I, too, am occasionally crippled with existential doubt.

Yay Depressing Comic Week!



If these seem too cruel to you, just tell me.

Not really a war zone, but this illustrates the difference between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. There are pretty much no trees whatsoever left in Haiti, all of them having been burnt for charcoal, and the ensuing degradation of the terrain has also been similarly impressive.

Seen it before, not terribly convinced. I can see niche applications, but its advantages over poly's don't seem to be sufficient to warrant putting too much time into it.

I'm rather torn. Storage density would be a real bitch for them if they intend to beat polygons.

@ Dukat: They aren't liberal here, they are somewhere waaaay on the left. They have there ideas and stick to them, nobody can change there mind and if you try you are just some  capitalist hater.

Ooooooh. Yeah, I know the type. Yeah, no, the hippies I was thinking of is more of the "I like tofu, Bob Marley, and sex" type.

Try not to stereotype, in all honesty. There's crunchy, and then there's crunchy, and you are assuming the latter where you should be assuming the former. Got it?

Nope, didn't think so. Ok, look, you know nothing about these people aside from what you can see and, err, smell about each one. Yes, they could all be the super annoying crazy "fuck the man with molotov coktails and collective farming" hyperpolitical blustering hippie, but you really don't know until each one opens his mouth. However, they are difficult to distinguish from the apolitical, "I'm a vegetarian but its ok that you're not" hippie, the one that will tell you that they voted left but not far left party if and only if prompted to tell. From your attitude to vegetarians, it is clear that you have only ever really met the former; of the vegetarians I know, one does it to save the meat for a biannual pilgrimage to a barbecue joint in Georgia, one doesn't like the taste of meat, and one is against it for ethical reasons but still able to joke about industrial meat production, but her fortitude always impressed me anyway.

My point is, you are approaching these people with the worst possible attitude. Assume that they are barely as liberal as they appear and not that they are far far left; any of them speak to you, you are bored by politics, women's issues, etc. Don't let any of them engage you in debate, this will just piss you off and that is bad. You are just here for the security, and nothing drives people away faster than a boring conversation. You don't care about vegetarianism (because what people eat is their own right), you don't care about women's issues (but vaguely feel that they should be equal), the wars in the middle east don't interest you (war is bad, in general, but they are far off). In short, if they engage you in politics, or try to, you are the most boring person they could possibly imagine. They will not only wander off, they will never even notice you standing there again. You will become known as a non-entity; people will begin to talk to you only when necessary, unless it is a big enough event that there are tons of new people every day.

Like I said, assume the best. That particular person talking to you is wearing a beard not as a statement but because they are lazy and don't think it is wrong; that person is only acting that way because of the drugs/alcohol. Try and have some sympathy, but not too much. Just try and relax, really. Maybe bring some tea with a thermos and travel mug to help you relax; this may also have the side effect of making people not talk to you, as I could see people being less likely to talk to somebody nursing a mug of something.

If you do talk to people, be polite, nice, mildly funny. You don't know what each person is like. You could be surprised, that person you could be talking to could be apolitical and there for the music. Mainly, just try to relax, and be as boring a person as you possibly can.

Godspeed. We'll honor your work evermore.

I don't know where I heard this (may have been some movie), but try subtly moving things in your general vicinity. Altering your surroundings tricks your brain into thinking that it is in control and helps you relax. It works for me when I am stressed out in public. Anything as simple as rearranging some silverware or moving a chair into a more comfortable position can help.

And try not to stew in your anger, you'll just get stressed out and explode later on.

Also, try not to be too serious about anything, or to think too hard. I've been around people like that, they are most anoying when you are trying to concentrate on something else. Just try and relax, I guess I'm saying. If you get to thinking about how much you hate hippies, etc., try and think about something else.