Dan McKeown

damn, now I wish I had said crap in my away message because being hungry is not that rare for me

Markoe

I pretty much never leave away messages… what does that say about me?

Alexander Micek

Does silence equal "crap?" That is, people might just read "crap" regardless. Some AIM veteran has to clarify.

Markoe

Did you just call me "crap"?

John T F Larson

In my defense, my away message was also a link to a picture of a 15 pound crab, that was beind served for dinner. At least its a lot more unique then just saying that I was hungry. Crap.

Dan McKeown

"beind served for dinner" huh John T. F. Larson? I dont know if I know what that means, oh and you are dumb.

John T F Larson

Well Dan, I may be dumb, but at least I'm not fat, like you are. Boy are you fat.

Dan McKeown

At least I can do something about being fat, you can only get dumber. Sincerely, Dan

Nils

I feel I have to intervene right now before this posting gets any more fierce. It's getting a little out of hand and someone might get hurt. So let's just simmer down a little bit. Maybe we each should say one thing we like about the other person, and take this conversation back out of negative town. I will start. I think Dan McKeown is cool because he has nice glasses. Now someone else go.

Markoe

These exercises may help with anger but they dont cure ugly. Too bad for you guys.

Zing!

Alexander Micek

Dan is historically knowledgeable. Nils is the coolest Norwegian I know. John is skillful in his UN negotiations. Markoe got a job interview and is talented in the ways of zinging. Mykala is smart and has a lovely figure.

That worked, Nils - we're on the expressway out of negative town. Oh yeah.

Dan McKeown

I think Markoe is cool because he is fatter than me

Markoe

I would think of a witty response but I have to go get my pizza out of the oven.

Alexander Micek

How did burning up your hat turn out?

Markoe

The hat is fine except that it smells like natural gas and for some reason has grown 3 sizes like some sort of freakish reverse shrinky-dink.

Emily

I really hope it wasn't the hat i bought for you! : (

Alexander Micek

Identity of the hat is currently unknown — but hey, if it is the hat you bought for him - he likes it and was wearing it! If not, well then a different hat was grown like so-many expand-in-water toys. Incidentally, Dan has a red crab that needs to be put in water, and we've been waiting to journey over to Grand to do that. It grows to 300% it's original size!

Mykala

Let's just all remember the time we tried to grow a pony to 600% it's orignal size… and we put it in the bathtub because we thought the sink wouldn't hold it… because we were thinking 600x it's size.

And, also, we're dumb.

Dan McKeown

Just to clarify, it is a lobster that grows 600% its original size, similar to the pony I am guessing. Is your bathtub available?

By the way, this is my 100th comment and I am excited to see what happens now!

John T F Larson

Congrats on the 100 comments, Dan. I knew there was something possitive that I could say about you.

Nils

Damn it, this conversation is going back to negative town. I was planning on being the first man to comment 100 times on this site and I was going to throw it in all of your faces but now I have been robbed by Dan. By the way, I lied, your glasses are dumb!

John T F Larson

Now that is just a mean and hurtful comment. What ever happened to being kind and civil? You've changed, Nils, you've changed.

Emily

remember how slimey the pony got?? and we were so excited to have a pony for the room….

Mykala

Maybe if Jeff would have fulfilled his obligations as richest room daddy…

I'm still quite upset.

John

Wow. I've had the greatest laugh from this. First we're talking about crap, then lobsters, followed by dumb remarks, not forgetting fat remarks, freaky hats, 600x ponies, comment kings, and … well that just about summarizes it. I, on the other hand, don't have anything to say. I just hope someone doesn't take me down to negative town.

Markoe

I don't think posting about your number of posts should count as a post and I just wanted to use this post to convey my feelings on the current post counting system.

P.S. Mckeown is a post whore.

Dan McKeown

Hey, I will take that as a compliment. I am dedicated to this site and I will not take the slander of the posting system lightly. Furthermore, I did not post about my number of posts, I just commented on the fact that I had reached the century mark. That is all, oh and who the hell is John Larson?

Alexander Micek

Where are we? Are we back in negative town?

Markoe

I dont know why everyone craps all over negative town. I've lived there pretty much my entire life and it's not as bad as everyone says. I'd give you more detail but I have to go eat my feelings now.

John T F Larson

Why doesn't anyone ever know who I am?

Dan McKeown

How does one eat their own feelings? Seriously.

Markoe

Hi, I'm Dan Mckeown and I have this problem where I am only able to consider the literal meaning of a sentence and completely overlook the possible abstract or metaphorical meaning of said sentence.

John T F Larson

What possible metaphorical or abstract meaning could the term, "eat my feelings" possibly have?

Alexander Micek

There are many abstract meanings in that statement.

Dan McKeown

Weak sauce comment Alex.

John T F Larson

I think I have to agree with Dan McKeown on this one. That's kind of strange, Dan and I agreeing on anything.

Markoe

You two agreeing that something is right is a pretty good indication that it is completely and utterly wrong.

