[GardenSirens]

So for the last two weeks I have been going through some soul searching and what not, dealing with so much crap in my life. So I'm going to reintroduce myself.

Hello N&P forum! My name is Matt. I'm 26 year old American, married for 2 years to a lovely lady named Colleen. We've been best friends for 10 years. I spent the last two months as a Christian to try it out as I was an atheist at age 9 and Buddhist at 14. After 2 months of lying to myself, I have officially gone back to my Buddhist ways albeit vulgar and a smartazz. Politically I am still coming in to my own. The last 13 months I have been what Americans call a conservative. However, I don't buy in to all conservative topics. I love gay people and think women should be able to do to their body whatever they want. I'm covered in tattoos and wouldn't want anyone to tell me I can't do that to my body because they don't like it.

I look forward to posting here as I feel like I already know Sunny, hehe. You guys rock

[sunnykerr]

Well, there goes our conservative voice. Rats!

Just kidding.

I think you don't have to have all the answers. I also think you don't need to try to fit in any one political box either.

Did you know that the Founding Fathers, at the very beginning of your country, thought that political parties were just about the worst thing that could happen to politics? Because, as they saw it, political parties robbed the individual of the independence to follow their conscience, so to speak. They weren't big on religion in politics either, so I don't mean "conscience" in a religions sense.

Anyway, obviously that didn't last very long. But, that was their original "wish" for the political system they were creating. No political parties.

So, you know, whatever you want to be, just be that. No one has to fit in a mold.

[GardenSirens]

I did know that about Founding Fathers, they would be SO disappointed with how conservatives use the Constitution today. Yeah, i tried fitting into this Christian mold and it wasn't for me. I'm too much of a free thinker for that. Works for some...not this cat!!

[sunnykerr]

Good on you.

[GardenSirens]

It feels liberating. However, it's made a lot of people mad, I told you I was a mini celebrity on Twitter, I had, at one point, 4,000 followers...I dwindled it down to 2,300 and in the last 48 hours I am now in the 1980s and dropping. Of course, that's mostly because I unfollowed all but 78 haha. Too much negativity. I could write a book series on all the crap most conservatives complain about.

[sunnykerr]

So basically, you lost followers because you stopped following them.

Seems like you're getting the better half of the deal.

[GardenSirens]

OH man it got crazy yesterday, I wish I could have video taped it. Someone thought I reported this woman for spam and got her suspended when SHE was the one who was "spamming" me and attacking me THEN blocked me. It got so bad and so many threats that I had to delete that account and use my backup account as a primary one. (If you search the name it's the same as here and I use elsewhere and these attackers could really hurt parts of my digital life). Right wing nut jobs took on a whole new meaning. It was INSANE

[sunnykerr]

I've been through that myself.

Not on Twitter. Never really been on there and I don't know how it all works.

[GardenSirens]

Twitter is truly an awesome monster. I use it like a virtual diary. The way I see life is so many of our moments are lost because they're in between ones like sneezing, going to the restroom, watching just regular tv, etc... and we only remember bigger moments. I use twitter to connect the dots and grab my emotions. It's also a cool way to connect with people. I have made many celebrity friends off of twitter and we now know each other, by name and face in real life.

[sunnykerr]

That sounds interesting.

Personally, and I only mean personally, I prefer a smaller scope. Not that my way's the right way, obviously, but I am pretty content with my own pen-and-paper diary.

[GardenSirens]

To be honest with you, I've kind of overdone it with technology. I got a Nook (ebook reader) and now I miss my actual books that I got rid of so I could have them digitally. I got so hooked on twitter, I lost contact with some of my REAL LIFE friends haha. My family owns a real farm that I have a standing offer to work at (although it's in Pennsylvania and like 9 hours from where I live) and instead I go on the Facebook farming game. Keep a pen and paper diary/journal. I just started using my paper one again and itfeels better.

[sunnykerr]

I won an ebook reader at the office Christmas party.

I have no idea what I'm gonna do with it, but it was free, so I figure I'll eventually see how that goes.

No way am I getting rid of my books, though.

I think it's going to be so bizarre reading a "book" while holding on to something that smells like nothing much of at all and "flipping" pages via a curser or a button or something.

And when I say it'll be "bizarre," I actually mean that it'll fee twelve kinds of wrong.

Of course, I need to figure out the iPod I got from work before even beginning on the ebook reader thingy.

[GardenSirens]

There is nothing like the smell of going into a book store and cracking open a fresh brand new book. Probably my favorite smell in the world

[sunnykerr]

Well, I buy a lot of used books, and the smell isn't quite the same.

But it's not at all musty and old cigarette. At least not very often.

[GardenSirens]

I've never bought a used book, I'm THAT guy. I don't buy anything used. Probably why I'm always broke lol