work. Some might even find it funny.

Cleita

(75,480 posts)
9. It's kind of silly and yet bothersome.
Mon Jan 23, 2012, 10:14 PM
Jan 2012

About a couple of months ago a nice gentleman of eighty started making friends with me at the gym. Our conversations, me on the treadmill and him on a stationery bicycle, led to him asking me out for breakfast. Well, I'm soon to be 72 so I thought, why not? I've been sitting at home with my cat ever since my husband died. However, the logistics of how this "date" was going to come about started getting complicated. He suggested we go to a movie too. Yes, we have matinees in the morning in my burg, so I thought to myself, I guess this is senior citizen dating. You go home by 2 in the afternoon, for your nap I guess.

However, when I tried to get a telephone number from him or give him mine, he made an excuse about being in between changing numbers and didn't write mine down saying he would remember. I got suspicious and immediately asked him if he was married. He said he was, but that it wasn't what I thought. He was just trying to fix up one of his grown sons, a widower, with a date. Well, I told him I wasn't interested in having breakfast with him and I didn't think his wife would appreciate him having breakfast with a strange woman. I also told him that I was sure his son could find his own dates and I was way to old for him anyway. Fine for the time being.

However, he sneaks up behind me to say hello and it makes me jumpy. He follows me around telling me how cute I am and that he wishes I'd change my mind. Now he's really coming across to me as an old lech, but I don't want to be rude to him. This is a small community and it seems he's quite wealthy from what I have been able to find out. I don't think it would be a smart thing for me to do. I know I will keep running into him and quite honestly don't know how to handle this in keeping him at a distance without causing some unwanted fall out.

Sanity Claws

(22,031 posts)
11. Oh dear.
Mon Jan 23, 2012, 10:33 PM
Jan 2012

That sounds awful. You probably don't like going to the gym as much as you used to.

I don't know the right way to handle it but I can toss out a few ideas and see whether we can get a discussion going.

1. Have you told him in so many words that your answer is no and that he should understand that when a lady says no, she means no.

2. Have you talked to someone at the gym about the problem? Perhaps they can give you a heads up when he is in the gym so you can avoid him. Perhaps you can ask them to talk to him or have them interrupt if he starts talking to you. Something like that may make him think that others also see that he is making you uncomfortable.

3. Can you change the times you go to the gym so that you simply don't run into him?
This last item really is inconvenient for you. I only throw it out there because it sounds like you don't want to be confrontational with him.

Cleita

(75,480 posts)
12. To answer you.
Mon Jan 23, 2012, 10:37 PM
Jan 2012

1. I have been pretty blunt about saying no.

2. I would rather not involve anyone at the gym, especially who work there, because as I said he seems to be rather influential.

3. There are different times I can go, but he seems to be there. I also ran into him running on the road. I wonder if he's stalking me. Also, I feel I should have the right to go at the times I want without him in my way.

Why Syzygy

(18,928 posts)
14. What a player
Tue Jan 24, 2012, 11:08 AM
Jan 2012

this guy is, right? Maybe a tiny humor there

You said it doesn't require spiritual work but, why not? Can you generate a golden light field around yourself? Something likely to repell him, but not leave a negative impression (since he's connected)? I once had to convince a guy I was crazy in order to get rid of him. (Wasn't all that difficult ) But you don't want this guy to have that opinion of you.

You know a lot more about spiritual tools than I do. Will something there work for this type of situation?

oh. OR you could get a younger hulk of a guy at the gym to be your (travel) buddy?

** (travel) buddy - comes from the 28 hour bus trip I made from Miami to Beaumont, Texas. For the better part of the trip I 'teamed' up with a man traveling alone so we could watch each other's bags, stand in line, pick up food, etc. VERY valuable.


ps. Cleita, I've been looking for you. Posted note @ facebook. Hope you can check in.

Cleita

(75,480 posts)
15. Thanks friend.
Tue Jan 24, 2012, 11:35 AM
Jan 2012

Right now I have a mess I have to unravel regarding passwords. My email got hacked and subsequently locked. My alternate email, which I need to unlock that email, got locked too so I'm stuck. All my passwords including facebook got involved so I can't access any of them. I know I need to spend an afternoon going through everything and getting them back on track but haven't had time. So be patient. I have a friend who might help when he has time.

Why Syzygy

(18,928 posts)
32. Yep!
Thu Jan 26, 2012, 03:18 PM
Jan 2012

Topaz makes one invisible. It doesn't have to be the gemstone. Anything in that color-ish will work (even just thinking of it).
Use with caution! It can also make you invisible to people you want to see you. Be sure to turn it off.

 

DeSwiss

(27,137 posts)
13. Here's a favorite of mine.
Tue Jan 24, 2012, 07:04 AM
Jan 2012
- I hope you like it as much as I do.......

