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TRICKS |
WINGS |
IDEAS |
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"Never thought that so small woody exists." |
Even you? |
Remember that? |
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"Girls prefer real things, not toothpicks." |
Even you? |
She's the type who screams, "Put the lid down or I'll fall in!" |
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Every opportunity. |
You're not cheated. |
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"Hello, smallest meat of the year, how are you?" |
Even you? |
It's subsidized. |
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"Thanks for thinking about me." [From one of the school's "mean girls."] |
Dogs, too! |
Staring at people does not produce food ... It's not how you look at other people It's how you look at yourself. |
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"I have an erection." |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
Take a bottle of Jesus juice and shove it up your ass ... No exaggeration! |
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"Now I'm excited." |
Every opportunity. |
And I thought you were Lockinvar "Oh, what a tangled web we weave When first we practise to deceive." (Derived from Canto VI, XVII, in the epic poem Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field, by Walter Scott, Edinburgh, 1808) |
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"What is 'Slow gold?'" |
Dogs, too! |
David Brooks says, "Think about the traits that creative people possess. Creative people don't follow the crowds; they seek out the blank spots on the map. Creative people wander through faraway and forgotten traditions and then integrate marginal perspectives back to the mainstream. Instead of being fastest around the tracks everybody knows, creative people move adaptively through wildernesses nobody knows." ("The Creative Monopoly," The New York Times, April 23, 2012) |
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"It's got you excited." |
Dogs, too! |
Some people go a lot farther on their EQ than on their IQ. |
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"Someday, someday, but certainly not now, I'd like to learn how to have a conversation." |
Every opportunity. |
You don't know what a solution is if you've never seen one. |
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"I've been on that bus; they're just as good as gold." [From the 2012 documentary, Bully See also stargate22, intimidation, lying] |
Even you? |
Being authentic ... Every week. |
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"I'm sorry I know I'm bothering you." |
Even you? |
Stop trying to get other people to be more important than you are! |
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"I'm sorry I'm bothering you." |
Dogs, too! |
(If she's worried about you, she's getting you to believe she's important.) |
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"You know what? You're the best." |
Even you? |
Sometimes I wish I was a loud pushy person so you could hate me ... You could think about it that way, too. |
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"Aren't you a sweetheart?" |
Even you? |
Mean people can't stand it. |
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"Well, he did call you his sweetheart." |
Even you? |
The thrill is gone. |
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Dogs, too! |
Just once, dog! ... It won't kill you ... Most boring. |
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"I'm sure I'll get the usual wave of hate mail ('Duh, this has been around for years? Where have you been?') But I don't care. I didn't know the SkyDrive had been made so capacious and so free to all. It's worth the humiliation just to spread the word." (David Pogue) |
Every opportunity. |
Wearing short pants makes you feel vulnerable. |
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"God damn, I bet your dad'd be really shamed by you!" [A History of Violence, 2005] |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
I was a man of action as a child. |
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"Yeah, puss Run away!" [A History of Violence, 2005] |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
Stay close, boys, and I'll think of something! ... Exactly what those little kids in grammar school hate, that's what you are! |
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"If you're so rich, you can treat me again." |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
I like to feel I'm taking care of myself, but I know it's a delusion. |
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"Yeah! Tell it like it is, baby!" |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
Okay, so? ... Did we do anything wrong? |
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THAT'S NOTHING! |
One family's enough. |
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"You're a woman!" [A woman striking out at her soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend] |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
You know what isn't going to happen ... All my questions are answered ... Giving us a break ... It could be anybody, right? ... It's like blood feuds ... Parents are tyrants. |
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"Thank you, baby!" |
Every opportunity. |
She probably keeps them in a lower drawer next to her sneakers. |
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"Come on, baby, I'm tired of talking a little less conversation and a little more action." |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
It's time to go! Musicians are supposed to be shaggy It's part of the mystique. |
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"You're not working? No business?" |
Every opportunity. |
I'm an importer of false eyelashes. |
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"You're the Antichrist." |
Even you? |
Not even that It's just bad manners. |
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"You'll forget the way I look the minute ship leaves port." |
Dogs, too! |
You and me, babe how 'bout it? |
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["What else can you do?"] "You can give blowjobs." |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
Get lost! ... Good-bye ... High hopes ... Oh, it's you! It's nice to have a little kitten. |
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"If we reduce high-level executive compensation, the University won't be able to retain or attract top administrators." |
Every opportunity. |
