Having a Bad Day? Stop here for a Good Rant!

[A Joe in the Bush]

Eh, I can think of anything... can someone throw me a bone here?

Not sure if making a joke, or just using a common expression.

[Kaymyth she/her]

Thank you for the support but seriously, please explain why you love museums. I don't get it, and that information will better help me impersonate humans.

 

For me, it depends on the museum.  When it comes to art, I tend to prefer Old Stuff to Modern Stuff, but if it's pretty, then I'm relatively happy.  It doesn't stop me from cracking jokes at the art, though.  I've had museum docents shoot me snooty looks.

 

But air and space museums?  Those are cool.  Space is cool.  Airplanes are cool.  My grandfather was a fighter pilot in World War II, so I always keep an eye out for the models that he flew.

 

The best kinds of museums are the science ones with interactive exhibits.  Doing stuff is infinitely superior to ogling stuff, so I'm a sucker for that kind of thing.  The St. Louis Science Center is one of the best; it's got tons of things to play with and build and knock down again.  And it's got a bridge over the interstate that has windows in the floor and radar guns you can point at the cars.

[Elsecaller3414 she/her]

I don't typically go to museums because my anxiety is so bad, and I am afraid of crowds and large spaces, which doesn't help in the least. 

 

Also, tonight I had to go home early from a nearby cul-de-sac (however you spell it) because there were going to be fireworks, and fireworks just set me too much on edge, and that eventually causes me to have a severe panic attack.  Not cool in the least.

[+Slowswift he/him]

@Elsecaller:  I'm so sorry. Have a hug? *hugs*

 

For me museums are cool... when I'm in the mood. I went to England last year, and requisite to visiting Ye Olde Motherlande is seeing the British Museum.

 

Dear Harmony, I loved that place.... but my love was dampened somewhat by the fact that my feet hurt like heck and my aunt dragged us to some (admittedly pretty darn cool) exhibits more or less against my will. The clock room? Fabulous. Being dragged to see the Sutton Hoo treasures when I'd much rather gaze fondly at ancient clockwork? Slightly less so. Though it was pretty cool.

 

Now, the National Gallery, on the other hand... that place was heaven. 

Edited July 5, 2015 by Slowswift

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

@Elsecaller:  I'm so sorry. Have a hug? *hugs*

 

For me museums are cool... when I'm in the mood. I went to England last year, and requisite to visiting Ye Olde Motherlande is seeing the British Museum.

 

Dear Harmony, I loved that place.... but my love was dampened somewhat by the fact that my feet hurt like heck and my aunt dragged us to some (admittedly pretty darn cool) exhibits more or less against my will. The clock room? Fabulous. Being dragged to see the Sutton Hoo treasures when I'd much rather gaze fondly at ancient clockwork? Slightly less so. Though it was pretty cool.

 

Now, the National Gallery, on the other hand... that place was heaven. 

 

The worst museum I've ever visited is the Bohemia Mining Company Museum in Cottage Grove, Oregon. It's small, dingy, and full of relics that were boring back when they were brand-new, but all of the old people (including my grandmother, naturally) are determined to think it's the coolest place with the coolest stuff in the history of coolness, so every time she visits Cottage Grove, guess who has to see the stupid mining museum.  

[Joe ST he/him]

Hey, watch it, mining museums rock.

[Curious Anamaximder he/him]

Thank you for the support but seriously, please explain why you love museums. I don't get it, and that information will better help me impersonate humans.

I love Museums. What are you, a Kree!

[maxal she/her]

I am not a huge fan of museums as I tend to prefer "doing something" as opposed to "stare at something". I also have to constantly resist the impulse not to touch anything whenever I am in a museum       

 

When I was a teenager, my parents went into a museum frenzy and dragged us to both Washington DC and Boston. Whereas Boston is a lovely city and I did enjoy the both the aquarium (OK zoos and aquariums are not museums) and the museum of Sciences, I cannot say I was overly enthralled at spending the entire day inside...  As to Washington, well, the Air and Space museum was kinda cool, the first hour or so I was in it... but you see my father is this kind of person that has to read every single written card in there and watch every single video available.... probably shucking in the knowledge... so we kinda stayed there for HOURS   After that, we moved to the museum of Natural history which again was fine, the first hour   All in all, each time we stepped into a city, we had to turn ALL of the museums 

 

My parents had a knack for turning every single visit into a painful event trying to make the most of it, but forgetting it just gets boring in the long run... or perhaps I am just not a museum person... I don't remember ever getting tired of the water park 

 

When I grew up, I thought this is what travelling was about: visiting museums 

[+Slowswift he/him]

Rest in peace, President Packer and Elder Perry. You will be missed.

