The Official "Total Randomness" Thread

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TenaciousBe
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Re: The Official "Total Randomness" Thread

Post by TenaciousBe »

I was so excited seeing the reverse retro jerseys for the Wild, incorporating the old North Stars colors. But it still makes me sad that we're still the Wild, and never took back the North Stars name / franchise history. If Minnesota has a team, it should be the North Stars. Dallas has no business being the "Stars" in the first place, and they could easily rebrand a la the Baltimore Ravens giving the Browns franchise back to Cleveland. Norm Green should die of gonorrhea and rot in hell.
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Re: More like the Minnesota Freezing Cold Airs.

Post by zazthespaz »

TenaciousBe wrote: Thu Feb 25, 2021 1:04 am I was so excited seeing the reverse retro jerseys for the Wild, incorporating the old North Stars colors. But it still makes me sad that we're still the Wild, and never took back the North Stars name / franchise history. If Minnesota has a team, it should be the North Stars. Dallas has no business being the "Stars" in the first place, and they could easily rebrand a la the Baltimore Ravens giving the Browns franchise back to Cleveland. Norm Green should die of gonorrhea and rot in hell.
The stars at night, are big and bright
*CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP*
DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS
anguyen92 wrote:
Oh well. Deal with it.
gbruin wrote:
Go reread what zaz says

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Re: More like the Minnesota Freezing Cold Airs.

Post by TenaciousBe »

zazthespaz wrote: Thu Feb 25, 2021 1:47 am
TenaciousBe wrote: Thu Feb 25, 2021 1:04 am I was so excited seeing the reverse retro jerseys for the Wild, incorporating the old North Stars colors. But it still makes me sad that we're still the Wild, and never took back the North Stars name / franchise history. If Minnesota has a team, it should be the North Stars. Dallas has no business being the "Stars" in the first place, and they could easily rebrand a la the Baltimore Ravens giving the Browns franchise back to Cleveland. Norm Green should die of gonorrhea and rot in hell.
The stars at night, are big and bright
*CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP*
DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS
I mean, just because they sing a stupid song about it, doesn't mean stars are any more prevalent in Texas than anywhere else. They claimed stars, so nobody else can have them? Okay, I'm going to go write a dumb little song about Iowa having clouds. Nobody else can have clouds now, they belong to Iowa. Sorry!
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Re: If you're Texan and you know it clap your hands. *CLAP CLAP*

Post by zazthespaz »

TenaciousBe wrote: Thu Feb 25, 2021 7:44 pm
zazthespaz wrote: Thu Feb 25, 2021 1:47 am
TenaciousBe wrote: Thu Feb 25, 2021 1:04 am I was so excited seeing the reverse retro jerseys for the Wild, incorporating the old North Stars colors. But it still makes me sad that we're still the Wild, and never took back the North Stars name / franchise history. If Minnesota has a team, it should be the North Stars. Dallas has no business being the "Stars" in the first place, and they could easily rebrand a la the Baltimore Ravens giving the Browns franchise back to Cleveland. Norm Green should die of gonorrhea and rot in hell.
The stars at night, are big and bright
*CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP*
DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS
I mean, just because they sing a stupid song about it, doesn't mean stars are any more prevalent in Texas than anywhere else. They claimed stars, so nobody else can have them? Okay, I'm going to go write a dumb little song about Iowa having clouds. Nobody else can have clouds now, they belong to Iowa. Sorry!
We clap about them too! GET ON OUR LEVEL.
anguyen92 wrote:
Oh well. Deal with it.
gbruin wrote:
Go reread what zaz says

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Re: The Official "Total Randomness" Thread

Post by anguyen92 »

All right, let's get things settled down. On Saturday, both Kings and Wilds will wear their reverse retro jerseys when they face each other per this tweet. Going to be an interesting matchup. Both teams looks good in the last couple of days and look pretty hungry to get a spot in the playoff picture and both teams have some good up-and-coming young guys in their main rosters. May the best team win.

https://twitter.com/B_Marsh92/status/13 ... 6961012738

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Post by gbruin »

F the Wild.
Another photobucket casualty... :(
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Re: *yeah, this thing

Post by zazthespaz »

Realized this morning that I will have done what I do on every post* for (I think) 10 years this year. Kind of funny to think I've maintained a tradition that long but even crazier to think I've been on this board even longer. I think I joined right after Blackbird came out in October 2007 so that's almost 13.5 years of interacting with a lot of you - almost half my life! So just wanna say a quick thank you to everyone who's been a part of this board during my moment of reminiscing. Glad to have a place to go everyday for a laugh or conversation and glad to have made friends along the way, several of whom I've had the pleasure of meeting in person! (This is not my way of retiring the post thing*, that will continue.)

