hello, my name's Nyika, you say that Ny-e-ka by the way! I'm 16 years old and I'm doing my AS levels, which are about as fun as they sound. I am having a coleslaw roll as a snack right now.

I am a self-certified hippie, I don't smoke, I can drink, bu only when it's not my alcohol, and as yet I've taken no drugs. I love the outdoors, the sea, montains, nature... I love this planet, and I'm extremely environmentally concious because of this. I want to be a conservationist after studying geography at university.

I was bullied a lot when I was younger, I was depressed for a year and was seriously messed up because of it. Two years on I am strong mentally and the happiest person some people know. I don't have too many friends, but until I go to university, I'm happy with my lot.

University is where it's all gonna happen, maaaaaan. Well, so I hope. I am saving for my glastonbury ticket so I can meet people like me. I live in a stupidly conservative area. I want to go tp Plymouth, a uni so far away I can live a little without my parents knowing. I can grow dreads, I can do a bit of weed, I can work til 3 in the mornings and my patrents won't know. Oh, and I can go vegetarian, whcih isn't possible right now.

I'm a weird person, I have maps on my walls rather than pictures of bands. I'm a massive music fan, I love madness, The Jam, Peter Bjorn and John, Grateful Dead, Phish, The Kooks, an amazing local band called Exit Avenue, Newton Faulkner (I'm pretty much in love with him), Jack Johnson and lots of stuff that I can't remember but love to listen to.

I've never had a boyfriend, I've been single all my life and still waiting to meet someone who's right. I'm slightly impatient, but I'm also shy, I am too scared to flirt with people!

Other than that, I burn joss sticks A LOT, i read lots and lots and lots of books, I crochet hats I bordering on being a caffeine addict. My myspace is www.myspace.com/differentisgood. As a whole I don't agree with myspace, buts it's a personal page I can vent my feelings on.

I hope you've enjoyed getting to know me!

Wilkommen

I'm 17, doing my A2s; it gets harder lol.

hey and whats a joss stick?

What are josh sticks?
Can i add you on myspace?
And whats ur fave fruit?

lol beat me to it never mind my first Q. then...

joss sticks are incense sticks! go ahead and add me...

Oh, and my favourite fruit is probably a sharan fruit!

Hello Nyika:) What was the last thing you ate and why?

Nyika, hi there. What does your name mean?

The last thing I ate was a chocolate mousse because I eat chocolate mousses for breakfast most days.
My name comes from the Nyika plateau in Zambia and apparently means little world!

Have you travelled about much? Been abroad?

I've never been abroad, but I've been over most of the UK now. I really want to travel, I hate where I live. I wnat to live in the West country or the Yorkshire Dales!

any more questions?

Hi :)
What maps do you have on your walls?

I have 2 maps of the british isles, a physical one and a freebie one from coast, and I ahve a massive map of the world on my ceiling. I also have a map of some caves in Yorkshire for some reason...

Have you ever experienced the blind uncomprehending rage of a psychopathic killer?

I also have a map of some caves in Yorkshire for some reason...Well, you never know when you might need it! :D

What book are you reading, or the last one you read?

Have you ever experienced the blind uncomprehending rage of a psychopathic killer?
Fortunately I am unscathed from my experience with the blind uncomprehending rage of a psychotic killer. I just put 'The lovely bones' down and had a glass of coke.

What book are you reading, or the last one you read?
I am currently reading one of my mums sagas called 'Corner House Girls' cos I've read everything else. It's fairly good, I read everything and anything.
The last book I read was 'How to be Good' by Nick Hornby, you ahev to love his books, just so funny, yet meaningful.

I'll just add a bit to the post. Sometimes I feel that I shouldn't be 16 because I hven't had much experience with life. Soemtimes I feel about 12, and I often look it too.
I dress in a VERY hippieish way, I'm pretty renowned for it at school. Today I have on a tam (just need the dreads!), a multicouloured cardigan jumper thingy, a top with shells on, a tiered denim skirt I'm patchworking and blue tights.
I care about the environment a lot. And I work for one of the biggest waste producing comapnies: Tescos.

What is your favourite book?

Probably 'A little love song' by Michelle magorian. Or 'Agathering Light', by jennifer Donnelly. I have read both about 10 times each!

Wilkommen

I'm 17, doing my A2s; it gets harder lol.

hey and whats a joss stick?
Here's some encouraging news: it gets easier after A2s. University, especially first year, is RIDICULOUSLY easy in comparison.
Oh and Nyika, y'all should come to ARU in Cambridge, home of the funkiest dude imaginable (moi, bien sur) ;)
But Uni's great. You'll love it. Just don't be labouring under the impression that random strangers will offer you drugs, doesn't often work that way (unless it's roofies in a bar). I found a baggie of weed on campus though, that fucking rocked.

dude awesome

lol

did you have a nice day?
what's your favourite kind of joss stick?

i don't mean to sound condescending but you remind me of me a couple of years ago. got to (almost) 18 and i've sorted myself right out - entirely happy with who i am now, pretty much. so good luck with all that. and get dreads, they're great fun :)

and also, about the glastonbury thing: go to smaller festivals as well/instead. less people but a lot more that you want to know. kind of like a concentration of hippyness! the atmosphere is relaxed and all about making friends and having fun. even if you don't care too much about the bands it's an amazing experience. go on your own too. then you have no choice but to talk to people you don't know! works wonders for curing shyness.

Today I worked 10 hours, so you could say it wasn't my best day.
My favourite joss sticks are patchouli and jasmine.

Can you recommend me some festivals? I need to do some itinery planning for next year!

mmm jasmine. good choice!

shambala festival! that's my recommendation. it's amazing, like a little dreamworld. plus everyone is so friendly and happy. obviously the drugs help. but still!

good things about shambala: chai tea tent, craft workshops, free hottubs by a LAKE!, pretty lights, fancy dress night, sauna, tibetan prayer wheels, crazy forest trail with hammocks, brilliant music. it's also really cheap for you cos you're under 17. plus they organise buses from major towns and cities, and you make friends before you even get to the festy site :)

more? secret garden party is meant to be good and looks amazing. beautiful days is great but now getting expensive, maybe only worth it if you love the levellers. you'd probably like big green gathering, it's big and green and eco friendly! sunrise and waveform are great too although sunrise is in our exam period i think. waveform is much later.

hope that helped :daisy:

Thanks!!!!!!!!!! I am so going to Shambala!

anytime :)

Haha, Shambala sounds awesome.. whereabouts is it? And when? I'll go even if it means skipping lectures... not that I attend all that many in the first place.

