Seasons

Um....CMIF    Career Management Individual File (US Army)
CMIF    Cover Me I'm Fouled (polite form; hand signal used when in trouble)

Center for MultiSource Information Fusion
Complex Mode Indicator Function
Central Minnesota Initiative Fund
Crude Militant Industrial Fascism
China Machinery Industry Federation
Cellular and Molecular Imaging Facility
Creative Musicians Improvisors Forum
.

Are all those things real? In particular, is there a Creative Musicians Improvisors Forum?

yes, they are all real, including the Creative Musicians Improvisors Forum:

http://www.tunecore.com/music/oticrecords

i shall add that Crude Militant Industrial Fascism is a phrase coined by me. it does not exist in the form of an official organization, movement, doctrine, etc... but it's nevertheless as real as any item listed above.

also, an update on sex:

i just learned recently that dolphins are the only animal other than humans that have sex for pleasure.
considering that dolphins have a brain that is not only larger in volume compared to human brain, but also far more developed in terms of number and complexity of neural connections contained therein;
and, considering that humans have spoiled their inherent ability to enjoy sex, one has to conclude that the dolphins are indeed the most advanced species here on Earth.

Too bad they can't figure a way to jump out of a tuna net.

Interzone wrote:

considering that humans have spoiled their inherent ability to enjoy sex, one has to conclude that the dolphins are indeed the most advanced species here on Earth.

Speak for yourself, Izzy! [wriggles]

hello

Bev,

Not picking on your insecurities, but sympathising and hoping I can soothe some of them a bit...

There are some yucky people around, and unfortunately some of them are attracted to sites like this. I share your disgust when I read my bot's transcripts to see someone informing her that they are having sex with her (in a less tasteful way than that, of course). I resent having to make keyphrases just to try and avoid it as much as possible. It also took me a while to accept that even among the more pleasant clientele here, there's a bit of a "sexbot until proven otherwise" idea, or at least a very early testing of boundaries! I've decided that it's worth staying here for now, as I can easily cope with the current nice:ick ratio of the transcripts.

But in a way I think it's like, I dunno, going to a singles bar or something. You're going to meet disproportionately more sleazy people - and people are also going to be at their sleaziest.

So it doesn't show us how men really think. You are reading the sleaziest thoughts of a sleazier-than-average selection of men (no offence to the non-sleazy men here, of course). Some of them are probably horrible in real life, too. But others are using the site (or porn, or whatever) as an outlet for something. (I'm not getting into the rights or wrongs of that, just stating it.)

Imagine someone knew you only from, I dunno, the curses you let out when you drop something on your foot - or even the ones you scream internally. Imagine that's all they ever hear you say. They'd probably think you were horrible, but they'd be wrong. I don't think we should judge the human race - or even the male half of it - from what we see here.

And I'm very glad we don't have telepathy. I'd hate people to hear my thoughts. And no, I don't want to hear my husband's inner thoughts either. I want him to edit them first! He's wonderful, but I'm sure his innner monologue isn't always.

Don't give up on men! Yeah, some guy you meet might be thinking "I'd love to have sex with her right now" while acting like a gentleman - but if he's making the effort to be gentlemanly, I'd give him a chance.

Hope that's not too much of an essay.

Bev. I know what you mean. Everyday I could find five more words to stick under the HANGUP section of Prob. My opinion is that sex without romance and emotion is just another body function and could get tedious.

Thanks Vashka. My moments of gloom are not based solely on my bot transcripts or even the Internet. It's true I "wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then", but you can't unfeel a heartache anymore than you can unsee Two Girls One Cup. Experence can be a harsh teacher, but it makes us who we are. That's why I would like to minimize my experiences of being used for someone else's temporary releases, even if that person is otherwise a fine fellow beloved by children and small animals.

I do not hate people as a whole (or men as a group), I just despair of finding romance in an age that no longer values it. As for the release theory, in my limited experience people who are very into something like that do not release it so much as they cultivate it and it gets worse over time. YMMV.

I suppose it sounds judgmental, but as I age I learn what I do not want in my life, so I don't date people who use or sell drugs, borrow or take money from me, or who are abusive in any way. One of the red flags I have noticed is the attitudes towards sex that tend to accompany frequent use of porn, strippers and prostitutes. I have also had bad experience with the "all man aren't like that" and the "nice guy" assertions, as the men who say things like that to my face have in time, turned out to be the same as the others deep down and no more likely to be into feelings, exclusive relationships and commitment than any other man. It probably depends on one's definition of "nice" so it comes back to personal values and preferences. It may sound close-minded to reject those who won't offer what you want in a partner, but it is only responsible to protect yourself emotionally based on past disappointments.

Don't take my post here too much to heart either. If I meet a man who exhibits the values I saw in most my parents' generation who seems interested, I promise to give it a shot (provided, of course, he is not actually from my parents' generation). My rants are a mixture of personal feelings and broader social commentary that involves a high degree of generalization by the nature of such qualitative reflections.

I didn't mean to judge but it is part of being human, particularly when it comes to what you want to add to your own life (or not). I am not proposing the male gender be rounded up and purged of their sins or anything. I have my own bad moments when I too am not nice and a variety of character flaws I have no real intention of fixing. If my particular bad traits are a deal breaker for someone, I understand. By the same token, although I don't hate people who do things that creep me out, I still have a right to think it's creepy and avoid them if I can. Unfortunately for me, the number of men who want the type things I do seem to be the exception rather than the rule, and those I know tend to be married already or gay. Oh well.

At another level I am also lamenting a cultural shift whereby we as a community seem to embrace the Brave New World at the expense of emotional connections. A few bad apples, as you say, would not be so bad if it were not becoming the norm and socially acceptable behavior. If it were not now normal for at least some sleazy people to expect others to be "good sport" about their publicly inflicting unwanted behaviors on others it would not be as disturbing. I can't tell you how much I dislike how the the PF takes the word "fuck" and sexual come-ons as a compliment. It should at least be neutral for the bot master to assign. It's just another sign of a broader social change. I am not saying we should bring back the Puritans, but some balance and expectations of politeness would be nice.

Prob123, thanks for supporting my rant. Most days I can ignore it or laugh, but every so often I want to complain. A pity we can't reach through the Internet and release our frustrations at the source of the problem. A release for a release--it's only fair. Has anyone seen my rocket launcher?

Hmmm.... Say Kobal, you think you could work your way out, if caught in one such net? Or, do you think one can stay out of them all, altogether?

Seriously, I like the image. It may as well be that the whole human species got caught in a net of... ignorance..? arrogance..? ..? Not sure whether we're the tuna, or the dolphin, but it doesn't seem to matter that much - in reality, we are an ape, anyway. Or, are we Devo..?