Re: Copperfield - an Aspie?

[Guest guest]

Apeasant,

I sometimes think as you do.

But let me offer you some consolation.

I believe many Aspies feel the more they retreat from the world the

more they wish to stay away from it. Is this some sort of dementia?

Doubtful.

The world HAS been getting progressively worse.

We can see this in many ways. Proliferation of crime and sex, both on

TV and in real life.

Poverty on the increase and debt on the rise indicates a lack of

knowledge of how to plan for the future and how to care for one's

self as much as it describes a shakey economy.

If Darwin's laws apply to all species including mankind, then the

fact that we have evaded natural selection has not really served us.

The people in this world are fatter, dumber, and more vulgar than

they have ever been in a very long time. Diabetes and heart problems

will shorten our lifespans a little, but this will not stop the

production mill that churns out fatter, dumber, and more vulgar

people to replace the ones that die.

It's alarming the degree to witch society has lapsed in just my

lifetime, but the upside is that by refraining from interacting in

it, I have avoided society's pitfalls.

So can you, if you follow your natural inclination to withdraw from

the world.

Sorry if all this sounds gloom and doom filled, but i have been

watching TV today and have thus gotten depressed.

Tom

Administrator

I'm just starting to catch on to what has been going on in my head

all these years. From what I've found on the net and in the OASIS

Guide to Aspergers, I almost max out the criteria for Aspergers

Syndrome.

I have come across books that professing to be able to teach

the 'social skills' that Aspies seem to lack. Is this possible? Do

Aspie's spend the rest of their lives using these skills to examine

every significant, interpersonal contact like the proverbial " bug in

a jar? " If Aspergers Syndrome is hardwired into the brain at

conception, or in the following nine months, how can the skills be

attained and put into practice?

I am really becoming gun shy in any more 'friendships' or

acquaintances. I'm tired of my bluntness and benign honesty being

turned against me. I have met a Husband and Wife team who I enjoy

being around. UUA members, Garrison Keillor types. But, I find

myself second guessing their every move and motive, no matter how

kind or generous. I do much better with my horse and the neighbor's

dogs.

I beginning to wonder if Jesus Christ was not the Son of any God,

just another Aspie. According to the bible: He " committed no sin,

nor was guile found in His mouth " (1 Pet. 2:22).

Help!

[Guest guest]

" They will then start to gabble on about the busses the weather,

whatever and I find it very hard to comment other than the odd word -

I also find most small talk mind numbing and boring and don't really

see the point.

"

Sometimes I wonder if such people aren't a bit mentally off. When I

see a person standing alone and my interference seems to bother them,

I keep my mouth shut and also keep my distance...out of consideration

for them. Non-Aspies do not seem to have this sensitivity. Or else

their need to prattle about trivialities overrides any consideraton

they might otherwise give to others.

Perhaps it's just that their intelligence is so limited that they can

be stimulated and bedazzled by the weather time and time again

without ever getting bored with it.

Tom

[Guest guest]

Just wanted to respond to this. The passage means that Jesus never

sinned, plotted against anyone or criticized someone for how they

were made. He would love lepers, lawyers, and laypeople as much as he

did the wealthy. He would criticize sins and habits, but not the

person.

There is a very simple reason for this...

" Exd 4:11 " Who makes mouths? " the Lord asked him. " Who makes people

so they can speak or not speak, hear or not hear, see or not see? Is

it not I, the Lord? "

Jesus remembered what God told Moses. What God told Moses was that

God created everyone, deaf and mute as well as people who can hear

and speak.

Taking this further, if you have AS, God created you that way, so

there is no reason you should aspire to recreate yourself

differently.

BUT...

If you DO sometimes wish to be able to fit in more, then ask God to

help you, as he helped Moses:

" Exd 4:10 But Moses pleaded with the Lord, " O Lord, I'm just not a

good speaker. I never have been, and I'm not now, even after you have

spoken to me. I'm clumsy with words. "

" Exd 4:11 " Who makes mouths? " the Lord asked him. " Who makes people

so they can speak or not speak, hear or not hear, see or not see? Is

it not I, the Lord?

