h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I envy them the simple life, but that's one helluva price to pay.

Indeed. There is simple and then there is unnecessarily austere. My simple life includes electricity, running water and central heat and air.

From what I've observed, it may be easier for a woman to leave the sect than a man. I know of several couples who have not remained with the Amish group here. It is a smaller group and possibly not as self-sustaining as the ones in Lancaster, PA. and Amana, IA.

My wish that they remain Amish is simply because I hate to see the lifestyle die out.

Like Hyp, a simple lifestyle for me includes electricity, running water, AC and heat---and of course the computer.

Really? I thought it was harder for a woman, since the men get their year out. But there could be more dynamics at work. There's more than simplicity - the sense of community is incredible. Kicking a young, fairly uneducated man out for a year, from the cozy Amish community into American dog-eat-dog, is probably well calculated to have him come scurrying back pretty quick.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/dorset/6901543.stm

Woo-hoo!

Leo, yeah, I understand these young men are 16 or 17 when they're turned loose. They would need some outside help pretty quickly in order to make the transition.

Many of the place names (Soldatna, Ninilchik) here are Russian. The samall Russian communities are fragmented into Russian Ortodox, True Believers and Right Believers.

We purchased some of them as part od Seward's Folly. Those came over during the Czar's reign. Others migrated first to Oregon in 1917 and moved up here on grant money in 1967.

They use utilities but the men don't believe in shaving and the women and children wear strange traditional dress that tend toward orange colors. You see them shopping in the Safeway stores.

In our Amish community, they aren't exactly "turned loose". They are allowed to own a car and wear "English" clothing, but are expected to revert to the old ways once they join the church--that happens when they marry, as I understand it. They must then sell their cars and wear Amish garb. I asked my source about it and that is what she told me.

Phred, I wonder what they used to make orange dye? I've always felt sorry for people in tiny, closed ethnic groups. But I suppose if that's all they've ever known they wouldn't necessarily be unhappy.

We don't have any Amish here. We do have Minnonites. I would rather deal with them than with the Pentacostals.

(slinks into home keyboard for fix of h2 panda smileys .. )





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commercial break .................................

check the animated Firecloud Report ... Mrs Phred kayaking in the icebergs ... and the dirtroad trailvideo from inside the RV ... totally cool ......

we are trying to figure out how to leave comments on aforementioned Bobsite-blogsite ... to say hullo and then write some dusty road lyrics about trails we have only seen in photos ...

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not sure what the Cerne Abbas fertile fellow will make of a -brandishing Homer Simpson, Steve ! the Long Man of Wilmington recently featured in a similar downland-graffiti situation ...

strangely, it brings out the rather defensive, earnest almost-but-not-quite-Pagan in me ... a most worrying situation ..

all the best with the psychotherapy, bro .... I had a therapist for many a year .. .. good for exploring new views on the inner landscapes, ... a trusted guide on the trail ...someone to hold the flame for a while if the shadows get too dusky ..

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yes .. sects and groupings ... perhaps they are different when lived from the inside ... I feel compelled to run from all such situations .... a staring Steppenwolf peering in from the outside, through the cracked windows of a belonging I will never know ..

whoooooo arrrrgh whooooooo (that was a primitive almost-Pagan, howl ...)

its the cults that scare me most .... some dude arrives on the scene ... flexes his muscles and his charisma ... announces he is love or truth or something ... and presto .... stolen dead-eyed souls wandering around everywhere .. zero zombies ...

that's my rather jaded take .. from jaded personal experience ... re losing a friend to aforementioned situation ...

can't speak for all ............

can't speak for anything ..

can't speak at all .... need supper ...

panda smileys ... I need panda smileys



guess there are worse addictions ...

H



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Nice to have you back at your keyboard, oh great panda goddess.

