The Guardian for this meeting was Zen Arado. The comments are by Zen Arado.

Zen Arado: Hi Uns :)
Uns Mistwalker: Hi Zen
Uns Mistwalker: I've missed a few sessions lately.
Zen Arado: haven't seen you for a while
Zen Arado: yeh
Uns Mistwalker: Yeah... actually had to attend to my job.
Zen Arado: was trying to change my typing animation
Uns Mistwalker: it is going really fast atm
Zen Arado: yeh
Zen Arado: weird
Uns Mistwalker: but then, you do type fast!
Zen Arado: no I don't
Zen Arado: really slow
Zen Arado: lots of typos
Uns Mistwalker: huh. Maybe I'm influenced by the animation!
Uns Mistwalker: furious, passionate typing!
Zen Arado: it fooled you :)
Uns Mistwalker: it did!
Zen Arado: it's the leg sticking out I don't like :)
Uns Mistwalker: is that part of the animation?
Zen Arado: yes
Uns Mistwalker: i thought it was a glitch.
Zen Arado: hmm maybe
Uns Mistwalker: you know Whispr, right?
Uns Mistwalker: That's who I ask all these kinds of questions.
Zen Arado: yes
Uns Mistwalker: but she's not on now.
Zen Arado: I only have two options apparently
Zen Arado: this is the other one
Uns Mistwalker: huh.
Zen Arado: not so silly anyway
Uns Mistwalker: I just turn off avatar animations for chat
Uns Mistwalker: i don't like my avatar nodding all the time, either.
Zen Arado: eyh
Uns Mistwalker: oo
Zen Arado: or yeh even
Uns Mistwalker: look!
Uns Mistwalker: it is slower now.... and no leg!
Zen Arado: sme do
Uns Mistwalker: you fixed it!

Belly Laugh:

Zen Arado: I don't like the laugh bit
Zen Arado: not many have a big jolly laugh these days
Zen Arado: sees unnatural
Uns Mistwalker nods.
Zen Arado: seems
Uns Mistwalker: insufficiently 'cool'
Zen Arado: more cynical times I guess
Zen Arado: yes
Uns Mistwalker: not post-moderny enough.
Zen Arado: funny that when you think about it
Zen Arado: everything is funny when you think about though
Zen Arado: life is so interesting
Zen Arado: laugh conditioned by society
Uns Mistwalker: Full of mostly unremarked nuances.
Zen Arado: yes
Uns Mistwalker: Yep. To laugh heartily is to be completely 'in' the laugh -- not have a part analyzing your performance of 'laugh'
Zen Arado: ha yes
Zen Arado: heartily
Zen Arado: a hearty laugh
Uns Mistwalker: I seem to remember that when John Dean was running for president in the US.... his campaign was seriously wounded by an unrestrained guffaw or something caught on video.
Zen Arado: too worried about what others think
Zen Arado: interesting
Uns Mistwalker: Yes. The dominant frame of thought now seems to be that all behavior is 'performance' (as in a play)
Zen Arado: used to be an English PM who laughed with his sides shaking (Ted Heath)
Zen Arado: and satrists copied that
Zen Arado: hmm performance
Zen Arado: acting a rle
Zen Arado: role

Typing:

Zen Arado: I should use voice typing
Uns Mistwalker: Yes.... I barely notice your typos.
Uns Mistwalker: and don't you have to spend a lot of effort training the software for that?
Zen Arado: I have to qeara headset for that
Zen Arado: wear
Zen Arado: yes you do
Uns Mistwalker: I suppose once you've put in the effort, it would be great.
Zen Arado: It still makes silly mistakes
Zen Arado: I will use it for a little so you can see
Uns Mistwalker: ok
Zen Arado: often I don't notice the mistakes
Zen Arado: and it takes ages to correct them because you have to go back and then delete word and write another one in
Uns Mistwalker: mm, especially if they make phonetic sense.
Zen Arado: so many homonyms in English
Zen Arado: yes
Zen Arado: I actually bought the French version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking
Zen Arado: because they give you English as well
Uns Mistwalker: oh, that's good... so you get both.
Zen Arado: and someday perhaps my French will be good enough that I can use it for French instead of having to find a way to put the accents in
Zen Arado: my French pronunciation that is
Uns Mistwalker: yeah.
Zen Arado: yes I bought it from the French website for nuance
Zen Arado: it would actually be good if I used it more to improve my French pronunciation
Zen Arado: but I have enough trouble with English :-)