Alexander Micek

Yeah and hey my comment was not weak sauce! I simply didn't have time to outline all the ways in which that statement could symbolize other things. You know how it goes.

And why did you two agree on something? This is scary.

John T F Larson

Sorry Alex, but without proper substantiation, the sauce of your potentially deeply meaningful comment is greatly weakened. Next time, you really have to flesh out your arguements, for them to hold the proper weight, regardless of any time constraints you may currently be under.

Nils

The Great Alexander Micek is always under pressing time restraints. Why don't you guys just back off?

That comment wasn't weak sauce, Alex. It wasn't hot, Tabasco sauce, but it was right in the middle, in the scrumptious and tangy mild sauce area. I'm behind your comment all the way. I understand when a genius (cough cough me cough) just simply doesn't have time or energy to fully flesh out a thought or idea to the…..oh, how do I say……lesser people.

Alexander Micek

Inspired by the cutting wit of Nils responsorial comment, I feel the need to back-up my comments with a real comment. John, listen up.

To review: Markoe stated that he has to "eat his feelings now" and John responded with the question of what "metaphorical or abstract meaning" could exist within Markoe's phrase.

First, let us tackle metaphorical meaning. The word metaphor is rooted in the Latin and Greek; a derivation of the words "meta" (Latin for a boundary or turning post) and "phor" (Greek for (1) "carry, bear; movement" or (2) "a thief; a kind of bee"). Disregarding (2) in that previous summation, we can see that a metaphor draws or carries a boundary between two unlike things, equating them as identical. Metaphors are frequently used in poetry; "the sky is a blanket" or "he is a rat." The purpose, then, of this direct correlation is to succinctly strengthen the descriptive powers of a phrase. So, eating one's feelings is a metaphor for another type of action. Rather than getting his feelings out, Markoe is lamenting that he must go and push them back inside his own self. If one refuses to imagine that "eat" works in more situations than the mastication and subsequent metabolism of foodstuffs, then there is no way to convey the deeper meaning (at least on a metaphorical level) of Markoe's statement. I am relying on your willingness to see beyond a simple verb and understand that it is possible that Markoe is expressing emotional pain (not simply spouting nonsense) by saying that he must go eat his feelings. If I may go on a quick tangent: feelings are meant to be shared, not recycled within oneself - I am ashamed that you missed Markoe's emotional suffering and simply declared his statement null and void. Additionally, as Markoe tends towards humor, it seems you have missed out on this layer of meaning, as well.

As for abstract, the word stems from the Latin abstrahere, meaning to drag away from, pull, draw. To abstract an idea is to stretch that which is perceived into a more complex idea or creative outgrowth. Think of abstract art: a splash of drops on a page can mean many things to many people. "Eating one's feelings," in an abstract sense, doesn't have to mean anything at all. However, let us not be so narrow minded. Instead, we shall consider the statement in a more creative sense, as an interesting sword of words forged by Markoe's smithery. In an abstract sense, Markoe might be saying that he must go take a walk, grab food to eat, or meditate on the reasons humans even have feelings. Frankly, an abstract meaning is completely in the eyes of the beholder. Which would explain why some people didn't see one.

Case closed.

Dan McKeown

That comment was in no way weak sauce, thank you Alex for clearing this whole thing up

Markoe

Booyah!

Sweet post Alex!

John T F Larson

While I still stand by my previous position that your previous post was weak sauce (due to insubstancial substantiation) your more recent post more than makes up for it. I would say that it was quite a thorough examination of both the etymology of the terms in question, as well as the possible direct application of the same terms.

Contrarily and for the sake of debate, I will argue with your first position on the metaphorical basis of Markoe's statement. Markoe doesn't have feelings, he's just a machine (you can take this as a metaphor, or not). Therefor, he cannot eat feelings, which he does not possess. If he is eating feelings, they are the feelings of young children, which he must have stolen. For that, I would argue that Markoe is a terrible person and I question why the children have to suffer.

Sagert

I must agree, Alex's discussion of metaphor does boast quite substantial sauce-age.

ahem

However, if we are to probe Markoe's statement for meaning, we must remember the context. If html were enabled, context would have been italicized. As italicized would have been, twice. So do recall that earlier, around Post 13 or so, there was discussion of Markoe's fatness. He even said he had to get his pizza out of the oven, which usually precedes eating the pizza. Perhaps Markoe was still hungry, and the word "feelings" was not the vehicle of the metaphor, but the word "eat." That is, he was not trying to convey any special meaning about his feelings, but rather express the drue depth and insatiability of his hunger. Again, italics. We can continue along these lines if we note how both feelings and hunger, in human discourse, are frequently asserted to be in the middle, or at the core (italics) of a person. But I digress. And I digress because I have another longwinded point to make about context. A much more immediate context. In the very same post that Markoe offered this very layered, textured (italics) metaphor, he gave us other valuable information - that he lives in Negative Town (in the Japanese: Negative Town ni sunde iru)! If eating feelings is a metaphorical molehill, Negative Town is indeed a mountain. But let's not stray too far from eating. If I may advance one theory, again with reference to established motifs of human discourse, negative feelings (e.g. anger, jealousy, hatred) are often considered so powerful as to be tangible (italics). That is, that we can touch and interact with them in much more concrete ways than we can fleeting and ephemereal feelings like happiness. And perhaps Markoe is venturing that one of these modes of interaction is consumption. To illustrate the point, to put it back into the context from which we have so violently and carelessly wrenched it, perhaps Markoe is telling us that in Negative Town, they subsist on feelings. That at the Negative Town corner store the shelves are lined with staple foodstuffs like sadness and rage. Now, it would not be sporting of me to flesh out all the delicious details. No, I'll leave it to the rest of you to ferret out Markoe's other delicous morsels of meaning. Good hunting!