Cults are scary. They prey upon people's insecurities, fears and loneliness in order to pull them in. I like to think I wouldn't get involved with them, but we never know, do we? I mean we are part of the hootoo cult already.

quite so, luvvy ... scary indeed .... I had an eye to eye run-in with onesuch cult leader ..one of the coldest, most ill-mannered, darkly charismatic people I ever met ... I had reason to tell him exactly what I thought of him .... most of his victims are, as you say, vulnerable, lonely searchers ....I (and fortunately many others) think he abuses their innocent hungry spirits ... some have escaped, but many remain forever hooked .... he continues to prosper to this day ... feeding off the money and eternal devotion of his followers ...

but, hey ..... I am just a an old singleminded blacksheep ....so who I am to baaaaaah and bleat ........................


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all is well, though, in the h2 pandacult!

???????????????????????????????? ... yikes say the pandasmileys .. free us from this mad artist ...







I owe a lot to the designers of these smileys .. thankyou smiley artistes for these beautiful little wonder-worlds ... a perfect artskool/playskool medium for one such as I ....




hmmm .....




feel free to proceed with your lives .... I might lurk here while I can, in my playskool, amongst sensations ....

- ghost in the roses

- skull reflection in my cappuccino .........

..... your burning eyes have the shine of two red planets ... your diamond tears fill my glass ....

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... oh ... white rabbit in the guise of a mouse ... I have to go ...

H

...... scuse me say the two small horses .. we need attention ..

go away small horses ... I have a life outside of you

??????????????????????????????????

<>>

what ??

should read ...so who to baaaaaah and bleat ...... this blacksheep speaks backwards sdrawkcab ... this sheep needs

Joins the cult...

Jim Jones, David Koresh...It's people like that that give cult leaders a bad name.

Just don't ask me to drink the Kool-aid, Take up arms against the ATF or buy a roll of quarters for a Kosmic street-car ride on the Hale-Bopp express.

Yes, Virginia...We actually live inside a sphere filled with black dust clouds that whirl around producing night and day...

What is it about bears? Panda bears, Teddy Bears, Brown Bears, Black Bears, Grizzly Bears...bears everywhere...

Anybody here old enough to remember the "Big John and Sparky" radio show?

If you go down in the woods today,
Be sure and not go alone.
For every bear that ever there was,
will gather there foe certain because,
Todays the day the Teddy Bears have their picnic

http://community.webshots.com/slideshow/559936408OJrezK

How's this for a good cult?
A2181638

That's a great link...before the summer is over, I expect the tribe to regather in San Francisco..."Love is the Answer"...what is the question?

yay ...... and hey .. ...and good morning splendid peoples .....

linkin' thinkin' winkin' peoples .....

I am bear--ly awake ....

need

H

yes .. what is the question ?

I need questions, said the barely awake bear ..

I need s said the question ...

Bearly awake....

It's 3:30 AM Alaska Daylight savings time....no wonder you're tired.

Pulls on long black boots...examines fly rod...

Goes out in search of vegetarian fish...

is the answer...

How's your day going young H?

Vegetarian fish, yum! I like vegetarian fish. Especially with a bit of lemon on the side.

grizzly

drink the Kool aid ! drink the Kool aid !

what ?



one ticket please for the Kosmic street-car ride on the Hale-Bopp express !

what ?

yay ..... before brekkie ? OK

fishing at 3.30 am ?

what ?

vegetarian fish ?

what ?



tofu-trout .. butterbean-bass ....

talking of putting my brain to bed for its summer holidays, which I appear to have done ... someone just wrote The Rough Guide to the Brain ...

you know the Rough Guide series ? the bible for independent travellers .. The Rough Guide to Thailand, Mexico .. everywhere .. very good for warnings ... 'don't go to this beach .. even the halibut will steal your wallet' (especially the vegetarian ones ..)



'we recommend the rocky cove just south of the downtown brain-beach .. excellent for naked-no-brainers ...'

'stay clear of the eastern side of the brain-city .. full of dealers and orange peelers and grey/white wrinkled jelly stuff ...'

'where to get the best .. Cafe Neuron (in the art-part) '

'go read the book Helen ... you need it ... OK'





here it is ... (for the real, intelligent information .... )

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6642719.stm



(goes back to sleep)

H