Dropping:

Zen Arado: the topic this week is dropping
Zen Arado: which is a subject they talk about a lot in PAB
Zen Arado: but I never really understood to well
Zen Arado: you see it never gets to write
Zen Arado: or write :-)
Zen Arado: right
Uns Mistwalker: ah.... yes.
Uns Mistwalker: dropping, ?
Zen Arado: it is supposed to recognise it from the context but it never seems to do that
Zen Arado: dropping what you have to see what is there or something
Uns Mistwalker: sure.
Zen Arado: it's a pity they don't do the real life retreats anymore or PAB
Zen Arado: they used to do some kind of exercise around that
Zen Arado: like you could talk about being able to laugh heartily
Zen Arado: we would have to drop our self-consciousness or something
Zen Arado: forget what others are thinking about us
Zen Arado: but I don't think I laugh heartily when I'm on my own either :-)
Uns Mistwalker: yes. I can see how it relates to mindfulness.
Zen Arado: perhaps there is too much mindfulness then :-)
Uns Mistwalker: could be!
Zen Arado: how to learn to be un-mindful

Zen Arado: I find a new school
Uns Mistwalker: mindlessness practice.
Zen Arado: it's more like a sort of un criticality
Zen Arado: not being so guarded being more open
Uns Mistwalker: nods.
Uns Mistwalker: spontaneous.
Zen Arado: dropping our guard
Zen Arado: we usually need alcohol for that
Zen Arado: but that's not a good way to do it
Uns Mistwalker: or SL! Which is pretty good at making us dis-inhibited.
Zen Arado: we go too far the other direction
Zen Arado: yes may be
Zen Arado: when I was reading about being a DJ, one of the things they talk a lot about is how to get people up to dance
Zen Arado: and there isn't any problem with that in Second Life
Zen Arado: so why is that?
Uns Mistwalker: I think it is precisely because of this dis-inhibition effect.
Uns Mistwalker: did I ever pass you the link to that article on it?
Zen Arado: And perhaps because we are all such good dancers in Second Life
Uns Mistwalker: yes, so body-image stuff drops away.
Zen Arado: we don't have to worry about making fools of ourselves with stupid movements