You know how relatives are ... and they pretend they know something, that's the problem ... It goes back to ancient times ... Let Jesus do it! ... That kid is smart! |
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"You have an attitude for a houseboy." |
Even you? |
I'm not afraid of that ... I just wanted to see what's going on. |
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Even you? |
I think I'm beyond that ... You just can't believe a word they say. |
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"You're not going to like this one bit." |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
Am I in the way? |
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"Don't blow it!" |
Every opportunity. |
I hope I die in style. |
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"You shouldn't bring your baby into the pool without a diaper." |
Even you? |
It's not my baby, toots. |
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"Now you're talking out of your ass." |
Even you? |
Call the police. |
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"Cry me a river." |
Every opportunity. |
It's water over the dam. |
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Dogs, too! |
That was a cold cry. |
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THAT'S NOTHING! |
So oppressive. |
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["Three weeks after I got married, I knew it was a mistake."] "Was that in San Francisco?" [Codeword for "Are you gay?"] |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
That's a lot of real estate. |
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THAT'S NOTHING! |
Why do I feel like a baby when I sense myself? |
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"You're doing better than me." |
Every opportunity. |
For some reason that's a no-no. |
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"You're going home alone, aren't you?" |
Every opportunity. |
The rich are where the money is. |
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"I'm being punished." |
Every opportunity. |
It's easier to learn how to be happy than than it is to learn how to suffer ... So seek happiness, fool! |
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["How are you doing?" "All right."] "If you're just all right, I don't know if you're ready to go on the radio." |
Every opportunity. |
Well, that's what you say, you know? ... Fantastic! |
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"I know what you're thinking." |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
It's just what you're cooking up to torture yourself. |
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"What do you do, drive around all day thinking?" |
Even you? |
What do you want to ruin your life having fun for? |
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"What are you thinking?" |
Dogs, too! |
You tell me first. |
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"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
Just one thing leads to another. |
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"Now you can get back to thinking big thoughts." |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
There's a lot of them There always have been. |
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"You've got the mentality of a twenty-year-old man." [Disparagingly ... (Sex!)] |
Dogs, too! |
This generation is more open than people know It's just the Church people left behind. |
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"[Senator Obama] sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country [William Ayers, founder of the Weather Underground and confessed bomber, with whom Mr. Obama had a fleeting association] And, according to The New York Times, he was a domestic terrorist and part of a group that, quote, 'launched a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and our U.S. Capitol.'" (Governor Sarah Palin, October 6, 2008, inciting members of the audience at a Clearwater, Florida political rally to cry out, "Boooo!" "Treason!" "Terrorist!" "KILL HIM!") |
Even you? |
Let's not! ... You're an intelligent, growing mind ... I'm going to take you someplace nice. |
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"Everything always has to be black and white for you." |
Dogs, too! |
You're confused. |
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"You're being unreasonable." |
Every opportunity. |
I'm the one who's ruining the atmosphere of Happy Hollow ... It's my attitude ... It's no good. |
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"You're being a psychobitch!" |
Even you? |
I'm not afraid of you I'm afraid of my mother! |
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"taxi1010 stupid! You're doing it wrong." |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
Is this really evil? |
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"You're a nigger yourself." |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
You're much too plantation oriented And who isn't? |
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"Don't forget who you're talking to!" |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
I don't know why, for a couple of thousand years, people can't see there's no god. |
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"It's a waste of gas." [Thursday rehearsal for a weekend Blue Angels air show] |
Every opportunity. |
The room of rising fumes. |
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"Why are you giving me a citation?" |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
You want to see what you're doing and get wise to it. |
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"The Polytechnic is history. Vietnam is history. Auschwitz is history. Hippies are history. Punks are history. God is history. Hollywood is history. The Soviet Union is history. My parents are history. My friend Joe is becoming history. I will become history. This fucking shithole planet will become history. Take more drugs." (Christos Tsiolkas, extract from Loaded) |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
They always miss one thing ... I can endure. |
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"You're not on the list." [Trans: You're not on the five-member task force] |
Even you? |
I wouldn't bother with people I don't like . . . I appoint you to be keeper of the flame. |
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"What are you doing over there? You're supposed to be over here!" |
Even you? |
That's none of my business. |