It's Market Harbrough in Northamptonshire, t'would be awesome if you came!

Haha, Shambala sounds awesome.. whereabouts is it? And when? I'll go even if it means skipping lectures... not that I attend all that many in the first place.it tends to move about i think... but if it is in market harborough again (i think nynysuts is right) it's a lovely spot. completely flat and tiny, and there's not really any seperation between the tent areas and the actual festival.

we should have a hipforums gathering there or something :)

anyway back to karma..
have we covered what kind music you're into?

Yeah, the thread kinda got derailed a bit there...
Do you think you'll go to university? Any ideas on what you'd study?
Oh and by the way, if anyone (teachers etc) tries to make you feel ashamed if you don't want to go to university - FUCK 'EM. Not literally, but you get my point.. I originally thought I'd go, but then I changed my mind, dossed around for a few months then started a course in Naturopathy and Kinesiology. Follow your dreams, babe!
[/rant]

what kind music you're into?
Anything and everything, mainly old hippie stuff and the levellers! I do love Peter Bjorn and John, and Newton Faulkner and Jack Johnson keep me sane most days.

Do you think you'll go to university? Any ideas on what you'd study?
I want to go to university to study Geography (with environmental studies), hopefully at Southampton, then go and do a masters in new environmental technologies at the centre for alternative technologies in Wales. I want to stop the growth of Nuclear power and find a green alternative, I think a combination of wind, wave and tidal, all built into one unit would be best, the wind may not always blow, but the tide always goes in and out.

As an aside, I'm learning poi at the moment, which I hope to take to Shambala with me. They seem to enjoy clonking me on the head and the back of my calves. My sister has christened them Bruce and Barry!

What are poi? I get this image of two big balls on a long rope.. you know, the kind you light on fire and twirl around you. Not that i recommend lighting them on fire until you can stop them hitting you...

And speaking of alternative energies, try looking up Zero Point Energy. it sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel, but it actually exists. It's the fundamental energy that everything posesses - even if you cool something to absolute zero, it still has some energy. That's zero-point energy, it's found in everything, everywhere, even in vacuum. Essentially, it's "free energy". Not "free" in the true sense of the word because some energy will be lost from the quantum structure of the object being harnessed, but close.
The mechanism for tapping into it is somewhat theoretical at the moment. one guy, a Canadian I think, built a device that SEEMED to tap into it, but many are skeptical.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-point_energy << Wikipedia
http://www.zpenergy.com/ << Zero-point news
http://www.calphysics.org/zpe.html << Introduction to it.. maybe a bit technical.

Ooo, cool! I'm not amazing at physics, I'd rather work on the side of choosing locations and sorting people out who protest against it! bSort of like a planning officer, I suppose, but at the moment I have no idea how things will pan out.

Fire poi are a type of poi, but Mine are rainbow striped and are basically tennis balls on string with tails. They're good fun, I got them for Christmas!

Ooo, cool! I'm not amazing at physics, I'd rather work on the side of choosing locations and sorting people out who protest against it! bSort of like a planning officer, I suppose, but at the moment I have no idea how things will pan out.

Fire poi are a type of poi, but Mine are rainbow striped and are basically tennis balls on string with tails. They're good fun, I got them for Christmas!
Ah... well, I'm sort of a mad science nut when it comes to this sort of thing.. like when I was younger I built a device that turned radio waves into electricity - completely by accident. I was mucking around with some diodes, I think I had them in a helix shape, and suddenly there was current flowing even though the nearest battery was in the next room! Turns out... well, some very complicated physics is involved, and I've derailed the thread AGAIN.
So, um... back to questions..
How do you feel about organised religion?

Given that i used to belong to one, I really don't know. I'm half christian, half doubtful, you could call me agnostic. Somehow I'm too scared to stop believing in God.

wherabouts in wales is that centre for alternative technologies?

It's near Aberwystwyth (or however you spell it)

It's near Aberwystwyth (or however you spell it)
On a related topic, whereabouts do you live? Big city, country, small town?
Do you like it there?

Small backwater on the Cambridge-London line called Baldock. I hate it with a passion, too urban, even though its supposed to be a country town. It's such a chavvy town, there are a few hippies around, but they're all much older than me, or much younger than me if you count the kiddies down the road! I long for the freedom of the countryside, and for the wildness of the sea!

Ah.. come move to Cambridge, it's urban but doesn't feel like it ;)
Everyone uses bicycles (cause parking is so damn expensive), there's tons of students (duh) and lots of them are hippies. Sure, there's the posh twats studying Business at King's or some such crap, but they're easily avoided.
Best of all - no chavs! Whatsoever!

I really like Cambridge. In fact I like it a lot. I am trying to go there on the train a bit more now, especially since I can get away with a child's fare still. I would like to move there, but first will hopefully be Southampton Uni!

I really like Cambridge. In fact I like it a lot. I am trying to go there on the train a bit more now, especially since I can get away with a child's fare still. I would like to move there, but first will hopefully be Southampton Uni!
Cambridge is just about the best city to live in in Britain.. but then again the other cities I've experienced are Lincoln, Leicester, Nottingham and Birmingham, so maybe it's just the best SO FAR...
I hope I can find a proper house/flat here when my degree's done.. it rocks.

Hmm, this thread's been a little quiet these last few days, let's reinvigorate it!
- Which candidate do you want to win the US elections? (and yes, wishing herpes on the whole lot IS an option)
- Which alternative energy method do you think offers the best energy output per pound invested?
- How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man?
- Who shot JFK?

Hmm, this thread's been a little quiet these last few days, let's reinvigorate it!
- Which candidate do you want to win the US elections? (and yes, wishing herpes on the whole lot IS an option)
Ok, I would vote for herpes, but I'm a loving person, so it has to be the bloke who could be running independant, I can't remember his name, but I read about him in the paper. I'm am very definitely left wing.
- Which alternative energy method do you think offers the best energy output per pound invested?
I honestly think wave power, its pretty simple to ehenerate and we always have waves and tides. It works with the creation of a vacuum, turning a turbine, it needs only a small ebb.
- How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man?
As many roads as it takes to find himself
- Who shot JFK?
Society. Society kills everyone. Just takes the powerful ones first.

