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I will not wield my broadsword in traffic, I will not wield my broadsword in traffic, I will not wield my broadsword in traffic.

Okay. So, the big mushrooms and all that are gone. But now I'm dreaming about becoming a nun, and running an insane asylum? Full on, black floor length habit, sniping at underlings, and freaking caning patients? In one dream I had a young man who'd done something, and he bent over my desk, trousers down, and Mother Superior here was whipping the hell out of him. I'm ... kind of creeped out, honestly.

Oliver, I can hear you laughing now.

Maaaaaaaaaaaaaan this reminds me of MIT.

And no, not only weirder. Almost exactly the same. Ah, youth.

I really should not have to fill out Workman's Compensation forms within my industry, but alas, that is how I spent my afternoon. It cut into my ability to plan Valentine's Surprises!

Best Mardi Gras party ever.

I may have had my watchdog big brother trailing me all through the complex party so I couldn't do the drinking, try to score anyone's pills or anything else. This sober shit is killing me, by the way, so it's when a drink would REALLY help but I guess people don't want me to end up hooked on booze or something on top of everything else, so I get it. Sucks, but I DO get it.

I did, however, end up with a shit ton of beads. Like seriously, 22 of them. Not a bad night, actually. His horrified faces as I made my way through the party, and possibly ended up screaming through his window to give me beads made the whole thing even better. I mean, not like he's gonna get a heart attack any time soon, so it was pretty much hilarious.

And I guess waking up sans hangover wasn't the worst deal ever. Probably.

Has anyone ever had the dreams explain something in their waking life? I always wondered why I was so ardently anti-organized religion, and now it makes perfect sense.

Hey, someone else here mentioned the pope so I don't have to be the first and, I don't know, offend people here or anything that way when I say good riddance and that I laughed at first when I heard the news, but then that sense of relief, extreme fucking relief took over. It would probably be considered sacrilegious to drop by and light a candle and fall to my knees in front of an altar thanking God for what just happened, but I'm thinking I'll probably do it after class.

It's probably too soon to hope that the church manages to actually become a part of the real world through losing one pontiff , but I can hope and pray that they get someone normal, someone sane, and someone willing to look out for all of us and not just the chosen ones in this time anyway.

I mean, I finally got over the conditioning that I could have God and salvation, or I could have my life on the terms I want to live it in when I tried, really tried, coming back last month and got an answer when it turned out, yeah, God meant for the things that make me happy to be part of my life, but that didn't mean I'm exactly welcome at most parishes or masses either.


Maybe the pope stepping down is one of those hints that the people running all these things might finally take notice, that that chance is finally here, and things are opening up again. I finally got okay with both parts of who I am at last, and maybe, this time, the humans who run things can actually do the same. I mean, there might be some kid like me who doesn't have to deal with what I did as a teenager in the future.

I know, it's a long shot, it's still the Catholic Church and everything, but I don't know, it makes me hope that better things are coming.

The pope's retiring? That's kind of hilarious.

Edit: THOR YOU CAN'T LET SOMEONE ELSE BARTEND KITTY' BACHELOR PARTY Whoever it is might make weak drinks, and I'm morally opposed to that idea.

Valuable Information for my favorite big brother, and everybody else entering the dating waters this valentines day!

I joined this message board last week, but I wanted to wait a while to make sure I wasn't the oldest person here. It seems I am not, so...

Hello. My name is George. I live in Anaheim. I work in advertising. I have a dog that will very willingly sport a bow-tie.

( Uggie )

Dear woman who has somehow been suckered into dating Oliver Queen,

I am so so very sorry. ...No that's unfair to him and you, I mean you probably got sucked in by the charm, a lot of people have over the years and he's not that bad, really, just...

Ollie and relationships are just one of those things. It doesn't tend to go well in the long term mostly because he manages to somehow fuck them up for himself a few months down the line. I mean, he doesn't do it on purpose but he sort of self sabotages and you'll end up incredibly annoyed and disgusted before very long.

It isn't that he's not a good man. It's more that he's, well, you know the term manchild? I think that it was actually invented for how he approaches personal relationships. You know the bull and china shop cliche? That's Ollie in relationships.

God knows, I don't want to know about whether or not the sex is good, I'm assuming it is, because most of his relationships tend to feature awesome sex, according to him, but uh, be warned that outside of the sex, you're dealing with a whole new set of issues you might not be aware of right now.

I'm sure you're really an awesome gal and all, but uh...from someone who has known him for 20 years now ,and lived with him for six of them...


I just thought it was fair to warn you.

-Roy Harper

I don't get the wine thing. I mean yes, I understand the fermenting of grapes create wine and everything, and I will drink it (because, as is always brought up among my numerous character flaws, I am a near-alcoholic) but a wine walk?

I mean, you walk, you drink wine.

Isn't that just Friday nights at a New England college anyway?

Anyone in AA or trying to kick booze on your own, you ever have really vivid dreams? Last night I had a few that had me up in the middle of the night wondering whether or not to call the doctor.

I'm not sure I'm supposed to be on this network thing, but my old AA meeting leader told me about it. Said it might do some good.

I'm Judy, I used to work for a senator in Washington, and I'm an alcoholic, in case you didn't guess. I'm looking for a new meeting, and a job of some sort, because if I have nothing to do but sit at home and drink, that will be worse for me. I have a resume ten yards long, so I can be of great help to anyone who takes a chance on me.

I heard about the crazy plague, incidentally. Is that over with, or should I stay in my condo for a while until the all clear is sounded? I wanted to get the hell out of Boston as quick as possible - for any of you who have "well meaning" nieces or nephews, you know why I wasn't about to move in with them.