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PSI: Mary told me that you used to go by Craig.
MPH: Yes, my first name is Craig, and I went by that name the first 18 years of my life.
I never really liked my first name, but I did like my middle name. Not only do I like the name Porter, but I like its history. Porter is a family name. Sanford Porter, my 5th great grandfather, joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1831 (it was founded in 1830). He and his family moved to Nauvoo, and then were eventually forced out and made the trip out to Utah, where he and his sons founded the city of Porterville, Utah.
When I came out to BYU, I told everybody that my name was Porter, not Craig. As a result, it became truth. After a few years, most of my family was calling me Porter too.
When my mom tells stories about me, she calls me Craig if it happened while I was Craig, and calls me Porter if it happened after I was Porter. She doesn't do it on purpose -- that's just how it comes out.
PSI: So does it seem like "Craig" is a different person from "Porter"?
MPH: For a long time, it really seemed that way. There was such a marked divide in my life between when I was Craig and subject to the overlordship of my parents and when I was Porter out at school making my own decisions.
Personal freedom was always very important to me. I always chaffed against the restrictions that my parents gave me. We fought and fought and fought about things like curfew, are bladed weapons allowed in the house, etc.
Having a birthday in late summer, I was younger than most of my classmates, and therefore was not able to get my driver's license when everybody else did. I was counting the days until my birthday so that I could get a car and go where I pleased when I passed out in public. It was the second time this had happened, but it had been a couple of years since the other time.
I went to the doctor, and after some tests like an EEG, he said that I suffered from petit mal seizures. This meant that a) I had to take the medication Tegratol every day b) every six months I had to go in to get tested for the Tegratol levels in my blood (this was horrible -- I pass out sometimes when they stick evil needles in me) and c) I COULD NOT DRIVE.
I was heartbroken. The law in Oklahoma was that you had to be a full year seizure-free in order to legally drive. As a result, I was forced to scrounge for rides my entire Junior year.
After a year was almost up, I was preparing to finally get my license. My parents had always said that when I got my license, the family would get another car so that I would have a car to drive. I broached this topic with my parents, and they said that money was tight, and they might not be able to buy a car anytime soon.
This was horrible. After waiting so long, was I going to be denied yet again?
I went to my parents and said that I understand that money was tight, so I am going to buy myself a motorcycle. Well, my parents didn't like that at all. "No, you can't do that. You couldn't afford one."
Well, I did some checking, and found that I probably could afford one. I told parents that, and they assured me that while I maybe could afford to buy a motorcycle, I couldn't afford the gas, insurance, etc. I went and did some more research, and discovered that I could afford it. My parents didn't have much to say when I told them that I could afford it all, so I was going to start shopping for a motorcycle.
Within a week, my parents had bought a used car for me to drive. Everybody was happy. I had freedom of movement, and my parents didn't have to identify my body at the morgue after I got in an accident on my motorcycle.
What were we talking about? Oh yeah, Porter vs. Craig. It used to be that they really seemed like different people, but that isn't as true anymore. From my current perspective 12 years later, the Porter that was a freshman at BYU is a lot more similar to Craig than to the Porter that is 30 years old with three kids and a house.
PSI: LOL. Do you ever wish you had gotten a motorcycle? That's something I'd like to see.
MPH: I'm not sad that I didn't have a motorcycle, but every time a see somebody on a bike I always say wistfully "I'd really like to get a motorcycle someday." My wife doesn't have any problems with the idea, but I still don't think it will ever happen.
Sigh....
PSI: Do you still get treatment for the seizures? Or did you just grow out of it?
MPH: No, I grew out of it. It was a puberty thing. I had two seizures, and that's it.
PSI: Maybe you were saved from a deadly car wreck.
MPH: It could be. Even after waiting a year to drive, I still got in two accidents in two months after getting my license. The week I got it, I lost control on a dirt road, drove through a barbed-wire fence, and rolled the car in a cow field.