Personally, I think bruce (I think) Kucinic is a good candidate. I WAS gunning for Ron Paul, until I found out about his anti-abortion stance.

On a related note, what do you think of abortion? Should it be allowed under all circumstances, with restrictions attached (and which), or under no circumstances at all?
(One could redefine that question as "at what point does a person become a person?")

Sounds a lot like an ethics exam question!! I am pretty torn on the abortion question, being an ex-Christian, I still have a lot of overhang from the beliefs I used to have, especially that life becomes life as soon as it is conceived. Being vegetarian and fairly pacifistic (is that a word?), I do not like killing, but abortion is a bit different. I believe in a woman's right to choose her way of life, and I hope I never put myself in the situation where I really need to think about it. The last 16 1/2 years have certainly put that much into perspective. But it's quite difficult to decide whether I believe in it or not. If I was raped, I would take the morning after pill, because at that point you do not know if you are pregnant or not, so there is a possibility that you did not kill anything. I do believe, though, that abortions should only be granted in very, very specific circumstances.

Which ones? ;)
(Personally I support it in any situation, but this thread isn't about me).

Rape, very, very young pregnancy (ie 11-14), if a person is mentally unable to carry a child. Really I feel that other options should be explored before going down this route. Although it is not ideal that a 15 year old gets pregnant, it's there own fault and their responsibility, they can either have a crap time rasing the child or go through the hell of a termination.

How about if a mother is financially unable to raise a child? E.g. women in poor countries in Africa, homless women, etc. What if the mother has AIDS or some other prenatally-transmitted disease? What about in cases of known genetic disease (e.g. two parents with recessive haemophiliac trait, since there is a 100% chance the baby will be haemophiliac)?
What if ultrasound scans indicate the baby would be born with an abnormality that would mean a short and painful life?

I'm not attacking here, just curious.

Oh, and on a not-very-related topic, you said "ex-christian". Do you feel drawn to another religion/belief system? Or are you still at the stage of considering your options?

Considering my options really, It was only recently I lost faith in Christianity, but I am still far from a darwinist. I'm looking into more alternative explanations before drawing my own conclusions!

Considering my options really, It was only recently I lost faith in Christianity, but I am still far from a darwinist. I'm looking into more alternative explanations before drawing my own conclusions!
Darwinist doesn't mean anti-religionist ;)
A lot of Christians and other religious folk support the theory of evolution - after all, Darwin was a Christian! A fact which a lot of the religious right Creationists would like to ignore or don't know. Darwin believed he was coming closer to God by trying to figure out His creation.
Don't let Richard Dawkins et al lead you to believe that all atheists are militant.
Technically speaking I'm an atheist (Buddhist) but I believe very strongly in "live and let live".

I believe that everyone should just believe what they want to believe and be done with it. Funnily nough me and my mate Bex, the evangelist, were talking about Richard Dawkins today. We had different reasons for not reading the God delusion hers was becuse she didn't want to lose her faith, mine was because he is very forceful in what he says. I believe that evolution exists, but something must have kicked it off. I'm a great believer in the power of nature.

Incidentally I'd recommend you did read Dawkins, if not 'The God Delusion' then one of his other seminal books on the beauty of a scientific outlook such as "Unweaving the Rainbow". Accusations of "militancy" usually come from those who haven't actually read the book, and I think you'd be hard pressed to find in it examples of the belligerence and arrogance of which he is so often accused by the kinds of commentators who don't actually engage with the ideas being put forward but prefer ad hominem attacks. He is in fact a polite and incredibly humorous author putting forward a nuanced set of ideas in a subtle and very readable way. TGD is actually one of the books that will make you cleverer whether you agree with all of it or not...

Yes, as you may be able to tell, RD is a hero of mine:tongue:

I may end up reading one, just to give me some quotes for my RE coursework. When I chose 'Religion and the environment' as my topic, I didn't realise I would have to burble on about stewardship for a thousand words! I need something fresh and interesting. I'm going to put views of buddhists, sikhs, muslims, pagans and hindus in to it, not just write about atheists!

Perhaps you could talk about God's habit of causing floods and raining down fire and brimstone:tongue: Those aren't particularly environmentally friendly practices!

I know I should be asking questions rather than making facetious comments, so...
What's your favourite film?
What would you do if you found £20 lying in the street?
How do you think you would vote at the next election (assuming you could)?

What's your favourite film?
It's mad, but I tok media studies and yet I've only been to the cinema 6 times! My favourite film is probably Shrek :P
What would you do if you found £20 lying in the street?
Check noone visibly dropped it and pick it up. If it was a £50 note, t'would be different.
How do you think you would vote at the next election (assuming you could)?
If I was born 2 months earlier, I would be able to vote in the general. As it happens, I have to wait til I'm nearly 19. As it happens, I plan to vote green, just cos I can't abide any of the others. I know that in the European elections they do it all by percentage, so If only 2% of votes were green, 2 candidates would theoretically stand on the parliament.

For Buddhist perspectives on the environment, you could mention the fact that bikkhus (monks) aren't allowed to dig the ground because it's seen as alive.. in effect, you're killing the soil, and any worms that are in your way. The first precept ("I undertake the precept of never taking life" is how it's often phrased) pretty much sums up the Buddhist attitude to the environment.
Hmm, questions..
Jerry Garcia or Bob Dylan?
Do you think euthanasia should be allowed? Under what circumstances?

Jerry Garcia or Bob Dylan?
Cor, talk about a tough one! Jerry Garcia cos he like, created the dead. But then again Bob Dylan for just being awesome... I just don't know!
Do you think euthanasia should be allowed? Under what circumstances?
Hmmm, I think the old Australian method should be applied to this. You sat at a computer and answered questions. If it turned out you were 'allowed to die', it would administer the lethal injection or dispense tablets. Somehow that just seems a fair way of doing it. Circumstances... Terminal illness. If I was so ill that I could not have the quality of life I needed, I would happily get off the mortal coil. I believe in quality, not quantity of life, in that respect.

Oh, and cheers for the buddhism info, really helpful!

Oh, and cheers for the buddhism info, really helpful!
Hey, no problem. Any info you need on Buddhism (apart from, like, "name the 46th word of the Mountains and Rivers Sutra") just ask (PM or in here). I'm no Dalai Lama, but I've been a practising Buddhist for about 5-6 years.

Might ahve to take you up on that offer. Writing out my essay plan now!

