English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Also, the songs people sing in a choir are always rubbish. I like singing, but not songs dictated by others. Who aren't even part of my cultural identity.

Cerberus

It's just that any kind of organised group activity tends to be a breeding ground for straight people, and I mean that literally.

A chess club.

RegDwigнt

I am not into bearded old men.

Cerberus

I remember there was this bridge club for young people that I once went to. I did like it, though I wonder why I didn't end up joining.

RegDwigнt

Also, I just downloaded Really Bad Chess the other week and found out to my dismay that I suck at chess. After not having played it for like ten years.

Cerberus

10:06 PM

Right, some clubs are too old or too unisexual.

Feeds

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Q: Word to describe "witty streetchild"

I'm talking of a certain wittiness that is characteristic of streetboys and streetchildren in general. I'm not sure if streetchildren is the best way to describe these kids. That might not be very common in developed countries, where few people are homeless or deprived of education and other basi...

Cerberus

Maybe you can find a chess club that also has younger people and women, and improve your chess skills.

RegDwigнt

In a city of 170k.

Dude, you'd be happy to find one chess club. You can't be picky.

Cerberus

Or even a book club: straight women love sensitive men (who are still assertive in bed).

RegDwigнt

People read books?

Cerberus

10:08 PM

So I've heard.

RegDwigнt

So I haven't. Not for the past 20 years or so.

Also, same problem as with the choir. They then force you to read some shitty book.

Cerberus

Or <gulp> a mixed sports club.

RegDwigнt

If I am going to do something for fun, it better be fun. You know.

Cerberus

Of course.

I can't tell you what's fun.

RegDwigнt

Which is why I'm telling you what isn't.

Cerberus

10:09 PM

I think tennis clubs are mixed?

Or golf.

RegDwigнt

I am not that rich.

Cerberus, the nearest golf course is maybe 200 km away?

Cerberus

I think we have some cheap golf clubs here.

But it's so boring...

Oh.

How is that possible, by the way? There are golf clubs near every smallish town here.

RegDwigнt

Nobody plays golf in Germany.

Well the rich folks on Sylt and Rügen do.

Cerberus

I have played golf once, on the heaths, and I was still bored to death.

RegDwigнt

I literally don't know a single person who has ever played a single game of golf in their entire life.

Cerberus

10:11 PM

Hmm.

RegDwigнt

Well, one guy might. He's a stewardess with Lufthansa or something.

I suppose he may have played in Dubai or whatever.

Cerberus

Lovely.

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus I love mini-golf. I played some of it in the Netherlands, actually.

But my mom and stepdad always hated it.

Cerberus

At any rate, all I'm saying is I know many people 'find' dates in mixed clubs.

RegDwigнt

Yeah I'm trying to think of anything in the area.

Cerberus

10:13 PM

I doubt whether mini-golf clubs exist!

Bridge is fun. But it's probably hard to find a club with young people.

RegDwigнt

Well there's one mini-golf course nearby. Two, actually. I don't think I ever saw anybody play there.

Cerberus

I know of only two within 100km from here.

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus we had a bridge club at the uni. Probably still do.

But nobody wanted to teach me the rules, so I never went.

Cerberus

Nice.

RegDwigнt

Through from what I figure, it was a sausage fest anyway.

Cerberus

10:14 PM

You could teach yourself, or with some friends.

I think there were plenty of women at the club I once visited.

Let me find pictures...

RegDwigнt

Of course. You're in fucking Amsterdam.

It doesn't matter how many women are where you are.

Cerberus

That was in Utrecht.

RegDwigнt

Even worse.

I'm not moving to Utrecht.

Cerberus

Okay, not this one...

(A random club in Amsterdam.)

RegDwigнt

Yeah. I am not that old. I am not looking for a woman to raise my grandchildren.

Cerberus

10:17 PM

I know.

This one looks better.

RegDwigнt

Well, I googled. There's a Bridge Club here, and it's one block away lol.

But they want 60 Euros. And don't have pics of any of the people there.

And I can't play bridge.

Cerberus

They don't offer any beginner's courses?

Then it's probably too hard.

RegDwigнt

Well yes they do.

Beginner und Fortgeschrittene.