I was fine. The only injury I sustained was when I un-buckled my seat belt and fell.
PSI: But what about the cows?
MPH: Actually, there weren't any cows there. Perhaps cow field was a poor choice of words.
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PSI: Hehe, okay moving on. What was your family like? Did you have any siblings?
MPH: My family is a pretty generic Mormon family. My folks met at BYU, where I was born. I am the oldest of 5 boys, spread out through 12 years. My youngest brother just graduated from high school. My father recently retired, and my parents are still together.
Growing up in a family of all boys had a pretty big effect on me, especially considering the fact that my mother is not a typical woman. I have very little understanding of and patience for things that are considered stereotypically female.
PSI: I want to know more about this. How did it affect you, exactly?
MPH: Well, it's hard to say how my perspective is skewed, because my perspective is skewed.
My mother never wore makeup and didn't have pierced ears. As for jewelry, she wore her wedding ring and occasionally a necklace, but never an expensive one. She would sometimes curl her hair on Sundays for church. That's about it.
My mother never spoke against it, but I grew up with the opinion that make-up, lots of jewelry, fashionable clothes, etc. were a sign of pure vanity.
My family was pretty reserved. Not formal -- just reserved. We didn't talk about our feelings or uncomfortable issues much. My father never explained the birds and the bees to me -- he gave me a science book instead. When I hit puberty, I was waaaay too embarrassed to mention to my family whether I liked a girl or not. The idea that anybody in my family might know who I liked mortified me.
The stereotype is that females can be more irrational than males held big sway on me. When a girl started acting emotional, I freaked out. "Psycho hose-beast" was a phrase used to describe what I then considered insanely emotional and/or clingy girls. I used to say that while all guys are jerks, all girls are insane.
When we were dating, I told my wife once "You are *soooo* female." She thought I was talking about her femininity. To my shame, what I really meant was that she was acting irrational. It's funny that I would say that, because she does not fit the stereotype in that way. She is not an extremely emotional female. Unless you compare her to me, of course.
I've gotten better, and I consciously try, but it still requires the patience of Job for my wife to deal with me.
It still shows up in little ways. My wife cannot keep pretty soap in the bathrooms. If I see a pretty piece of shell-shaped soap in the bathroom, I'll use it to wash my hands. Not out of spite, but because I just can't remember that certain pieces of soap are supposed to be soap, and other pieces of soap are just supposed to be decoration.
PSI: Tell me about being a dad.
MPH: Yeah, I am a father. Mary and I have been married for a little over six years, and we have three kids. The oldest, "Mario," just entered kindergarten. Our middle child, "Peach," is three, and our youngest, "Care Bear," is 15 months old.
The other day "Mario" was asking why we decided to give him two sisters instead of any brothers. I explained that we didn't decide that -- we just got whatever God sent us. "Mario" got excited at that, and is hoping that he gets a brother next. I told him that we'll just have to wait and see.
How many children do we plan on having? We don't have a plan. All I can say is that I don't think we're done yet. After the next child, we'll sit down and try to figure out if were done yet. We've done that each time, and each time we feel like we should have more children.
Becoming a father was a big leap of faith for me. I have never liked children. But I was promised long ago by a source I believe in that I would love my children.
But still, I didn't *want* to become a father. But as I thought and prayed about it, I came to the feeling that we should have children. But even knowing that I should do that, I was still scared to death. I've always had somewhat of a Peter Pan problem -- I have fought growing up every inch of the way.
When we decided to go off of birth control, it freaked me out. I remember that I was so scared of becoming a father that I avoided sex with my wife for a while. But eventually I let nature take its course.
I am so happy that I have been able to marry and become a father. In many ways, everything I did before was like a game. I could always walk away if it became too difficult. Yes, there were some things, like my LDS mission, that I couldn't walk away from. But for the most part it holds true. It's scary being responsible for my family, but without that, I don't think I could have ever become a man -- I would have stayed a boy forever. I can see how I could have become a middle-aged little boy like the comic book guy on Simpson's.