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"We're doing the basement, remember?" |
Every opportunity. |
Save it! |
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"Life is a compromise." |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
It's always better not to do anything permanent at first. |
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"Is there any compromise?" |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
I hope you don't mind I get angry, too. |
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"Compromise." |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
There's safety in slowland, right? |
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"My God! You're so rich!" [Cash you carry to make change] |
Dogs, too! |
As much as it hurts me ... but you have to pay me five dollars! |
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"Do I know you from someplace?" |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
Let that be a lesson to you. |
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"Anything's possible." |
Even you? |
Even happiness? |
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"Nothing is impossible." |
Even you? |
They really believe that radio tubes are going to power locomotives They must have a divine belief in their ability It's delusions of grandeur. |
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"I had a nightmare I dreamt I was back in the radio room." |
Every opportunity. |
And you don't need it. |
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"Oh, go back to Ohio." |
Dogs, too! |
I do worse things than you. |
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"Oh, my God! This is really a nightmare." |
Every opportunity. |
You have to put yourself first. |
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"People think they have to memorize everything." |
Even you? |
The big thing is in knowing who to avoid. |
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"You're a long ways from home." |
Even you? |
It would take a long time to paint a turtle on top of a bird on top of a snake on top of a heron, as seen from above. |
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"Now you're being smart with me." |
Every opportunity. |
Breaking rules Everyone has the right to be what they are! |
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"You better take care of yourself! You're lucky I don't kick your motherfucking ass!" |
Even you? |
MY GOOD MAN, I NEVER DID ANYTHING TO HARM YOU. |
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"Go back to San Francisco, man!" |
Every opportunity. |
WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO ME THIS WAY? |
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"Probably molests little girls." |
Every opportunity. |
Poor kids, no? How little we know. |
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"Only in San Francisco." |
Every opportunity. |
At least LA is really dirty. |
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"Oh, pul-lease!" |
Every opportunity. |
You know, you don't have to eat any of it if you don't like it. |
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"Are you a candidate for sainthood?" [From a well-dressed gentleman ambushing you at your car with an elaborate, swiftly changing story] |
Dogs, too! |
Aaron T. Beck says, "There is more to the surface than meets the eye." |
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"They say he's the last Pope before the coming of the Antichrist." |
Even you? |
He's too nice to be the Pope. |
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"Is arrogance and unwavering self-regard the antidote to guilt?" |
Every opportunity. |
You win You win again You're very tricky. |
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"You are being judgmental and petty." |
Every opportunity. |
Me and my big mouth How can you kill someone who's already dead? |
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"If the shoe fits, wear it." |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
The shoe's on the other foot. |
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"You can't buy affection ... except maybe at pet stores." |
Every opportunity. |
A dog from Africa! In the wilds of the north. |
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"You're too introspective." |
Every opportunity. |
Are you holding it hostage? |
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"I've got a date with my husband." |
Even you? |
Too bad I wasn't just dreaming. |
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"Rich kids' school." |
Even you? |
It's one of the ways your tribe is allowed to express anger You know, lording it over other people ... sending food back. |
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Every opportunity. |
Even if he lives on Mars. |
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"Is it till death do us part?" |
Every opportunity. |
That's what life is, pretending you're dead. |
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"I know what those guys are up to I've seen it before." |
Even you? |
Why would they bury two people in one grave? |
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"They park there, saying they just can't hold it any longer." |
Every opportunity. |
It's nice out. |
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"Then they go into the rest room and swap tickets with one of their buddies That's why he's all angry." |
Dogs, too! |
It's so nice out, I could leave it out all day. |
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"The guard knows all about it and won't let them back in line." |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
All is revealed. |
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"See? That aggravates me." |
Every opportunity. |
You'll do all right. |
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[Someone boring you to death at a party] |
Every opportunity. |
Giraffes. |
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"You know, you don't take criticism well." |
Even you? |
It goes without saying. |
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"What did you spend it on?" [All your credit card debt] |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
Lightning bugs. |
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"Don't spend it all in one place." |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
The wishing well. |
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"Know-it-all." |
Every opportunity. |
Another racket. |
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Even you? |
