January 21, 2006

• Bees, my most esteemed fellow-monkey, I'm not much help when it comes to Yiddish theatre, though Klezmer and Yidcore, I love. I do regret not getting to grips with school when I had the chance. I regret not making more out of relationships with some amazing people that I've known. I regret being so ignorent for so long of how rewarding it is to be moderately fit. Ultimately, everyone regrets not making a better decision after the fact, at some point. Unless you're a very geriatric bee/monkey indeed, you can always start fixing things now to prevent having to regret them later...
• ...you can always start fixing things now to prevent having to... Yecch, how trite. And now I sincerely regret my previous post.
  Also, ignorant.
  Uh, time to go to bed
• Rembandt Q. Einstein, we share a love of klezmer, that much is certain. Alas, none of the people whose vehicles pull up alongside mine seem inclined to play any. About the Yidcore connection: every 4 seconds or so I get a brief and startling burst of sound, I suspect compressed. In between these bursts is dead air. You are so right about regrets after the fact! Can nothing be done to mend this retroactive longing?!? Thank you for your help; realize my inquiry's a bit specialized. Appreciate your assistance, and hope what John Lennon labelled one's horrible old condition is tolerable. Keep your pecker up. Cheers.
• I regret the lack of faith I had in myself when I was younger. I regret not learning to cook until much later in life-It turns out that it is a great thing, feeding your friends. I wish I knew Latin. Also, I wish I spoke another language, probably Spanish. I should have dyed my hair strange colors when I was young enough and could get away with it. I wish I had adopted a dog much earlier. I should have spent more time shooting pool. I wish I weren't afraid of swimming. I wish I had learned to fly an airplane. I wish I had better taste in men. And I regret my great and terrible sloth. Much of this is correctable.
• Everyday, we miss a hundred things, chances that we had for diffrent moments, and diffrent expirences. Fate or freewill? Who knows? There will always be things that you will miss out on, but that is all the more reason to take great joy in moments that you do live. You lose some moments, you gain some moments. That's life, but carpe diem fellow monkey!
• Opportunities missed/ignored/let go: 1)Learned to play piano when I was a child. Gave it up when still very young. Have piano now. Can't play it. 2)Did not grow up and start my life going early enough. Now the wife and I are paying for it. 3)Lost virginity to a cheerleader, my first serious girlfriend. Never once thought to ask her to wear the uniform. Which proves I am a moron. 4)Thought far too little of myself for far too long. Did not listen to those who tried to make me see my own possibilities.
• Oh yes, piano. My grandmother taught me to play then my mom hired a nazi to teach me and I dropped out. My aunt is giving me her piano and I don't know what to do with it. Totally wish I had kept it up.
• Some links here on Yiddish theatre, though I expect you will have come across them already. Also, Yiddish Gilbert & Sullivan. Not really what you meant, but the mere idea made me smile. Ikh bin der Groyser General un ikh bin oykh a guter yid, Ikh gey oysrekhnen yetst mayne ale mayles in a yidish lid... I wish I hadn't taken my first serious job, with AC Nielsen. It paid well while it lasted, but essentially wasted 3-4 years of my life. I should have done things I actually wanted to do (be warned, youthful monkeys!)
• Pleggers, thank you! The Yiddish Gilbert and Sullivan has me champing at the bit!
• Sometimes I wish I had taken my Latin classes more seriously, because sometimes I wish I were a Medievalist scholar. (One who studies the middle ages, not one who lived then....) I am a giant dork.
• (be warned, youthful monkeys!) There's no warning big enough. We all commited mistakes. We will keep comitting them. Specially young people. Yes, "it's better to regret what you have done...". Mh. Unless one is incredibly intelliigent and lucky, guess one has millions of regrets. Paths not taken. The lingering doubt, of what if we had gone a step further, or chosen the blue pill instead of the red. The door with teh tigers, instead of the garden. Meh. I only regrettwo things, spread all over my many years: not asking her name... and not staying one more day.
• I wish I had learned to play a musical instrument, the piano, guitar, violin, anything. I wish I had bothered myself to learn a few languages early on, I would be enjoying it so much now. I wish I had realized, earlier, how much faster time goes by with each passing year.
• I regreat more things than I don't regret. It's no way to live, really, but I can't seem to help it. The unfinished stuff, mostly. Of all sad words of tongue or pen...
• Though I've probably a million of them, the one regret that's come to mind quite a bit in the last year or so is one of omission, that I did not give up my Christian faith until as late as I did, and the horde of metaregrets that are therewith associated. I wish I'd given it up before college instead of about 6 years after. These metaregrets are accusations, and they irritate my soulskin like fiberglass.
• I try not to have regrets. Of course, there are things that I wish I may have done, but I just pretend they would've killed me somehow, and it's cosmic justice that I never accomplished something. (i.e., learning to play an instrument, I just imagine I would've died somehow on the way to my lesson, but the universe saved me from that fate. So it's better to not know how to play the piano, and still be alive.)
• Debaser626, lol! I think I'll use that one! These metaregrets are accusations, and they irritate my soulskin like fiberglass. Exactly.