All I'm really saying is that even though I didn't want to become a father, I knew that it was the right thing for me to do. I did it, and I learned that it really *was* the right thing for me to do, and I am far happier than I would have been otherwise. True, I still think wistfully upon the care-free days of yore, but that's OK.
PSI: Wait, if you're Peter Pan, who does that make Mary?
MPH: Well, there's the idea out there (I think it was coined by psychology author Dan Kiley, but I have never read any of his books) of the Peter Pan Syndrome. According to him, women that are married to a "Peter Pan" either fall into the Wendy trap (mothering their husband and encouraging him to remain a Peter Pan) or become a Tinkerbell. I have no idea what a Tinkerbell is supposed to do, but I assume it's supposed to be waaaaaay better than being a Wendy.
That said, it doesn't really fit. I don't seem to fit the Peter Pan mold. I don't so much refuse to grow up as I complain about growing up. So my wife is not forced to be Wendy nor Tinkerbell, and is allowed to be just Mary.
Let me take this opportunity to dispel any rumors that there is any connection between myself and this guy: http://www.pixyland.org/peterpan/
PSI: Okay, admit it. You've got a pair of tights in the back of your underwear drawer, don't you?
MPH: I'm afraid not. Nothing so interesting. My clothes are pretty boring.
If you meet me, and it's not Sunday, 99% of the time I will be wearing blue jeans or shorts and a pocket T or floral shirt. I'm very consistent, and very boring.
In high school, I used to cut off the legs of pants to create shorts that went longer than the knees. Nobody had ever heard of such a thing before, and my friends mocked me mercilessly. They called them "hobbit pants".
And then about a year later, they suddenly became popular. I was very annoyed. Wearing those wasn't nearly as cool once others thought it was cool.
In high school, like many people, my self of identity was tied to what I liked and what I looked like. I was a big fan of hats. I had a collection of dozens of hats of various types. It was part of my "image".
The whole idea of cultivating an "image" just kinda died after my mission. It was unexpected -- I had spent so much time and effort before (18 and younger) on my image, but I just didn't care about it afterward.
Similar to this is the way I cultivated my geekiness. When I was younger, I would go to great lengths to make sure I knew more about specific topics than anybody else. In my high school, nobody knew more about Tolkien than I, nobody could quote the Princess Bride better than I, etc..
That's who I was -- they guy that wore ________ and the guy that liked _________, the guy that could ________. I think that after my mission, I was a lot more comfortable with myself, and no longer felt the need to define myself that way anymore. I'm just Porter, and I'm comfortable with that. But I'm not positive exactly how things changed.
Some odd pieces of clothing I have:
When I wear my aikido hakkama it looks like I am wearing a skirt most of the time. In fact, it's probably something very similar to this that fantasy authors refer to as a "divided skirt" or "riding skirt". We are wearing hakkama in this picture: http://setyonugroho.ilalang.biz/kansha4/image-html/HPIM3549.html
I also have a very large and very heavy suit of Chain Mail that I made. It's actually not all that fancy, but it took me hundreds of hours to make it. I wore it to one Ren Faire, and that was it. It's actually a really sad waste. Oh well...
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PSI: How did you discover OSC and come to Hatrack?
MPH: The first OSC book I read was Treason, which a friend recommended to me in 9th or 10th grade. I remember thinking when I read it "This guy almost sounds like a Mormon". I didn't read anything more by him for years.
Senior year in high school I was introduced to Ender's Game. That year, I read all of the Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, the first 3 Alvin books, and the big one -- Maps in a Mirror.
Then I went out to BYU for my freshman year. I discovered other OSC fans out there, and the BYU library had much more OSC than my hometown library. I read some of the homecoming books (including a manuscript of one that wasn't even published yet), Folk of the Fringe, and a few others.
Over the years, I slowly kept reading more OSC. As I got older, different parts of his writing appealed to me more. As is natural, when I was younger I really liked the books with young protagonists (Ender's Game, Seventh Son, Red Prophet, Songmaster, etc.). As I got older and had children, the stories with adult and parent protagonists appealed more.