Cerberus

If you like the people there, that might be fun.

I might do it, too.

RegDwigнt

Yeah.

Cerberus

10:24 PM

It's also fun to find a friend who will do the course with you.

That that would probably not be easy.

RegDwigнt

I don't have very many friends here really. They all moved away. And those that stayed are too busy raising their kids.

I got heaps of time but nobody to spend it on.

Cerberus

Bleh.

RegDwigнt

IKR

Cerberus

I kind of know the feeling, many friends with children.

RegDwigнt

Well, not many. Literally all of them.

Cerberus

10:26 PM

Luckily, many of my gay friends are without brood.

Then make new friends! However much that sucks at first.

(I hate new people.)*

*) In real life, not in chat.

RegDwigнt

But that brings us back full circle.

Where do you find new friends.

You don't want to date people you don't know. And once you know someone, you also know why you're not dating them already.

Also, remember that new friends are also in the same age tier. So they are busy raising their kids, too.

There is a million of single moms with kids here.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt Not the ones that are still active in clubs!

Single moms can be nice!

If you can bear their offspring.

RegDwigнt

No they can't. If they were nice, their kids would not be growing up without a father.

Cerberus

Nonsense.

RegDwigнt

Not nonsense.

Cerberus

10:29 PM

They could have hateful bastard fathers.

Gay fathers.

Dead fathers.

RegDwigнt

So why did they fuck them then. And why do I need to pay up for that now.

Cerberus

Which amounts to the same thing.

RegDwigнt

I want kids of my own. I don't want your kids.

Cerberus

Because many people suck at choosing a partner.

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus Dead is the only option out of these that I might accept. But the child won't.

Cerberus

10:30 PM

Many single moms will want or at least be open to a second litter.

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus precisely my point. They have already proved to me that when push comes to shove, they can just dump their partner. Even if they got a child with them.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt Why won't you accept a mother divorced from a bastard husband?

@RegDwigнt Uhh, first, who says it was the woman that dumped the man?

RegDwigнt

How did we get to bastard, now?

Most men are not bastards.

Cerberus

Second, why shouldn't a woman be eligible who dumped a bastard husband?

@RegDwigнt No, but still plenty are.

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus statistics. Actual statistics. From all around Europe, too. In every culture of the world. Women leave their men.

Cerberus

10:32 PM

Perhaps with good reason.

RegDwigнt

That makes no sense.

Cerberus

I think it's really silly to condemn all single mothers as ineligible.

RegDwigнt

My parents got divorced. I know how it feels first-hand. The child will never accept me. It has a father already.

I am not having none of that shit.

@Cerberus and I think it's really silly to fuck a bastard, and then raise a child without a father.

Cerberus

I know plenty of children who do love their stepparent.

@RegDwigнt People make mistakes.

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus exactly. And so I don't want to make one.

Cerberus

10:35 PM

And plenty of men do dump their wife.

RegDwigнt

It does not matter. The child still exists.

You cannot make a child unhappen.

Cerberus

I would consider dating a single parent.

RegDwigнt

Then do it. All the power to you.

Cerberus

Although I don't really like children that much.

RegDwigнt

I love children.

Cerberus

10:36 PM

Then it should be easier for you than for me.

RegDwigнt

And that is precisely the difference between you and me.

@Cerberus yes, easier to connect with the child. And easier to completely ignore the adult, then.

Cerberus

A gay friend of mine got a child with a straight woman, and the child lives with him, the single dad.

RegDwigнt

And I am not looking for more children to connect with. I have lots in my life already. That's the whole point. I don't need more from others. I'd like to have some of my own.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt Why not love the woman and love the child, and make another child.

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus this is not maths.

That is not how it works.

Cerberus

10:37 PM

Sure it is.

Many women want to have a child with their new man, in addition to their child from Bastard or Dead War Hero or whatever.

RegDwigнt

If it were maths, you could just walk up to a woman introduce yourself and make your case how you would make a good partner, and she would accept it.

@Cerberus good for them.

Not good for their children, though.

Cerberus

Why not?

RegDwigнt

Because I told you. If you have to ask, there's no point in explaining.

I was a child myself, and that's how I know. And I connect to children very easily, and that's how I know.

