Here's a thread just for you BtL. Now you can post your landmark and keep your "never started a thread" streak intact.
Of course, if you don't want it, I can' always delete it, though that might make Icky angry.
[ April 23, 2004, 02:23 PM: Message edited by: Kayla ]
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
:chuckle: And now it can't be deleted as I put my very soul into that ":chuckle:" or I will be heartbroken.
Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
The viewers at home might not know this, but what makes this thread especially funny is that Kayla told me NOT to write a landmark when I told her about it over AIM.
Women. They can never make up their minds.
Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :
Kayla was on AIM??!!
Kayla, did you change your AIM again without telling me?
**Ela** Posted by Megachirops (Member # 4325) on :
She did it because she hates us both and never wants to talk to either of us. Just like Ralphie.
-Icarus Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
It was the first, last and only time I've ever seen her on AIM. It was also back before she "quit" Hatrack.
Clearly she's only back now to make sure I write a landmark.
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
I did? ::scratches head:: I probably did. But, you were the one who said you already had it written but didn't want to post it because it would break your streak of never starting a thread. You leech. I figured that was a cry for help. And here I am. But, I'll stand by that original thought of not doing one. They get saved forever, you know! Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
Ela, Icky, I wouldn't do that!
Posted by skillery (Member # 6209) on :
Excellent landmark BtL. Looking forward to another 1000.
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
I'm not archiving this one. Not yet, anyway.
Posted by Ophelia (Member # 653) on :
But Pop, it's so profound!
Seriously though, Dan, I'd love to read your landmark if you post it.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Add me to the "no pressure, but I'd love to read it" list.
Posted by Ralphie (Member # 1565) on :
quote:She did it because she hates us both and never wants to talk to either of us. Just like Ralphie.
Well, I mean, would you want to talk to you?
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
Yeah, Ralphie and I both have new screen names and only talk to each other. Who told on us?
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
BtL, we're waiting!
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
You're the meaning in my life your're my inspiration you give meaning to my life You're the inspiration.
No, not really but it's how I wish your landmark will make me feel.
Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :
quote:Ela, Icky, I wouldn't do that!
Suuuuure.
(Okay, if it was a long time ago, it's probably the last one I still have. )
Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
Wait, do I even need to post a landmark now?
I've already got a shocking secret revealed, good luck wishes, some general praise and a pretty good derailment.
Essentially I've had a succesful landmark without having to go through all the fuss and bother of actually *writing* one.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
True.
But you never struck me as someone who took the easy way out.
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
I'm beginning to think he ws lying about having written it in the first place. .
Posted by jebus202 (Member # 2524) on :
What!? HE'S A LAWYER! They're like the most trustworthy people on earth, modern day saints.
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
In actuality, his name is neither Bob, nor is he a lawyer. It's true.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
He's kinda like the HRE.
Posted by Sal (Member # 3758) on :
I heard on the radio today that "BTL" stands for "Bush team leader". Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
That's also true.
Bush and I are tight.
Hold on to this thread, Kayla. I promise you I'll put some sort of a landmark on here sooner as opposed to later.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Is this a Dobie? I'm confused...
Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
I don't know either, Bob, but hey! I sat down and wrote something just now. Or maybe I should call it SOMETHING to emphasize the length.
So it seems I have to write me a landmark. A brand new landmark, you can’t just recycle old ones. Landmarks are more about the writer than the reader anyway; I might as well milk this for all it’s worth (as opposed to what I’ve already been doing).
This is hard for me; I don’t write well. In person I rely a great deal on facial expressions and voice inflections to get my meaning across and words on a page always seem hollow and wooden by comparison.
At any rate, the first landmark seems to be a life story for most and I’ve never been one to break out of a mould. It’s hard to know what to focus on; my life has been a very good one. But writing about how great everything is gets old fast, don’t it? Everyone who has things good has things good in the same way, but everyone’s screwed up for different reasons
I had intended to write this about my family, but I think I’m going to be more egocentric. And, quite honestly, I don’t know how to share my stories of them yet. So I suppose I’ll just give a “brief” history of me.
I am the youngest of 4, second son of my Dad’s second wife. No, that sounds too cold. Sure it’s what she was, but Mom has always been a great candidate for sainthood, much to her chagrin. Nobody looks to help a saint; they never seem like they need it. At the time I came around Dad was working as the head librarian for one of the (if not the) top primarily undergraduate universities in Canada, in the small town of Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Mom was a trained actress, but acting turned out to be a more stressful life than she wanted and so she decided to get her masters in English, pregnant or no. I always hear stories of her slogging through marshland on a tiny island in the Bay of Fundy for a biology course she was taking. With me, a well over 10 pound baby crammed inside her five foot nothing frame. Sorry, Mom.