Might ahve to take you up on that offer. Writing out my essay plan now!
No problem ;)
I could also give pagan perspectives - although I'm not a practising pagan right now, I know quite a bit about it and the occult/magic(k)/whatever.

if you could be a fruit smoothie, what sort of fruit smoothie would you be?

(you could also interpret this question as what fruit smoothie do you like best?) ;)

if you could be a fruit smoothie, what sort of fruit smoothie would you be?

(you could also interpret this question as what fruit smoothie do you like best?) ;)Well you might choose to be a particularly nasty fruit smoothie to lessen the chances of somebody drinking you...:confused:

if you could be a fruit smoothie, what sort of fruit smoothie would you be?
Haha, probably an orange and rasperry one you get in Tescos. It's so nice! Also this completely natural one which is unpasteurised and not from concentrate. I think it was apple, graoe and pomegranate!

Hmm.
If you had the choice between a tab of acid and a packed bong, which would you pick?

Uhmmm, probably a tab of acid, they don't pop up quite so often as bongs full of weed, though I dunno, haven't really tried either.

If you could live in one country in the world, which one would it be?
Why?
House, apartment or log cabin (or local equivalent)?

Honestly, it would be this country. Or Hawaii.
Basically I was born into this country, it's my place, my stomping ground so to speak. There's so much I haven't explored and so much I've explored that I would miss.
Hawaii is an option cos it's warm. And has surfing waves. Oh, and Jack Johnson lives there.

I would like to live in a rambling cottage by the coast by in the country. It would have roses growing up it, an organic vegetable garden, a tree from which to hang charms and a place to chill and meditate (with a hammock!!). It would be very old with wooden floor boards and wood fires. Electricity would be generated by a home made wind turbine!

What do you think of the film "The day after tomorrow"? (If you've seen it)
Is it an accurate portrayal of the future we're heading for with our current energy consumption (albeit dramatised for Hollywood)? Is it too fatalistic? Is it not fatalistic enough?

I've seen an hour of it, but I think I can draw my views. I think its a little over the top for what we're heading for. For one thing, America would not conveniently be the first place to be affected in that way. Also, I believe things will get bad slowly over a period of about 30 years, beginning with the flooding of Bangladesh and Holland. By teh time it reaches America, they'll be a bit more prepared than in the film, and coastal towns will be evacuated. But i do believe that it will happen one day. Maybe it was a little too fatalistic, but not in a bad way. It scares the shit out of people, and that can only be a good thing!

Ah, but does scaring the shit out of people merely make them think "oh, that's just a movie"?
I think the documentary "An Inconvenient truth" by Al Gore makes the point a lot better. I'd heartily recommend it;)

Yeah, i'm planning on seeing it when I get custody of the portable DVD player and costcutter card. It's in a list of about 5 films, I still haven't seen little miss sunshine and I've been meaning to see it since it came out!

If you had to assassinate one person alive today, who would you assassinate and why? And no get-outs, you have to kill somebody...

If you had to assassinate one person alive today, who would you assassinate and why? And no get-outs, you have to kill somebody...Arghhh! Mean question!!! I'm a pacifist! Ermmm, I know, a person who is terminally ill and wants to die.

good one!

u kind-hearted hippie ^_^

Let's say I've invented a time machine. Which of these four would you go back and kill/make sure their mum doesn't get pregnant?
a. George W bush (the younger Bush)
b. Adolf Hitler
c. Josef Stalin
d. Mao Zedong

Adolf Hitler probably, cos George Bush will be out of power by November, Josef Stalin didn't kill 6,000 Jews (I know he did other things, but some how it didn't match up), and Mao Zedong admittedly I don't know much about, I only know he was a Marxist.

Mao Zedong was directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of 80 million people. Stalin personally signed death orders for over a million people.
Hitler killed 6,000,000 jews by the way ;)

Well, i didn't take history! Hmm, i'm wondering how I'm supposed to stop their mum's getting pregnant... Am I suppose to perform a hysterectomy whilst they sleep? Force feed them the pill? ;)

Kick their Dad in the crotch really hard ;)

Hahaha, any excuse to wear doc martens!

Hahaha, any excuse to wear doc martens!
Indeed.. or my vegan biker boots ;)

Not sure my crocs would do much though! Next best thing to barefooting and comfier!

Whats your favourite shop?

Any hippie type shop really, gift in letchworth is quite good, or the hippie stall on the market in stevoland. I like charity shops too!

Where (if you had to work in a "conventional" place) would be your ideal place to work?

I don't suppose working for greenpeace counts... Uhhh, probably selling things in a travelling market. I've never thought of that until this moment, weird how thinsg amke you think. As it turns out, whatever I do will probably involve geography.

Ah, but what would you sell?
And I suppose Greenpeace would count.. I certainly wouldn't mind working for them, blockading the nuclear waste transport ships etc.

Wow, exactly the line of work I'd want!!! I'd sell wholefoody stuff and hats I crochet and stuff like that. I've got a stall at a craft fair in 2 months (Well, since I'm helping to organise the thing, I'd better do!), I'm planning on doing hair wraps and selling my painted glasses.

Hmm, apologies for bringing the discussion down to trivialities, but:
Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin?
Dave Brubeck or John Coltrane? (won't hold it against ya if you ain't heard either of 'em ;) )

Probably Floyd, I was bought up on it, though I also quite like led Zeppelin. In fact, I have some Pink Floyd LPs in my inherited collection! My parenst had nowhere to put their records, so they gave me them and the record player. I am a proud owner of a selection of 70/80s rock (Dad), 8os pop (mum) and some motown stuff.

Had a quick google of the other two, going to go with John coltrane cos I prefer saxophones to piano. For some reason there was some kind of mutual hate of jazz in this household as I was growing up.

Ah.. there was a general indifference to jazz in my house ;)
Apart from "turn off that depressing shite!" when I put the blues on, haha.
John Coltrane tends to the slightly more dissonant, "new jazz" style - Dave Brubeck is more of a trad-jazz pianist, although he has a saxophonist in The Dave Brubeck Quartet.

I'll have to check them out. BThank goodness for MP3 players in this house! I'm into all my 'old' music, my sister Luiza is into emo stuff (she is the most conventional person you could ever meet) and my littlest sister Saskia is into very crap pop music and bratz songs! It would be a battle of the stereos if MP3s didn't exist, and I don't need 'Paramore' 20 times over!

