Interview The Person Below You

[des]

I'm glad you all can stop anytime. :-) I actually tried and had terrible headaches. And I asked my doctor. She told me not to stop. :-)

 

> first computer?

 

Ok the very very first computer I had was a Timex Sinclair (2 k, 1/2 Mz?). Connected up to the tv. You could write BASIC on it, well barely. I bought it at a garage sale, in.. well you might know about this Fred, "the World's Largest Garage Sale in Evanston Ill."

First REAL computer was an Amiga500. Amiga is still amazing-- it could actually do real multiprocessing with a cool graphical OS (The Workbench) that fit on a floppy drive.

 

More early computer memories?

 

--des

[bobve2]

  Favorite movie? The Sting.  Music-BS & T, Neil Diamond and Beatles(guess my age) 

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Pushing 50 eh? hehe...yeah, me too. (I adore Neil Diamond)

 

lily

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Pushing 50 is a complement, I remember "the sound of music" and "Dr Chivago" like it was yesterday". Thanks for the complement

[FredP]

Ok the very very first computer I had was a Timex Sinclair (2 k, 1/2 Mz?). Connected up to the tv. You could write BASIC on it, well barely.

Nice. I think you could type 'P-R-I-N-' before it would run out of memory.

 

My first roomate after college was smitten with the Amiga as well. It was kind of sick in a way. But yeah, for its time it was a pretty nice machine.

 

More early computer memories?

My very first computer was a TI-99/4A. It was the lousiest built-in BASIC interpreter ever (except perhaps for the Timex Sinclair), but if you shelled out for the Extended BASIC cartridge, that was a pretty decent language. When I was a wee lad of 8, my dad, with uncharacteristic foresight, saw that the TI's were getting unloaded for $50, and so we ran out to pick one up. It wasn't too long before I was writing my own simple programs.

 

For my eighth grade graduation, my best friend (who was then hacking away on a TRS-80 MC-10 with a whopping 4K onboard memory) and I convinced our respective sets of parents to get us matching Atari 800XLs so we could trade programs, and write stuff together. Now that was quite a bit of 1979 engineering! The display and sound subsystems actually had their own mini-processors -- with their own mini-languages. Very cool. I still sometimes fire up an Atari 800XL emulator on my computer for nostalgia' sake.

 

Today, I run Debian GNU/Linux on a Mac PowerPC G4. I don't write much BASIC anymore, but I'm pretty good with C, C++, Java, and Python.

[AletheiaRivers]

Pssst, Fred. You forgot to ask a question!

[FredP]

Pssst, Fred. You forgot to ask a question! 

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No, the computer question was my question, des answered it, I just elaborated.

[des]

No Fred, my question was "more computer memories?" which you answered, but you didn't ask one. So I will instead. :-)

 

How many states have you lived in? (Or if not in the US, how many contigious countries?)

(My own answer is 5-- Wisconsin, IL, Missouri, Kansas, and NM)

 

 

--des

[AletheiaRivers]

Utah, California, Washington, New York, Michigan and back to Utah - 5.

 

Were you raised Christian or did you convert from another religion?

[cunninglily]

Were you raised Christian or did you convert from another religion?

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I was raised Christian...Southern Baptist, hard-shell style...in what is called the Bible Belt which runs through sections of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas (all "dry" counties...some to this day). I was baptised at the age of 7 (my maternal grandmother insisted that I be christened Catholic so I was given infant baptism as well) and was given a pink leather-bound King James that was my prized possession. My paternal grandparents (who helped raise me as my parents were unusually young) were both Sunday school teachers. Alcohol was forbidden, so was dancing, and heaven forbid that you should work on Sundays (unless you were a woman of course and had to cook Sunday dinner and clean the kitchen afterward). I was an unusually religious kid, I think, wanting to talk about Jesus and the scriptures with my parents and grandparents whenever I could corner them. Naturally, I wanted to be a missionary when I grew up.

 

This is a good question; let's keep it:

 

Were your raised Christian or did you convert from another religion?

 

lily

[bobve2]

Like Lily, I was raised in a fundamental church. The location was small town Iowa. The opportunity to grow through the eight points of tcpc has been a breath of fresh air for me. Lets keep this question one more round.

 

Were you born Christian or did you convert from another religion?

[flowperson]

Like Lily, I was raised in a fundamental church.  The location was small town Iowa.  The opportunity to grow through the eight points of tcpc has been a breath of fresh air for me.  Lets keep this question one more round. 

 

Were you born Christian or did you convert from another religion?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My father was baptized Roman Catholic, but was never serious about going to mass, etc. His favorite phrase about it all was that one didn't have to go to church to be a good Christian. And, he's proven it to me.

Mom was raised in a fairly liberal Congregational Church near Chicago in a factory town. She had a large family and many of them and their children belonged so it was the natural thing for me to do when I was young.

