I will tell you this much: I don't just talk the talk - I've actually walked the walk. Ever been through the Cumberland Gap wearing only the clothing, using only the tools and accoutrements of an ancestor who came through in 1823? I have.
Ever rode a mule through the Rocky Mountains, starting your fires with flint & steel or bowdrill, making/replacing your clothing/footgear as needed along the way using an awl that you made of flint and a thorn from a black locust as a needle to do your stitching? I have.
Ever dug a trench and built a long fire in it, then covered it up with 4 inches of dirt so you'd have a warm place to sleep when the temperature on the Kansas Plains dropped to -16F overnight? I have...
Could you go into the woods right now with a blanket and an obsidian knife and make everything you need to survive comfortably for an extended period? I can.
I've traced my own family's personal history - and walked many of the sme trails - from the time my first ancestor landed in North Carolina to the time when my great Grandfather homesteaded in Alaska 80 years later. I've lived with American Indians and taught many of their young men skills that their own elders had lost the knowledge of.
And I've done it all without predjudice because of a love of American History (not white history, black history or red history - AMERICAN history!) and a love of freedom and my country.
Well educated and self-educated well should not be confused.
Do you even know what an experimental archeologist is?
You're judging me based on your perception of my "lack of knowledge, basis and understanding" and I submit that you don't have the personal knowledge about me to do so.
Tracy, I'm not ashamed to be an American. That was my point. I'm just tired of other folks wanting to make me ashamed.
That crap is fine for **** and a few others here - they can feel guilty all they want - I'm not going to. And when I get tired of people telling me I should, I'm gonna' tell them what they can do with their opinion.
Didn't see anything worth commenting on. Besides, I refuse to get into a battle of wits with an un-armed person, especially female. (Just something very un-chivalrous about it...)
My apologies for that remark. I'm just fed up with people trying to make me feel guilty for being proud and greatful to be an American citizen.
It's obvious that most here think that America is the most evil thing that ever happened to the world and that's fine, everyone is titled to their opinion. I don't happen to share that opinion and never will.
Seems to me that if we were such a terrible country we wouldn't have anywhere near the problems with illegal immigration that we do...
Ok, a bit of advice from an old fart who's been there:
Be completely honest with her. Tell her "Ok, here's the deal: I'm a somewhat unsure/insecure 19 year old walking errogenous zone and I don't know anything at all about women and an old, long-haired cowboy dude from another site tells me that I never will. But I like the way we've been talking and I'm not psychic, so forgive me for asking but... Just out of curiosity, what do you think of me so far?"
To use a sports analogy - You've already made it to the batter's box, so you might as well go ahead and step up to the plate and swing. If her pitch was meant for you, and the timing of your swing is right, you might just hit it out of the park!
P.S. There's a chance that you might strike out, but there's always another inning coming up and even more chances to swing for the bleachers.
P.P.S. (I wouldn't use a sports analogy with her unless you know she's a sportsfan.)
I had an 18 hour day Wednesday, a 16 hour day Thursday and a 15 hour day yesterday.
I'm sooooo glad I was able eeeease back into work this week. The boss promised I'd be able to take it easy for a bit and I'd hate like hell to see what would have happened if I'd had to work hard!
Good point! When participating in various living history events I routinely try to fly a flag from that time period - from 13 stars on up - and though I habitually try to treat them with respect, they sometimes show a bit of wear and tear and, once in a while, end up on the ground or hastily stuffed into a pannier/knapsack. It doesn't make them any less valuable to me or mean that I have any less respect for them, it just means that sometimes "poo happens."
Never lied about anything - even listed "a few extra pounds" before I found out that "a few extra pounds" doesn't mean the 5 or 10 over that I actually am, but considerably more, which I'm not.
More succintly, it's the golden rule: Those with the gold make the rules. And if those without the gold disagree with those with the gold then all bets are off and those with the gold simply repress those without.
In a little less than 3 months, I will turn 48 - However, if I do a thread about it, I will actually claim to be celebrating the 9th anniversary of my 39th birthday.
A man is in his front yard attempting to fly a kite with his son. However, every time the kite gets up into the air, it comes crashing back down.
This goes on for a while, when his wife sticks her head out of the front door and yells, "You need more tail."
The father turns to his son and says, "Son, I'll never understand your mother. Yesterday, I told her I needed more tail, and she told me to go fly a kite!"
A man is driving down the road and his car breaks down near a monastery. He goes to the monastery, knocks on the door, and says, "My car broke down. Do you think I could stay the night?"
The monks graciously accept him, feed him dinner, even fix his car. As the man tries to fall asleep, he hears a strange sound. A sound unlike anything he's ever heard before. The Sirens that nearly seduced Odysseus into crashing his ship comes to his mind. He doesn't sleep that night. He tosses and turns trying to figure out what could possibly be making such a seductive sound.
The next morning, he asks the monks what the sound was, but they say, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk." Distraught, the man is forced to leave.
Years later, after never being able to forget that sound, the man goes back to the monastery and pleads for the answer again.
The monks reply, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk." The man says, "If the only way I can find out what is making that beautiful sound is to become a monk, then please, make me a monk."
The monks reply, "You must travel the earth and tell us how many blades of grass there are and the exact number of grains of sand. When you find these answers, you will have become a monk."
The man sets about his task.
After years of searching he returns as a gray-haired old man and knocks on the door of the monastery. A monk answers. He is taken before a gathering of all the monks.
"In my quest to find what makes that beautiful sound, I traveled the earth and have found what you asked for: By design, the world is in a state of perpetual change. Only God knows what you ask. All a man can know is himself, and only then if he is honest and reflective and willing to strip away self deception."
The monks reply, "Congratulations. You have become a monk. We shall now show you the way to the mystery of the sacred sound."
The monks lead the man to a wooden door, where the head monk says, "The sound is beyond that door."
The monks give him the key, and he opens the door. Behind the wooden door is another door made of stone. The man is given the key to the stone door and he opens it, only to find a door made of ruby. And so it went that he needed keys to doors of emerald, pearl and diamond.
Finally, they come to a door made of solid gold. The sound has become very clear and definite. The monks say, "This is the last key to the last door."
The man is apprehensive to no end. His life's wish is behind that door!
With trembling hands, he unlocks the door, turns the knob, and slowly pushes the door open. Falling to his knees, he is utterly amazed to discover the source of that haunting and seductive sound......
But, of course, I can't tell you what it is because you're not a monk!
The_Kansan Forum Posts (3,395)
RE: Should we in the rest of the world be scared of USA?
Do the research. I did!I will tell you this much: I don't just talk the talk - I've actually walked the walk. Ever been through the Cumberland Gap wearing only the clothing, using only the tools and accoutrements of an ancestor who came through in 1823? I have.
Ever rode a mule through the Rocky Mountains, starting your fires with flint & steel or bowdrill, making/replacing your clothing/footgear as needed along the way using an awl that you made of flint and a thorn from a black locust as a needle to do your stitching? I have.
Ever dug a trench and built a long fire in it, then covered it up with 4 inches of dirt so you'd have a warm place to sleep when the temperature on the Kansas Plains dropped to -16F overnight? I have...
Could you go into the woods right now with a blanket and an obsidian knife and make everything you need to survive comfortably for an extended period? I can.
I've traced my own family's personal history - and walked many of the sme trails - from the time my first ancestor landed in North Carolina to the time when my great Grandfather homesteaded in Alaska 80 years later. I've lived with American Indians and taught many of their young men skills that their own elders had lost the knowledge of.
And I've done it all without predjudice because of a love of American History (not white history, black history or red history - AMERICAN history!) and a love of freedom and my country.
What have you done?