Living Well Is The Best Blasphemy

[charley]

Let's share a few resources and brain-storm on how we can better live the lives we so proudly proclaim ourselves liberated to live. For a little guidance, I suggest thinking of contributing thoughts of how we can better commit the "seven deadly sins" so near and dear to our hearts :

Greed, Pride, Envy, Anger, Gluttony, Lust, and todays favorite for me, Sloth.

 

To begin with, I have a contribution to the gluttony ( I suppose) category. Here is a site where you can learn about and order Absinthe. I really don't know if that's safe or legal, so as most of my links go :

 

ADULTS !* OR OLDER AND AT YOUR OWN RISK! (DON"T BLAME ME!)

 

Here's another site that covers some recipes, even some erotica, by people who know how to have a good time :

 

HERE YOU GO.

 

Oh well. If we're going to go to hell, let's do it well!

[Thurisaz]

Aaaah, Absinthe... *HIC*

 

Legality may depend on the exact composition of the stuff. The "original" stuff is illegal in the EU as far as I know, but a "defused" variant with much less of that "Thujon" neurotoxine can be bought without problems here in Germany. Well, by adults that is, like all the hard stuff.

 

As for greed... umm...

 

...I work in the administrative center of a bank (Volkswagen Bank) operating worldwide. I have administrative user rights because I simply need them, working at the help desk. I will collect admin rights in still more systems of the bank as time passes (we'll rotated through the departments as much as possible to build a solid knowledge base). I've personally seen bank transfers of € 35,000,000 marching by in front of my eyes, via the systems I can admin.

 

I guess all I need is some more internal knowledge about how to... accidentally change... the reveiver's account, and a well-thought-out plan to get a plane to a country where I'm safe from German justice

 

 

 

Just kidding actually. I'm too fucking honest to do that, let alone that I won't rule out VW sending... people... after me even if there's no official and legal way to get me in whatever country. But still, the thought is somewhat intriguing...

[nick5]

^Well, it's a good example of envy then!

[Vigile]

We celebrated the new year with Absinthe. Strong stuff (140 proof!).

 

In Petersburg they sell shots of it for $20, but we bought our own bottle and made our own. You pour it over a sugar cube, light the cube on fire, drop the cube into the glass, swirl and let it get warm. From there you drop the fiery concoction into a shot glass and turn the mixing glass upside down on the table. You are supposed to take a shot and then breathe the gas from the mixing glass with a straw. It’s quite a ritual.

[charley]

...Yeah, I want to try some of that stuff....and just be real careful not to make a habit out of it. It sounds like a great way to end a long lazy dinner with friends.

 

Speaking of which, a very good gourmet chef served me this great coffee, "Douwe-Egberts" that he serves in his restaurant. He was telling me that the quality control is much higher than that of other brands, including starbucks, every step of the way. I bought some Phillips Senseo Coffee makers for christmas presents this year, and they come with this coffee. It is really, really good. Here's a link, and for once there's no age restrictions :

 

There are a lot of ways to buy it here

[Dianka]

...Yeah, I want to try some of that stuff....and just be real careful not to make a habit out of it. It sounds like a great way to end a long lazy dinner with friends.

 

Speaking of which, a very good gourmet chef served me this great coffee, "Douwe-Egberts" that he serves in his restaurant. He was telling me that the quality control is much higher than that of other brands, including starbucks, every step of the way. I bought some Phillips Senseo Coffee makers for christmas presents this year, and they come with this coffee. It is really, really good. Here's a link, and for once there's no age restrictions :

 

There are a lot of ways to buy it here

 

I love Senseo. Actually I retired the French press, which has been my love for a good long time.

 

BTW, is absinthe any different than drinking alcohol? What's the controversy all about?

[white_raven23]

Has anyone else besides me tried Absente? It's a version of Absithe that is US legal. According to the bottle, the only diff between the two is the Absente uses a different variety (safer) of wormwood.

 

So....I tried the Absente.....The stuff smells and tastes just like NyQuil!!! No matter how many sugar cubes you put in!