Haha, if it weren't for headphones, eveyone in my house would've tired of all my music fairly quickly.. we only share a couple of bands in common, mostly 60s and 70s rock like Led Zep, Pink Floyd, Grand Funk Railroad etc.
The rest is my province alone - Infected Mushroom, A Silver Mount Zion, Godspeed You! Black emperor (the lines in my sig is from one of their songs), Grateful Dead, The Collectors etc etc etc.. I could list bands all night ;)

Hmm, let's get some more question going:
- Do you do your best work at night or in the daytime?
- Describe an ideal day (gonna throw that one back atcha)
- What political issues matter the most to you? I.e. which would be the most important in an elected leader?
- Does the current system function? Do we just need better people in charge, or should we scrap the whole thing?

Hmm, let's get some more question going:
- Do you do your best work at night or in the daytime?
I'm a night owl, so prbably at night if i don't have any distractions. Annoyingly 'cos my mind's more active I tend to multitask about 20 things, but hey, eventually i get it done. I definitely write better poems at night.
- Describe an ideal day (gonna throw that one back atcha)
Going to a music festival next to woods and the sea and walking barefoot through the woods whilst rather heavily under the influence of something mind-altering, then sitting on the beach also heavily under the influence before returning to the festival and dancing the night away in a stupified trippy state.
- What political issues matter the most to you? I.e. which would be the most important in an elected leader?
I think really it's equality and really listening to what people want. There should be fairer rates of pay and people should be treated better never minding how old they are or which social group they fit into. Oh, and full equal rights for women ;)
- Does the current system function? Do we just need better people in charge, or should we scrap the whole thing?
Scrapping the whole thing sounds very tempting, but I just have the feeling that some kind of big brother would take over and we'd have worse problems before. We need better people in charge, a whole new political group. We have no real left-wing option in this country apart from maybe the green party, and they keep a really low profile.

Thanks, made me think!

What's your opinion of Green Anarchism? Back to the land sort of thing, government devolved to town/village level, with an elected commitee.. eh, I don't explain very well.
How about Anarchism in general?
Assuming a dictatorship gains power, who would you most trust with that power? Is a "benevolent dictatorship" ever a viable solution?

Green anarchism is pretty good on the environmental part and I do like the idea of small eco-villages. For a anarchic idea, mind, it sounds a little democratic. I think small committees are much better than one big leader (I'm looking at you Bush, Brown etc.) because it's more of a personal government, not just one person guessing what the country wants and going against it.

I never really did get into the whole anarchy thing, I may be a rather huge levellers fan, but the kind of anarchy wanted in the 70s by the punks was very much centred around the thought of antinomanism (sp), which couldn't work. If mutual respect could be given to one philosophy, then anarchism could work. For the moment I won't be spray painting any circled As

I don't think a dictatorship could ever work, I could never trust one person with power. In my experience you give someone a sniff of power and it goes to their heads. They stop thinking of other people, they only think of themselves and what THEy want, not what the people want. There have been some good leaders in times gone by, hence why we call them leaders and not dictators. I don't think its viable to believe there could ever be a benevolent dictator, they would come against too much opposition from the people who do not like love and charity, and it would probably end in a very messy riot. It's why situation ethics, my favourite philosophy, could never work, we're all programmed to love, but not everyone to the same degree.

Do two wrongs ever make a right? (e.g. beating up the guy who's sleeping with your wife)
What would you do with £1 million?

Do two wrongs ever make a right? (e.g. beating up the guy who's sleeping with your wife)
Ahaha, are you implying that I have a wife? Joking. No I believe in forgive and forget, Well depending on the situation but if my future husband/partner/boyfriend was sleeping with another girl I'd tell them where they should be sharpish!! I don't know, I suppose it comes down to karma at the end of the day, and I'm not sure whether doing a wrong balances the karma or just deepens the bad karma.

What would you do with £1 million?
First of all pay off all my family's bills and go to university. Then I'd put it directly into charitable projects and personally set up a commune somewhere, living simply. I don't really need much, well I suppose a few festival tickets wouldn't go amiss!

Festival tickets never go amiss ;) if it was the 70s I'd follow the Dead round on tour buying acid for everyone in sight!

Yup, I'd have to join you on that one! (considering the strange fluke that we both had a million pounds haha)

Well, if I won the lottery I'd give ya a million ;)
if the prize wasn't just a million, that is

:) I don't need a million pounds, all I need is happiness and health at the end of the day. Nice to have money in the bank mind.

Nope, money can't buy happiness. but you can rent it for a few weeks ;)
Ultimately money is the root of material desire, and material desire leads to suffering, jealousy, hatred, all that bad stuff.
All you need is peace, love, and acid :tongue:

Yup, certainly do. Hope I can buy some at shambala, not a hope in hell of getting it round here.

Well hopefully.. dropping at Shambala would be nice!
If I had enough money I'd go to Burning Man.. there's so much drugs there it's unbelievable!

Oh, just thought of another question:
Do you think drugs should be legalised? f so, all of them or just some?

I think that would honestly take the value out of them. I mean, if weed was legal, as is so debated, there would be no novelty in a lot of people smoking it. Maybe that would be a good thing, but it doesn't make too much difference to me whether it's legal or not. I have sat and wondered why drugs are illegal before though, we had great drug education lessons, I know what every drug looks like and what it does!

Huh, don't be too sure! Drug lessons in school are mostly propaganda.
true or false:
1. Acid is stored in your spine
2. You get flashbacks years later after taking acid
3. One shot of heroin and you're addicted
4. acid eats holes in your brain
5. Weed permanently lowers your IQ
(hint: all false)
... Apologies, fascist propaganda just riles me up.

Seriously it was pretty good, the teacher went to Christ's hospital and had taken a fair few in his time! Ignoring the side-effects, it actually told you the effects of drugs, so therefore making you much more likely to go out and try them. If I could be bothered to go into hitchin on a Friday night and blended in with the emos, I could probably get some weed, but as far as I know that's the only thing the dealers seem to have around there.

Hmm, not bad - ours was all the usual "drugs are bad mmkay" bullshit they try and force on you.
I busted out scientific studies about cannabis, acid, etc basically left the bitch speechless :D

Haha, good times. I think its so funny that 8 out of 12 politicians on the cabinet had smoked cannabis!

Well, didn't know that!
Anyway back to questions:
- At what age (if any) would you want kids? How many?
- Names?