I have especially enjoyed some of his more recent works that don't seem to be as popular -- Pastwatch, Enchantment, Homebody, and Treasure Box. Personally, I wished that OSC hadn't continued his Alvin Maker series, as much as I loved the first 3 books in the series. I have also enjoyed the Shadow series. My only complaint about those books is that I think that Bean and Petra are not as interesting as Peter and his parents.
I can't tell you when he became my favorite author, but it was years ago.
I actually joined Hatrack back in 1999 or 2000 as porteiro_head, but then I didn't stick around, and I lost the password.
Even though the forums didn't interest me much, I kept coming back to Hatrack for Uncle Orson Reviews Everything. Then three years ago, he started his War Watch column. I didn't agree with him about everything, but I found that I agreed with OSC more that I agreed with anybody else I was hearing from in the media, which I'll admit was mostly limited to NPR.
Eventually, I started participating on the OSC side of the forum again. I peeked over to this side every once in a while, but there seemed to be too much of a hurdle to join the group. It seemed like a gigantic forum dedicated to arguing about politics and laughing at inside jokes.
I hate to admit it, but it's because of OSC-fan that I came over here at all. She posted on the OSC side a link to one of the big contentious threads following OSC's big gay marriage column. I mentioned the column and people's reactions to it to my wife, and she was interested enough that she signed up and jumped right in. After about a month, she drug me over here. This was back in March. I've been hanging out here ever since.
PSI: Regarding your initial perception of Hatrack: Has it changed now that you've gotten to know us better?
MPH: Well, my original assessment was correct, but inadequate to describe what Hatrack is. What I couldn't see from my cursory examination was that Hatrack is more of a community than any other place I've found on the internet. It really touched me when pooka recognized me from the other side and said that she had enjoyed my posts.
And that's all I have to say about that.
PSI: Ok, Forrest.
MPH: If I could be as lucky as Forrest, I think I could be really happy being really thick.
PSI: What do you like to do when you aren't on Hatrack? Career? Hobbies?
MPH: I work as a programmer/mechanical engineer. I work out of my home office, as do most of the employees in my company. I really like not having to go to the office every day, and I like the flexibility that it gives me.
One disadvantage is that I don't get to interact with my co-workers "around the water-cooler". This isn't as big a problem for me as it would be for most. I am an extreme introvert, and don't mind solitude. I spent one summer at an internship at Purdue, and I stayed in the dorms alone. I spent most evenings all by myself for the summer. I loved being by myself for such a long time.
Of course, I do appreciate some social contact, and Hatrack fills that void somewhat.
One of my hobbies is Aikido. I've done aikido for the last 7 or 8 years. I never got into sports, because I am not a competitive person. I have really enjoyed the cooperative nature of the martial arts I've studied. When you are training with someone, you both train in such a way that you both learn as much as possible. You aren't trying to win -- you are trying to learn.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to do much Aikido for the last several months. :cries:
My other major hobby is bluegrass. I picked up the bluegrass guitar about a year ago, and about six months ago my wife picked up the mandolin. We've got a friend that plays banjo and another that plays fiddle, and we get together and play when we can.
PSI: Have you always been musical?
MPH: To the extent that you could call me musical, yes. My first instrument was the recorder (you know, that plastic flute that most of you had to play in elementary school). I loved it. I played it for hours and hours, probably to the dismay of my parents. I got 2nd place in the elementary school talent show 3 years in a row with my plastic recorder.
At some point my parents started me on piano lessons. I never really enjoyed that. At one point, I asked if I could quit. My parents said that they really would like it if I continued for now. A few years later, when I was taking lessons for piano and clarinet and saxophone, I asked if I could drop the piano, and I did. I don't really play piano anymore. There are a half-dozen hymns that I can play if you give me a couple of hours to practice, but that's about it.