[font size=4]THE EGG [/font]

BY ANDY WEIR
January 30, 2010


You were on your way home when you died.

It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death. The EMTs tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was so utterly shattered you were better off, trust me.

And that’s when you met me.

“What… what happened?” You asked. “Where am I?”

“You died,” I said, matter-of-factly. No point in mincing words.

“There was a… a truck and it was skidding…”

“Yup,” I said.

“I… I died?”

“Yup. But don’t feel bad about it. Everyone dies,” I said.

You looked around. There was nothingness. Just you and me. “What is this place?” You asked. “Is this the afterlife?”

“More or less,” I said.

“Are you god?” You asked.

“Yup,” I replied. “I’m God.”

“My kids… my wife,” you said.

“What about them?”

“Will they be all right?”

“That’s what I like to see,” I said. “You just died and your main concern is for your family. That’s good stuff right there.”

You looked at me with fascination. To you, I didn’t look like God. I just looked like some man. Or possibly a woman. Some vague authority figure, maybe. More of a grammar school teacher than the almighty.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “They’ll be fine. Your kids will remember you as perfect in every way. They didn’t have time to grow contempt for you. You wife will cry on the outside, but will be secretly relieved. To be fair, your marriage was falling apart. If it’s any consolation, she’ll feel very guilty for feeling relieved.”

“Oh,” you said. “So what happens now? Do I go to heaven or hell or something?”

“Neither,” I said. “You’ll be reincarnated.”

“Ah,” you said. “So the Hindus were right,”

“All religions are right in their own way,” I said. “Walk with me.”

You followed along as we strode through the void. “Where are we going?”

“Nowhere in particular,” I said. “It’s just nice to walk while we talk.”

“So what’s the point, then?” You asked. “When I get reborn, I’ll just be a blank slate, right? A baby. So all my experiences and everything I did in this life won’t matter.”

“Not so!” I said. “You have within you all the knowledge and experiences of all your past lives. You just don’t remember them right now.”

I stopped walking and took you by the shoulders. “Your soul is more magnificent, beautiful, and gigantic than you can possibly imagine. A human mind can only contain a tiny fraction of what you are. It’s like sticking your finger in a glass of water to see if it’s hot or cold. You put a tiny part of yourself into the vessel, and when you bring it back out, you’ve gained all the experiences it had.

“You’ve been in a human for the last 48 years, so you haven’t stretched out yet and felt the rest of your immense consciousness. If we hung out here for long enough, you’d start remembering everything. But there’s no point to doing that between each life.”

“How many times have I been reincarnated, then?”

“Oh lots. Lots and lots. An in to lots of different lives.” I said. “This time around, you’ll be a Chinese peasant girl in 540 AD.”

“Wait, what?” You stammered. “You’re sending me back in time?”

“Well, I guess technically. Time, as you know it, only exists in your universe. Things are different where I come from.”

“Where you come from?” You said.

“Oh sure,” I explained “I come from somewhere. Somewhere else. And there are others like me. I know you’ll want to know what it’s like there, but honestly you wouldn’t understand.”

“Oh,” you said, a little let down. “But wait. If I get reincarnated to other places in time, I could have interacted with myself at some point.”

“Sure. Happens all the time. And with both lives only aware of their own lifespan you don’t even know it’s happening.”

“So what’s the point of it all?”

“Seriously?” I asked. “Seriously? You’re asking me for the meaning of life? Isn’t that a little stereotypical?”

“Well it’s a reasonable question,” you persisted.

I looked you in the eye. “The meaning of life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature.”

“You mean mankind? You want us to mature?”

“No, just you. I made this whole universe for you. With each new life you grow and mature and become a larger and greater intellect.”

“Just me? What about everyone else?”

“There is no one else,” I said. “In this universe, there’s just you and me.”

You stared blankly at me. “But all the people on earth…”

“All you. Different incarnations of you.”

“Wait. I’m everyone!?”

“Now you’re getting it,” I said, with a congratulatory slap on the back.

“I’m every human being who ever lived?”

“Or who will ever live, yes.”

“I’m Abraham Lincoln?”

“And you’re John Wilkes Booth, too,” I added.

“I’m Hitler?” You said, appalled.

“And you’re the millions he killed.”

“I’m Jesus?”

“And you’re everyone who followed him.”

You fell silent.

“Every time you victimized someone,” I said, “you were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you.”

You thought for a long time.

“Why?” You asked me. “Why do all this?”

“Because someday, you will become like me. Because that’s what you are. You’re one of my kind. You’re my child.”

“Whoa,” you said, incredulous. “You mean I’m a god?”

“No. Not yet. You’re a fetus. You’re still growing. Once you’ve lived every human life throughout all time, you will have grown enough to be born.”

“So the whole universe,” you said, “it’s just…”

“An egg.” I answered. “Now it’s time for you to move on to your next life.”

