Midnight Confessions

[Lanolin]

So anyway where did you get your Enid Blyton type story from?

Five go to Smuggler's Top?

 

[zeroturbulence]

I'd say their parents are rich if they can afford trips like those.
Maybe you are comparing yourselves to billionaires. I mean how rich is rich?

When you are poor there is no way you can afford and no you don't have a phone costing $1000 unless it was stolen.

Middle-class but not rich. But compared to other countries, it seems rich. That's why all the people from Europe and UK that came here for the world cup were amazed at everything lol. They were amazed that everyone has air conditioning and the size of our stores and size of our vehicles and our roads and houses, etc...

 

[zeroturbulence]

So anyway where did you get your Enid Blyton type story from?

Five go to Smuggler's Top?

It was from a dream. I never heard of Enid Blyton. I don't even read books.

 

[zeroturbulence]

Did you enjoy it?

I remember we all went camping in my final year and I really didn't like it. lol
It was a 3 hour bus ride on windy roads, and when got there had to pitch tents and cook our own food, and do long hikes in the hot hot sun. Some students would be totally into it, but I wasn't. It was near some lakes.

I think I would have preferred going to Rainbows End or the Hot Pools, or Hobbiton (if they'd had it back then) . One year we went and stayed on a marae, went black water rafting at Waitomo. Another time we camped at Karekare, which is a wild surf beach on the west coast. My fourth form year went to the snow, at National Park and climbed Mt Ruapehu. Memories!

It would have been real expensive to fly to the South Island though, probably was cheaper to fly to Australia and go to the theme parks on the Gold Coast. I still haven't been.

Yes that trip was one of the best times I ever had. They closed Disneyworld for an entire day just for all the high school classes that were visiting. It might have been 2 days, I can't remember. We also went to Sea World which was a short bus ride from our hotel.

 

[zeroturbulence]

Did you enjoy it?

I remember we all went camping in my final year and I really didn't like it. lol
It was a 3 hour bus ride on windy roads, and when got there had to pitch tents and cook our own food, and do long hikes in the hot hot sun. Some students would be totally into it, but I wasn't. It was near some lakes.

I think I would have preferred going to Rainbows End or the Hot Pools, or Hobbiton (if they'd had it back then) . One year we went and stayed on a marae, went black water rafting at Waitomo. Another time we camped at Karekare, which is a wild surf beach on the west coast. My fourth form year went to the snow, at National Park and climbed Mt Ruapehu. Memories!

It would have been real expensive to fly to the South Island though, probably was cheaper to fly to Australia and go to the theme parks on the Gold Coast. I still haven't been.

We went on a class trip like that too but we were in middle school (about 10 years old I think). We went to this campground that had wood cabins and we learned to start fires and had to go on hikes and stuff. I liked it but it if I was a girl I probably wouldn't. Were you ever able to go to rainbow's end as an adult?

 

[Lanolin]

Middle-class but not rich. But compared to other countries, it seems rich. That's why all the people from Europe and UK that came here for the world cup were amazed at everything lol. They were amazed that everyone has air conditioning and the size of our stores and size of our vehicles and our roads and houses, etc...

It's because the US is a young country (or New World, compared to Old World Europe) and has all the mod cons, and a lot of space, so everything is bigger.

Have you been to the UK or Europe? Everything there is much older and it has a bigger populations squeezed into smaller spaces. Retrofitting a place that is centuries old is much harder than just building everything new.

 

[Lanolin]

We went on a class trip like that too but we were in middle school (about 10 years old I think). We went to this campground that had wood cabins and we learned to start fires and had to go on hikes and stuff. I liked it but it if I was a girl I probably wouldn't. Were you ever able to go to rainbow's end as an adult?

Yes I took my cousins children there.
They loved it. But now that they've been to Disneyworld I don't think they would go back to little ol' Rainbows End lol

 

[Lanolin]

It was from a dream. I never heard of Enid Blyton. I don't even read books.

Not even Lord of the Flies?
What books did you read in High School? Did you even have books?
Or was everything on computers.

 

[zeroturbulence]

It's because the US is a young country (or New World, compared to Old World Europe) and has all the mod cons, and a lot of space, so everything is bigger.

Have you been to the UK or Europe? Everything there is much older and it has a bigger populations squeezed into smaller spaces. Retrofitting a place that is centuries old is much harder than just building everything new.

I lived in one of the oldest places in the US, Philadelphia. It's where the founder fathers lived and signed the declaration of independence. We even lived in a house that was built in the late 1800s. But old buildings in the US almost always get torn down so they can build new ones. And if you look at Japan, they are an even older civilization than Europe or UK and are more densely populated and are just small islands but they have modern buildings, modern technology and modern conveniences. I know Europe and UK has some of that too but it seems like most of EU and UK are still living in the past.

I've never been to Europe or UK but I've been to the Philippines. My parents have been to Europe and UK for vacation years ago and they loved it.

 

[zeroturbulence]

Not even Lord of the Flies?
What books did you read in High School? Did you even have books?
Or was everything on computers.

I've heard of Lord of the Flies because it was a movie but I don't remember if I saw it. In school they made us read some books like Shakespeare stuff. I used to read books but all non-fiction. The only fiction I read was Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. I read it because at that time I was into asian philosophy like zen. I know it's not asian, but I thought it was interesting.