I played the clarinet all through junior high, high school, and much of college. I eventually quit in college because I was frustrated with the BYU music department. Because I was just a lowly engineering student, my options of playing the clarinet at BYU were artificially limited. I really enjoyed playing wind chamber orchestra, but they wouldn't let me rise above the sophomore level groups. It didn't matter what my skill level was -- I was an outsider, and there was a glass ceiling.
That was 7 or 8 years ago, and for the last couple of years, I've really been wanting to have music in my life. That's why I picked up the guitar.
PSI: What is your band called?
MPH: River Ridge
PSI: I've heard something about a competition?
MPH: Well, there's this fiddle competition coming up and being run by my guitar teacher. It was because of this fiddle fest last year that I really got started playing the guitar and bluegrass. I wasn't planning on entering it at all -- I've only been playing for about a year. But my teacher suggested that I enter for the feedback if nothing else. I suggested this to my banjo-playing friend, and he liked the idea. Instead of getting together a large group that can never meet, we decided to just enter with the two of us. Then I went and looked at the registration form. In the first round you play three tunes/songs. At least one must be fast, at least one must be slow, and at least one must have vocals. Well, my banjo friend doesn't sing. He refuses to. This meant that I would have to sing one of the songs.
Well, I am not comfortable singing, so I decided that we wouldn't be competing this year. But my friend wasn't so easily dissuaded. He still wanted to do it, even though he refused to sing. We ended up asking Mary to join us. She'll be singing for some of the songs and playing the mandolin for others. I'm pretty nervous about it, because I'm really not good enough to do this yet. But I'm also excited.
PSI: Did you grow up in Salt Lake?
MPH: No, and I've never lived in Salt Lake.
PSI: Whoops, my mistake. I thought BYU was in Salt Lake City.
MPH: There are probably others that have the same misconception, and this will clear it up.
I grew up in Bartlesville, OK and Borger, TX -- both oil towns. My father worked as an engineer for an oil company.
I went to high school in Bartlesville, OK, an odd town. It was not a normal Oklahoma town. It was the headquarters of Phillips Petroleum, and had a huge research and development facility. At the time, it had more PhDs per capita than any other city in the nation. Although it only had a population of 30,000, it hosted an international music festival called OK Mozart, and had an office building by Frank Lloyd Wright downtown.
Because of the oddities of this town, there were a lot of nerds in my school, so even though I was never cool or popular, I was not an outcast. There was a large social group of moderately to extremely nerdy/geeky kids who got together.
I only came out to Utah to go to school at BYU. While a student, I lived in Provo, UT. After I graduated, we just kinda stuck around here because we didn't have any other place we really wanted to move to. Inertia has kept us here as much as anything else. We now live in Orem, UT, the next town north of Provo. Salt Lake City is about an hour to the north.
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PSI: You've called yourself an introvert, but you really don't seem like one to me. You're quite good at jumping in and sharing your opinions online. Do you interact with people differently in real life?
MPH: I think that I'm pretty much the same in real life and online.
People that know me in real life are also often shocked to hear that I am an introvert. That's because I am not shy at all. I can be loud, outspoken and obnoxious at times. I can make a good leader, but I don't enjoy being a leader.
Most people equate introvert with shy. That's not what an introvert is. To me the difference between extroversion and introversion can be seen by what a person does to "recharge their batteries". Does going out and socializing with new people energize you, or does it drain you? The best description of introversion vs. extroversion that matches me is in the Myers-Briggs personality test, which you may have seen already.
While I am comfortable enough in social situations, I don't seek them out. Most evenings are spent with Mary and me at home.
There have been times in my life where I had many friends, but now is not one of those times. All of my college friends have left the state, and it's only within the last year that I have really made a new friend. I spent about three years without anybody I'd really consider a friend in the entire state. Acquaintances, yes. But real friends, no. And I was OK with that. For the most part, I'm pretty content here with my family.