Also, happy to announce I landed a new job after being on the market for 10 months (thanks Covid)! 100% remote even after Covid so I can stay safe while the virus is still a threat, and hopefully travel and see friends and family more after I get the vaccine.
anguyen92 wrote:
Oh well. Deal with it.
gbruin wrote:
Go reread what zaz says

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Re: *yeah, this thing

Post by maximzub »

zazthespaz wrote: Sun Feb 28, 2021 6:03 pm Realized this morning that I will have done what I do on every post* for (I think) 10 years this year. Kind of funny to think I've maintained a tradition that long but even crazier to think I've been on this board even longer. I think I joined right after Blackbird came out in October 2007 so that's almost 13.5 years of interacting with a lot of you - almost half my life!
But wait...didn't this board start in 2012?
I'm in love with somebody...
Found someone who completes me...
I'm in love with somebody...
Oh yeah...
And it's Lzzy Hale!

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Re: *yeah, this thing

Post by Ubik »

maximzub wrote: Mon Mar 01, 2021 5:40 pm
zazthespaz wrote: Sun Feb 28, 2021 6:03 pm Realized this morning that I will have done what I do on every post* for (I think) 10 years this year. Kind of funny to think I've maintained a tradition that long but even crazier to think I've been on this board even longer. I think I joined right after Blackbird came out in October 2007 so that's almost 13.5 years of interacting with a lot of you - almost half my life!
But wait...didn't this board start in 2012?
This board migrated from another one that started in 2005. Legend has it that some of the Old Gods were on another one even before that.

I joined in Feb 2006, so that means I just went past my 15 year anniversary without even realising it! Yay me and zaz, being old.

Congrats on the job, zaz!
For all of the hope that it brings...

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Re: The Official "Total Randomness" Thread

Post by MaraCarr »

:shifty Olden God Here ... The Legend is true! I’m not naming any dates, just trust me. It’s true!

I’m am so happy to say so long Phenix City, Alabama ( I salute you) and Hello Inverness, Florida! I’m taking a week off.. to buy new flip flops and some nice Raybans! Then I’m off to work in 80 degree weather! I’m so excited and so extremely thankful! I may just stay there permanently if I love it! Wish me luck! It’s supposed to be a retirement village. I love Geriatrics!

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Re: Go hang out with Mark.

Post by zazthespaz »

Thanks Ubik!

Holy crap, really Mara?! You were on the original boards? That’s so cool! Welcome back I guess :lol Good luck in Florida!
anguyen92 wrote:
Oh well. Deal with it.
gbruin wrote:
Go reread what zaz says

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Re: yeah go hang out with Mark, Mara!

Post by SHEAKENBAKEN »

Mara if you get the chance to hang out with Mark, can you ask him about Tremonti V?

Good luck in Florida, though :peace

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I have a chance.

Post by maximzub »

No, I mean, I HAVE A CHANCE.

Anna and I are done with our week of ignoring each other completely. Feb 19 and Feb 24 at school, we didn't even acknowledge each other's existence. Then on Feb 25, she posted a story to her Instagram asking for song recommendations. I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to suggest her a song, but I waited first until she shared somebody else's response before submitting mine. (Actually, I didn't submit it, I typed it out but wasn't sure whether to send it. Then my friend Grace grabbed my phone and hit "Send.") To my surprise, she shared it with the caption, "Oh cool!" And even better, she saved it to her story highlights! Anyway, on Feb 26, we made eye contact and waved at each other for the first time since our "break" started, and (at least I think) she smiled big.

