Chit Chat thread

[HA1L ILPALLAZZO]

I've just read all of that above......things got interesting when i wasn't here lol i have to admit i haven't been of sound mind as of late but i have never taken it out on you guys nor friends and family. It's something you don't do nor something i expect other people to do to try and get sympathy. It turns from a cry for help to a cry for attention.

Anyway it's great to see someone stick up for us and i give a big thank you to those that stood for us :-)

I feel great nowadays that i came back to pester you all :-P you guys are the life and soul of the forum and i'm proud it's still up :-)

I'll get off the soap box now and tell you some great news :-) i'm getting round to decorating my flat this week. Tomorrow i get the paint then will start painting :-) i have a bad track record for painting and DIY so please wish me luck and that i don't mess it up lol

[Lord Il]

^Thank you HA1L. It certainly is refreshing that everyone was able to see through that situation for what it really was.

I'll get off the soap box now and tell you some great news :-) i'm getting round to decorating my flat this week. Tomorrow i get the paint then will start painting :-) i have a bad track record for painting and DIY so please wish me luck and that i don't mess it up lol

You really can't mess up painting. I remember a friend saying once that "an ounce of paint covers a multitude of sin." Depending on how you look at that saying, it does make some sense. Sometimes it just feels better to make a radical color change for the better. I believe the rule of thumb is to have brighter colors to give more open-ness to a room (especially important if the rooms are small).

[HA1L ILPALLAZZO]

I understand that saying and i'm going with the following colors

the bathroom is gonna be cucumber salad (thats a very light green that will make it brighter seeing it gets no sunlight)

my bedroom will be white as i'll eventually be having a statement wall in black and white and black carpet )

My frontroom/kitchen will be misty blue (light blue also i'll be getting some pictures to put up. They'll be black and white pics 2 big 2 small. Then the big pics are gonna have blue LEDs wrapped around them so the blue in the wall will shine through :-) )

The hallway will be brown lol

[HA1L ILPALLAZZO]

im having a break from painting today as its been a year since my 5 month old nephew died :-( Daniel R.I.P

[Lord Il]

^My condolences. So horrible.
________________


As I just found out, never jokingly tell a friend that wearing a shawl makes her look like a little ol' lady..
Oh, I am so dead!

But the laugh was plenty worth it!

[E^D Crow]

It is a horrible thing to have such a young life end.  Sorry to hear about it, HA1L.

___________________________________


On a completely unrelated note...

Question:
Have you ever walked into a place you've never been before, and instantly realized that you are NOT welcome there?
Has this ever heppened you you?  I'd like to read about it!


One day, after visiting my favorite comic shop, I decided to check out the 'International Gifts' store across the street.  I've often wondered what kind of esoteric, amazing, worldly things they might have for sale.  It's INTERNATIONAL!  It's in their name!

I walk in, and the cute girl behind the counter immediately starts speaking gibberish!
After saying that I was "just looking around", I did look around...
EVERYTHING is written in RUSSIAN!   

While dodging some very unfriendly looks from the customers (who were also speaking exclusively in Russian), I quickly browsed the place, and left.
I felt a real sense of "You are not one of us!  Go away!"
It's kind of a shame, really, but I guess that's how it goes sometimes.

Although, I did learn something:  I knew that Russians like chess, but I didn't know they liked backgammon just as much.  There were a lot of really nice, high-quality backgammon sets.

At least I now know where to buy a nice backgammon set.

I like backgammon.

E^D

[Zozolton]

Something similar happened to me this summer, when I went to watch a movie in a little movie theater found in a catalog.

When I arrive at the place, a lot of people are coming out and stand in the street, discussing together. They seem to all know each other. I enter to buy a ticket for the showtime at 2pm, but there's no one at the checkout. Five minutes before 2pm, someone comes, sells me a ticket, but warns me that the movie won't start before another half-hour. I wait outside, with all the people still there. I feel quite awkward.

It's 2:30, and no one is getting in. I don't know in which room the movie will be screened. Finally the man who came before tells me the room, and I go in. I'm ALL ALONE when the movie starts. Towards the end, two people get in, stay there for a minute, then get out. I wonder what's going on.

Incidentally, the movie was "Animal Kingdom", which was was MUCH darker than I expected and it was really difficult to keep watching until the end. Then, I exited the building and was quite relieved to get out of here.

It was quite the experience, so I think I can understand how you felt, E^D Crow.

[Randamo]

I'm not much of a shopper, so I get that feeling all the time.