" Exd 4:12 Now go, and do as I have told you. I will help you speak

well, and I will tell you what to say. "

Of course in this case, Moses was on a mission from God, but the

principle remains the same. If you need God to help you, and if you

believe in Him, He will indeed help you.

Tom

Administrator

I beginning to wonder if Jesus Christ was not the Son of any God,

just another Aspie. According to the bible: He " committed no sin,

nor was guile found in His mouth " (1 Pet. 2:22).

Help!

[Guest guest]

I'm reminded of a fairly recent Carlin Special, "Life is Worth Losing."

[Guest guest]

Sometimes, I've resorted to wearing lite-weight headphones in public, that are not plugged in to anything more that my belt. Just give out a braindead look, bob and weave to the imagined music, and most of them go away, or ignore you-which is the point of the exercise!

[Guest guest]

I disagree; lust created me!

[Guest guest]

I survived three tour to Vietnam with the Marine Corps. One of shinning moments, in my opinion, of those three tours was an episode that took place in Hue City, Quang Tri Province "I Corp" during the 1968 "Tet Offensive."

While entering the outskirts of Hue City, Quang Tri Province - via Marine Transport 6x6 (Heavy Duty) truck, for the umpteeseenth time- the 6x6 truck ahead of us; in the middle of a tight turn, hooked onto the roof of a combat damaged building and began to pull it down over the heads of some civilians who did not see nor hear the events unfolding over their heads. As I watched this human play unfold from the following 6x6 Truck, in desperation, I made eye contact with a young Vietnamese lady who was an impending victim of this unfolding story. I pointed to the danger, over her head, and despite the din of diesel engines and the insanity of the prevailing war noise, she looked to where my finger was pointing, perceived the danger and tugged at the other civilians in danger, pulling them away from the collapsing roof; thus avoiding injuries. This convoy continued into on into an ambush, where I killed two NVA soldiers who were firing at our convoy I was assigned to, with a medium machine-gun from a concealed, fortified position.

I wonder if she thinks of me as much as I think of her in our brief spiritual encounter. Was I an Aspie then? Was she?

Thanks for enduring this story. Brad

[Guest guest]

Wow! Thanks for sharing this, Brad (and for letting us know your name now). :-)

If she was an Aspie, who knows? May well be. Or it just wasn't her time to go.

Fascinating moment anyway, I almost got goosebumps reading it.

Inger

Re: Re: Copperfield - an Aspie?

I survived three tour to Vietnam with the Marine Corps. One of shinning moments, in my opinion, of those three tours was an episode that took place in Hue City, Quang Tri Province "I Corp" during the 1968 "Tet Offensive."

While entering the outskirts of Hue City, Quang Tri Province - via Marine Transport 6x6 (Heavy Duty) truck, for the umpteeseenth time- the 6x6 truck ahead of us; in the middle of a tight turn, hooked onto the roof of a combat damaged building and began to pull it down over the heads of some civilians who did not see nor hear the events unfolding over their heads. As I watched this human play unfold from the following 6x6 Truck, in desperation, I made eye contact with a young Vietnamese lady who was an impending victim of this unfolding story. I pointed to the danger, over her head, and despite the din of diesel engines and the insanity of the prevailing war noise, she looked to where my finger was pointing, perceived the danger and tugged at the other civilians in danger, pulling them away from the collapsing roof; thus avoiding injuries. This convoy continued into on into an ambush, where I killed two NVA soldiers who were firing at our convoy I was assigned to, with a medium machine-gun from a concealed, fortified position.

I wonder if she thinks of me as much as I think of her in our brief spiritual encounter. Was I an Aspie then? Was she?

Thanks for enduring this story. Brad

[Guest guest]

Some of his stage illusions were impressive. The only one I really recall from the show I saw as a child was that he was in this cage with a woman. Curtains were draped all around the cage and it was lifted off the stand. Arms and legs were coming out and so did his head once or twice. Not long after, the curtain fell away and it was just the woman inside. As soon as the curtains fell, came in from the back of the theatre through the audience entrance and walked down the center aisle, not far from me as I recall. It doesn't sound like much in the telling, but it was very impressive to actually see it.