I'm surprised it's legal. |
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Even you? |
A specialist. |
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"The Supreme Court needs to be five to four in favor of God, not in favor of Norman Lear, NOW, NARAL and other Anti-God, Anti Marriage things, or this nation will get God real mad!" (Pat Robertson) |
Every opportunity. |
A university on the moon: Moon U. |
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"Israel is the root of evil." |
Every opportunity. |
At least I'm not a lying pig ... I understand what goodness and decency are. |
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"I think we should allow more impartial studies to be done on this." (President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, questioning the evidence that the Holocaust ever happened, 20 Sep 2006) |
Even you? |
"I used to read, but it's faster to make up stuff." (Dilbert) |
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"I don't believe the Holocaust ever happened." |
Even you? |
You're not only mixed up, but you're a nincompoop. |
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"It's not in the New Testament." |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
The Bible is in you You're not in the Bible. |
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"Blow me It's show business." |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
You can't be grown-up. |
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"You can start sucking my cock!" |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
You bought a bad nightclub act for yourself. |
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["This is not an asthma symphony!" After asking you one question about your asthma, your mother thinks she can proceed with an unrelenting barrage of intimate questions about your asthma in front of your girlfriend] |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
It's good when people know what they can't do. |
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[Someone reciting poetry in your face. (You can see this as one of the compulsive utterances of Tourette's syndrome) What they really want is attention; it's up to you which way you pay attention to them] |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
In a hundred years it will be fabulous. |
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"Some people think they have to put on the glitter." |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
There's only so much you can do. |
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"Well, I'm thrilled that you're happy." |
Even you? |
This is a good time to have a liberal-arts education. |
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"You're right I'm wrong." |
Even you? |
Why should you be? |
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"I'm always wrong You're always right." |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
It's all a transference. |
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"What? You're leaving now? Aren't you going to stay and help with the dishes?" |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
I learned it from you! |
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"Trying to be something that you're not." |
Every opportunity. |
You know, you're a whole person You don't want to get stuck in one part of you. |
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"You're still safe." |
Every opportunity. |
Do you sit on the giant turtles? |
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"You're asking too many questions." |
Every opportunity. |
Every day is the day of the dead. |
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"You're nothing." |
Every opportunity. |
Just don't join the Nazi party. |
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"Suck my cock!" |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
I bet you it's better Unless you think you're God or something. |
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"You're not." |
Every opportunity. |
It's an accommodation to nature that's successful. |
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"You're a woman!" |
Every opportunity. |
You have to be quick. |
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"Bend over." |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
Get a dog A dog won't care if you're an asshole. |
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"You've already taken this class." |
Every opportunity. |
I keep saying someone should. |
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"Put a lid on it, Bozo." |
Every opportunity. |
Bozo makes people laugh. |
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"Sorry to bore you." |
THAT'S NOTHING! |
It all depends on what you take seriously. |
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"I was just being friendly." |
Every opportunity. |
It means you're a very deep person ... Not too friendly, not too weird ... Very loyal ... For ever so many years ... Friendly is not the same thing as friends ... It can go just one way: we can be simple ... There's no work in relationships ... They're just people ... They either get along or they don't ... May your time machine not stop in the dark cave ... Hiding out in the basement sharing secrets with your best friend: sneaky and happy and honest ... The way you can bring back those wonderful days: living with a mystery. |
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18-JUL-1999.
Not Suffering by Comparison
Just because you are standing somewhere, does not necessarily mean you are standing in a line. Just because you defer to an authority figure, does not necessarily mean you are prepared to suck their cock. Just because you park your car in front of someone's house, does not necessarily mean you are violating their property rights. Just because you have a dog named Hermes, does not necessarily mean you have herpes. Just because you have a little money, does not necessarily mean you are going to blow it away. Just because you are an attractive person, does not necessarily mean you are someone's babe, or honey, or sweetie. Just because you have a bemused facial expression, does not necessarily mean something is wrong or something is the matter. Just because you are taking a walk in the neighborhood, does not necessarily mean you are taking a vacation. Just because you know a little something, does not necessarily mean you have to explain yourself. Just because someone makes a lewd proposition, does not necessarily mean you have to jump into their stinking gutter.