You got a child, it's yours. It's not mine. You take care of it. You could have had a child with me, sure, but you decided not to, so there you go, then.

I am not paying for other people's past mistakes. And I am not ruining little people's future lives.

And that's the end of it.

Why are we even discussing this like there's no single women with no children out there.

If you have a choice between a nice person and a horrible person, you take the nice person. If you have a choice between chocolate cake and mud, you eat the cake. And so on. You don't need to force the poorer option onto yourself just because it exists.

And a 35-year old single mom with no job is the poorer option compared to a 28-year old with a job and no kids. Simple as that.

The poorer option for everyone involved, mind. Not just me. Everyone is worse off for it.

Cerberus

I've heard of studies showing that a divorce has little negative effect on children as long as it's a clean divorce.

And a loving stepdad is good for a child.

RegDwigнt

I've only heard studies showing that a divorce is the single worst thing that you can do to a child.

Cerberus

10:47 PM

Well, it turns out that isn't true.

RegDwigнt

A loving stepdad is awesome, but it's the child's decision.

Cerberus

My mother is a divorce laywer.

RegDwigнt

That's very interesting.

You shouldn't be asking half these questions, then.

Cerberus

She mostly did mediation, which is when both parents are reasonable and they have a single lawyer together.

RegDwigнt

Yes, that's how I got divorced.

Still cost me thousands.

Cerberus

10:48 PM

Of course.

RegDwigнt

Fuck this medieval law.

I am never getting married again.

You got the shorter end of the stick as a man.

Cerberus

As long as the parents don't fight in front of the children, a clean divorce, studies show that it's not that bad for the children.

RegDwigнt

Where's feminism when you actually need it.

Cerberus

Heh.

Why?

RegDwigнt

Because I demand equal rights. So bring it on, feminists.

Cerberus

10:49 PM

So why didn't you have aequal rights?

RegDwigнt

Because that's the law.

Cerberus

Because she didn't work and you have to pay her alimony?

Or what?

RegDwigнt

That, too.

Cerberus

What else?

RegDwigнt

Well, if we had kids, she'd get the kids. And I'd get nothing.

And also, again, it was her who decided that we must separate.

And then I was made to file for the divorce, actually skewing the statistics in favor of women. I wonder how many men have to do the same.

Cerberus

10:51 PM

Ah, that.

RegDwigнt

It is an altogether unfair system.

Cerberus

"Was made"?

RegDwigнt

Well someone had to do it. And she was not doing it.

Cerberus

Okay, but that isn't because she's a woman?

RegDwigнt

Well of course it is because she's a woman. As a man she'd never wanted a divorce in the first place.

Cerberus

10:53 PM

But that is no law.

RegDwigнt

No, it is not. I think you are mixing up things here.

Then again, apparently it is a law of nature.

Cerberus

I like mixing.

RegDwigнt

So in that sense.

Cerberus

I knew you were going to say that.

RegDwigнt

I actually didn't.

I had to think about it for a while.

Just look at how people keep dumping poor Brad Pitt.

Cerberus

10:56 PM

I knew it before you did.

RegDwigнt

If I had a Brad Pitt, I'd fucking keep him.

Cerberus

I don't now anything about Brad Pitt.

I wouldn't keep fucking him.

RegDwigнt

Apparently neither do any of the women that keep marrying him.

Fuck, last time I checked the clock it was one hour ago.

We talk too much.

Cerberus

It's a talk room.

Bed time?

RegDwigнt

Not really no.

But I need to go to Frankfurt on Sunday, so tomorrow I might need to do some last-minute errands.

And so I didn't quite want to go to bed at 7 in the morning, either.

Cerberus

10:59 PM

Wise.

RegDwigнt

BTW, I couldn't find a book club here.

Bridge but no book.

Cerberus

Hmm.

Maybe some other club, or amateur company, I don't know.

I often find out later that there was a lot going on I had no idea of.

RegDwigнt

But frankly I have so many books lying right next to me, of which like 12 I already started reading, I don't have time to read something else on the side.

I'd rather get better at the violin and then look to join that orchestra.

Cerberus

What's one more book when you have those 12 already.

RegDwigнt

Good thinking.