Suggestive Lyricism:
szavanna Resident: hi peeps :)
Uns Mistwalker: and even if we do....no one REALLY sees US.
Zen Arado: Hi Sunji :)
Uns Mistwalker: hiya fellow Peep.
szavanna Resident peeps down on the pillow
szavanna Resident: °͜°
szavanna Resident: please carry on °͜°
Uns Mistwalker: such a femine way you have of peeping.
Zen Arado: reminds me of a line from one of those Hokum R& B songs
Zen Arado: but I better not repeat it
Zen Arado: I'm only learning about that this week in my history of rock course
szavanna Resident: giggles
Uns Mistwalker: why? Will Sunji sic her Sun on you?
Zen Arado: they had to change lots of the lyrics from those songs when they crossed from black to white artists
Zen Arado: apparently
Uns Mistwalker: Yes. A lot of the old blues songs were VERY suggestive.
Zen Arado: they were very explicit sexually
szavanna Resident: suggestive of?
Uns Mistwalker: sex,
szavanna Resident: oo :)
Zen Arado: I was looking at Chuck Berry song called Maybelline
Uns Mistwalker: dust my broom?
Zen Arado: still not sure if it is about cars or sex
szavanna Resident: lol
Uns Mistwalker: /me
Uns Mistwalker: Mustang Sally!
szavanna Resident: hehe
Uns Mistwalker: you better slow that Mustang....dwon!
Zen Arado: and much worse than that
szavanna Resident: blushes
Uns Mistwalker: oh yeah.
Uns Mistwalker: Maria Muldaur still uses a lot of those kind of lyrics.
Zen Arado: I'm really enjoying this history of rock course
Zen Arado: I remember midnight at the oasis
Zen Arado: :-)
Uns Mistwalker: "rooster he say..... cock el do do do....
Uns Mistwalker: richland woman say.... any dude'lll do.."
Zen Arado: 'you won't need a camel when we go for a ride'
szavanna Resident: Gijs °͜°
szavanna Resident: welcome to PaB
Uns Mistwalker: heya Gijs.
Zen Arado: Hi Gij:)
szavanna Resident: take your time to rez
szavanna Resident: and take a seat °͜°
Zen Arado: Gij had been here before Sunji?
szavanna Resident: not sure :)
szavanna Resident: have you been here before?
Zen Arado: have you Gij?
szavanna Resident: ahh
szavanna Resident: ok
Zen Arado: it's just that we have to ask your permission to record any conversation of yours
szavanna Resident: welcome then :))
Uns Mistwalker: (anything you say, can and will be used..... but not against you!)
Zen Arado: because we publish the session on a wiki
szavanna Resident: hehe
Zen Arado: is that okay?
Zen Arado: I will give you a note card
szavanna Resident: oh we are just chatting about music
Zen Arado: it explains what this group is about
szavanna Resident: noo I will give him!
szavanna Resident: @@
szavanna Resident: ;D
Zen Arado: too late he has one :-)
szavanna Resident: oh nooo
szavanna Resident: sigh °͜°
szavanna Resident: as you see Gijs ... Pablings are very eager to help :)
Zen Arado: so you do tai chi then Gij?
Zen Arado: I didn't make it to the session last night
Zen Arado: but perhaps some other time
szavanna Resident: yes its fun

Blues:

Uns Mistwalker: I have been listening to John Lee Hooker's recordings from the 1940s of blues songs --- sounds a lot more like African sounds Sunshine plays.
szavanna Resident: http://www.flickr.com/photos/szavannasl/9720415556/

szavanna Resident: example?
Uns Mistwalker: hafta search...prolly not online.
szavanna Resident: hafta hehe
szavanna Resident: prolly hmm
szavanna Resident: °͜°
Zen Arado: it comes from Africans
Zen Arado: didn't a lot of it come from African slaves on the plantations? I
Zen Arado: That's why they were blue because they were slaves
Zen Arado: expressing their sadness
Zen Arado: them old cotton fields back home
szavanna Resident: here is blues from Mali : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqIP5CeEK_c
Zen Arado: Firefox has crashed again I don't know what's wrong with that lately
Zen Arado: I'm going to start using Google's chrome again
szavanna Resident: really
szavanna Resident: use Linux
szavanna Resident: °͜°
Uns Mistwalker: I've been having regular trouble getting in-world of late.
Zen Arado: none of my software works with Linux
szavanna Resident: ah yes I know
Uns Mistwalker: all these... 'cannot find simulator' messages.
Zen Arado: Second Life has been a bit weird lately
szavanna Resident: but firefox does
szavanna Resident: ahh
szavanna Resident: yes I got that also
Zen Arado: we couldn't get online on Monday for the original face group
szavanna Resident: but then I logged into another sim
szavanna Resident: oh ;(
szavanna Resident: it seems ok again for me ...hope it will stay that way
Zen Arado: maybe it's just this changeover period
szavanna Resident: yes may be
Zen Arado: I'm using my voice typing today swine really fast :-)
szavanna Resident: ah °͜°
Zen Arado: swine should have been, so I'm