The most noticable is the surf shops. I hate the beach. I hate that scene. But still, those clothes are supposed to be for people my age, right? I always feel uncomfortable though. I'm a short, childish lookin' kid who wears pretty plain clothes. Sporty shirts and jeans mostly. Everyone else looks more fashionable and mature, even though they're younger than me. I go really quick too. I see there's nothing I want, but I feel rude if I dart in and out of the shop. So I kinda walk slow and look harder, but I could've left ages ago. And that's why all my clothes are terrible. A vicious circle, if you will.

[HA1L ILPALLAZZO]

i always feel awkward and i dunno why guess its a built in self defence lol

The painting has come to a stop for one reason. I have my uncle staying. Well i dont like people in my family watching whar i do or moaning about how i do it so im waiting till friday when hopefully he'll move in with ny parents in their new house

[Lord Il]

I had an opposite experience just this past weekend. Me and a bit of the family flew to Toronto to see a Leafs hockey game Saturday night. I decided I wanted to go to the Chinatown district with the nephews to check out an amazing anime store there. Lots of friendly people along the way. We unfortunately made the workers at the anime shop a bit nervous - we spent over an hour marveling over the eye candy and my nephews wore backpacks. I'd feel somewhat nervous too if I were in their shoes to have people in their shop for that length of time wearing backpacks. We explained we were visiting from out of province and everything was instantly all good.

[E^D Crow]

That does sound strange, Zozolton!  Like, what in the hell was going on!?


The thing is:  I like to go shopping and browsing every once in a while, and will go into any store if it looks even remotely interesting.
I can usually shrug off the dirty looks I get after saying: "I'm just looking around." (especially high-end jewelry stores, they just love to hear that).
But this 'International Gifts' place...  I felt like the guy in that one scene from the end of Kindergarden Cop, where all the kids are pointing and yelling: "STRANGER!?  STRANGER!"


...except in Russian.


Also: Toronto is an awesome city.  Been there once; took 9 hours to drive from New Jersey...
Lots to do in and around the city.  CN Tower was awesome!  O_O  Especially standing on the highest glass floor in the world!


E^D

[Lord Il]

Also: Toronto is an awesome city.  Been there once; took 9 hours to drive from New Jersey...
Lots to do in and around the city.  CN Tower was awesome!  O_O  Especially standing on the highest glass floor in the world!


E^D

Yes E^D, been there and done that last weekend too. Even though the last time I was up there was in the eighties, it felt like the first time all over again. And the new exterior lighting system is trippy to see at night.


Anyways, due to time constraints, I wasn't able to check out many of the several international trade stores in Toronto. So I'm unable to give much of an opinion on the matter. And such stores are very rare in my neck o' the woods. ^^; But for any establishment to make you feel uncomfortable being there, it doesn't make a lick of sense for anyone to treat ANY of their patrons differently than anyone else. It's very poor business practice. >_< Your money is as good as what the next person has.

I do try my best to give people the benefit of the doubt, though. Perhaps you walked in during (or just after) some sort of argument within the store. They perhaps gave you the cold shoulder treatment on purpose in hopes you might leave quickly. Heck, no one can know for sure.

But if there's a nice backgammon set you really want, I would try going there to test the waters the first hour they open for the day. The first person you see working there, say "hello" to them first. If the person responds with a "pffft!", or more gibberish, walk back out the door never to return. If they say "hello" back, you may've caught them on a better day to do business with. Hopefully.

[E^D Crow]

Eh, it happens sometimes, but that's just part of where I live.
Northeastern New Jersey is crammed with all kinds of different cultures.  Some places are cool, a few will give you the cold shoulder.

I don't take it personally, and I'll definitely go there if I ever want to buy another backgammon set.
 



Of course, the best part of having so many cultures crammed into such a small area is the choice of food!  There is so much variety around here!
(and that's not even including New York City)
If I go out of my way no more than a 20 or 30 minute drive, I can get just about anything I could possibly crave.

From what I remember, Toronto has some diverse resturaunts...  Which was unfortunate to learn, because I was on a tight budget that weekend.  It was either room service, or Tim Horton's...
 


E^D

[Foggle]

Of course, the best part of having so many cultures crammed into such a small area is the choice of food!  There is so much variety around here!
(and that's not even including New York City)
If I go out of my way no more than a 20 or 30 minute drive, I can get just about anything I could possibly crave.

That's one of the things I love about Austin! But I'm in College Station now, where there aren't so many options.

[HA1L ILPALLAZZO]

I dont get that much choice of food in leicester. If i had to i would go to birmingham to get the various choices (i even found a japanese resturant that specialises in bento meals lol) whereas in leicester its either burgers, chicken, chinese or subway (there is a yo sushi but its always jammed packed in there and i dont go in unless i have a job). No Birmingham or London are the main places for differant foods lol