 

I was most disappointed as the allure of absinthe was very much a curiosity I wanted to explore. I don't know how much of a taste difference there is between Absente and Absinthe......so perhaps I'm still judging on ignorance here, but I can't imagine there would be too much of a difference, else why would it sell at all?

 

Soooo until someone has corrected me, I shall remain befuddled that the flavor that inspired poets and writers = the green death taste of NyQuil!!!! WTF????

[charley]

BTW, is absinthe any different than drinking alcohol? What's the controversy all about?

 

...Absinthe has a psychoactive ingredient thujone that produces vivid halucinations, and is also highly addictive. I here a lot of artists and writers used it and claimed it inspired them. One claim I'm going to check out on the website is that they say it is legal in bars and restaurants in Canada. I'm right on the border. When I go, I'll make sure I spend the night there, though. I remember driving on acid in my mis-spent youth, making traffic lights any color I wanted them to be...not a good idea.

 

In Petersburg they sell shots of it for $20

 

Twenty bucks? Wow, you giys really get screwed over there. It doesn't surprise me that you made your own. My Russian buddies over here can make just about anything they want or need...a necessary skill acquired in the old Soviet days when there wasn't much of to buy in stores. I swear, those guys can fix anything...

 

I was most disappointed as the allure of absinthe was very much a curiosity I wanted to explore. I don't know how much of a taste difference there is between Absente and Absinthe......so perhaps I'm still judging on ignorance here, but I can't imagine there would be too much of a difference, else why would it sell at all?

 

Check out that website, which claims that the version you spoke of was too watered down to produce any effects. They claim to sell a Czech brand that will "produce the effects." I feel responsible as the one who brought this up to point out what seems to be the obvious to me to not believe what they say about legality until you double check it with a professional you trust. You don't want a cop to deliver it to your house...

[Vigile]

BTW, is absinthe any different than drinking alcohol? What's the controversy all about?

 

It has wormwood in it, which is supposed to give you something extra. I don't know if it did anything different than normal alcohol, but just a small shot gave us all a strong euphoric feeling that lasted a few minutes. 140 proof does not go down easy though and before the euphoria you have to endure what feels like strong heart burn. Next time I will likely dilute it.

 

Has anyone else besides me tried Absente? It's a version of Absithe that is US legal. According to the bottle, the only diff between the two is the Absente uses a different variety (safer) of wormwood.

 

So....I tried the Absente.....The stuff smells and tastes just like NyQuil!!! No matter how many sugar cubes you put in!

 

I was most disappointed as the allure of absinthe was very much a curiosity I wanted to explore. I don't know how much of a taste difference there is between Absente and Absinthe......so perhaps I'm still judging on ignorance here, but I can't imagine there would be too much of a difference, else why would it sell at all?

 

Soooo until someone has corrected me, I shall remain befuddled that the flavor that inspired poets and writers = the green death taste of NyQuil!!!! WTF????

 

We drank "Absenta," which is an Italian brand. It was flavored with anise and tasted like Jagermeister. It was nice.

 

Last summer we went to a local bar and noticed that they had a bottle of absinthe. Curious to see what the stir was all about after watching the movie Eurotrip, we asked for a couple of shots. The bar tender asked "straight?" We said, yeah, why not? He gave us a funny look but gave us the shots without explaining how it is really supposed to be served. It was similar to what you explained only without the sugar. Very nasty and very mediciny.

 

Twenty bucks? Wow, you giys really get screwed over there. It doesn't surprise me that you made your own. My Russian buddies over here can make just about anything they want or need...a necessary skill acquired in the old Soviet days when there wasn't much of to buy in stores. I swear, those guys can fix anything...

 

Well, it was at the Astoria hotel, Petersburg's equivelent to the Waldorf in NYC.

 

We didn't actually make our own, we just bought a bottle and performed the same ritual they did for us at the Astoria. Sorry I didn't explain that clearly.

 

BTW, the bottle came with two shot glasses and a special sugar spoon and cost about $50. I just saw the bottle without the acoutriments for $25.