Like many here, my first passions were for books. I was the quiet little boy with big blue eyes in the corner that all the little girls wanted to marry. I totally peaked to soon. But unlike most others, I put that passion aside by the time I was 10. My father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s shortly after I was born and as his children got older we realized that there was very little time to get to know him. We all strove to find some way to bond with him, some piece of him that we could treasure. He was a brilliant, brilliant man with an enormous appetite for books. As it became harder and harder for him to read my brother stepped in and started reading to him. They would talk for hours about the books that they’d read and what they meant. Clearly I needed a different angle.
The next natural choice was soccer. If there were two things outside his family that Dad lived for they were books and soccer. He played for Glasgow before leaving Scotland and I’ve many, many happy memories of playing with him or watching the world cup. It’s what we did together. By the time I was 10 he could no longer play with me, but he could watch and there was something special in that. I lived and breathed soccer for years. I’d study tapes and practice all the moves out in our yard. I played at the provincial level; I averaged over a goal a game. Then I slipped on some ice and landed awkwardly on my knee. My anterior cruciate ligament tore and several shards of bone fractured off my kneecap, one of which lodged itself in my knee joint so it wouldn’t bend. Like my knee, I was shattered.
The recovery was a long, slow process. Made worse because I was so desperate to get back on the field. Once I could walk again I was outside with a soccer ball bobbling around with it. It was my connection with Dad and I couldn’t stand to lose it. By this point he was rarely finishing sentences and I felt like it was too late to find something else to bring us together. 6 months after my initial surgery I tried to play again. I forced myself through one half before someone slid cleats first into the back of my injured leg and I found myself confined to crutches. At that point, I figured it was time to take it easy until the doctors gave me the ok.
Things were looking pretty good a little over a year later. I was playing for the school team and holding my own. I wasn’t the best any more, but I figured with a little time and effort I’d be back up where I felt I belonged. Fate, of course, decided otherwise and in gym class I went over the vault and over-rotated my flip. Not normally a bad thing but the crash mats hadn’t been pushed together and one leg slipped between them and the rest of my body tried to keep going forward. The hyperextension was so bad I had to put in a hip to ankle leg cast to keep it stable. That was it, no more soccer for a long, long time. Maybe ever.
I got depressed and withdrew from my family. In doing so I lost my last opportunity to really get to know Dad which will be something I’ll always regret. I can’t believe I knew that it wouldn’t be long before he was completely unable to form thoughts and I still hid in my room. I guess I couldn’t deal with it. I know I couldn’t. Of course, that doesn’t make it any easier to forgive myself.
Mom tried to find me something physical that didn’t need a lot of legwork that I could throw myself into. One day she saw an add for juggling lessons and just signed me up. I went grudgingly and bitterly but mom always did know best. I *loved* it. So that was the new me. I was the entertainer; I juggled anything and everything everywhere I went. I taught anyone who’d sit still long enough to learn, my math teacher, my peers, random kids who came up to me in the streets. One close friend of mine took to it like a fish to water and we partnered up, he was the talent and I was the personality. When our choir toured through Europe we threw a hat down and juggled just so we could say we’ve “performed” in places like Saltsburg and Vienna. When we were 17 we packed up our gear and took a 30-hour train ride to Niagara Falls NY to attend the International Juggling Association’s convention. It was a blast. This was something I could do! I could be busker. Not necessarily noble career when compared to my brilliant family members, but they’d support me all the same. Of course, it didn’t work out for me. The same summer as the convention I was struck by a car while biking and thrown into oncoming traffic.
Not but by the grace of God did I live. In fact, I managed to avoid breaking a single bone. But I had extensive soft tissue damage throughout my back and neck, and some nerve damage in my left hand. I eventually got the feeling back, but it still seems sluggish to me, it just doesn’t respond as fast as I think it should. Again, months of rehab, I probably saw more of my physiotherapist than I did my girlfriend Juggling, however, was right out. It was too painful to bend over and pick the stupid things up all the time. And the continuous motions aggravated pinched nerves in my neck. So I put my juggling clubs in the closet next to my soccer cleats. I tried to throw myself into the piano (I’ve played since I was 8), thinking just practice would get my left hand back in shape but it was both painful and frustrating and I didn’t have the patience for it.
Graduation was coming up fast and I needed a new future. I enjoyed biology and chemistry so why not smush the two together? Biochemistry, here I come! There was a mad dash to throw together some sort of application for Acadia (in my home town) for the coming fall. I was my last choice of school but, well, we couldn’t afford to send me elsewhere. Then, just before finals and within a few days of each other I got acceptance letters from Waterloo, Queen’s and Simon Fraser. Never mind I hadn’t applied. My grandfather offered to pay for my first year of schooling and I figured I might as well go to Waterloo. They had a great coop program that would enable me to pay for the rest of my tuition. A week later I packed my bags and hopped on a plane just a few hours after crossing the stage and graduating from high school. A few months later my parents decided to leave and moved to Northern Ontario. My plans went from staying at home in Nova Scotia with friends and family to going to school halfway across the country but coming back during breaks to never going back to Nova Scotia again within a 4-month span.