Disability Research:

szavanna Resident: Zenji - Gentle asked me to take part in a conference
Zen Arado: :-) that's the kind of silly mistakes it makes
szavanna Resident: :)
Zen Arado: so I'm sounds like swine
szavanna Resident: hehehehe
Uns Mistwalker: the level of my emotional reaction to being unable to log-in always underscores how compulsive SL is for me.
szavanna Resident: I love it
Zen Arado: addiction to Second Life?
szavanna Resident: I am gonna be one of the speakers at the conference
Zen Arado: I'm cutting back on groups
szavanna Resident: ;p
Uns Mistwalker: what conference, Sunshine?
Zen Arado: what conference Sunji?
Zen Arado: Snap
szavanna Resident: Hello friend. I was wondering if you’d be willing to present some facts about disability and accessibility in your country as part of a regional panel sometime during our upcoming International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference (IDRAC 2013). IDRAC 2013 will be held this year on Friday and Saturday, September 27 and 28.
Zen Arado: I turned that one down :-)
szavanna Resident: this is what she sent me
szavanna Resident: I wanna do it
szavanna Resident: give me some ideas about SA
Zen Arado: I started to do research for it and realised how little I know
szavanna Resident: yes I told her also
Zen Arado: especially about learning disabilities and other disabilities like that
szavanna Resident: I am totally amateur
Zen Arado: I just don't have the time to do the proper research for it
szavanna Resident: hmm I will give them as much as I find out
Zen Arado: and I would feel a bit half baked just researching it online
Zen Arado: because anyone can do that
szavanna Resident: half baked :)
szavanna Resident: yes of course
Zen Arado: I really feel it should be someone in the disability field
Uns Mistwalker: But not anyone will take the time.
Zen Arado: someone working in that area
Zen Arado: but I like to do things thoroughly
szavanna Resident: I know
Zen Arado: if they asked me any questions I knew I wouldn't know the answers
szavanna Resident: but in my case it will be really basic
Zen Arado: I know a lot about muscular dystrophy because I have that but even then I only know about the particular type that I have
Uns Mistwalker: Another way to approach it might be --- phenomenologically...
Uns Mistwalker: just to talk about your own experience.
Zen Arado: I don't like those kind of statistics and things anyway
szavanna Resident: pheno what?
szavanna Resident: ;p
Zen Arado: yes but that's not what they wanted I think
Zen Arado: they want to know the whole disability scene in your own country
szavanna Resident: yes
szavanna Resident: its a huge topic
Zen Arado: I used to be in a disability Forum where I lived and was always going to meetings
Zen Arado: but that's all that seem to happen. MeetingsI.
szavanna Resident: hmm yes
Zen Arado: I got disillusioned with all the talking and little action
Zen Arado: some people like all the legalities of disability
Uns Mistwalker: Well, you know, when someone asks you to deliver a paper less than a month before the conference --- they can't expect tooo much.
szavanna Resident: hmm
Zen Arado: don't let me put you off Sunji I'm only explaining how I felt
szavanna Resident: hehe its ok
Zen Arado: and lately I have decided to cut down on the number of activities I engage in
szavanna Resident: I will do some basic research
szavanna Resident: also for my own sake ... to learn more about SA
Zen Arado: I was reading in my creativity innovation and change course about people being too unfocused
szavanna Resident: thats all
Zen Arado: trying to do too many things
Zen Arado: and that's me all over :-)
szavanna Resident: hehe
szavanna Resident: not me
szavanna Resident: ;D
Zen Arado: :-)
Zen Arado: perish the thought
szavanna Resident: hehe ok but no laughing when I present!
Zen Arado: Probably the most successful people or those with a single interest that they really go into very deeply
szavanna Resident: ;p
szavanna Resident: I better put glasses
Zen Arado: hi Bleu
szavanna Resident: Bleujiii

