};> Ray Ledford wrote in a message to Richard Smith <:(
 RS> I hope that you keep trying.  Without wanting to make you
 RS> feel badly, I think children transform a person.
  RL> We're already planning on it.  Her doctor has advised her
  RL> to wait until July before trying again.
 RL> Don't worry, you didn't make me feel badly because I
 RL> recognize the truth in your words.  Ever since we found out
 RL> that she was pregnant, we began keeping separate journals
 RL> for the baby, talking to him or her in the future about what
 RL> we were going through and how we felt in the present.  Even
 RL> though the conversations were one-sided, we still had
 RL> developed an attachment to the baby and we felt changed in
 RL> the process.
  RL> We'd actually gotten happier.
 RL> Of course, we still want a child and we'll try again.  It'll
 RL> be great to dump what little our three brain cells (I won't
 RL> tell you who has the 2nd one) have managed to hold over the
 RL> past thirty-something years.
 My best to you on it.  My son has defined and rooted me, and
 is the keystone to my life.
 RL> You know, I love to watch animals, but cats are really
 RL> interesting creatures.  No other animal, IMO, can sleep with
 RL> the same gusto as a cat, no other animal can seem as serious
 RL> and intent when hunting as a cat, and no other animal can
 RL> turn around and amuse itself as well as a cat.
  RS> I think they're very much "in the moment," so to speak.
 RL> I agree.  We have one cat who seems to support this.
 RL> Normally, when a car comes into the driveway, he'll hop up
 RL> and run quickly away. The other day we drove up behind him
 RL> and he didn't budge.  Just kept sitting there, staring into
 RL> a tall clump of grass at a fence, waiting.  I suppose it was
 RL> a field mouse, but there's no telling what it really was.
 RL> The same nut cornered a skunk once a few years ago -- at
 RL> least, I assume he cornered one.  The evidence was somewhat
 RL> overpowering....
 Sometimes, being smart is knowing when to give up on
 something like that.  
 RS> I work at an animal shelter, so I see a lot of animals
 RS> daily.  Dogs seem to be almost happy just about anywhere
 RS> they go, but cats can get depressed or anxious from being in
  RL> I hate that.  I know I'd be in an awful state if I were
  RL> cooped up, too.
 I also think some of them are at least suspicious that it
 may not end well for them.
 RS> the shelter.  I've seen cats almost in a panic to get
 RS> accepted by someone looking them over for adoption.  Unlike
 RS> what is currently believed in our society, I believe that
 RS> the lower animals are just as emotional and complex as we
 RS> are.  But then, I'm an oddball . . . I happen to think of
 RS> animals as other people, just like I think of other people
 RS> as, well, other people.
  RL> You can do that if you're around them long enough.  I have a
  RL> background in psychology, so I know that there aren't any
  RL> studies which can prove that animals are just as complex
  RL> emotionally as humans, and while there's no way to prove
  RL> that they have ANY emotions, I do believe that they have at
  RL> least some emotional complexity.  I've seen one of my cats
  RL> "pout" whenever I've removed him from my lap.  I've got
  RL> another one who alters his meowing whenever he wants to be
  RL> petted.
 True, we don't know what they feel, or if they feel at all,
 emotion-wise . . . all we can go by is behavior.  However, I
 have no evidence that anyone else feels what I feel either,
 just their behavior or claims to that effect.  Read When
 Elephants Weep, which is a really good book on the subject.
 It didn't make me a believer, but I think it's a distinct
 possibility.  My wife, who's a psych major, is all the time
 telling me that certain of the lower animals don't have the
 right brain structure for emotion, etc.  We agree to
 disagree.  };)
 RL> No one should, really.  If he wanted to talk about the
 RL> issues without being insulting, then talking to him would be
 RL> fine.  But that's not what he does.  I don't know if you
 RL> read the exchanges between Charles and Jim, but he told Jim
 RL> that he posted the "Twain" piece because he was trying to
 RL> make a point about people trying to be something their not.
 RL> My question is, why didn't he just come out and say that
 RL> instead of posting such an inflammatory message?
  RS> I read his posts.  His agenda is his own, and he'll follow
  RS> it regardless of what anyone says.  This is just his attempt
  RS> to keep it on track, per his agenda.