I think I'd want to be in my mid to late 20s when I have my first kid. I don't know how many I want, more than one preferably, possibly 2 or 3.
I have a huge list of names!
Indigo (girl or boy)
Willow (girl)
sorrel (boy)
Miles (boy)
Cora (girl)
Freedom (either)
Menai (Girl)
Morven (means girl of the sea)
Autumn (boy)
Gonna give them boring middle names though, I mean, my middle names Jean!

But then if you give 'em a boring middle name, they'll either hate you for their first name or hate you for their middle name! Go with two interesting names. Wish I'd been called something more interesting..

. Double post.

Fair point! I think Indigo Peace would be an awesome name! Trust me, though, having an unusual name can be a right pain, noone can ever spell, say or knows where my name comes from. There's always that dreaded silence when they get to your name in the register and everyone just calls out your name. Quite embarrassing but I wouldn't swap my name for the world!

Hah, nobody ever gets my surname right.. it's Irish for fuck's sake, not bloody Outer Mongolian!
I've often thought about changing my name (certainly my middle one) but it'd really be too much of a hassle changing my passport, birth certificate, driving license etc.. so I never bother.

A mate of mine wanted to change his name to Hunter De Scotia, but decided against it haha.

How random.. Hunter I can understand from Hunter S Thompson, but de Scotia? Bizarre.

He's scottish, that's why. Weird boy he is, been moaning in and on at me for a year about how crap he is at relationships yet since I've known him he's had 3 girlfriends. He's one of these people who doen't care less if you have a moan. I have blocked him a total of 20 times in the past year!

Well, having had 3 girlfriends, maybe he is bad at relationships.. keeping them going that is.
And I know plenty of people like that, they love to have a moan at you but you just try talking about YOU and "hey man, don't dump your problems on me!"
Hypocrisy..

Yeah exactly. Doesn't live on this planet, poor lad. His first girlfriend was 'too young for him' his second one cheated and his third one is a terrible tease, she doesn't even like him, but there were certain goings on in a tent at reading which he keeps referring back to. unfortunately he's besotted with her!

Ah.. well, some people are just unlucky. No need to bitch about it though, I don't carry on 24/7 about annoying exes..

I wish he wouldn't... Ah well, off the subject of him... Shall we move to your thread? I'll ask some questions.

Fair enough - this thread has got a little random..

But when did our diversive conversations ever become not random lol ;)

Hahaha, indeed.. consistency is the hallmark of the little mind :tongue:

Indeed.

My turn for questions now:
What's the longest you've ever been awake?
Where's the furthest from the UK you've been?
If it takes four men two hours to dig a hole, how long does it take two men to dig half a hole?

What's the longest you've ever been awake?
I got up at 5 and was still awake at 4 once, so 11 hours? This was a wekend away I did with school when we got up early for a walk and 5 boys were sick during the night. And we were right next door to the leaders bedroom.
Where's the furthest from the UK you've been?
Honestly, the Isle of Wight! Which is still part of the UK. I've never been abroad, there's so many places I want to see, Big Sur in California, Greece, Australia, New Zealand, Norway...
If it takes four men two hours to dig a hole, how long does it take two men to dig half a hole?
15 minutes?

Longest I managed was 37 hours.. catching a plane at 4 AM, not bothering to sleep the previous night then going out for a meal and a few drinks when we got there!
it's a trick question there's no such thing as half a hole ;)

Haha, I suppose the expcted answer woukd be similar to mine. Blimey, 37 hours... I like staying up late but I love sleeping as well!

Well, that was an exception.. and I was pretty zombified by the end from the combination of gin & tonic and sleep deprivation. Not fun.

Whereabouts in the world would you most like to visit?

Probably New Zealand. Just because I'm a geography nut. They've got some groovy plate techtonics over their, the people are laid back, the maori invented poi and it's got geezers! Wish I'd never seen blimming Billy Connolly now!

yeah, new zealand looks cool. of course, I'm basing this off The Lord of the Rings, but what the hell, still looks like a nice place!

Haha. Not your question thread, but on topic, have you ever read any Bill Bryson?

I have! I love his work. i've read:
Notes from a small island
A walk in the woods
Neither here nor there
notes from a big country
Down Under
The one about small-town America that I can't remember the name of
The Life and times of the thunderbolt kid

As you can tell, I'm a bit of a fan ;)

Woohoo! Me too! He is my absolute favourite author. I thought Notes on a Small Island was particularly good! And The life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid was pretty awesome too! In fact it's sitting second in my huge pile of books, and that's saying something really! On top is the book I'm currently reading, which is a bit boring.

All my Bill bryson's are at home, which is annoying. Haven't really got the space to store them here.. given that my room is about 2 metres by 4 and includes my bed, wardrobe, desk, and dresser!

Blimey! My room is approximately 10ft by 8ft, so about 2m by 3m (had to go and convert that!), but it's just the place I sit and read or go on the computer and occasionally sleep ;) I suppose I should go to bed soon, we're having a kitchen fitted and they woke me up at 7:45am this morning with a jaunty tap on the door. Arghhh.

Oh dear.. I was woken at about 6 by a police siren going past.. bloody loud they are too!

I swear they always turn sirens on just as they go past me. I am assured taht my ears must be ver sensitive since if anybody screams near me I have to cover my ears. I had a horrible bout of tinnitus after sitting near the amps at a gig, my ears rang for 4 days, it was horrible!

Ouch! I had a similar thing at Twisted Sister & Alice Cooper.. although I was right in front of the stack which was HUGE.. this was at Nottingham Arena and they had to fill that whole space so the amp stack was about 2 storeys tall..

wow, mine was just by being extremely moshed out in the little indie club in Hitchin. I was falling asleep next to the amp. This was the infmous 'OMG Nyika's a stoner' incident lol.

Heh, I was actually rendered temporarily deaf.. I was going "WHAT?" for days on end. great gig, Twisted Sister were awesome!

im in a band and have had alot of bands play, but im from america. land of bullshit.

im in a band and have had alot of bands play, but im from america. land of bullshit.
Yer got that right.. particularly the 11-stone steaming pile that calls itself george w bush!

So true...

Anyway, back to questions..
- Who would you like to win the US elections?
- Who do you think is going to win?

I don't know, I can't say I'm keen on any of the candidates personally, all the focus seems to be on the democrats what with the Clinton-Obama thing at the moment. Possibly Ron paul, But i agree with what you said about him being anti-abortion

Personally I think Hillary Clinton will win, and even though she's a woman, I'm not keen on her. I just think america sees her as a novelty factor. Isn't it super duper Tuesday soon? Don't you just love americanisms?