I used to do some amateur magic. One key thing is that the audience has to want to be entertained and have a little suspension of disbelief. If you look at the trick too hard, you'll miss the fun. I used to do card tricks and other little things like that rather than big stage things, which I don't have the guts to do in front of lots of people. But doing some minor little tricks for a few people now and then wasn't a problem.

[Guest guest]

>: "Small talk is relational not informational.Well said!  Rainbow

[Guest guest]

>Tom: "You are right of course."Good retraction!  Rainbow

[Guest guest]

>Tom: "I shall try to refrain from venting on this forum, although in all honesty, it is hard to do this because I have no one else close byand readily available to talk with who is Aspie and who would understand."Don't stop! It's okay! We're here to listen, understand, comment, and help as we can. We DO understand.  Rainbow

[Guest guest]

Wow, I have only respect and admiration for people who were willing to

go through the hell of a shooting war, and who could keep it together

and do what they had to.

Ken

>

> I survived three tour to Vietnam with the Marine Corps. One of

shinning moments, in my opinion, of those three tours was an episode

that took place in Hue City, Quang Tri Province " I Corp " during the

1968 " Tet Offensive. "

> While entering the outskirts of Hue City, Quang Tri Province -

via Marine Transport 6x6 (Heavy Duty) truck, for the umpteeseenth

time- the 6x6 truck ahead of us; in the middle of a tight turn, hooked

onto the roof of a combat damaged building and began to pull it down

over the heads of some civilians who did not see nor hear the events

unfolding over their heads. As I watched this human play unfold from

the following 6x6 Truck, in desperation, I made eye contact with a

young Vietnamese lady who was an impending victim of this unfolding

story. I pointed to the danger, over her head, and despite the din of

diesel engines and the insanity of the prevailing war noise, she

looked to where my finger was pointing, perceived the danger and

tugged at the other civilians in danger, pulling them away from the

collapsing roof; thus avoiding injuries. This convoy continued into

on into an ambush, where I killed two NVA soldiers who were firing at

our convoy I was assigned to, with a medium machine-gun from a

concealed, fortified position.

> I wonder if she thinks of me as much as I think of her in our brief

spiritual encounter. Was I an Aspie then? Was she?

> Thanks for enduring this story. Brad

>

[Guest guest]

I agree with rainbow use us to vent, you can post as a regular person, and only post as an administrator on administrative issues. If you could some how make them different, ie maybe sign as Tom on regular posts and Tom the Administrator, or what ever other title you would like on administrative issuses, may be preface the subject with Admin before the actual subject, that way we would all be sure to know the difference from Tom being one of us and posting, venting, kibbutzing whatever, versus an Administrator duing his duty towards the group. I think its a shame that you created such a wonderful place for us to vent but you don't feel free to use it yourself. Beth"Rainbow ." <rainbow@...> wrote: >Tom: "I shall try to refrain from venting on this forum, although in

all honesty, it is hard to do this because I have no one else close by and readily available to talk with who is Aspie and who would understand." Don't stop! It's okay! We're here to listen, understand, comment, and help as we can. We DO understand. Rainbow

Find Great Deals on Holiday Gifts at

[Guest guest]

Thanks Ender, for at least giving me SOME sort of clue.

Copperfield himself said that for all his love of illusion and magic, he himself is the worst sceptic of all, since he knows how it's done. He seemed almost sad about that that, as if longing to be in the awe-struck audience and just be bedazzled.

I got a very nice and genuine vibe from him.

Inger

Re: Copperfield - an Aspie?