[charley]

We didn't actually make our own, we just bought a bottle and performed the same ritual they did for us at the Astoria. Sorry I didn't explain that clearly.

 

...you explained yourself clearly, I just read your post too quickly and misunderstood. I didn't catch it until after I posted and looked again...whoops...

 

You have me thinking about visiting Russia sometime. Checking out all the old czarist architecture in cities like st. petersberg, getting into the feel of a different time...only so much history for americans like me, being third generation immigrants. So, we need to borrow other peoples history to get that same feeling that a lot of europeans take for granted of being rooted in a past that they can sense in the buildings and art around them.

[Thurisaz]

BTW, is absinthe any different than drinking alcohol? What's the controversy all about?

 

It's all about Thujon - a neurotoxine contained in the wormwood that drink is made with. Can be highly addictive and do the most horrible things to your brain in a sufficiently high dosage.

 

That's why Absinthe was banned all across Europe until some few years ago when the legalized low-Thujon version was declared okay. With 55 % alcohol, I guarantee to you that before you start to feel the Thujon you're stoned anyway

 

 

I here a lot of artists and writers used it and claimed it inspired them.

 

You know, my very first glass of Absinthe indeed had a stunning effect on my senses - even though it was the low-Thujon version.

 

Unfortunately the stuff is damn expensive - 0.7 liters for about € 18.00 and upwards...

[Vigile]

You have me thinking about visiting Russia sometime. Checking out all the old czarist architecture in cities like st. petersberg, getting into the feel of a different time...only so much history for americans like me, being third generation immigrants. So, we need to borrow other peoples history to get that same feeling that a lot of europeans take for granted of being rooted in a past that they can sense in the buildings and art around them.

 

I highly recommend you do. If you want to live well the fleshly way, this is the place to do so.

 

You can go to the ballet for about $3. Go to a dinner theater where world class performers will dance or make you laugh. Walk down Nevsky and fall in love multiple times an hour. Go to a restaurant where everything is made of ice, including the table, the glass, your chair. Take a sauna with a naked beauty who will give you a massage. Take your life into your own hands as the taxi driver tempts death. Eat really well and pay for it, or eat just ok for next to nothing. And, and, and...

 

And the history is quite amazing as well.

[Dhampir]

If I ever try Absinthe, the only thing I want is to not be anywhere near my sister when I do.

[charley]

I highly recommend you do. If you want to live well the fleshly way, this is the place to do so.

 

You sold me, my friend. When I do my Euro-trip Petersberg will be a must-see.

[charley]

There are so many sins, and so little time....so let's move on.

Today, I'm thinking of the sin of pride. That one can't be spoken of with the same objective examples of it's indulgence that make other sins much more easily discussed. That's because the easier topics, like lust and gluttony, for example, can be spoken of in terms of sexual activity and food or drink. Whereas pride is much more dependent on belief and perception. That makes it a much more individualized exercise. This, in my opinion, is like any other sin to me though, in that it is something I am going to indulge in anyway at one time or another, part of my nature, so I should make concious efforts to indulge in it in the most fullfilling ways possible. One of the most wonderful things about pride, though, is that like other sins, once we open ourselves up to feeling it fully we find that it does not obsess us and drive us into delusion and failure, but strengthens us and adds happiness to every dimension of our lives. So, what is there to discuss? Well, like I said earlier, pride grows out of belef and perception. General guidelines that apply to everyone seeking to feel more pride in their lives are that :

1.) Pride be based on demonstable qualities of what you do, say, think, or are that fullfill your needs and desires. For example, your skill in your work that provides for your basic needs. The qualities that make and sustain the casual and intimate relations you enjoy. Any creative or inventive proclivities that can result in things of value to yourself.

2.) Pride should not be based on association with a person, group, cause, or belief. The relevance of each of these things to yourself can change as the world around you changes in ways out of your control. When pride is manifested in things that are irrevocably part of you, there is no threat of its loss unless you choose to surrender it.