What the hell is super duper tuesday?
I must admit, I'm not paying a huge amount of attention to the US elections.. out of the candidates that might win, I think Obama might be the lesser of two evils.
If Mike Huckabee or Mitt Romney get in.. well, it'll be Bush all over again, only with even more religious-right flavouring.
Dennis Kucinich seems like the best, but he doesn't have much of a following, seemingly :( Ron Paul would be second, but he's a pro-life nut.

Basically its when lots and lots of states hold caucusses on the same day. You think you don't know anything about the US elections? I didn't even know who was standing!

Well, as long as some right-wing fascist arsehole doesn't get in, we'll be OK. Where's Ralph Nader when you need him?

Indeed. Urgh, hectic horrible evening, now soothing my frought nerves with the mamas and the papas.

Oh dear. What made it horrible and hectic?

St. John Ambulance Cadets. I joined a couple of years back and I was going to leave when they promoted me to corporal, the first one in about a year. So I thought I'd better keep going. My privelages are that I get to yell at them when the cadets do drill and I get to take them off into a corner for 'bandaging practice'. More like piss about and annoy Nyika cos I know her sister/am older than her/she's a hippie/she shouts too much. What the hell do they expect? So last week I was informed I had a place on the seargents course and if I didn't go it would cost me. So I'm blowing off £50 next week to go and get yelled at in my poncy uniform with beret, faking Norovirus over the phone to work. And tonight I was entered into a competition despite the fact they KNOW I can't do fucking Saturdays. As much as I hate it I've got some good mates there, but it really annoys me! Sorry about the rant, hope you didn't read all of it!

I did, but it doesn't matter ;)
Cadet things can be annoying as hell.. my mate wanted me to join the Army cadets with him. I told him where to stuff it and invited him to join Greenpeace with me :D He told me where to stuff THAT.. but we're good friends.

lol, at least SJA isn't militaristic. I'm an official member of the CND now, should get my badge soon!

Nice! I'm not a member of anything really.. except professional bodies but they don't count.

Spent a whole free lesson attempting to research something, found a great link about alternative therapies and was still on it an hour later! I would definitely like to do a course in reflexology, did you know it's linked to the fact that people don't go barefoot any more, so don't clear the energy channels in their feet?

I figured as much.. definietly explains why going barefoot feels so good!
Except when you tread on broken glass, which is common enough in this town...

Ouch! I absolutely love barefooting, although I once decided whilst camping to walk to the shower block barefoot at 6 o' clock in the morning in September. Arghhh, it was so cold! Felt like I'd got into an ice bath!

Yeah.. I barefooted in snow (back when we got it in England). I was OK, back then my metabolism ran at about 30 degrees above normal haha.. I went out in bare feet and a Tshirt to play in the snow... bloody hell I was either resilient or stupid!

I'm get really cold hands usually, but snow is great! Especially sliding down a hill on a tea tray!

I always have warm hands, it's bizarre.. even in -30 cold at the top of Mt Mansfield I had warm hands, but my facemask was frozen to my face. Strange.

Lol, you obviously have good circulation! If I let my feet dangle or I lean on my hand I get pins and needles very quickly.

I've only got good circulation in my hands - my feet were freezing, and I had the beginnings of frostbite on my face! But 'twas good fun, skiing a black diamond run for the first time!

Must be awesome!! I have this feeling that if i tried to ski I'd be one of those people who can't stand up. Though i'm not that bad at ice skating.

if you can ice-skate, you can ski. It's a lot easier than it looks and it's awesome fun!
I remember shooting down a piste at about 30mph, skiing right past the "Piste closed beyond this point" sign and thinking "oooh.. FUCK!" But it turned out to be a really good run, obviously no other skiiers to get in my way!

Lol, awesome... Hmm, I need some more excalmoatory words, I tend to overuse awesome and immense.

How about.. fantastic! Wonderful! Amazing! etc..

Lol, those words are utterly amazing. I wish to have a wonderful vocabulary, so I have to use fantastic words. I always was good at comprehension spellings!

Just type "amazing" into a thesaurus.. comes up with some good ones!
..
We just got completely sidetracked again!
- Who do you think epitomises the hippie movement?
- Timothy Leary or Terence McKenna?
- A festival where the music is so-so but the drugs are great, or a festival where the music is great but no drugs are to be had at all?

Cliched, but Jerry Garcia caught it all in his songs, so probably him. There were a lot of people who could sum it all up, but he's foremost in my mind.

Not sure, both had a lot to do with LSD, maybe Terrence Mckenna?

A druggy festival with crap music, much more fun to be had!!

My thoughts exactly ;)
Terence McKenna was more into the shamism/spiritual side of drugs - he wrote about magic mushrooms, peyote, ayahuasca, he rejected chemically derived drugs like 5-MeO-DMT and LSD. he also wote extensively about December 21, 2012, which he called Time Wave Zero (that's a little less enthralling than his entheogenic work).
Timothy Leary invented the phrase "turn on, tune in, drop out", he preached enlightenment through LSD, gave it out in the parks of San Francisco. I think he kinda sold out to get out of prison after LSD was criminalised. Terence McKenna sadly died in 2002 :(

I've wanted to try mushrooms after reading a book about a hippie commune. They had shroom tea and the cat drank it!

Shroom tea reportedly tastes like crap.. best way I think would be to eat them on pizza ;)
Shamanism/entheogens is something I'm quite into.. haven't got round to making any brews yet (although the ingredients for an ayahuasca brew are legal!) but it's a plan for the future.

Sounds good! I can make lemongrass tea... Supposed to make you think clearer. Tastes vile too!

Yeah, the entheogens - with the exception of shrooms - aren't really recreational at all. They're tools for introspection and growth, often have slightly unpleasant physical side-effects, and in general aren't made for tripping on at festivals!

Lol, I guessed that much! I am so excited about shambala it's unreal, sad since its 7 months off.

I know! First festival I've been excited enough about to actually bother going.. fuck Glastonbury nowadays, too commercial and full of posh twats playing at being eco-friendly from their 4x4s.
Gonna be great!

Certainly is! I'm looking forward to meeting Hipfirums folks too1

Yeah, some of the coolest people I know are right here.. hippies seem to be spread around these days.

All the hippies I actually talk to are on here. I must actually go and say hello to the hippies that live at the end of my road. Would you believe they've been here 5 years and I've never said a word to them?

