okay. I guess i said that wrong. perhaps I don't tend to manipulate people (unless it's really outright), but I certainly do manipulate what I'm saying if i anticipate certain people reading it. i guess it's not so much malicious or insidious as spin. how's that? i guess that makes me a politician. but damned if i'm going to end up cornered again because certain individuals don't seem to think that what i'm saying is acceptable, especially not if i have any way of getting around (that unacceptability) while still expressing my point and getting away scot free. ... though scot free isn't right either... there's a certain benefit to getting to the point without getting caught on a secondary technicality

we've all been in those places of eye-rolling exasperation as some other person flogs us to death over a little thing we've said. so... perhaps if you see me talking on a particular subject in a more abreviated manner than I have done with you at other times, I'll be doing just that - manipulating the conversation so that whomever I'm talking to will see my point without taking me to town on a sidebar. Maybe that's manipulating the individual themselves, and maybe not, that's up to your judgement. though it was fun to just jump in and say I enjoyed manipulating people. to be quite honest, in most situations, I think it's fairly despicable to be manipulating people. That said, subtle, innocuous attempts at manipulation a la Taylor and his girl troubles, can sometimes be alright.

Still, I can guarantee you that most everyone I've talked to has a different picture of where I stand on most issues... perhaps i'm just playing to the audience... meh.

FUCKSTUPIDS SHUT UP ABOUT DUMBSHIT AND SHIT AND LET'S STOP WORLD POVERTY AND WAR AND STUFF ALREADY!!

I saw the photo, I chuckled... I declined comment

Seen it before. Very subtle, face.

And, for your response to Percy, also very subtle. I likes it.

Al- yes, women are the machinations of destruction.

Percy- I have confidence you will find whatever it is you search for.

The rest of you- why has no one commented on that photo I posted? Not the one of me... the one before that. Maybe you all oughta look at it again.

Is this girl the "machination of destruction"? You know if you swore yourself off women then your problems would be solved Tay.

Huh, Xanga, interesting. What's the link to your Xanga Tay?

Of course - *the* right light implies there is one true way to see everything, whereas I at least tend to imagine the world as a place of few objective realities, and many differing subjective realities. That's just me though.

See you all next week - I am going to hand in a lab report and then I am off to Calgary to pursue fame and fortune (or at least bragging rights and maybe enough cash to maybe possibly cover the cost of entering the show....)

You know, I've mulled it over, tossed back and forth between the two ideas, read through some of my own posts, and I've come to the conclusion that, yes, I should indeed take offense to the implication that I (try to) manipulate people with what I write.

I mean, I'm sarcastic, make vain attempts at witticism, provide links, and ask opinions, but I don't think I've ever (actively) attempted to manipulate people. Granted, what I write is meant to be taken in a certain way and, is written with the assumption that the people reading know me. On the other hand, I don't think I mess with people; my intentions are generally pretty clear (from being informative to general mockery.) (By all means, though, prove me wrong. That's what those little link buttons are for.)

This is a side of Alison I had not considered before...