Zen Arado: although you are orange :-)
Bleu Oleander: hiya :)
szavanna Resident: this is Gijs °͜° his first time here :)
Bleu Oleander: hi Gijs nice to meet you
szavanna Resident: Bleuji is our resident artist
szavanna Resident: :)
Zen Arado: all know that's just something Sunji must have rezzed
Bleu Oleander: one of many :)
szavanna Resident: and has two big dogs :)
Zen Arado: oh no I mean

Laughter again:

Zen Arado: Uns and I talked briefly about how people never laugh heartily anymore
Zen Arado: and what we need to drop to be able to do that
Bleu Oleander: really?
Zen Arado: don't you agree?
Bleu Oleander: ha! I do often actually
szavanna Resident: can we drop a plate?
szavanna Resident: and laugh heartily?
szavanna Resident: every 15 minutes
szavanna Resident: hmm
Bleu Oleander: lol
szavanna Resident: just a thought hmm
Zen Arado: But I was thinking about they really hearty and self-conscious belly shaking kind of laughter
Zen Arado: un selfconscious
Bleu Oleander: the kind that makes you cry?
Zen Arado: 30 seconds laughter break
szavanna Resident: mm I love those
Uns Mistwalker: (and pee your pants)
Bleu Oleander: haha
szavanna Resident: also
szavanna Resident: ;D
Zen Arado: even the length of laughter period seems quite short nowadays
Zen Arado: we are too busy to laugh :-)
szavanna Resident: today I had the funniest conversation
Zen Arado: yes Sunji?
szavanna Resident: in which we invented a new type of martial art
szavanna Resident: called diridiri
Uns Mistwalker: (excuse me, friends....my leash is getting pulled)
szavanna Resident: aww ok Unsji
szavanna Resident: see you soon
Zen Arado: kk byee Uns
szavanna Resident: :)
Bleu Oleander: bye Uns
Uns Mistwalker: but i want to hear about diridiri sometime!
Zen Arado: ty for coming
szavanna Resident: hehe ok
Zen Arado: go-ahead Sunji
szavanna Resident: lol hmm I would have to look for it
szavanna Resident: but the bottom line is
szavanna Resident: this guy is always so funny
szavanna Resident: every word is a laugh
szavanna Resident: °͜°
Bleu Oleander: nice to have funny friends that make you laugh
szavanna Resident: and that creates a jolly vibe
Zen Arado: it's funny but of someone tells you someone is really funny then you don't find them funny
Zen Arado: or maybe that's just me :-)
Zen Arado: like of someone has heard a really funny joke and then they retail that it doesn't seem so funny to someone else
szavanna Resident: the last time I laughed like that was yesterday
Zen Arado: sometimes it has to be in the right situation or something
Bleu Oleander: whenever we do talks about humor they're never funny :)
szavanna Resident: I saw this program called Big Bang theory
Zen Arado: I remember an incident at an open University summer school that was really funny and everyone in the place was absolutely killing themselves for about half an hour
szavanna Resident: and those guys invented a device that enables kissing someone online
szavanna Resident: lol
szavanna Resident: must have been fun
Zen Arado: I wonder what that will lead to
szavanna Resident: ah remember that video
szavanna Resident: of Jeff Foster
szavanna Resident: the laughing one
Zen Arado: Ah yes they just laughed for about five minutes
Zen Arado: that kind of infectious laughter
szavanna Resident: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwzQJdvFMeI
szavanna Resident: ;D
Zen Arado: it's funny but I listen to French radio station in the mornings and they seem to laugh a lot more than they do in Britain
szavanna Resident: really
Zen Arado: they seem more unsophisticated or something that way
szavanna Resident: must be the cheese
szavanna Resident: ;p
Zen Arado: they just ring people up and start a conversation with out to people knowing they are on the radio
Zen Arado: I think they stopped doing that in Britain about 30 years ago :-)
szavanna Resident: oh really
szavanna Resident: I love the new hair style Bleuji
szavanna Resident: :)
Zen Arado: I read an article about the happiness quotient of various nationalities
Bleu Oleander: oh ty Sunji :)