And I sent you on your way.

LINK

MrMickeysMom

(20,453 posts)
33. Well, if a theory can explain the universe (as we know it)...
Thu Jan 26, 2012, 03:50 PM
Jan 2012

I guess it's this one.

Now I realize even more how immature I am. I also realize how I can handle things others might not be able to and vise versa.

kentauros

(29,414 posts)
19. Well, I'm STILL writing a novel, several years later.
Tue Jan 24, 2012, 06:50 PM
Jan 2012

I am making headway, though my biggest goal is to tie together all the odd chapters I've written and need to include in the story.

For those that don't know (or remember) it's about a young woman getting turned into a djinni and then being responsible for bringing more of the same into the world. I'm basing some of that on futures read in Robert Monroe's second and third books, about the future of humanity. I've got other themes going on, too, with the main conflict of one djinni going "rogue". I'm still working out just how she does, and I'm using that spirit encyclopedia to find just the right negative-influencing entity

I've already worked out plots for two more "books" after this one. I'll also be e-publishing, when I figure out how to do that, too

kentauros

(29,414 posts)
21. Yes, I have a name for her: Rachel
Tue Jan 24, 2012, 07:42 PM
Jan 2012

She's also Canadian, from P.E.I., but I'm not vilifying Canadians. Another one (as I recall, she is named Sarah) is from B.C.

My past-wife is from Newfoundland and Ontario, and she's where I got my info on PEI, as the residents there seem to be hated by the rest of Canada for some reason.

The djinn will be from all over the globe, although the first book will only focus on a handful out of nineteen. I'll still have to research a great many cultures to at least try to get personalities right and so forth, and that will come with time. Two of the djinn will fall into the "badness" of Rachel's lead. One is from Korea and the other from Morocco.

Oddly enough, one of the research tools I've used is just listening to HayHouse Radio and Contact Talk Radio as both get calls from people all over the globe. My writing includes a lot of new age thinking and philosophy, and hearing people from other countries talk much like we are used to, helps considerably. If I need help with any culture I don't really know, I may ask around here, too

kentauros

(29,414 posts)
23. It's the Arabic spelling for "genie".
Tue Jan 24, 2012, 09:40 PM
Jan 2012

Plural is simply "djinn"

If you've ever read my blog (it should be in my profile now) I have an earlier entry about my love for the Middle East, at least with their culture, arts, and cuisine. While I haven't studied any of their religious teachings, Sufism and the poet Rumi came from that part of the world. Of course, belly dance came from that culture, too

BanzaiBonnie

(3,621 posts)
26. One potato, two potato...
Wed Jan 25, 2012, 12:06 AM
Jan 2012

Potatoes:
Well, A Girl Potato and Boy Potato had eyes for each other And finally they got married, and had a little sweet potato, which they Called 'Yam.'

Of course, they wanted the best for Yam.

When it was time, they told her about the facts of life.They warned her about going out And Getting half-baked, so she wouldn't get accidentally mashed, and get a bad Name for herself like 'Hot Potato,' an end up with a bunch of Tater Tots

Yam said not to worry, no Spud would get her into the sack and Make a rotten potato out of her!

But on the other hand she Wouldn't stay home
and become a Couch Potato either.

She would get Plenty of exercise so as not to be skinny like her Shoestring
Cousins.

When she went off to
Europe , Mr. And Mrs. Potato told Yam To watch out for the hard-boiled guys from Ireland .

And the Greasy guys from France called the French Fries. And when she went out West, To watch out for the Indians so she wouldn't get scalloped..


Yam said she would stay on the straight and narrow
And wouldn't associate with
those high class Yukon Golds, or the ones from the other Side of the tracks who advertise their trade on all the trucks that say,
'Frito Lay.'

Mr. And Mrs. Potato sent Yam to Idaho P.U. (that's
Potato University ) so that when she graduated she'd really Be in the Chips. But in spite of all they did for her, one-day Yam came home And
announced she was going to marry Tom Brokaw.

Tom Brokaw!


Mr and Mrs. Potato were very upset.


They told Yam she couldn't possibly Marry
Tom Brokaw Because he's just.......

Are you ready for this?

Are you sure?


OK! Here it is


A "COMMONTATER."

kimmerspixelated

(8,423 posts)
27. HAHAHAAHA!
Wed Jan 25, 2012, 01:34 PM
Jan 2012

:clap

CUUUTE!

WHen I saw the title of the the post, I thought I would be compelled to write:3 pot..4..that kind of thing. You're so punny!

BlueIris

(29,135 posts)
29. Okay, you don't *even* want to know the things I just typed and erased.
Thu Jan 26, 2012, 01:56 PM
Jan 2012

South Park quotes. Which is curious, since I haven't watched South Park in ten years.

Unfunny comments.

Bitterness.

Uh, humor...what's on top of a house?

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