I saw an explanation of that trick somewhere... you do it by turning the audience like 10-20 degrees without them realizing it... There's also a bit of forced perspective thrown in as window dressing... so they are less likely to notice they're looking in a different section of sky... EnderAt 09:18 PM 12/9/2005, you wrote:

>Inger: "How can you make the Statue of Liberty appear to disappear???"Smoke and mirrors, Inger, smoke and mirrors...... R a i n b o w

[Guest guest]

:

> Some of his stage illusions were impressive. The only one I really recall from the show I saw as a child was that he was in this cage with a woman. Curtains were draped all around the cage and it was lifted off the stand. Arms and legs were coming out and so did his head once or twice. Not long after, the curtain fell away and it was just the woman inside. As soon as the curtains fell, came in from the back of the theatre through the audience entrance and walked down the center aisle, not far from me as I recall. It doesn't sound like much in the telling, but it was very impressive to actually see it.

I'm sure it was! I've seen some of his shows on TV and that was impressive enough. To see it IRL must have been awesome!

> I used to do some amateur magic. One key thing is that the audience has to want to be entertained and have a little suspension of disbelief. If you look at the trick too hard, you'll miss the fun.

I see. That makes sense. But I actually don't think it's all that fun to be fooled. My brain hurts when it's going into overdrive trying to figure it out. The flying thing is another one that I can't figure out how they do it.

> I used to do card tricks and other little things like that rather than big stage things, which I don't have the guts to do in front of lots of people. But doing some minor little tricks for a few people now and then wasn't a problem.

Cool! :-)

Inger

[Guest guest]

environmental1st2003 wrote:

Sorry ,

You are right of course.

Looking back at my post now it seems much harsher

and angrier than was necessary or than was in actuality. I'm sorry

about that.

It's just

that I have gotten chewed out recently by a bunch of small

talkers because all I ever talk about is stuff they can't understand.

One gets frustrated that talking about the weather takes precedence

over ANYTHING that I consider important ALL THE TIME. Their talking

about the weather causes me not to be able to fit a word in edgewise.

What I was objecting to was what looked like

negative sweeping statements about all NTs. Of course you can be

totally hacked off at particular people in your life and talk

about it on the boards. Jerks like that make life difficult and it

helps to vent here.

And yes, I agree. Even with my "advanced" small talk skills (NOT!) the

weather does not need to be mentioned *all* the time. Small talk is

relational, but it doesn't have to be boring and stupid.

and the zoo.

[Guest guest]

Well, I try to put myself in place of the members. I know when I was

posting to Aspergia for exam, I actually LIKED it when Eden kept his

distance and seldom posted, because it meant that I could post freely

and not really have to worry about being watched, even if I WAS being

watched.

When I was a moderator on Aspergian Island, the admin and other mod

there encouraged me to participate more, but I just didn't feel

comfortable being chummy with the members, particularly when we had to

discipline so many of them so often.

With aspergia gone, and me not feeling comfortable posting on Aspergian

Island, I decided to post here on my boards, but for me to post here

meant a compromise for me. For me to be able to maintain authority, I

couldn't just go off on a rant every once in a while (although I do

tend to whine every once in a while.) We've seen what happens when I do

that. It's not good for the members.

Additionally, by putting the " Administrator " designation after my name,

I felt that even if people didn't particularly read my posts, they

would still have a baseline to refer back to which would represent the

type of language and type of atmosphere that I would like to see on the

board.

Whenever I post anything, it's the homest truth, but chances are I will

have cleaned up my language a bit before actually posting it. If I were

to post as...

Tom

Member

It would mean a sort of duality. Responsible administrator one moment

and slightly less responsible member the next. The way I see it, it has

to be one way or the other. If it's both ways, that sort of torpedos my

role and authority as administrator.

Plus, I am a part-time admin on another board, and so if I do something

bad over here, it reflects poorly over there.

Still, I suppose I will continue to open up as time progresses. I am

much more comfortable posting now than I was at the beginning.

We'll see what happens.

Tom

Administrator

other boards, didn't particularly like it when the admin

I agree with rainbow use us to vent, you can post as a regular person,

and only post as an administrator on administrative issues. If you

could some how make them different, ie maybe sign as Tom on regular

posts and Tom the Administrator, or what ever other title you would

like on administrative issuses, may be preface the subject with Admin

before the actual subject, that way we would all be sure to know the

difference from Tom being one of us and posting, venting, kibbutzing

whatever, versus an Administrator duing his duty towards the group.