• It has been said that you shouln't regret things because any other choices would have made you someone else, and you're where you are for a reason. I regret that that would make the thread moot however. So before my "regression" allow me to present A brief History of Yiddish Theatre (I regret the background makes that one a bit hard to read) The Jewish Museum Exhibit on Yiddish Theatre, and And Ye Olde Wiki to round things out. As for regrets, regrettably I have few, mostly because I'm too dumb to know better. I'd second the piano thing (still a goal of some sort) and perhaps that I didn't find Mrs. Best sooner - or perhaps because I was busy ruining relationships that could be a good thing. Ah so!
• MCT knows all my regrets, thanks to a long evening of drinking and watching two very different movies together scant days ago. And if he tells, he'll live to regret it. Okay, mostly it's the fact that I didn't bang all the chicks I could've. And I mean ALL of them. No offers refused, no matter how much acne, how many pounds, how few toes. I'd be such a manslut if I could go back in time, it would be lamentable. BUT--I'd have the memories. And penicillin tracks.
• Meredithea I have a (mostly useless) degree in Medieval History. I would be very happy to recommend some reading and avenues of "armchair" or avocational research that you can takeup in your spare time. Just because you havent made a particular thing your main pursuit doesn't mean you can't enjoy having it in your life. my email's in the profile. This is an interesting CG. I am the sort to obsess re these concerns because of my "renaissancesque" interest in damn near everything. there are at least 5 other things I also wished I had focused on in school/pursued as a career or life path, but there is only one me. one thing I have really learned from living with my husband is that you don't have to master something or make it the main thing, to do it. mr. medusa is a naturally high-energy person with a pretty amazing attitude about life. he has done SO many things, rarely wasting time on regrets or "oh if only I could do that". my life with him is fuller, busier, more interesting and intense. this doesn't mean I do all the things I might regret the lack of at the end, but I could never look back and feel my life was wasted or empty. my point in all of this? take the opportunities life presents and go with them. create opportunities with people in your life. scale is not important, nor is success. all that matters is living a full and varied life (I think) and we have an amazing resource here (in minkeyland) to facilitate that. that said, one of my life goals is to adopt a young man (18-22) who is in need of a loving home, an attentive mother. pref tall dark and lanky...(don't let me die before I have lived!!!)
• So why is it "Midieval" and not "Midevil"?
• Inspiring, Medusa. I'm going to start learning all those cool sleight-of-hand tricks I always wanted to be able to do. And then, after that, I'M LEARNING ELVISH! Woot!
• go TenaciousPettle!! thats the spirit!! I'm going to stop flirting with all those cute young men and just start molesting them!!!!
• Hey TP, you should get The Book of Cool. My friend bought it and is learning to skateboard at the age of thirty-something. He says it has "...tricks in all your favorite useless skills: skateboarding, rope spinning, juggling, football (the soccer kind), frisbee, pen spinning, baton twirling, rugby kicks, trick bikes, street basketball, fancy card flourishes, and so on."
• Thank ye for those links, petebest!
• petebest, I'd like to think that I put the 'evil' in medival [sic]!!!
• (not to mention the incorrect spelling)
• I must be really stupid, because I can't remember any choices that I really regret. Once you make that choice, you've started a new life, in a way, even if it's something non-essential. But, the path you followed had it's effects, good or bad. And, you'll never know if the bad resulting from the decision outweighs the good from the one you didn't make. If you can't go back and fix it, what good does worrying about it do? It might teach you something about a leter decision, but the one made is done. As a famous philosopher one said, don't worry, be happy.
• I quit going to piano lessons in seventh grade because the miscreants at my junior high kept calling me a fag. That wasn't the only reason for the verbal abuse, but it was the one thing I could change. I'm a reasonably successful choral director/voice coach/music teacher now, but I'm not incredibly proficient on the piano- I can play rock with the best of 'em, but end up embarassing myself on that instrument on a regular basis when working with my school choirs. Being able to really play piano would have helped my career immeasurably, and I kick myself every fucking day for a bad decision I made at age 13 or so.
• It has been said that you shouln't regret things because any other choices would have made you someone else, and you're where you are for a reason. Thank you, petebest. You bring up what is the philosophy I have generally lived by. I don't have regrets about what I've done or not done, because what decisions I have made and things I have done are a part of who I am now. I like who I am, so why would I want to change it? Besides, if I take time to worry about what I've done or haven't done in the past, that's time spent not doing something now. And then, in a few years, will I begin to regret all the time I spent worrying about what's already past? Sounds like an endlessly repeating loop to me. I prefer to use past mistakes as a learning tool. ("Well, I'm not doing that again! What in the world made me decide it was a good idea to go on a job interview while at the peak of an acid trip?" And let me just add that I got the job in question, so I guess I wasn't as unable to maintain as I thought I was at the time.) The closest I've come to regret is when I think about the people I hurt when I was in the midst of my addiction. But instead of bemoaning what's already done and over, I try to do little random acts of kindness now, often anonymously. Even toward strangers. Balancing the karma, so to speak. It can be wonderfully liberating to decide that the past is the past and you can't change it, but that you can concentrate on the here and now and make your own life, and the lives of those around you, better for it.