 

[zeroturbulence]

Not even Lord of the Flies?

What books did you read in High School? Did you even have books?
Or was everything on computers.

Oh wait I just remembered as a kid I read these series of adventure books about this guy who was on some sort of quest. I read them because my best friend was reading them. He tried to get me interested in reading The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and he kept telling me how amazing it was but I wasn't interested because I didn't like reading that much. I would rather do other things. Decades later they made the Lord of the Rings movies. I really miss my friend. He died at a fairly young age.

 

[zeroturbulence]

i also read Shadowlands by Stephen King because my friend was reading it, but I didn't finish it. It was creepy.

 

[Lanolin]

I've heard of Lord of the Flies because it was a movie but I don't remember if I saw it. In school they made us read some books like Shakespeare stuff. I used to read books but all non-fiction. The only fiction I read was Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. I read it because at that time I was into asian philosophy like zen. I know it's not asian, but I thought it was interesting.

I've read that one I wanted to know a bit more about Buddhism

I remember enjoying it. I do have a Buddhist book I am meaning to read I picked up at the Buddhist Temple garden called 'Tending Life's Garden' and its written by one of the buddhist masters, who's written a whole library of books (over 100) so has been philosophizing a lot.

I was into reading about Tibet and the Dalai Lama in one phase of my life.

Another American Buddhist book I remember reading was Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance...that was fiction I think.

 

[Lanolin]

i also read Shadowlands by Stephen King because my friend was reading it, but I didn't finish it. It was creepy.

I tried reading The Stand but didn't finish it, was too long for me.

But I have actually read War and Peace, and also Gone with the Wind..and several other long novels you probably haven't heard of lol

 

[Lanolin]

Not even Lord of the Flies?

Oh wait I just remembered as a kid I read these series of adventure books about this guy who was on some sort of quest. I read them because my best friend was reading them. He tried to get me interested in reading The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and he kept telling me how amazing it was but I wasn't interested because I didn't like reading that much. I would rather do other things. Decades later they made the Lord of the Rings movies. I really miss my friend. He died at a fairly young age.

Yes I had a friend who in high school who also was into Tolkien and recommended LOTR as the greatest books she ever read.
I did read both the Hobbit and LOTR. I preferred the Hobbit as it was shorter! It also came in graphic version.

I remember LOTR's fold out maps, and the cliffhanger ending in the Two Towers. I was like..what happened to Gandalf??

 

[Lanolin]

I lived in one of the oldest places in the US, Philadelphia. It's where the founder fathers lived and signed the declaration of independence. We even lived in a house that was built in the late 1800s. But old buildings in the US almost always get torn down so they can build new ones. And if you look at Japan, they are an even older civilization than Europe or UK and are more densely populated and are just small islands but they have modern buildings, modern technology and modern conveniences. I know Europe and UK has some of that too but it seems like most of EU and UK are still living in the past.

I've never been to Europe or UK but I've been to the Philippines. My parents have been to Europe and UK for vacation years ago and they loved it.

Well Japan always led the way in tech, as well as Germany (they have precision engineering)
It was because EU and UK had been through the world wars and they didn't have much money. Also Japan and Germany were the aggressors.

We just get all Japan's second hand cars in NZ. They aren't as big as American cars built for American roads.
Japanese cars made in Japan tend to be smaller and more nimble, as Japan is series of long thin islands that has earthquakes and volcanoes.

 

[Lanolin]

I have been to Japan but only overnight on stopover on way to UK. Also been to US. Like anywhere there are wealthy areas and poor areas.

 

[zeroturbulence]

I tried reading The Stand but didn't finish it, was too long for me.

But I have actually read War and Peace, and also Gone with the Wind..and several other long novels you probably haven't heard of lol

I've heard of those. Gone with the Wind was one of the most famous movies from Hollywood (based on the book). I never saw it though. i just know that one line where the guy says, "Frankly dear, I don't give a d...."

You are very well-read. You mentioned Animal Farm in a post. I've been kind of interested in that because someone I respect highly recommends it. He also recommends reading The Gulag Archipelago and The Road to Wigan Pier and 1984. I don't really have time to read though. But I'm impressed with the breadth of our reading repertoire.

 

[zeroturbulence]

I've read that one I wanted to know a bit more about Buddhism

I remember enjoying it. I do have a Buddhist book I am meaning to read I picked up at the Buddhist Temple garden called 'Tending Life's Garden' and its written by one of the buddhist masters, who's written a whole library of books (over 100) so has been philosophizing a lot.

I was into reading about Tibet and the Dalai Lama in one phase of my life.

Another American Buddhist book I remember reading was Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance...that was fiction I think.

Oh I wanted to read that Zen and Motorcycle maintenance but the bookstores were always sold out and the library didn't carry it. Did you like Siddhartha? I still remember it. It sort of taught me some things.
Tending Life's Garden sounds like a good book. A self-help guru I used to listen to said the most we can really do is to tend to our own garden. He gave the example of a woman who had been left to die after being dismembered and dumped by her attacker and she somehow survived and has thrived. She even founded an organization for women.

 

[zeroturbulence]

I have been to Japan but only overnight on stopover on way to UK. Also been to US. Like anywhere there are wealthy areas and poor areas.

I know there are wealthy and poor areas in every country, even in every state here. There are towns here that I would not want to go to or drive through.