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Long Weekend Open Thread

longweekendlc2

 

Like a lot of people in the US of A, I am taking a long weekend. Posting may be a little light for a bit. So here’s an open thread for everyone else taking a long weekend. Or not. Use this thread for anything that’s not personal. Like misogyny, politics, kitties, you know the drill. (Though kitties are welcome in all threads, of course.)

I am hoping my long weekend turns out a bit better than that of the people in the Australian movie of that name from 1978, which I keep meaning to see. Apparently their little beach vacation doesn’t go so well, and they are attacked by … nature? At one point, I believe, they face off against an enraged dugong. (No, really.) The movie was recently remade, but apparently the remake wasn’t as good.

Stay tuned for more reviews of movies I haven’t seen and that I’m just giving vague impressions of based on things I’ve heard somewhere.

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emilygoddess
11 years ago

At one point, I believe, they face off against an enraged dugong. (No, really.)

Did he have a tank full of gentle cuttlefish?

cloudiah
11 years ago

Thanks for the handy place to put off topic links! 😀
The game is rigged. Women can’t win.

OP on r/mr posts a probably fake story, the moral of which is that there are no circumstances in which it is allowable for a woman walking alone at night to be frightened when approached by two strange men. The misters mostly nod and agree how terrible it is, and how she basically false-accused him.

The comment I link is from a dude who is pissed off that a woman is NOT frightened or intimidated of a man she doesn’t know on the street, because NOT being frightened or intimidated will eventually cause her to have her jaw broken or be raped, naturally. Again, general agreement. None of the misters seem to notice the contradiction.

Sigh.

On a happier note, happy long weekend to those who have one! I’m going to San Diego for a wedding, and I’m going to see The Merchant of Venice at the Old Globe.

Dvärghundspossen
Dvärghundspossen
11 years ago

Right. If you don’t trust men you’re a misandrist crazy feminist, but if you do trust men, you’re gullible and just asking for it.

Dvärghundspossen
Dvärghundspossen
11 years ago

Chiming in on the happy notes: me and Husband went to the sea today (we live pretty near the coast of the Baltic sea) with the dog pack. Our GSD girl loves swimming, and the toy dog boys play on the beach.

Karalora
Karalora
11 years ago

I could have had a long weekend, but I decided to go into work in order to stay caught up on shipments. I’m completely alone in the office today and can listen to my music as loud as I want! (Which still isn’t very loud.)

anadiomene122
anadiomene122
11 years ago

I live in a culture where endless graphic violence is permissible in mainstream media, a statistically insignificant number of rapists actually go to trial, all kinds of black humor about violence and rape is blinked at, abuse is institutionally tolerated and in many cases suborned, but consensual sex between adults is still somehow shameful or at least scandalous.

The backwardness and hypocrisy of it all…

Just getting that off my chest after reading through the video games thread.

auggziliary
11 years ago

Depression sucks. I have been on Zoloft for almost 2 years, and it didnt do anything(the reason I didn’t swap is because my mom is really weird about meds and is in denial about my depression).
Now I can finally swap, and I’ll be on Wellbutrin soon.
The reason is because Zoloft uses serotonin, and Wellbutrin uses dopamine and that other hormone that I totally forgot the name of. So she’s seeing if the change does anything.
She said when your serotonin is fucked up, you’re really anxiously depressed. My depression is like emotional pain and apathy. Wellbutrin kind of makes people perky or something, so maybe it will help.

grumpycatisagirl
11 years ago

I recently had a guy (complete stranger) get pissed at me because he came up to me at the library info desk (where I work) and put his closed fist out and asked me to hold out my palm underneath it. He said “don’t say I never gave you anything.” I said “um” because I (reasonably, IMO) was hesitant to put my hand out when I had no idea what the stranger had in his hand. Then he said “YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE SO SCARED” and stomped away in a huff.

auggziliary
11 years ago

Anadiomene122, it is terrible. But notice the only thing that makes rape culture and consensual sex different is that the latter involves a woman is enjoying sex, and enjoying sex is a mans job! Pleasing is a woman’s!
(Given that we are talking about heterosexual sex, homosexual sex is a whole different story).

auggziliary
11 years ago

Grumpycatisagirl, wut

Dvärghundspossen
Dvärghundspossen
11 years ago

I’ve read in several places that there’s actually very little evidence that SSRI meds are effective. Anyone knows more about this? That would be pretty fucked up if it was true, since SOOOOO many people are on that…

thebionicmommy
thebionicmommy
11 years ago

Grumpycatisagirl, so he makes a creepy command of you, and then got offended when you were creeped out by it. Wow. And I wonder if he realizes how yelling and stomping off just confirms that yes, you were right to be suspicious and hesitant.

Dvärghundspossen
Dvärghundspossen
11 years ago

Grumpy, yeah, that’s a really creepy guy. And a really common kind of creepiness at that. I got a bit of deja vu reading that – not that I’ve had a guy saying that exact thing to me, but I’ve been exposed to lots of similar-style creepiness when I was young.

leftwingfox
11 years ago

Seconding the wat. That’s very, very creepy.

dustydeste
dustydeste
11 years ago

Dvärghundspossen – I don’t know about what’s been reported, but I was on an SSRI (fluoxetine ) and it was effective to the point that it creeped me the fuck out because nothing felt like natural emotion anymore, so I went off it again after a few months.

dustydeste
dustydeste
11 years ago

And yeah, I’m with everyone else on Grumpycat’s creeperdude. So not cool.

Dvärghundspossen
Dvärghundspossen
11 years ago

Okay, I’m gonna rant a bit, since this is an open thread.