• I wish I hadn't turned out so damn fabulous! I tell you, being mind-bendingly hot, immensely wealthy, and a fanfuckingtastic liar is a lot of work.
• Oingo Boingo - Change Don�t you ever wonder why, nothing ever seems to change If it does it�s for the worse, seems it�s just a modern curse Sometimes when I take a peek outside of my little cage, Everyone looks so asleep, will they die before they wake And, hey. . . don�t you know? we�re just products of our time and hey . . . What d�ya say? show me yours, I�ll show you mine Better dumb and happy than smart and without any friends Better cute and better loud, better join up with the crowd Keep up or be left behind, there�s a dust storm in my mind Seems I can�t see straight these days, doesn�t matter anyway Hey . . . don�t you know? we�re just products of our times and Hey, what d�ya say? show me yours, I�ll show you mine Hey, what d�ya say? hey, what d�ya say? please don�t ever - Oh god, here�s that question now. the one that makes me go insane I�d gladly tear my heart out if you never, never, never, never change Do you want to change? do you want to change right now? Do you want to change . . . I like my stupid life, just the way it is And I wouldn�t even change it for a thousand flying pigs And I like you just the way you are, I like your face just the way it is And I wouldn�t even change it for a herd of screaming kids And I like you just the way you are, I like you though you may not like me back I would dazzle you with brilliance, if I only had the knack �cause I like you just the way you are, I like this life just the way it is And the castles all around me, have been melting now for years And it kills my brain to think of all the time I wasted here All the efforts, sweat, and broken hearts, the screaming and the tears And I�m dreaming again . . . floating in a pool of mud Try to get back where I was and I don�t really care Got a little talking to, by the mirror in my room, and I don�t really care . . . Whispering voices from the dead, come from underneath my bed And I don�t really care . . . I like my stupid life just the way it is And the chaos that surrounds me like a flock of screaming pigs And it hurts my brain to think of all the stupid things I�ve said And if I could change the future I would change the past instead And I�m dreaming again . . . and I�m dreaming again . . . Baby - sometimes I worry about you Sometimes you�re so far away, tell me what to do I say, baby . . . sometimes I worry about you Sometimes I just can�t believe everything you do I say, baby . . . sometimes I worry about you Every day I feel the same, don�t you feel it too I say, baby . . . sometimes I worry about me Seems I�m falling down a lot, in between the scenes I say, baby . . . sometimes I worry about me Getting harder all the time, harder now to see I say, baby . . . sometimes I worry about me Light another cigarette, have another dream It�s the same thing every day, nothing ever seems to change and I . . . Do you really want to change? Testaments and growing pains. tranquilizers for the soul. Nothing ventured, nothing gained - evolution�s cruelest joke Why is everyone upset? I once knew but I forget. something happened, Something strange, something it appears has changed Hey . . . don�t you know? we�re just products of our times And hey, what d�ya say? show me yours, I�ll show you mine Hey, what d�ya say? hey, what d�ya say? please don�t ever - Oh god, here�s that question now, the one that makes me go insane I�d gladly tear my heart out if you never, never, never, never change
• I refused to sign a record contract and knocked back a job in advertising for reasons of (nudging on dimwitted, yet sincere) ideological purity. Mistakes? Hard to say.
• I don't have regrets about what I've done or not done, because what decisions I have made and things I have done are a part of who I am now. I like who I am, so why would I want to change it? Therein lies the heart of the matter.
• As a famous philosopher one said, don't worry, be happy. path, wasn't that Baba O'Reilly?
• Mistakes? Hard to say It sure is! I always say "mishtakes" or "moustache" by moustache. Goddam pornunciation is not my best talon!
• I refuse to get into it for the reason ol' Underpant quotes. I can't afford to keep kicking myself, because that takes effort that would be better off utalized doing something productive or enjoyable. I tend to wallow in depression too much anyway, so I try to put teflon on those regrets thoughts to keep me sliding right away from them. A lot of the reason behind my not doing then and not doing now has to do with money and commitments to family. I can regret what I haven't done, but I can't regret all of the decisions made that kept me from making more money (living in a small town in Idaho is one) nor can I regret having my children. OTOH: Bone, what about not retaking piano at age 20, 26, 29, 32, 38, 40, etc? What age was it too late? Is it only because of your career that you want to be more proficient, or is it because it will round you out as a teacher/person/musician. Get out there and DO IT, man.
• what about not retaking piano at age 20, 26, 29, 32, 38, 40, etc? Because poor Boney lost both hands in a freak manicuring accident at age 19. Hence his user name. Well, it was either that, or the_stump! HA HA HA HA HA! Anyway, he doesn't like to talk about it so for Christ's sake please show stumpy some goddam sensitivity.
• *cracks knuckles, picks nose, pats nearby stranger on the rear, twiddles thumbs*
• I regret not kicking Quidy in the ass several threads ago. DAMN, I regret that!!
• Wikipedia in Yiddish Um, I searched for "Klezmer" and this thread came up. *shrug*
• Yiddish sheet music.