Funny how fate takes hold and pushes and prods you according to its whims and whimsies, isn’t it? Why should you bother with dreams, schemes and plans? I’m a year away from graduating and feeling rudderless. I haven’t been doing biochemistry because I love it. I don’t. I can do it, it comes easily to me and I’m good at it. But I can’t picture doing it forever. Can’t picture doing anything forever, really.
I guess I’m looking for something else to be passionate about. I play intramural soccer at school, but I just goof off. I can’t bring myself to really try because I can’t bear to not be as good as I am in my mind’s eye. It’s the same with juggling. I’m part of the juggling club and I enjoy teaching people, but I refuse to perform. I just can’t bring myself to do it.
I’m fumbling for some sort of conclusion to this post but I guess that’s silly of me. There isn’t one. Not yet anyway.
Besides, it’s now past midnight and I’m tired of typing Actually, I think I'm just plain old tired.
*shrug*
Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
Hmm... I have a sinking feeling that this is going to be one of those things that makes perfect sense as you write it in the middle of the night but when you go back to it in the morning you're left to wonder just what on earth you were thinking...
Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :
Wow, BtL. Kayla actually got you to write a landmark thread on a borrowed thread.
I'm impressed. Posted by tt&t (Member # 5600) on :
Made sense to me, Bob.
Happy Landmark! Posted by Sal (Member # 3758) on :
You did it, Bobble! Thanks!
<-- even gladder now to know you
Posted by Nato (Member # 1448) on :
Hey, that's really cool. Thanks for sharing!
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
I'm impressed not merely by that, Ela -- and indeed, it is impressive -- but by BtL's landmark.
I have long been impressed by YOU, Dan. I knew a few bits of that, but it's rather different seeing it all together like that. Now I know better exactly why I've been so impressed by you -- until now it was a general feeling more than anything else.
You are straightforward and honest. You don't give up. You don't give in. You simply take the pieces, shuffle them around a bit, and start again. That is a skill that I am frankly quite jealous of. And one that I am sure will continue to stand you in good stead.
Dan, I know we've had (and surely, will continue to have) our differences. But I'm glad you're here.
And just for you, this post has had all smileys extracted.
Posted by Ophelia (Member # 653) on :
quote:Funny how fate takes hold and pushes and prods you according to its whims and whimsies, isn’t it? Why should you bother with dreams, schemes and plans? I’m a year away from graduating and feeling rudderless. I haven’t been doing biochemistry because I love it. I don’t. I can do it, it comes easily to me and I’m good at it. But I can’t picture doing it forever. Can’t picture doing anything forever, really.
I guess I’m looking for something else to be passionate about.
Change "year" to "week and a half" and "biochemistry" to "languages" and "it comes easily to me and I'm good at it" to "it used to be really easy for me and now I'm just finishing it for the sake of finishing it" and that's me. It's not that I'm not passionate about anything; it's that all my feelings are reserved for people--friends as well as Ben--and I'm feeling purposeless outside of these people. I still have no idea what I want to do as far as a career goes--there's nothing I can see myself truly fulfilled in doing. Everything I think of, career-wise, is just something I could settle for, not something I'd wake up wanting to do every day.
I think I have more to say, but right now I need to finish my papers. Not because I care about them, but just because I guess I should turn something in.
So right now I'll just add that I feel extremely lucky that you're one of the jatraqueros I've met, and that I'll be in touch regarding a gathering soon. Posted by Beren One Hand (Member # 3403) on :
Maybe you are the talent and the personality. Great landmark. Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Great landmark BTL--I'm glad to know you.
Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
Wow, Bob... I've always admired you, but some of your hardships... I'm so amazed to know you. You're one hell of a guy.
Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
Having managed to accidentally fall into psuedo-biomedical research, I can also say that I've no desire to do it for life. Glad I'm not the only one.
But that's a conversation to have over cocktails, no?
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
BtL is one of those people who I truly admire and respect.
Posted by Ralphie (Member # 1565) on :
CyberDan - Stupid Judas of a body. What's truly terrible is that you took so quickly to that stuff, whereas I would be forced to try and learn hoping someone would run me over to end it quickly.