I thought yesterday was the first time the cast and live pit would practice together for the musical, but it's actually today. EDIT: They changed it again! It's tomorrow. /// We're of course going to be nice to each other, but I'll wait and see if she maybe wants to talk to me. I don't expect it to be right away, but keep in mind that we have a total of 26 more hours of musical practice together, which means a bunch of chances to talk! (Plus, I'm looking forward to finally hearing her play clarinet!)

I'm absolutely sure that she pulled away because I was smothering her. I don't think that even I want to go back to the level of texting we were doing one week. Also, I feel like I was lying to her by not telling her early enough that I had feelings for her as more than a friend. I am confident that she sees me pulling away and interacting with other friends as a good thing, since it's proof that I'm not completely attached to her. Next time I talk to her, I'm ready to be completely honest, and I hope she will appreciate that.

Unfortunately, I don't think that we can go back to being friends the way we were before I started having feelings for her. I came up with two options that I want her to seriously consider before choosing. At this point it's not about me as much as it's about her. I trust her to make the decision that she will be happy with in the end. Besides, isn't love when you care about somebody else's happiness more than your own?

Option 1: We forget about the friendship and move on. It's heartbreaking for me because I'm losing not just another chance at love, but also a good friend. It may also hurt for her because she's expressed that she wants to stay friends with me. However, we just can't stay friends like we were because the one-sided feelings will just lead to more disappointment on both our sides. If she feels that our friendship has run its course, then I'll move on. And if I catch feelings for someone else down the line, then we can be friends again.

Option 2: We try dating to see how it works. We're both equally inexperienced in the dating world, so it will seem awkward at first. However, I think that learning together may actually be part of the enjoyment! She should know that dating doesn't necessarily mean we're in a relationship, just that we're learning more about each other. I might even lose feelings for her, in which case we go back to being friends. Or she grows feelings for me, in which yay! we're a couple! It's risky because if we still end up with the love being one-sided, then we revert to Option 1, but I'm willing to take that leap of faith. If she agrees to this option, I'll need to make sure whether she even wants to call it dating. If not, then I promise I won't tell anybody else we're dating, much less that she's my girlfriend. I've already made that mistake once.

I expect it to take her a while to decide. It's not an easy choice. That is, if we even get to that point when we're talking again. I have my hopes up.

MARCH 3 UPDATE:
- She's a really good clarinet player! Overall the live pit is mostly good, but I'm really disappointed in the drummer. It could have been me drumming if only I hadn't auditioned for singing.
- She caught me staring, but we laughed it off.
- She broke the silence! I was walking with two of my friends, and she passed us and said, "Hey, Max." Almost immediately those two friends started motioning me to go talk to her. I brushed them off.
- Since she did approach me first, I thought it would be okay to drop a compliment to her clarinet playing. I did just that at the end of practice. Now I'm feeling more confident than ever. Tonight I will ask her if she's still uncomfortable with me talking to her.
Crumbso wrote: Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:57 amI'm sure that you can be polite to each other on your music practice.
Of course! We're doing exactly that.
Last edited by maximzub on Thu Mar 04, 2021 11:04 am, edited 2 times in total.
I'm in love with somebody...
Found someone who completes me...
I'm in love with somebody...
Oh yeah...
And it's Lzzy Hale!

MaraCarr wrote: It is not like a crush or a lust thing.
Check out my coolest TABN posts!
My Long Alter Bridge Facts Post
Order Of Me Hearing Alter Bridge Songs
Order Of Me Hearing Tremonti Songs

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Re: The Official "Total Randomness" Thread

Post by Jim »

I just ate stir fry.. yum
Image

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Re: Go hang out with Mark.

Post by MaraCarr »

zazthespaz wrote: Tue Mar 02, 2021 12:07 am Thanks Ubik!

Holy crap, really Mara?! You were on the original boards? That’s so cool! Welcome back I guess :lol Good luck in Florida!
Yes Love! Just call me Moses... and Thank you..I love the warm temperatures and I love sick people that need me!

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Re: So happy..

Post by MaraCarr »

SHEAKENBAKEN wrote: Tue Mar 02, 2021 12:25 am Mara if you get the chance to hang out with Mark, can you ask him about Tremonti V?