In applying the principles above, one of the ways I've done so is in martial arts training. There were some other reasons for that training, but I found that the wellspring of pride that it has been is one of it's most fullfilling aspects. When I first began training, I started with Tae Kwon Do and found it very unsatisfying, because I never felt the training applied enough to real-life circumstances. I wanted to feel that in my training that I duplicated real-life threats as closely as possible, and learned how to deal with them with overwhelming success. I found that in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. There, when you train, you are mostly practicing the techniques with another person all the time, as opposed to kicking and punching in the air as in the majority of other martial arts training. The contrast can be explained as that when you train in Jiu Jitsu, every cell of your body knows that you have been in a fight, and how you responded to it. So, when you do your best, you feel your best just as thoroughly. That makes this a fantastic exercise of pride, which I think is of central inportance. In my opinion, pride is better exercised, not exorcised, and the depth, nuance and other aspects of pride that I'm able to feel have grown tremendously from this practice, and I recommend that others who have not so conciously and conspicuously indulged in pride do so.

Of course Jiu Jitsu isn't for everyone, but if you are interested here are some links :

 

Schools

 

Books

[charley]

Let's move on to another sin :

 

LUST!

 

...so many ways to approach this...hmmmm.....let's start off just by sharing what makes good sex. What I always like to do is first give and get a good massage. Not all types of massage will help, but I've found that a swedish approach (long stroking movements, followed by kneeding of muscles, plus some other moves that take careful explanation) works extremely well when the pressure is modulated as needed. The parts of the body to focus on, that are most beneficial for enhancing sex I've found to be those that are involved in orgasm, (hips, legs, diaphragm, etc.). These are also involved in arousal also, so every stage of ones experience can be enhanced.

One reason that massage is beneficial is that the body stores up tension constantly as the result of working, exercise or emotional stress. This tension inhibits feeling in the body, and is part of a natural response to avoid pain. For instance, whenever we anticipate pain by falling down, getting a shot, or whatever we automatically tense up. This helps inhibit pain. When we have tension from other causes, such as work, exercise, or stress, we also have that inhibition to a degree of pain from building and holding on to those tensions. But, and this is the main point, that inhibition to pain is also a inhibition to pleasure--it's an inhibition to all feeling to a degree, and when we relieve it better sex is possible. So, in using these methods descibed above people can experience more of what are generally described as deep melting sensations way deep in the hips, and a more freely moving pelvis and hips during orgasm, which have been described by many researchers as the indicators of what people describe as the best experiences. I'll get some links to research later.

 

The benefits beyond an initial ecstatic experience are psychological ones that psychologists and psychiatrists have been refering to for decades, and basically saying that the better sex a person can have, the better their overall mental, emotional, and physical health.

So, if you take the time to read food labels and eat well to live smart, learn to give and enjoy recieving masage from your partners because it's the most fun healthy and smart thing you can do in any spare time that you have.

[white_raven23]

I covered lust on Friday.

 

 

My first chance to cover it in two years! I hope my next chance to cover it is not so long.

[charley]

.....That a girl!

[Taphophilia]

I covered lust on Friday.

 

 

My first chance to cover it in two years! I hope my next chance to cover it is not so long.

 

Congrats White Raven,

 

Here's hoping you don't go another two years!

 

Taph

[Joyous1]

May I request some help with a sin? Specifically WRATH. What do you do when someone has seriously wronged you? I've spent so many years practicing forgiveness and turning the other cheek, I think I need some serious help in recovering my natural instincts for self-protection.

[charley]

May I request some help with a sin? Specifically WRATH. What do you do when someone has seriously wronged you? I've spent so many years practicing forgiveness and turning the other cheek, I think I need some serious help in recovering my natural instincts for self-protection.

 

 

WRATH?-

 

Why, certainly. This is something that in my view needs a well thought out plan, taking into consideration your unique circumstances. I like the phrase "calculated rage", and I find that any rage that isn't usually is a hindrance to whoever possesses it.

