The kids from across the stream pissed on Steve’s hat after we met at the border, accidentally, me and Steve playing dangerously on the creaking ice behind Meadow Heights Road, and the bullies from the other side catching us unaware. Of course, we were smart-asses, and so not entirely without blame. But it was lucky for me that Steve was more of a smart-ass, because their attack began with him. I tried not to laugh while I waited for my turn, having always had a bad habit of cracking up at the wrong time. (For example, when Steve was sitting on his skateboard riding down the steep hill of Amy Lane, and fell off at top speed, hitting his ass hard on the asphalt, right in front of me, then flipping fast to his chin. I cracked up, despite the blood and his tears.) The bullies, remembering, most likely, us giving them the finger and running away, pushed Steve back and forth between them and punched the wind out of him and knocked him to the ground, and while Steve’s anger rolled frustrated tears down his cheeks, all I could think was, “Please don’t laugh. Please don’t laugh.” But I was out of control, and when they pissed on his hat with him sitting on the frozen dirt watching, that was all I could stand. I broke into a wild fit of giggling that grew with hilarious intensity the more I tried to stop. If this is the reason they didn’t beat the crap out of me, then god bless confusion. All I know is I started cracking up and the bullies disappeared promptly, hopping the stream and running off through the backyards on their side of the stream. Steve left his piss-soaked hat behind, and I bit my lip, slowly and barely regaining control as we walked out through the backyards behind Meadow Heights Road. Steve had his new bruises, I had my terrible guilt, and I told myself then, not for the first time, “It’s not that I want to be this way, it’s just the way I am.”
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- MSSB @ M Shanghai Den
Our monthly first Saturday gig. Awesome Schezwan food!
When: Feb 7, 2009 9:00:00 PM
Where: M Shanghai Den in Brooklyn,New York
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- Morality: 2012: Online Only Video: The New Yorker - The social and cultural psychologist Jonathan Haidt talks with Henry Finder about the five foundations of morality, and why liberals often fail to get their message across. From ?2012: Stories from the Near Future,? the 2007 New Yorker Conference.
- Life With Alacrity: Community by the Numbers, Part II: Personal Circles - Unlike the group limits, personal limits actually measure something different: the number of connections that an individual can hold. They're yet another thing that you must consider when thinking about communities of people. (I'm looking for more info on Familiar Strangers).
- Findings - For Good Self-Control, Try Getting Religious About It - NYTimes.com - "Religious people, he said, are self-controlled not simply because they fear God?s wrath, but because they?ve absorbed the ideals of their religion into their own system of values, and have thereby given their personal goals an aura of sacredness. He suggested that nonbelievers try a secular version of that strategy." . . . "So what?s a heathen to do in 2009? Dr. McCullough?s advice is to try replicating some of the religious mechanisms that seem to improve self-control, like private meditation or public involvement with an organization that has strong ideals."
- Single Spot Camping - SingleSpotCamping.com? is a brand new website which offers all land- and lot owners to present their own "single-spot-camping". The idea is: Anyone who owns land (it can even consist of your garage entrance) and would like to welcome one or a couple of camping guests are welcome to connect to www.singelspotcamping.com.
- Lunch Break, Red Bank, NJ - If you're looking to make an end-of-year donation, you could do worse than Red Bank's Lunch Break. These guys need a website overhaul, badly. No online donations and I had to use google to find out whether or not my donation was tax-deductible.
- Review: Radioshift Touch for iPhone | iPhone Central | Macworld - listen to radio stations on your iphone
- EveryTrail - iPhone Application - With this geotracking application, you can record your movements, take geotagged photos, make notes and immediately upload it all to EveryTrail, the leading online community for travel storytelling
- E-Democracy.Org - Discussion Forums with Political, Elections, News, and Government Links
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- What is Equally Shared Parenting? - Equally sharing the care of your children with your partner is about balancing your life, balancing your family's collective life and sharing equally in the joys of raising a family.
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Reminds me a little of the book The Kite Runner.
Great story, Nav.
ky
What else can you do but laugh, anyway? It was funny then, and it’s funny now, and even less dangerous, now that we’re all growed up.