Good luck in Florida, though :peace
Thank you... lots of people there that need help!
That Album is going to melt all of our faces... the virus imprisoned “HIM” for a whole year with all of his speakerdome....his amplitempledom! May God Help Us All!!!

I can’t wait... it will be phenomenal!

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Re: The Official "Total Randomness" Thread

Post by MaraCarr »

I needed to get that out! I feel better now! Edited due to details!
Last edited by MaraCarr on Fri Mar 05, 2021 8:20 am, edited 2 times in total.

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I would like to vent here as well.

Post by maximzub »

Yesterday and the day before I was so excited about possibly having a second chance with Anna. And of course, impulsive me blew it. What I forgot to mention about yesterday was that I was giving hints as to who I liked, so by the end of the night, about 10 members of the cast and crew knew it was "the short-haired girl playing clarinet in the live pit". Three friends were teasing me, and one of them jokingly called her my girlfriend again. (Remember that I had been saying that as a joke until she told me to stop.) While I denied it, I was laughing as I always do when I'm nervous, even while talking about serious topics. Anna overheard the whole ordeal, and since she didn't show any signs of being upset, I didn't notice that she was. I still would like to believe that she genuinely accepted my compliment on her clarinet playing.

Anyway, with none of the problems in mind, I planned to ask her tonight if she was still uncomfortable talking to me. If yes, I would have offered more space on her terms. If not, I would have asked whether I can be completely honest with her. Sounds like a plan, right? Well, something shattered my plans hours before I was to carry them out.

It seems like Anna recently created her fourth Instagram account. It showed up in my recommended, and I was curious as to what it was about. From it, I found that she's amazing at drawing and painting (it's a drawings account, obviously). Impulsive me thought it would be harmless to follow that account. It wasn't even a minute later that I refreshed the page, and it didn't show up. She blocked me.

Immediately my mind flashed back to the rumors she had told me about. People had called me a stalker before, and once she recognized that my advances were starting to become too much, she had asked around and found out that my behaviors were common. That's when she pulled away from me for the first time. Back then I had resolved it with an apology, and she gave me signs that she still wanted to be friends. Then she heard about the girlfriend joke, and told me she was uncomfortable and wanted to distance herself from me. So started the week of completely ignoring each other, followed by the (almost) week of limited interactions. Now we were back where the problems had started.

I whipped up an apology right away:

MZ: "Ok, now I went too far. I'm sorry for following your new Instagram account so soon after you created it. I'm unintentionally giving you more reasons to believe I'm a stalker, and I'm just feeling really guilty for it. I miss being friends with you, and I'd like to believe you do too. So in the future, I will be completely honest in order to make sure this is not a one-way relationship. I trust you to guide me towards not doing anything more that crosses your boundaries. Will you please forgive me? I understand if you need some time to do so."

I already knew in the back of my mind that constant apologizing wasn't going to work out, so I was in complete panic mode. I still managed to hold myself back from staying on Instagram waiting for a response. I cranked out a school assignment and then went back to check after a good amount of time had passed. What I saw was the most heartbreaking message of my life. Yes, even more heartbreaking than other girls rejecting me, because they were always blunt. Anna is just not that type of person to be blunt, which makes it hurt worse. But I see where she's coming from.

AL: "i forgive you but i still do not feel comfortable. I over heard one of your conversations last night. Someone was calling me your girlfriend again and it made me very uncomfortable. I heard you refuse it as well, but you didn’t sound serious. you were laughing and that just gives them more reason to believe you’re lying. If this keeps going on I don’t know how I will react. I don’t want to push you away because i know everyone deserves a chance, but I also don’t know if i really do want to be friends with you. We don’t have much in common and it just makes me more uncomfortable when things like this happen. I’m sorry as well."

AL: "I will say it again to reinforce it, but i do not think of you romantically in anyway. I’m sure there is someone out there for you, but it’s just not me. I’m not looking for a relationship, and I clearly am not very certain about wanting to be friends with you so there is no reason to assume i like you."

This provided me with new information. I wrote up a response, but with no intention to send it in its original form. In it I reiterated some of her points and explained my side of things.