 RL> He's still miffed at me for questioning his agenda.  He's
 RL> even taken to accusing me of the very things he has done.
 RL> Not that I buy into Freudian theory, but his actions do seem
 RL> to support Sigmund.
 As him about his slip.  
 RL> American?  Very little.  Most of what the outside has done
 RL> they have done TO the Native American.  In the past, white
 RL> America stole the land from The People; today, the New Agers
 RL> are trying to steal the culture.
  RS> I hear you.  The heritage IS being pillaged.  And there's
  RS> nothing that can really be done about it.
 RL> No, although I can't help but laugh at the new agers.  They
 RL> think that a change of wardrobe and singing a couple of
 RL> ceremonial songs will make them be more Native American.
 They're funny when they really DO get into a sweat lodge.
 They were prepared for NOTHING like that . . .
 RL> On the other hand, there are those whose recent ancestors
 RL> were Native American, but have always lived on the outside.
 RL> Have they been cheated?  Should they be treated as if they
 RL> are invaders?
  RS> Heck if I know.    Is there a wrong place in the country
  RS> to be a Native American?  I, personally, wouldn't think so.
 RL> Oh, I'm sorry -- I wasn't clear about what I was saying.  I
 RL> was talking about people who are descendants but have lived
 RL> on the Outside and the opposition they get from some Native
 RL> Americans. Some do get treated like invaders or intruders.
  RL> Also, have they been cheated by not growing up within any of
  RL> the Native Cultures?  I have the ancestry, but I've grown up
  RL> outside the culture.  Have I been cheated?  Would I be the
  RL> same person if I'd grown up in the Cherokee culture?  Would
  RL> my lot in life be better or worse if I'd grown up in the
  RL> Cherokee culture?
 If you grow up with the culture, you have the culture, but
 perhaps you don't have the cultural possibilities for the
 white culture?
 If you grow up without the culture, are you robbed of it,
 but more culturally prepared for the white culture?
 Interesting to think about, eh?
 RL> I'm inclined to believe that who I am is who I was meant to
 RL> be, and while Cherokee girls are MIGHTY pretty, I can't
 RL> imagine being married to anyone other than my wife, who is
 RL> herself 1/4 Nahuatl and cute to boot!
 I concurr, with a tiny caveat that perhaps ALL women are
 pretty . . . 
 RL> Oh, one other thing -- the birds have left!  I think I'll
 RL> wait until fall to close up the hole, but that's one family
 RL> with a success story -- all the little birdies left the
 RL> nest.  Or, in this case, the hole in the wall. :-)
  RS> Patience is it's own reward.  Good!  I'm glad they're off on
  RS> their adventure and not prone to accidents when you cover up
  RS> the hole.  Take care.
 RL> I'll have to build a comfortable place for them before they
 RL> come back around in the spring, though.  However, that's not
 RL> a problem.
 Nice to have a family of birds around as your own family
 get's rolling . . .
 Naturam expellas furca,
 tamen usque recurret.
 Richard Smith
--- timEd 1.01
---------------
Next conference: FIDO Message Area
Next topic: 213 RBBS Plus

FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 213 RBBS PLUS     Ref: BAH00008 Date: 06/10/94
From: RONNY HALE                                            Time: 12:08pm
\/To: MATT BEDYNEK                                        (Read 17 times)
Subj: Re: CDOR Mod EXE's

MB>Dan,
MB>One thing I did a while back was PKLITE the config and RBBS-PC executab
MB>Loads faster off disk and takes less space. 
MB>A friend of mine who I am helping set up RBBS /w CDOR, Grey Hoffman has
MB>megs of ram on his computer. We PKLITED the rbbs-pc.exe and copied it t
MB>meg RAM disk for speed and it works great. Also put the language file t
MB>too.
MB>MATT
MB>--- Squish v1.10
Hello Matt,be careful about pklite the rbbs-pc.exe ,it worked find over
here at Toon-Town,but when a user used the option of g when download or
uploading files the logoff counter would recycle 3 times before it
would let them off...Put the rbbs-pc.exe back in full bytes and have no
problems at all now...Just thoght I'd let you know what happen on my
end...
        Ronny Hale
--- Squish v1.10
---------------