Thank you for being willing to post your landmark. Some bits I knew, some I didn't. When people get on a role, it becomes sort of therapeutic to post the innermost stuff in a thread instead of divulge it over an instant messaging program. I appreciate your willingness to let me (and I guess other people probably read it, too, eh) know more about you.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Great landmark, Bobble. I'm very, very glad you're here. Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
I think this is the part of the thread where I bump it from the third page under the guise of replying to what other people have said, most nefarious of me.
See, here Kayla starts this thread for me and then hounds me for some sort of response and when I post one she can’t even be bothered to gloat about it? I’m so unappreciated.
You know, Celia, when you said you’d buy me a drink I wasn’t picturing the kind you stick plastic umbrellas in. And we’d better watch ourselves, a few too many and we’ll probably start making babies. Only not the old fashioned way, more along the lines of Evil Engineering TM.
Lindsay, once you’ve settled on a schedule start some sort of a thread about Canadian gatherings. I probably check Hatrack more than my Hotmail account these days and, you know, it saves me the trouble of starting a thread on my lonesome.
Thanks, rivka. For more than just keeping the smileys under control. You know, if I feel like I need to shuffle my life around again, maybe I should just go lie down in traffic? I always seem to be at my best after hurting myself…
Ahhh… there’s truly nothing quite so satisfying as narcissism.
Posted by Frisco (Member # 3765) on :
I had a sneaking suspicion that you were a really cool guy, BtL. When I succumbed to the landmark pressure, mine wasn't nearly as good.
You and twinky really need to make it to Chicago, or else I'll have to get up to Canada sometime(which sounds easy enough, but the last time I tried, I was on my way from NYC to Toronto and they sent me home from the border.) Hell, if Kama doesn't mind, I'll stop up there and pick you up on our way from NYC.
Anyway, glad you're at Hatrack, BtL. Post more often.
Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
Congrats on landmarkage Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
I'd love to come out to Chicago, it's just that my entire life is presently up in the air. When I know more about where I'll be in August and what I'll be doing, I'll know if I can make it...
Posted by Kama (Member # 3022) on :
<-- doesn't mind
I think with more people in the car, you would let me out of the trunk sometimes.
Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
Frisco, if you're even halfway serious let me know. It'd sure save me several hundred dollars. If it makes it easier on you I could probably make it to Buffalo or something. You could even make a pitstop to toss Kama over the Falls in a barrel.
Posted by Kama (Member # 3022) on :
Okay, Frisky, I changed my mind.
Posted by Frisco (Member # 3765) on :
Well, if she changes her mind back, I'm totally serious. What's a little detour when you're on vacation? I love to drive.
Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
You can drink whatever you want, but I'll be having something in that catagory.
Oh, and you don't even want to know what plans I've already been making for your drunken self. Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
BtL, why would I gloat? Thanks for posting your landmark, though. Wicked cool.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
thinks both BtL and Twinky should come to Kama con so I can ogle them.
AJ
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Bob and twinky simply must come to Chicago. Twinky can swing dance, and I want to see some juggling.
Posted by Kama (Member # 3022) on :
Only if they don't toss me in a barrell or keep me in the trunk all the way.
Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
Don't worry, they don't let people go over the falls in a barrel any more. It's officially illegal. And if we can't find space in the car for you, you can sit on my lap. I'm willing to make that sacrifice; I'm that kind of guy.
So, Eddie, if you do decide you're Ok with it let me know what day you're planning on heading by and I'll make sure I've got the day booked off. No big rush on that accout though. Also, if it'd make it easier for me to meet you on the other side of the boarder, say in Buffalo or something, I could probably swing that as well.
Posted by Kama (Member # 3022) on :
Yeah. Do I need a visa to get into Canada?
Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
BtL,
I'm trying to catch up on important posts I've missed over the past few days. This was one of them.
(Who knew Kayla could be so pursuasive?)
Wow, what a story.
I always enjoy reading stories of adaptability and resiliency - these seem to be major themes in your life and personality in the story you tell.
I look forward to more years on Hatrack - getting to know you and even argue some. Posted by Kama (Member # 3022) on :
In case you don't know yet, Frisco says we'll meet you in Buffalo.
Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
You know, it's really inconvenient to have my secretary in Poland. It'll be so much easier for Frisco to relay his messages to me when we're all in the same car.
Ok then, I'll meet you in Buffalo, we'll work out the day and time later. Like, the evening before you leave. I guess you're not going to be coming back this way so I'll have to see about paying my own way.
This does, of course, all hinge on whether or not I can get the time off work. Don't know when I'll have that sorted out, but I'll be sure to let you know so you can tell Eddie when I do.
Posted by Frisco (Member # 3765) on :
Well, we're scheduled to go back that way, but I think Kama wants to stop in Vegas so we can get her a green card.
Posted by Kama (Member # 3022) on :
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Actually, I think I'm just plain old tired.![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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