I think its a shame that you created such a wonderful place for us to

vent but you don't feel free to use it yourself.

Beth

[Guest guest]

Well, I try to put myself in place of the members. I know when I was

posting to Aspergia for exam, I actually LIKED it when Eden kept his

distance and seldom posted, because it meant that I could post freely

and not really have to worry about being watched, even if I WAS being

watched.

When I was a moderator on Aspergian Island, the admin and other mod

there encouraged me to participate more, but I just didn't feel

comfortable being chummy with the members, particularly when we had to

discipline so many of them so often.

With aspergia gone, and me not feeling comfortable posting on Aspergian

Island, I decided to post here on my boards, but for me to post here

meant a compromise for me. For me to be able to maintain authority, I

couldn't just go off on a rant every once in a while (although I do

tend to whine every once in a while.) We've seen what happens when I do

that. It's not good for the members.

Additionally, by putting the " Administrator " designation after my name,

I felt that even if people didn't particularly read my posts, they

would still have a baseline to refer back to which would represent the

type of language and type of atmosphere that I would like to see on the

board.

Whenever I post anything, it's the homest truth, but chances are I will

have cleaned up my language a bit before actually posting it. If I were

to post as...

Tom

Member

It would mean a sort of duality. Responsible administrator one moment

and slightly less responsible member the next. The way I see it, it has

to be one way or the other. If it's both ways, that sort of torpedos my

role and authority as administrator.

Plus, I am a part-time admin on another board, and so if I do something

bad over here, it reflects poorly over there.

Still, I suppose I will continue to open up as time progresses. I am

much more comfortable posting now than I was at the beginning.

We'll see what happens.

Tom

Administrator

other boards, didn't particularly like it when the admin

I agree with rainbow use us to vent, you can post as a regular person,

and only post as an administrator on administrative issues. If you

could some how make them different, ie maybe sign as Tom on regular

posts and Tom the Administrator, or what ever other title you would

like on administrative issuses, may be preface the subject with Admin

before the actual subject, that way we would all be sure to know the

difference from Tom being one of us and posting, venting, kibbutzing

whatever, versus an Administrator duing his duty towards the group.

I think its a shame that you created such a wonderful place for us to

vent but you don't feel free to use it yourself.

Beth

[Guest guest]

Yeah, but I was straying into nebulous territory with my comment. You

were right.

Anyway...

I...I luv ya' !

Tom

Administrator

Sorry ,

You are right of course.

Looking back at my post now it seems much harsher and angrier than

was necessary or than was in actuality. I'm sorry about that.

It's just that I have gotten chewed out recently by a bunch of small

talkers because all I ever talk about is stuff they can't understand.

One gets frustrated that talking about the weather takes precedence

over ANYTHING that I consider important ALL THE TIME. Their talking

about the weather causes me not to be able to fit a word in edgewise.

What I was objecting to was what looked like negative sweeping

statements about all NTs. Of course you can be totally hacked off at

particular people in your life and talk about it on the boards.

Jerks like that make life difficult and it helps to vent here.

And yes, I agree. Even with my " advanced " small talk skills (NOT!)

the weather does not need to be mentioned *all* the time. Small talk

is relational, but it doesn't have to be boring and stupid.

and the zoo.

[Guest guest]

Yeah, but I was straying into nebulous territory with my comment. You

were right.

Anyway...

I...I luv ya' !

Tom

Administrator

Sorry ,

You are right of course.

Looking back at my post now it seems much harsher and angrier than

was necessary or than was in actuality. I'm sorry about that.

It's just that I have gotten chewed out recently by a bunch of small

talkers because all I ever talk about is stuff they can't understand.

One gets frustrated that talking about the weather takes precedence

over ANYTHING that I consider important ALL THE TIME. Their talking

about the weather causes me not to be able to fit a word in edgewise.

What I was objecting to was what looked like negative sweeping

statements about all NTs. Of course you can be totally hacked off at

particular people in your life and talk about it on the boards.

Jerks like that make life difficult and it helps to vent here.