- I feel uncomfortable about my friends teasing me and I want them to stop.
- I don't want this to continue to happen for the sake of her emotional health.
- I don't see why we don't have much in common. We wouldn't have been friends if not for our common interests.
- I didn't expect her to see me romantically yet.
- I wish I had been honest earlier to save her from all the stress of having to hear about my feelings from someone else. I had made that mistake too many times, and making it with a friend hurt the worst.
- The fact that she is not looking to be in any relationship is eye-opening, but honestly a good choice. I highly believe it's because of her Christian faith.

And then I deleted the whole thing because it shifts the blame to her without admitting that I was wrong. So instead, I wrote this:

MZ: "Thank you for taking the time to respond. I know you're busy. I'm sorry for all the trouble that I caused you. I'm very immature; I don't know how to behave socially. I talk way too much, I don't think much before I say things, and then I regret them. When I'm nervous, I laugh even when the topic is very serious. I never had any intentions to hurt you. You were always nice to me, and I started having feelings for you as more than a friend after a while. I understand that you don't have the same feelings for me. It reassures me when you say there is someone out there for me, but I need to work on how I act a lot.

I'd just like to leave you with one more thing: That what you wrote was beautifully worded, and it means the world to me that you were willing to take the time to make your feelings known."

Why, Charlie Brown, you really have to delve! That's exactly what I did. Of course I was met with a warm response:

AL: "I’m glad you understand, and i hope we can still be nice to each other in the future. I am bad at confrontation and speaking honestly about my feelings a lot, but i want you to know i am being honest with you. I hope you can find some friends who have more in common with you! As always the invitation to come to my church is open, and i’m sure there are tons of people there who would love to be friends with you."

Invitation to her church? Isn't that just an invitation to continue stalking her? No way. I'm not going to any church, much less hers. I still embrace freedom of religion with an open mind, but I do not believe in any religion myself.

Anyway, musical practice was as normal. We made eye contact a few times from a distance but did not wave, smile, or talk. I'll have to get used to things that way.

A lot of things are obvious from here. The one thing that isn't is where we stand. Even she isn't sure of that, as she says. I don't know whether to acknowledge her or not at school tomorrow. I will not just to be on the safe side.

Crumbso, Zaz, Ubik, Greg, any of you guys, you were right. So goodbye Total Randomness Thread. I may come back only if things ever improve between me and Anna. I don't need to discuss the sad details here anymore.
I'm in love with somebody...
Found someone who completes me...
I'm in love with somebody...
Oh yeah...
And it's Lzzy Hale!

MaraCarr wrote: It is not like a crush or a lust thing.
Check out my coolest TABN posts!
My Long Alter Bridge Facts Post
Order Of Me Hearing Alter Bridge Songs
Order Of Me Hearing Tremonti Songs

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TenaciousBe
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Re: The Official "Total Randomness" Thread

Post by TenaciousBe »

Wait, we want to talk about oldies? How about this?

Image

That was the very first design of AlterBridgeBand.net (the site that was later rebranded to TheAlterBridgeNation.com), May of 2004. We didn't have a logo for "the new band" released yet, so just had to throw together whatever looked good in text. Whether that looks "good" is questionable, but... anyway, I was one of the 3 co-founders of ABB.net, along with Kimmie and Dan. I believe I did the overall design / site coding and writing up most of what's on each page in text, while Kimmie took care of the original ezboard BB (which, unfortunately, archive.org won't show me). Not sure what part of it Dan did, maybe more of the imaging / photoshopping. I don't remember if I put those 4 pictures together up there or if that was something Dan made, but it looks like something I would have done at that time - I was just about to graduate from my 2-year small town community college with an AA degree in web design at the time, which you could probably tell from those beautifully feathered edges on those photos and the sweet outlining on the names.

So... coming up on 17 years since we launched this site? Holy balls. That's about 40% of my life. WHAT THE WHAT THE?!

You guys can navigate around that original site while I sit over here and have myself an existential crisis.
https://web.archive.org/web/20040507022 ... eband.net/ (What's fun is, as you click on different links to different pages around that site, archive.org sends you to different eras of the site, with different layouts and site designs.)
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Re: Never any bare upper legs. Curious.

Post by zazthespaz »

So many bare upper arms...
anguyen92 wrote:
Oh well. Deal with it.
gbruin wrote:
Go reread what zaz says

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