Stay up on the sidewalk.
30-APR-2013.
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On a Certain Drained Feeling
You Get Around Total Bores
They corner you at a party.
They deftly change the subject.
Suddenly they're talking about money
or housing regulations or all their relatives.
These are things you can't prove
as being true or untrue.
11-NOV-1999.
Bo-ring! Snor-o Bor-o Energy Sucks!
People who bore you half to death, at a party or other social occasion, are generally using the Fallacy of Misleading Analogy. You get the idea they're going on and on about something without the slightest inkling you want them to stop! Just because you gave them a little attention (on a whim), does not necessarily mean you're prepared to be a captive audience (or victim).
Essentially, as they start to go on and on about something-or-other, the animal in you (your instincts or Id) feels like murdering them, for ignoring you, for not assessing your previous expertise in the matter, for not even seeing you just don't care. Then, to maintain your position as a God-fearing member of civilization, the overlord in you (your ideals or Superego) clamps down hard on your impulses to kill them, and the net effect of these two self-annihilating expenditures of energy is the distinct (and real) impression that your energy is being sucked away by something you don't understand.
You tend to blame it on the other person, the Snor-o Bor-o Energy Suck.
However, there is a way out. You simply repeat, in a circular queue, the following four phrases: "Even you?" "Every opportunity," "Dogs, too!" and "THAT'S NOTHING!" When you get to end of the list, you start at the beginning. (It will eventually get rid of 'em!)
Here's an example. I was gazing at the food cart, specifically at a banana, in the airport taxi garage, when suddenly we all hear the screeching of tires, and looking up, see a Yellow Taxi racing off, away from the guard who is waving overflow taxis back out to the freeway.
The taxi driver standing next to me suddenly starts to say, "I know what those guys are up to I've seen it before."
I keep looking at him, not knowing what to say.
"They park there," he goes on, "saying they just can't hold it any longer. Then they go into the rest room and swap tickets with one of their buddies That's why he's all angry."
I still don't know what to say.
Taking my silence as a cue to continue, he goes on, "The guard knows all about it and won't let them back in line."
I'm actually flabbergasted by this idea, and taking my facial expression as a cue to start over, the guy actually starts telling me the same theory from the beginning! Even as I'm walking briskly away without my banana!
Finally, I manage to blurt out, "THAT'S NOTHING!" breaking the spell. The guy gives a surprised laugh, drops from the chase, and leaves me alone.
Now. Here's the way it should have gone, had I been true to that banana:
"I know what those guys are up to I've seen it before."
Even you?
"They park there, saying they just can't hold it any longer."
Every opportunity.
"Then they go into the rest room and swap tickets with one of their buddies That's why he's all angry."
Dogs, too!
"The guard knows all about it and won't let them back in line."
THAT'S NOTHING!
See? I didn't change anything, but I got my banana.
Ø ¥
CODE WORDS: action, administrators, affection, aggravates, angry, Antichrist, anything's, arrogance, attract, Auschwitz, baby, basement, bend, black, blondes, blow, blowjobs, bombings, bore, [boring], bothering, Bozo, bus, capacious, citation, class, cock, compensation, compromise, conversation, criticism, cry, erection, excited, executive, friendly, gas, glitter, gold, guard, high-level, Holocaust, houseboy, I've, impartial, impossible, [inciting], isolated, Israel, judgmental, kids', know-it-all, leaves, longer, memorize, mentality, molests, nation, nightmare, Ohio, palling, petty, psychobitch, pul-lease, punished, puss, [reciting], reduce, retain, Ritenour, sainthood, San Francisco, self-regard, shamed, shoe, smart aleck, smarty-pants, someplace, smallest, spend, spoiled, spread, sweetheart, terrorists, Testament, thinking, till, toothpicks, unreasonable, [unrelenting], wave, woody, you're
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