[Voidus]

A really quick scroll through the page and the words 'oh dear calamity the ham' jumped out at me. So thanks Twi for the amusing moment. I don't know the rest of the story since my scroll wheel is like a hamster on steroids but I like to let my imagination fill in the gaps and assume you were attacked by some kind of ham-wielding MLP hater. I hope you threw mustard into his eyes.

[ljósmóður she/her]

If you want to fully experience the ultimate frisson of excitement in a museum - here is my handy guide   :

 

First choose a museum that has lots of ye olde, not-to-be touched stuff. Our museum of choice was a medieval castle in the north of England which is still owned by a private, landed family meaning lots of the exhibits are their own personal things.

 

Secondly, acquire a small child (Handily, I had my very own then 2 year old for my version of this experiment). It helps if said small child is appropriately mad and quick like a whippet.

 

Thirdly, make sure you let said small child out of whatever appropriate restraint you had on hand. We were not allowed to take strollers and didn't have a sling with us so were relying on small child meekly holding a parent's hand  ... 

 

Fourthly, linger at the display of very sharp, ancient pikes and swords which are sensibly stored behind a portcullis-type affair. Fail to notice that portcullis has a gap at the bottom. A gap that just happens to be a perfect size for a child ... say, a 2 year old child ... say, a feisty, escapologist-type of child. Watch in horror as small child escapes and rolls under the portcullis and spends the next five minutes amongst very sharp weapons, cackling maniacally at her audience on the other side.

 

Fifthly, get down on your hands and knees and plead in increasing desperation with small child to return to you before being impaled. Consider learning to be a contortionist in order to make it to the other side.

 

Finally, manage to grasp the leg of small child and (gently) perform an extraction. Agree NEVER to do museums with small children EVER AGAIN.

 

This, my friends, will guarantee you a never-to-be-forgotten museum experience.

 

(Oh, and she's 10 now and, despite several other acts of derring-do, is still unimpaled. Thank goodness!>

[maxal she/her]

Mrs K. Stormblessed: mega-gigantic LOL           

 

Reading you has made me consider my own luck: I have so far succeeded in keeping my child from being impaled by a medieval sword  Though my daughter, then 2, once ran in the house holding a very shard knife I thought I had put out safely on the counter while screaming: "knife, knife, knife, look mommy, knife"   

 

I plan on visiting the Canadian Natural History museum this summer with my kids: they have dinosaurs skeletons.... I do have a 2 years old bouncy child who NEVER wants to hold hand... 

[Kipper he/him]

STORMFATHER YOU HAVE A SHARD KNIFE?!?! I WOULD HAVE THIS MOST PRICELESS OF TREASURES!!!!

[A Joe in the Bush]

Do you know how hard it is to hide things from 6 other people who live under the same roof as you? Very hard.

 

And now, Our cousins are 'dropping in' for two weeks. They weren't supposed to be here until next week, but now there's going to be 13 people living in this house. 13! 

 

So I won't be sleeping in a real bed anytime in the next two weeks, nor will I have a bedroom. My Uncle is taking it. And one of my cousins is a three year old, and the reason they're here early. She literally terrorized the last relatives they were staying with until they asked them to leave. And we're expected to deal with them for two weeks?

 

AGGGHHHHGHGSHSDHF;ahg;jsdgh'kafh;JHglszhg;lJS!!!!!!!

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Do you know how hard it is to hide things from 6 other people who live under the same roof as you? Very hard.

 

And now, Our cousins are 'dropping in' for two weeks. They weren't supposed to be here until next week, but now there's going to be 13 people living in this house. 13! 

 

So I won't be sleeping in a real bed anytime in the next two weeks, nor will I have a bedroom. My Uncle is taking it. And one of my cousins is a three year old, and the reason they're here early. She literally terrorized the last relatives they were staying with until they asked them to leave. And we're expected to deal with them for two weeks?

 

AGGGHHHHGHGSHSDHF;ahg;jsdgh'kafh;JHglszhg;lJS!!!!!!!

 

Let me guess: You're expected not to complain about any of this, even if your parents never wanted to have these cousins over in the first place, because they're family.

 

I'm sorry, Joe. I know how that is; I really do. (I've actually been texting my sister, who had to sacrifice all of the fun things she'd had planned for our family's trip to the Northwest because our parents wanted her to visit family instead of hanging out with her friends.) 

 

Have some pugs defying their irritated owner to sit in a mud puddle. 

 

[Kaymyth she/her]

This is Obi-Wan:

 

 

He is my mom and stepdad's 14-year-old dog, a short-haired collie/unidentified terrier mix.  He is almost completely deaf, has cataracts so can't see very well anymore, and a couple of months ago had a stroke.  He falls a lot now, wobbles quite a bit, and is having trouble eating properly.  He developed an abscess on his neck from all the shots the vet's been having to give him.  Mom and Stepdad are doing the best they can to take care of him, but it's only a matter of time.