Cerberus

11:00 PM

Sounds like fun.

RegDwigнt

That's how I got the number to 12 in the first place.

And now I can't remember anything from any of them.

And I'm like on page ten in each.

And one of them is Moby fucking Dick.

Cerberus

Then put them all away and pick one to reboot.

RegDwigнt

Well that came out wrong.

Cerberus

Heh.

Stupid English interfixion.

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus but they are all so good...

Cerberus

11:02 PM

You can read them one after another.

RegDwigнt

No, I can't.

Cerberus

First number one, then number two...

RegDwigнt

Maybe you can.

I sure can't.

Cerberus

I can't either.

RegDwigнt

See.

It's impossible!

Cerberus

11:02 PM

I have lots of books lying around that I started in long ago.

But I don't feel bound by them.

RegDwigнt

And I have like many more that I've not even started.

Cerberus

I will start another if it suits me!

RegDwigнt

And I keep buying new ones. As we speak.

Cerberus

So do I.

I don't buy them but somehow they find their way into my house.

Also on my phone.

RegDwigнt

See. And then you join a book club and they tell you to read Jane Eyre. Fuck that.

Cerberus

11:04 PM

I have the Thingamabobs's Hänkel on my phone that I was going to read, I now remember.

I've never read Jean Eyre, but what's wrong with that?

RegDwigнt

A friend gave me his old Kindle. There's three thousand books on there, I believe.

I've not even finished scrolling through the list. Then the battery died.

Cerberus

Died as in was empty?

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus I've never read it either, which is precisely what makes me suspect there must be something wrong with it.

Cerberus

I have the Internet, which has at least 9000 books.

@RegDwigнt Unlikely!

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus yes. I could recharge it. In fact I did! But then it kept lying around for months, without me ever touching it again. And then the battery died again.

Cerberus

11:05 PM

Oh, life.

RegDwigнt

And I was like okay, I get the message. I'll get back to recharging you once I'm finished with this pile of dead trees first.

But then that pile got bigger and bigger. As it always does.

So yeah I am actually looking at the Kindle right now. I could grab it without reaching for it. But all it shows is a dead battery symbol, I can see that from here.

And there's a bunch of proper books underneath it, with no dead battery symbols on them.

Cerberus

Can you grab a charger, too?

Grab anything.

RegDwigнt

I have like one in every corner by now.

Cerberus

I think I'm going to grab this Bridge programme on my computer!

RegDwigнt

Yeah I think I need to play more Really Bad Chess.

I suck so much at chess it's not even funny. I used to have an ELO of 1700, you know.

Will Hunting

11:08 PM

I figured out how to install Linux Mint on the UEFI computer using legacy BIOS boot.

RegDwigнt

Now all you need to figure out is what to do with it.

Cerberus

I only vaguely remember what ELO was.

Well done, Jasper!

MetaEd

Electric Light Orchestra?

Cerberus

I suck at Bridge, too. But it's still fun.

RegDwigнt

I've been using Linux for 25 years now. I still have no idea what I can use it for.

Will Hunting

11:10 PM

The world chess champion seems to be Magnus Carlsen now, a handsome young man, lol.

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus well let's just say 1700 is where most chess computers you can buy can be beaten.

MetaEd

@RegDwigнt Escape from the dinosaurs.

RegDwigнt

You're not quite a grandmaster, lololol, but you can actually start working on becoming an International Master then.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt Not bad.

Then join the chess club, if only for fun.

RegDwigнt

Not that I ever beat them all, or any of them. I just know that that's roughly the number. And that's the number that I had.

Will Hunting

11:12 PM

I played a lot of chess long ago, but I have not played for so long now.

RegDwigнt

Yeah then you can't play chess at all anymore.

I found out.

Will Hunting

Yes, I cannot play chess anymore.

RegDwigнt

That's another book I could add to my pile now. The best chess book. That helped me back in the day. Jeremy Silman's The Amateur Mind. It's spectacular.

But I don't remember a word of it.

Might as well go read it now.

Cerberus

Yay!

RegDwigнt

As well as the other 12.

Cerberus

11:13 PM

13.

14 with JE.

RegDwigнt

Fuck, I forgot.