I belonged to UCC churches most of my life until about 2000. Since I've moved to the southwest I haven"t affiliated with anything yet except TCPC. I'm just not comfortable with orthodox theology any more, even when it comes to me from a UCC pulpit. It just seems all too hierarchical and rote for me in light of the rapid pace of changes in world culture these days, even though I realize the importance of anchoring one's religious philosophies. I still always read the King James edition and ALWAYS use my Strong's concordance when I question the use of certain words and phrases. Tracing them back to their Hebrew and Greek roots usually gives me a clearer picture of the writers' intents.

 

I think this question is important for us all. Let's do it again.

 

Were you raised a Christian or did you convert from another religion ?

[AletheiaRivers]

I was raised nominally Christian (a kind of blend between JW and Mormon). I wasn't baptized until I was 20 as a JW. In my late teens I dabbled with new age and magic, which made my Christian baptism and "conversion" stories really cool to all the JW's in my congregation - Former Satanist (in their opinion) comes to the "truth" and the light.

 

Question: WHY are you Christian, rather than Buddhist, Pagan, Hindu, etc ... ?

[FredP]

WHY are you Christian, rather than Buddhist, Pagan, Hindu, etc ... ?

 

I'd say it has two equally valid answers.

 

The first answer is purely personal -- I have been a Christian for as long as I can remember. As much as (a few) other worldviews have captivated me, they just don't touch me personally the way Christianity does.

 

The second answer is that I have investigated other worldviews, some for many years; and for me, in all but maybe one or two cases, Christianity towers above them all in terms of logical coherence, personal motivation, and aesthetic beauty (I realize that's a subjective one). The only thing to ever come close in my travels has been Zen Buddhism -- the Buddhist religion filtered through the philosophical lens of Taoism -- and I have integrated much of Zen into my Christian belief and (to a lesser extent, unfortunately) practice. Objectively speaking, I can see these two streams independently reaching the same height in the East and West, even as Christianity resonates with, challenges, and addresses the western mind in a unique way.

 

Personally, I could never abandon Christianity for another path, and I suppose this is where the two answers converge. Nothing in all my journeys touches my religious sense like the hushed singing of Christmas carols at midnight, or the triumphant Alleluia of Easter morning. But once I have seen that these great symbols are not only sublimely beautiful in their own right, but also express the very deepest truths in the universe, I am reduced to silent awe before the Christian mystery.

 

Let's take it around again:

 

WHY are you Christian, rather than Buddhist, Pagan, Hindu, etc ... ?

[des]

Like you, Fred, I have studied (considered) other paths. Some of it for me was that Christianity is based in western traditions and I am a person of western traditions. I am used to and comfortable with those kind of traditions vs non-western ones. I also feel that Christianity calls to us in a western context.

 

Ok, I'll ask that question again:

WHY are you Christian, rather than Buddhist, Pagan, Hindu, etc ... ?

 

 

(gosh I knew this would "degenerate" into a religious discussion. LOL!)

 

--des

[October's Autumn]

Like you, Fred, I have studied (considered) other paths. Some of it for me was that Christianity is based in western traditions and I am a person of western traditions. I am used to and comfortable with those kind of traditions vs non-western ones. I also feel that Christianity calls to us in a western context.

 

Ok, I'll ask that question again:

WHY are you Christian, rather than Buddhist, Pagan, Hindu, etc ... ?

 

 

(gosh I knew this would "degenerate"  into a religious discussion. LOL!)

 

--des

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Primarily culture. I'd prefer to be Jewish but it isn't as easy as converting.

 

Hmmm... question for the person below me?

 

What brought you to this board?

[bobve2]

What brought me to this board? Through a Christian small group I began to explore Progressive Christianity. I ran into TCPC and started reading the message board. I enjoy the diversity, having been brought up as a strict fundamental, legalistic Christian . Therefore the board usually is a breath of fresh air as are the "eight points". My question is: Which of the 8 points of TCPC is the more meaningful to you and why?

[AletheiaRivers]

I'd have to say #1 -

 

"Have found an approach to God through the life and teachings of Jesus."

 

Otherwise I'd be a "progressive Buddhist" or a "progressive Pagan".

 

In response to October's question though, I need to say that I'm here because of a person calling himself NEOPAGAN CHRISTIAN on a Yahoo chat group about a year ago. I've been wanting to find out who that is. If you are out there and are reading, I just want to say thank you.

 

Question: Are you a city person or a nature person? What I mean is, would you be more at home in NYC or in Alaska?

[October's Autumn]

I'd have to say #1 -

 

"Have found an approach to God through the life and teachings of Jesus."

 

Otherwise I'd be a "progressive Buddhist" or a "progressive Pagan".