Markoe

I'm hungry, someone emote.

Alexander Micek

"Nobody knows the trouble I've seen. Nobody knows the sorrow."

Nils

Looks like we have some capapble philosophers here. Can we next discuss the modern philosophies of moral theories?

John T F Larson

No

Dan McKeown

John, you are a waste of life for saying no to Nils like that, you are lucky he allows you to continue to live, I would not be so forgiving.

John T F Larson

Dan, why don't you just go back to negative town, with Markoe, to feed on the souls of innocent children. That's where you belong.

Markoe

Larson's soul = food poisoning

Alexander Micek

It's getting pretty intense out here what with all the insulting … and all.

Nils

I would just like to say that I have spent the last few hours in a state of total and complete shock. Never before in my life have I been treated with such disdain. With such lack of respect. With such utter bitterness and contempt!

Look, I was just getting a little excited with all this philosophy talk. It was enlightening, ok? I felt enlightened! And it was a good feeling! And I just didn't want that feeling to end……damn it, why does it have to end? And if it had to end, couldn't you have let me down a little easier? I mean, "no"? That's it? Case closed? The end? Oh god, the tears are coming back. Excuse me while I have a moment here.

Richard Roche

woah, there's a lot of comments up in here. I just wanted to be part of the record breaking thread.

Dan McKeown

should we continue to dominate this record with more posts on here or move on to another picture/journal entry?

Alexander Micek

Good lord, we more than doubled the previous record for comments. Remember that thread? It was the one started by Mykala:

http://www.tumbledry.org/issue/416/

Also, I think everyone can agree that Nils' comment was hilarious.

Nils

We might as well get this thing up to 60 comments as long as we're this close. From now on, this post will stand as a milestone achievement in attracting intelligent (and at times ferocious) discourse between individuals in all walks of life. Whether it be Norwegians in Norway, genius website designers, or fat people eating feelings and small children in negative town, we all had something to say. And to be honest, I feel I am a better person because of it. I think we all deserve a couple high fives.

Sagert

Wooo! I am all about the high fives! Line starts right here (in Japan).

Man, this is either gonna be really fun or really awkward.

Markoe

I'm on my way. This better be one hell of a high five.

Dan McKeown

I think i pulled something trying to high five that far

John T F Larson

Yeah, I hear that. I think I pulled a hamstring.

John T F Larson

By the way, I hate you Dan McKeown. Before your last comment, we were sitting at such a nice round number, and now we're not. My anal-retentiveness will not tolerate this.

Markoe

Haha, you said anal.

Nils

There should be some kind of vote to see who gets the last say in this thread before Alex turns it off. This vote will commence after the high fives ofcourse. Who wants to come give me a high five in Norway? We still have winter here, so that would be a perk. Wait, that's not a perk at all. Damn it.

John T F Larson

Wait a minute, this isn't a democracy, its a self-perpetuating totalitarian dictatorship, in which only the words of the benevolent Alex Micek are final. All hail our fearless leader! Death to the non-tumbledryers!

Sorry, I think I got a little carried away there, but at least I think I got my point across.

Alexander Micek

Non-tumbledryers are perfectly welcome to live; this website generally tends towards a Switzerland-esque viewpoint on things. However, without tumbledry, non-tumbledryers do lead darker existences.

Alexander Micek

Non-tumbledryers are perfectly welcome to live; this website generally tends towards a Switzerland-esque viewpoint on things. However, without tumbledry, non-tumbledryers do lead darker existences.

Dan McKeown

what?! i did not type that! what the hell is going on here Alex?!

Markoe

Sure you did'nt… post-whore.

Markoe

There should be an editing option.

Alexander Micek

My god. That's the strangest bug ever. I hand edited it to be my comment (which it was) but I simply can not figure out how that happened. Shouldn't occur again.

Dan McKeown

well the thing that really sucks is that I had written a great comment about Switzerland and the Tumbledry final solution and it was lost and that post went in its place. I cried a little.

Alexander Micek

lol - well regardless, if you really were writing a comment and hit send the exact same time I did, that explains the problem.

Nils

Oh my God. Has a FLAW in <TumbleDry.org> been found? No. No, it can't be. That's not possible! NOOOoooooooooo!!!

Finding a glitch in <TumbleDry.org> is like saying 1+1 does not equal 2. It really isn't possible. I guess I flipped out all for nothing.