1. Just read one feminist blogger who commented on a newspaper chronicle about how hipsters never have sex, and she’s like “what a silly chronicle, almost incoherent, and everyone I know still has sex, even those who could be labelled hipsters”. All the commenters chime in and are like “yeah, that was a silly generalizing chronicle”. Guy comes in and comments that he and his buddies, they never have sex nowadays, because this whole sex thing has been ruined for them with all this consent talk, it’s so terribly hard to know whether a woman really wants to have sex or not so they feel it’s better to just abstain from it altogether!
Oh, poor guys, *patting them on the head*. SERIOUSLY. It’s NOT THAT HARD. Most people SHOWS when they want to have sex, and if you’re uncertain, just fucking ASK.

2. Read another feminist blogger who writes about how she wants to be able to walk down-town in goth clothes without random dudes commenting on her clothes, even if it’s just to give “compliments” on how beautiful she is. Various girls chime in, then some guy comments that he’s been lonely and celibate for many years now because he respects women too much.
Oh, poor guy! SERIOUSLY. It’s NOT THAT HARD. Just don’t “compliment” random women walking down the street minding their own business. You won’t hook up with anyone doing that anyway. And sure, there are no guarantees in love and sex, you might end up lonely and celibate through no fault of your own, but stop pretending as if it’s the fault of feminists asking that you don’t “compliment” random women walking down the street minding their own business.

Dvärghundspossen
Dvärghundspossen
11 years ago

@Dustydeste: Yeah, seems like lots of people think it made a great difference to them, so I’ve been really surprised at hearing people saying there’s a lack of scientific evidence.

I’ve been on an SSRI two years ago after I got psychotic depression. Depression lifted, but I have no idea if it was because of the SSRI or if it just happened naturally, since I’m hardly ever depressed anyway, and the last time I remember being depressed (many, many years ago) it passed over without treatment in a few months.

What I do noticed the SSRI doing, was making me incredibly sleepy. I eventually quit taking them because I couldn’t stand being so terribly sleepy all the time. Then the weirdest thing happened: I had a sensation like tiny electric shocks in my arms for a few days, before it passed again. My shrink later told me that’s a common withdrawal symptom if you quit taking SSRI without phasing it out slowly.

emilygoddess
11 years ago

Yeah, seems like lots of people think it made a great difference to them, so I’ve been really surprised at hearing people saying there’s a lack of scientific evidence.

Both could be true. The placebo effect is a powerful thing, so SSRIs may be working for some people even if the drug itself isn’t having the biochemical effects it claims. It’s kind of like how acupuncture works well for a lot of people for pain management or minor depression, despite there being no apparent reason why it should work.

Then the weirdest thing happened: I had a sensation like tiny electric shocks in my arms for a few days, before it passed again. My shrink later told me that’s a common withdrawal symptom if you quit taking SSRI without phasing it out slowly.

OMG, brain shivers. I got them like whoa every time I ran out of Effexor (which was often, because paying my insurance bill on time was difficult for me). Even now, when I have insurance that doesn’t quit the second your payment is overdue, I refuse to go back on it.

thebionicmommy
thebionicmommy
11 years ago

Guy comes in and comments that he and his buddies, they never have sex nowadays, because this whole sex thing has been ruined for them with all this consent talk, it’s so terribly hard to know whether a woman really wants to have sex or not so they feel it’s better to just abstain from it altogether!
Oh, poor guys, *patting them on the head*. SERIOUSLY. It’s NOT THAT HARD. Most people SHOWS when they want to have sex, and if you’re uncertain, just fucking ASK.

People like him know better when they claim that getting consent for sex is too hard. They understand just fine when someone tells them no. They just don’t like the answer. It’s scary because they want people to think that rape is simply a “misunderstanding”.

Various girls chime in, then some guy comments that he’s been lonely and celibate for many years now because he respects women too much.

I am so tired of guys like him that think it’s feminists’ jobs to help him find sex partners. Yes, it’s sad when someone is lonely and unlucky in love, but it’s still not a feminist issue. He never stops to consider the blogger’s feelings either. She wants to exist in public without dealing with creepy compliments, but his desire to invade stranger’s boundaries come first.

And sometimes those guys will say that if feminists don’t help them get laid, then they will have no choice but to stop respecting women and use PUA crap. Yeah, well they weren’t respectful to women in the first place. If they had respect for women, they wouldn’t insist on derailing all feminist conversations to be about their boners.

thebionicmommy
thebionicmommy
11 years ago

I’ve used several kinds of anti depressants in my life, and I think the older, tricyclic ones like Elavil work better than the new SSRI’s. The tricyclic ones are also useful for insomnia and anxiety, for people with a more anxious depression instead of a more lethargic kind. Doctors don’t prescribe them as much anymore, because they have more side effects, but for someone struggling with anxiety and depression, they might decide the side effects are worth the relief. The most noticeable side effects are dry mouth and an increase in appetite.

emilygoddess
11 years ago

The most noticeable side effects are dry mouth and an increase in appetite.

Trade anxiety and depression for dry mouth and hunger? Fucking sign me up.

Argenti Aertheri
11 years ago

AHHHH TRICYLICS NOOOO!!

*waves from the bipolar corner of the room* just don’t do it if bipolar, or maybe bipolar, you do not want to have that hunch confirmed when you start bouncing off the walls while suicidal.

Unipolar depression…listen to thebionicmommy.

thebionicmommy
thebionicmommy
11 years ago

@emilygoddess, that’s what I think too. The side effects are mild compared to the benefits. Another bonus is that my monthly copay for the generic is only $3 a month.

Somegreybloke
Somegreybloke
11 years ago

I’ve seen that “Long Weekend” movie! It was decades ago but I remember it being terrifying. And oh look, it’s on YouTube:

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