And yes, I agree. Even with my " advanced " small talk skills (NOT!)

the weather does not need to be mentioned *all* the time. Small talk

is relational, but it doesn't have to be boring and stupid.

and the zoo.

[Guest guest]

Wow. You know she still thinks of you...

>

> I survived three tour to Vietnam with the Marine Corps. One of

shinning moments, in my opinion, of those three tours was an episode

that took place in Hue City, Quang Tri Province " I Corp " during the

1968 " Tet Offensive. "

> While entering the outskirts of Hue City, Quang Tri Province -

via Marine Transport 6x6 (Heavy Duty) truck, for the umpteeseenth

time- the 6x6 truck ahead of us; in the middle of a tight turn,

hooked onto the roof of a combat damaged building and began to pull

it down over the heads of some civilians who did not see nor hear the

events unfolding over their heads. As I watched this human play

unfold from the following 6x6 Truck, in desperation, I made eye

contact with a young Vietnamese lady who was an impending victim of

this unfolding story. I pointed to the danger, over her head, and

despite the din of diesel engines and the insanity of the prevailing

war noise, she looked to where my finger was pointing, perceived the

danger and tugged at the other civilians in danger, pulling them away

from the collapsing roof; thus avoiding injuries. This convoy

continued into on into an ambush, where I killed two NVA soldiers who

were firing at our convoy I was assigned to, with a medium machine-

gun from a concealed, fortified position.

> I wonder if she thinks of me as much as I think of her in our

brief spiritual encounter. Was I an Aspie then? Was she?

> Thanks for enduring this story. Brad

>

[Guest guest]

" Ack! Tom, don't trash the NTs for what they do! They think that we

are

> emotionally distant, awkward, rude, etc. They base this on the

> behaviors they see in us. We know they are mistaken, but our

behavior

> communicates the wrong thing in their context. They can't help but

> respond in their context.

>

> If I can give an alternate example: My sister is severely disabled

by

> schizophrenia. One behavior that comes from her disease is called

> " poverty of speech. " She has nothing to say. There are days where

she

> speaks at most 100 words and that's it. Now, I know this about

her, but

> it is still hard to cope with. If you ask her a question and you

get

> only stony silence in return, you think she's angry but she's not.

> However there are many many times when her silence communicates

anger

> and a few times when it doesn't. I have no clue. I can only

respond

> within the context that I know. I don't know what makes her angry

and

> there's no communicating about it so I cope by talking to her very

> little. She chewed off my head too many times so I don't trust her.

>

> Let us not follow in NTs footsteps by assuming the most negative

about

> them (unintelligent, childish, boorish, etc) simply by their

behavior.

> An NT's small talk usually has absolutely NOTHING to do about the

> weather. The small talk is /relational/, not informational. Let

me say

> that again. Small talk is */relational/* not informational. And

> because it is satisfying to check in with someone with a small

gesture

> of talk, the NTs do it. It is as natural as drinking coffee in the

> morning. Could you drink egg nog in the morning instead? Sure,

but

> it's not common. I don't have to drink coffee. But there's no use

for

> faulting the people who do. "

>

Thanks for this perspective, . 'Relational, not

informational'. That will be my mantra when approached for small

talk.

[Guest guest]

>: "'Relational, not informational'.  That will be my mantra when approached for small talk."Beautiful day here! How's the weather out there?  Rainbow

[Guest guest]

Well, it's kinda grey, in the 40's. We had rain the night before last

which turned to ice and caused some branches and trees to fall which

then caused some power outages. When I got to work we were without

power until 11:00 am so I went into a room that had a couch and took

a nap while everyone was eating donuts and coffee and chatting about

the weather! They were happy, I was happy. But it always rains or

sleets but never snows!!! I can't figure out why it is always 33

degrees F here and rains but is never 32 degrees F here and snows.

Can a meteorologically savvy person here please explain this phenom?

Hmm, see, my small talk progressed to medium talk then deep talk!

>

> >: " 'Relational, not informational'. That will be my

mantra

> when approached for small talk. "

>

> Beautiful day here! How's the weather out there?

> Rainbow

>