Hippies near you? nice!
I live with some pretty cool people, not hippies but close. Into organics, wholefoods, ercycling, that kinda thing.

Yeah, they're awesome looking people, they both have dreads, they keep freerange chickens and grow their own veg, they have two children Called Yossi and Dali. I know this cos my sister spoke to them once. I may go and ask if they want a chicken sitter, they have a converted horsebox they holiday in!

I was a chicken-sitter once! I got free eggs out of it =D

I was a chicken-sitter once! I got free eggs out of it =D
Haha, chicken-sitting sounds nice.. if you like chickens, that is! personally they're not my favourite bird.
That prompts another question:
What's your favourite animal? Favourite plant?

Favourite animals are either sheep, goats or orangutans! I would like to keep a goat one day...
Favourite plant, hmm, either passion flower or clematis, yet you can't beat a daffodil!

yeah, goats are cute.. shame their milk tastes bloody awful. Although I suppose you could get to like it..
You were bloody quick off the mark adding me to MSN by the way.. I click "post" and three seconds later it pops up!

replied.

You said in another thread you were an ex-Christian - what turned you?

I dunno, I'd been having doubts for the past year, about how irrational it all seemed and how it just didn't answer any questions. I stopped going to church for a while and went back to go to midnight mass. I sat and thought 'I have no connection, no reason to be here'. So I lost my faith on Christmas day, and I feel great!

So this is the second biggest ever karma post and now it's quiet :( Anyone want to ask me a question? Ask me anything you like!

Hi again :)
Did you feel the earthquake?
What instruments do you play if any?
Do you get on with your parents?

this shambala festival sounds really cool, I'm interested! gotta go and find out if it's kid friendly though..

Hi again http://www.hipforums.com/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif
Did you feel the earthquake?
No and I was really annoyed about it, being a geography student! It would have been so awesome!

What instruments do you play if any?
Penny whistle, Badly.

Do you get on with your parents?
Yeah, but only cos they have no idea what I get up to! They think I'm like this non-drinker against drug type person, ha.

this shambala festival sounds really cool, I'm interested! gotta go and find out if it's kid friendly though..
I'm pretty sure it is, although you might not want to hang around with us lot!
:)

Do you think I might cramp your style?

Will you be celebrating easter?

Haha, I don't think you'd cramp our style, but we might embarrass you! If you wanted to you are more than welcome!

First year of being an atheist at Easter, but i will still end up going to the Easter services. I will however give thought to the pagan Ostara instead and I'll eat lots of chocolate!

So do you tend towards pagan ways? Would you ever want to go to the solstice celebrations at Stonehenge?

As for the festival tis on a weekend we can't go, bum.

do you think you could become the biggest karma post? who is it you have to beat? (i could look i suppose - oh it's salman, yeah let's beat him!)

have you ever done a yin/yang thing on here?

@ berkano: there's a kids play area, dunno how good it is though. looked quite fun. :)

I do tend towards pagan ways cos I've got a lot of earth based beliefs and if I was to follow a religion it would be the one I would. And I'd love to go to stonehenge on a solstice!!

Could do, Thinking about it I have quoths to beat too...

Nope, Might do one tonight!

Well I'm hoping this hasn't been asked yet, but:

Top hats or Jester's hats?

Jesters hats cos they're colourful and don't put me in mind of victorian pimps...

Hahaha Victorian Pimp, I think I need to thieve that as my new nickname/title.

Double post but meh, favourite veggie substitute/fake version?

I love these type of fake sausage rolls with a really nice vegetable thing inside, apparently they've stopped selling them in Waitrose and Sainsburies though :(

I quite like quorn personally, though I don't eat a lot of it. My favourite meat substitute is vegetables!

Hurray for quorn! On the same subject, what's your favourite vegetable.

Courgettes! Closely followed by mushrooms and raw carrots.

cool name
where would you like to conserve?

Anywhere that needs conserving, but especially green belt land and woodland.

any countries you'd most like travel

America mainly, then Hawaii and New Zealand and possibly Canada too. After uni I'm going to travel America!

fair play u shud maybe get involved with a highway child bus
any programs on tv u like?

I love Coast so muchly! Best programme ever to exist. I generally like anything with geography and documentaries. Oh, Tribe was really good too. Don't watch much evening television any more though. Oh, comedies, forgot about them, The Young Ones, My family, Open All Hours, Only Fools and Horses, Porridge, The Good Life...

After uni I'm going to travel America!

Oh, no. You should have been here in the 60's-70's, at the height of the hippies.

Now, this country is just fucked up.
It's a shame.

:&

i loved tribe man u know its recently on again i think only fools and horses is comedy aswell umm what u doin at college and are u liking it

I'm doing Geography, media and philosophy and ethics, subjects which I really like, though I'm pretty lazy. I did take ICt but I dropped on the grounds that it was boringa nd I was soending 90% of my time doing the coursework.

cool cool glad ur likin it whats ur spiritual beleifs or religion

I'm an earth based atheist. I belive everything comes from and returns to the earth, so we have to have resect for it. There's no higher being and everyone's equal.

I belive everything comes from and returns to the earthEven black holes, dark matter and supernovae?:uhoh2:

</facetious>

:leaving:

sorry:tongue:

everyone is so friendly and happy. obviously the drugs help. but still!!

hehe, sorry to quote you out of context nerthus but that's a bit of a classic :)

If you could be any breed of cattle which would you be and why?

Aberdeen angus cos they're red and they have horns and they live in scotalnd looking shaggy.

have you ever posted entirely in capitals?

What, Like This???? Only By Accident...

ello ello,
i know this isn't karma related.. but poi! yay! i love your new signature pic nyika :D you better be bringing those to shambala...

p.s.

hehe, sorry to quote you out of context nerthus but that's a bit of a classic :)

and blimey, when did i say that? hehe.. i assume that was referring to festivals or something similar!

I'm definitely bringing them to Shambala!

coolies :D glad to hear it. nothing better than watching poi in a state of inebriation.. and doing it in that state too, although it could be painful i guess.

Apparently it's easier when stoned, dunno about anything else though...

i watched a girl i know doing it at sunset on acid and she looked like she was in heaven, hehe.. i eventually persuaded her to let me stand facing her so her arms were going round us both, and it was reaally calming and nice - i'd been feeling a bit spun out. you'll have to experiment at shambala! :)