 

I remember when my brother brought home a tiny, energetic, white-and-yellow puppy about 14 years ago. 

 

Even worse, my paternal grandfather has been moved into the Alzheimer's ward.  He doesn't recognize any of his grandkids or great-grandkids anymore.  My grandmother goes from the assisted living section to visit him multiple times a day, but he sleeps most of the time.  She's doing all right, but she's had a few strokes herself.  I know that they're 93, but that doesn't make this any easier.  When I was a kid, my grandmother was the one running around taking care of all the old folks.  The current state of things doesn't compute in my brain.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

This is Obi-Wan:

 

 

He is my mom and stepdad's 14-year-old dog, a short-haired collie/unidentified terrier mix.  He is almost completely deaf, has cataracts so can't see very well anymore, and a couple of months ago had a stroke.  He falls a lot now, wobbles quite a bit, and is having trouble eating properly.  He developed an abscess on his neck from all the shots the vet's been having to give him.  Mom and Stepdad are doing the best they can to take care of him, but it's only a matter of time.

 

I remember when my brother brought home a tiny, energetic, white-and-yellow puppy about 14 years ago. 

 

Even worse, my paternal grandfather has been moved into the Alzheimer's ward.  He doesn't recognize any of his grandkids or great-grandkids anymore.  My grandmother goes from the assisted living section to visit him multiple times a day, but he sleeps most of the time.  She's doing all right, but she's had a few strokes herself.  I know that they're 93, but that doesn't make this any easier.  When I was a kid, my grandmother was the one running around taking care of all the old folks.  The current state of things doesn't compute in my brain.

 

Oh, Kaymyth, I'm so sorry. We had a pug named Chloe who died about two years ago. At the end, she was completely blind, half-deaf, suffered from asthma and could only recognize her people by their scents, but she was also the sweetest dog I'd ever met. When she found your hand, she'd grin and wag her tail, then sit down and ask you to scratch her ears. It's almost unfair, how sweet senior dogs can be.  

 

And your grandparents….yikes. I can't imagine how hard it must be.  

 

Hugs? 

[Kaymyth she/her]

Oh, Kaymyth, I'm so sorry. We had a pug named Chloe who died about two years ago. At the end, she was completely blind, half-deaf, suffered from asthma and could only recognize her people by their scents, but she was also the sweetest dog I'd ever met. When she found your hand, she'd grin and wag her tail, then sit down and ask you to scratch her ears. It's almost unfair, how sweet senior dogs can be.

 

And your grandparents….yikes. I can't imagine how hard it must be.

 

Hugs? 

 

I will take hugs.  Thank you.

 

Obi has always been the best dog.  My Leia is only about a year and a half younger than he is, but I'm hoping she's got some extra longevity in her from being a smaller breed.  As my father-in-law says, dogs are wonderful, wonderful creatures, but in the end they'll break your heart.  They just don't live long enough.

 

My grandparents have been on a downslide for several years now, so it's not like it's a surprise...but yeah, it's tough watching time march on.  My mom's parents are a little over a decade younger, so they're at least likely to be around for a while yet.  Still, it's strange.  I'm more affected by the aging of the people around me than my own number slowly ticking up.

 

Of course, if my grandparents and great-grandparents are anything to go by, I've got some serious longevity genes from both sides of the family. 

[Orlion Blight he/him]

I'm sorry Kaymyth

[ljósmóður she/her]

I'm sorry too, Kaymyth.

[Kaymyth she/her]

Thanks, Everyone.

I am currently posting from my phone, as we are down in the basement for a tornado warning. Don't freak out, this is perfectly normal Midwestern weather.

EDIT: Well, that was fun. I aten't ded.

Edited July 6, 2015 by Kaymyth

[maxal she/her]

I am sorry about your grand-father and your dog Kaymith  Alzheimer is a terrible disease.

[Delightful]

I feel obliged to update:

I calmly and politely asked my mum to not do something that was bothering me and she said "okay sure" and did something different. Successful communication all the way!!!

[Joe ST he/him]

That's great to hear *sends you a box of cuddleswarms to celebrate*

[Delightful]

Remind me not to read youtube comments. Storming anti-Semites hanging around ruining everything.             Seriously, go find something actually constructive to do with your life and stop leaving hurtful comments just lying around. GET A LIFE.

 

Yes they're just trolls and yes it's youtube comments and yes I should just ignore it because they post these things in order to be hurtful. But G-D I wish I could go punch whoever wrote that in the face. 

 

And I'm aware that I'm complaining about The Internet and it's a futile exercise and anyone IRL and probably (?) you guys would just tell me to ignore it but I'm so angry right now. Someone get me a punching bag.