 

In response to October's question though, I need to say that I'm here because of a person calling himself NEOPAGAN CHRISTIAN on a Yahoo chat group about a year ago. I've been wanting to find out who that is. If you are out there and are reading, I just want to say thank you.

 

Question: Are you a city person or a nature person? What I mean is, would you be more at home in NYC or in Alaska?

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I've been to Alaska and NYC and I'd say neither I've lived in very rural areas and cityish suburbs. I like both. I like the space of the rural areas and (with the price of gas being $2.70 a gallon) the conveince of having everything I *need* close by!

 

I love going to museums and art galleries and I love walking in the quiet woods. I like going to sit by a still lake and going camping. I also like to stay in hotels (and I stayed in a homeless shelter when I was in college with a class) in the city. If I had to choose? I'd probably take a cabin out in the middle of no where so long as I can take a hot shower in morning!

[October's Autumn]

How many states have you lived in?

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As a resident: 3. Michigan, Pennsylvania, and California. But I spent a summer living in Virginia outside of Washington DC.

[irreverance]

Question: Are you a city person or a nature person? What I mean is, would you be more at home in NYC or in Alaska?

I'm an indoor person. It's sad, I know. Put me in a mountain cabin, and I will soon plug in and get lost on the internet. It's safer to look at bears that way. Put me in a fancy hotel in a big city, and I'll probably fill the tub and enjoy a good book and beer before I hop into bed and watch cable. It's safer to watch crime reports on the news.

 

Question: What's the most significant thing you have scheduled to happen before the end of this week?

[AletheiaRivers]

I have a doctors appointment on Thursday at a "dizzy clinic" to test my brain and ears and heart, and then next week I get to have a "sleep deprived EEG" where I get to go for 24 hours with no sleep and then I have to sleep on demand for the test.

 

Question: Who is your favorite fictional character in either film or literature?

[flowperson]

I'm a John D. MacDonald fan. I will ALWAYS reread a book of his when I find them in thrift stores. I've probably reread some of his Travis McGhee mysteries several times over.

 

He's a former pro tight end and Vietnam vet-hero who lives in an ocean-going houseboat in Ft. Lauderdale that he won in a poker game. Travis earns his way, between periods of total slothfulness, by taking on salvage assignments. These usually involve undoing a wrong that the forces of darkness have imposed upon those who in Travis' opinion deserved better.

 

He gets to keep a share of the assets he recovers in the process, which always seem to be substantial. He's always assisted by his friend Meyer who lives in the same marina. Meyer is a retired world-class economist who adds intellectual substance to the stories. All of MacDonald's McGhee book titles have a color name in the title,eg, A Tan and Sandy Silence. MacDonald's remaining family members, he passed in the late 80's, have steadfastly refused to sell the movie rights to the books (hooray for them!!!)

 

When you go out to eat what kinds of foods do you usually seek out (excluding fast food)?

 

 

flow....

[BrotherRog]

When I go out to eat the kind of foods I normally seek out are the ones that I cannot make easily myself at home; e.g.

 

Indian food, Thai food, and authentic Mexican food.

 

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Do you think that Roe v. Wade will actually be overturned after George Jr. installs the new members of the Supreme Court?

[curlytop]

It's hard to say.

 

I guess anything is possible.

 

Rather than overturn Roe v. Wade outright, there could probably be smaller-scale rulings that would go in an anti-abortion direction, such as states being given the power to decide on the legality of abortion within their own jurisdictions. More limitations could be placed on access to abortion -- this has actually already happened in many places.

 

I think it's okay if people want to try to discourage abortion or make abortions more rare, but I don't think overturning Roe v. Wade is the right way to go about it. The government should not be making these kinds of complex decisions for people.

 

Here's my interview question: Have you ever had a mystical experience? If so, describe it.

 

Peace,

M.

[mystictrek]

!

It's hard to say.

 

Here's my interview question: Have you ever had a mystical experience? If so, describe it.

 

Peace,

M.

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Yes. One was on a dentist chair. OK, it might have just been a "laughing gas" experience but I have never forgotten the enlightenment I experienced so I think God was using the drug to guide me on my way. I came awy believing that although there is much pain in the world (boy did that tooth hurt!), there is even more, no, far more, joy (boy did it feel good when the drilling stopped!). From time to time I feel like I access that kind of awe / awakening / awareness / connectedness in various ways.

 

Oh, now I have to think of a question.

 

Do you have a hobby which takes a lot of time and money and how would you describe it both materially and spiritually?

[October's Autumn]

I recently started sewing doll clothes. It takes up a lot of time, not exactly a lot of money -- an outfit can be made with about a 1/2 yard of fabric.

 

How would I describe it materially? Not sure what that means. I enjoy it. It is much better for me than sitting on a computer for hours on end. My brain likes it better.

 

Spiritually?