 

I am going to describe a perspective on and a solution to what I can construe from your question. I assume that there is an anger that you have been feeling against someone for a long time, to what you percieve to be an unforgivable injustice. I think that the only way to handle it is to realize that if you don't take some sort of action against them, your anger will harm you by stress related health issues and detract from your life by constant preoccupation with it. Of course doing anything illegal is out of the question. That way, you would place yourself firmly in the category of those who did not calculate their rage, noted above. One way you can handle that is by putting a curse on that person. What that does is enable you to act out your rage and get it out of your system, and also harm or destroy the deserving party. One great way to do that is by using a voodoo doll.

BUT- you have to make sure that if the person you curse falls ill, gets injured or dies, that you will not feel any regret, and will feel vindicated and good about it. Otherwise, your guilt can cause it to backfire.

So, now to do this, you should make your own doll. You can do this with a pair of socks. If possible, find some that are the approximate color of the victims skin. Whtever you do, do not use a pair ever worn by yourself or anyone that you care for. They could be inadvertently efffected. Now, to make the doll, take one sock and cut it in half from toe to heel, and sew up the inner openings to form the legs. The other sock can be cut up to form the arms, stuffed with feathers and sewn on. Stuff the legs and body, sew up the top and tie off a section of appropriate size to form the head. If you can draw, or have a photo, give a good facial representation. Even if that is only as far as you can go, it can still work.

To throw your curse, find a time when your victim has been asleep for at least four hours. This will ensure maximum receptivity from being prone then to REM sleep. Find a place where you can be alone, take your doll and a bunch of nails with you. Imagine and feel the doll as your victim, puting all of your anger and hate into it as you push the nails in deliberately and slowly. Say anything that you wish to say to your victim, getting all your anger out of your system. When you are through, put the doll away and leave the room.

This can work very well, getting your anger out of your system, making you feel cleansed and past that issue. Ready for new things, through with that old preoccupation. Plus, this can cause your victim to get what you feel they deserve.

There are a few other basic strategies, if you would like to give me some specifics maybe I would have some other suggestions.

[Amethyst]

May I request some help with a sin? Specifically WRATH. What do you do when someone has seriously wronged you? I've spent so many years practicing forgiveness and turning the other cheek, I think I need some serious help in recovering my natural instincts for self-protection.

 

Hmm...if you know their e-mail address, you could sign them up for lots of spam.

[spamandham]

Greed, Pride, Envy, Anger, Gluttony, Lust, and todays favorite for me, Sloth.

 

Gluttony doesn't appeal to me much. I guess I'm just too lazy to be able to pride myself to reaching your lofty ideals you son of a bitch! But at least I know I'm better than you because I have way more money, and I get laid all the time.

 

 

...anyone have some donuts?

[charley]

Gluttony doesn't appeal to me much. I guess I'm just too lazy to be able to pride myself to reaching your lofty ideals you son of a bitch! But at least I know I'm better than you because I have way more money, and I get laid all the time.

 

 

...anyone have some donuts?

 

...HaHa... ....That's the spirit, and I'm sure you are trying to make a point...get to it.

 

Hmm...if you know their e-mail address, you could sign them up for lots of spam.

 

Hey,...allright. Spam isn't what it used to be, though. Filters work very well

[Joyous1]

To throw your curse, find a time when your victim has been asleep for at least four hours.

 

She doesn't sleep, I'm sure she is up all night casting curses my way.

 

If living well is the best revenge I'm winning though. She has driven me from my home, but the new home I am building is much nicer and in a more affluent community. I am more successful than I have ever been before career-wise, and I'm saving a $75 bottle of rare French champagne for my first dinner in my new home. My son is doing well in college and planning a semester abroad this summer (he'll be living in a medieval castle for pete's sake!).

 

I could try to curse her, but it may not be worth the effort. She does such a damn good job of fucking up her own life -- I don't think I could do any better. Hell, maybe I should send her a thank you note for curing me of my "faith."

 

good lord, I used the d-word and the f-word in the same sentence. I am recovering already.