[Edited to remove children's names at Porter's request. --PJ]
[ March 26, 2007, 06:31 PM: Message edited by: Papa Janitor ]
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Let me take this opportunity to thank PSI for all the work she put into this. I'm sure this ended up being more work than she expected it to be, and I think she did a great job.
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That's pretty funny. What he's not telling you is that I bothered the snot out of him the whole time and wouldn't let him have any peace.
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Beautiful! Great job, PSI. I think it turned out very well.
And it was delightful to read about Porter from Porter's perspective, even if I was familiar with most of it already. Posts: 7050 | Registered: Feb 2004
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We lived in Orem until a couple of years ago. We lived about two blocks north of the Macey's on 800 North.
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I actually toyed with the idea of writing my landmark about the two names I've gone by - I grew up going by my middle name and am currently trying to complete the changeover to my first name. Funny that you should have such a similar experience.
I always appreciate your comments, Porter, and I'm very glad Mary roped you into making the jump from the other side. Hooray for landmarks!
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If anyone has more questions, they should ask. I could have asked more but I didn't want to keep bothering him. Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
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I just barely started Netflix on Friday. Right now, I have Smallville, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and Stargate SG-1. The only reasy why Alias isn't on there is that the video stores around here actually carry Alias, and we're watching those as fast as we can.
I went to the video store the other day, and I was amazed that there was only 1 movie on the entire New Releases wall that I was willing to spend 2 hours of my life watching (Big Fish). I just don't go in for many movies.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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I made my shirt out of 1/2 mile of 12-gague galvinized fencing wire that I bought at a farm/ranch supply store. First you wind it into coils, then you cut the coils into links, then you weave the links together. If you don't go insane first (it's extremly tedious), you end up with chain mail.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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quote: The only reasy why Alias isn't on there is that the video stores around here actually carry Alias, and we're watching those as fast as we can.
We *just* finished the third season last night. Rather than turn this into an Alias thread or spoil anything for anyone who isn't as far as you, you so need to send me an email and let me know what you think so far, and where you are.
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Nice landmark - thanks mph and PSI. (Suddenly I feel like I too should have a cool, three letter nickname). I found it very enjoyable and it made me chuckle.
How are you finding Buffy (if you've started watching it)? I'd be interested to know given your religous background - most of the people I know who really love the series are not very involved in religion. I don't know if that's actually related to the series or not.
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Our initials are both measurements as well...miles per hour and pounds per square inch. Isn't that fascinating? What? It's just weird? Oh, okay...nevermind then.
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I watched the movie Buffy when I was in high school, and I loved it. Such a fun, silly idea.
I was out of the country when the show came out. When I finally heard about it, it seemed way too serious for my tastes. I think that I assumed it was serious by how fanatical its supporters were. This turned me off from being interested for a long time.
I've had an odd fascination with vampires for a long time, and I enjoy seeing how different people interpret the same ideas differently.
When I finally saw some of it just a few months ago, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the TV show took itself about as seriously as the movie did. I've enjoyed what I've seen so far.
Angel, though, I haven't been able to enjoy as much. It seems like it exactly what I was afraid Buffy was going to be.
Although it's been fun seeing a whole lot of the cast from Firefly on either Buffy or Angel.
edit: You asked about the religious implications of Buffy. Well, I have to say that Buffy, and especially Angel go a litte past where I feel comfortable, with their magic spells, holy symbols, and demons. Not because I think it's too close to the truth -- it just squicks me a little to see things like that treated to flippantly.
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I loved reading through this thread Porter. It's interesting to see some of the differences between us (the similarities were interesting too, but it's getting to the point where, when I see one, I just think "yep, that's another one".)
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Yeah, I haven't quite felt motivated to write one yet. PSI was talking about interviewing me too, but I'm not sure if that's still happening or not.
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I'll have to convince her to annoy you as well until there is no mucus in your nasal cavities.
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I loved your landmark, and applaud PSI for her hand work on it. It was really very very good, and there are so many parts of it I wanted to comment on as I read through it.
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Farmgirl -- go ahead and comment away. Don't you know that my self esteem is directly tied to the number and quality of posts I get on my landmark thread?
I was born in the Utah Valley hospital, which you can see from BYU campus. Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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Ah, I see the problem. I sent you an email about it, Noemon, but that was to your Yahoo account. I'll try to get ahold of you with Sakeriver about it soon. Right now I have about fifty small children at my house, but as soon as I get a break I'll get in contact with you personally.
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quote:But still, I didn't *want* to become a father.
I felt exactly the same way about motherhood -- which surprises some people because they just assume all women want to be mothers at some point -- that maternal instinct is natural. But I was raised the youngest in my household, never was around younger kids much, and the idea of being a mom absolutely terrified me.
When I got pregnant "accidentally" I was scared out of my wits. But it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me in my life. God really reached me and made me "grow up" when I became a mother. I am now so glad it happened, even though at the time, back then, I certainly wasn't.
In one of our Hatrack abortion discussions, someone here said, "Those who want children should have them, and those who don't want children, shouldn't." And while I agree with that in theory, I realize that means that probably if science found a fool-proof way to ensure that statement, I would never have had children. And now I can't imagine my life without them.
quote: Not out of spite, but because I just can't remember that certain pieces of soap are supposed to be soap, and other pieces of soap are just supposed to be decoration.
You're no supposed to use those pretty pieces of soap?
Whoops.
Glad to haf you vith us, m_p_h/Porter
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*would totally use those pretty pieces of soap to wash my hands* They also smell rather nice too...
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So why did you only wear your chainmail ONCE to the RenFest?? You've still got this last weekend to go... "Sweet Endings" baby!
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Actually, I just remembered another time that I wore it. I wore it one night for cub scout pack meeting.
Why don't I wear it more often? Because I don't have any occasion to wear it. I haven't been to a Ren Fair since then.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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quote:Growing up in a family of all boys had a pretty big effect on me, especially considering the fact that my mother is not a typical woman. I have very little understanding of and patience for things that are considered stereotypically female.
PSI: I want to know more about this. How did it affect you, exactly?
When PSI asked this, I didn't have a good answer. Today, however, UofUlawguy posted something that describes part of it to a T.
quote: Growing up, I never saw my Mom participating in the kinds of female political games that are purported to be so common between women. To me, she seemed just as straightforward and up-front as any man I knew. It would never have occurred to me to look for hidden messages in her body language, actions or between the lines in her words.
That could have (and should have) been written to me.
As a result, I ended up about as subtle as a hammer. If I liked a girl, and I wanted to find out if she liked me, I'd go up to her and say "I like you. Do you like me?"
I do not pick up on hints. At all. Anything more subtle than saying it outright to my face might be missed by me. When people hint at something, and then expect me to pick up on the hint, I feel like they are playing an evil game with me.
I'm mostly posting this for PSI, because I know she was frustrated at me not coming up with a better answer for her.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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Porter's mother always said that someday when her sons brought home some sweet young thang, she would sit them down and say, "I'm sorry! I did the best I could!"
Right after Porter and I were married, she gave me a big huge hug as though to say, "Thank you for marrying my son and being willing to put up with him!"
Posts: 7050 | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
(((m_p_h))) Did I just start calling you that in a mafia game or is it your handle on GreNME? It's actually my mommy-fried brain that I reached out to you when you were first here. I think I had you mixed up with Eduardo_Sauron at first, because "porteiro" sounded Portuguese to me. Not that I wouldn't have been as welcoming if I had known you were American.
I was taught a really unpleasant etymology for the use of "hose" referencing females. Maybe you mean panty hose, though.
I saw this thread while I was at the Tempe library and I so wanted to read it but we had a little timer at the top of the screen so I just did my business, and then I forgot, I'm so glad someone bumped it.
I always associated PSI Teleport with psionic powers. Pounds per square inch juxtaposed with teleport sounds very painful for some reason.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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