szavanna Resident: ;))
Bleu Oleander: an old one :)
Zen Arado: I probably couldn't find it again though it was on Facebook
szavanna Resident: :) new to me
Bleu Oleander: :)
szavanna Resident: hehe I am hearing them laugh
szavanna Resident: Jeff Foster
Zen Arado: http://www.europe1.fr/International/...x-est-1635715/
szavanna Resident: hehe still laughing
Zen Arado: UK is 22 on the list
Zen Arado: it seems like northern countries are the happiest
Bleu Oleander: for happiness?
Zen Arado: which doesn't seem right to me
Zen Arado: yes
szavanna Resident: lol happiness chart
Zen Arado: Denmark Norway and Switzerland Nederlandse Sweden Canada fenland Austria ice land
szavanna Resident: SA is not there
Zen Arado: that is from the happiness chart in order
szavanna Resident: ;(
Bleu Oleander: I don't know how they come up with those things
szavanna Resident: lol
Bleu Oleander: seems like they would have to ask everyone
--BELL--
Zen Arado: well there is a report of how they came to the findings
Bleu Oleander: and we're all so bad at knowing what makes us happy and whether or not we are happy
Zen Arado: but my intuition would have told me the reverse of those findings
Zen Arado: yes I am always suspicious of those psychological surveys
Zen Arado: usually when I answer them I could have chosen far different answers on a different day
Bleu Oleander: when something happens that makes us unhappy, we realize how happy we were before that happened
Zen Arado: yes and happiness is relative
Bleu Oleander: yes
szavanna Resident: how is happy now?
Zen Arado: and perhaps are cultures find different things to ascribe happiness to
Bleu Oleander: is everybody happy?
Zen Arado: or different ways of evaluating
szavanna Resident: I am quite happy hmm
Bleu Oleander: me too
Zen Arado: well I just feel normal at the moment
Zen Arado: I don't feel particularly happy were particularly sad
szavanna Resident: chatting with you guys works
Bleu Oleander: maybe normal is happy?
Zen Arado: yes if you perceive happiness as not being unhappy :-)
Bleu Oleander: its a matter of expectations perhaps
szavanna Resident: I would like a smile too
Zen Arado: as may be your normal state is of being happy so that is just normal for you
szavanna Resident: added to the normal
szavanna Resident: normal + smile
Zen Arado: just makes me realise how little we learn from a lot of this analysis :-)
Bleu Oleander: put a pencil between your teeth lol
Zen Arado: even if it makes me happy doing it :-)
szavanna Resident: ;D
szavanna Resident: comon lets practise
Zen Arado: I am happy when I am doing things that interest me
szavanna Resident: smiles means ...
Bleu Oleander: (shown to actually make you feel happy)
Zen Arado: but I probably don't look happy then
Zen Arado: so what we do is drop our unhappiness
Zen Arado: and then what is left is our natural happy state
szavanna Resident googles
Bleu Oleander: I read an article that said people report being happiest when they excercise
Zen Arado: yes I think that is proven because it stimulates endorphins in the brain or something
szavanna Resident: A smile is a facial expression formed by flexing the muscles near both ends of the mouth and by flexing muscles throughout the mouth.[1] Some smiles include contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes (see 'Duchenne Smiling' below). Among humans, it is an expression denoting pleasure, sociability, happiness, or amusement. This is not to be confused with a similar but usually involuntary expression of anxiety known as a grimace. Smiling is something that is understood by everyone, regardless of culture, race, or religion; it is internationally known. Cross-cultural studies have shown that smiling is a means of communication throughout the world.[2] But there are large differences between different cultures. A smile can also be spontaneous or artificial.
Bleu Oleander: yes
szavanna Resident smiles
szavanna Resident: °͜°
Zen Arado: actually the type of muscular dystrophy I have affects the lip muscles and some of the people affected cannot smile
Bleu Oleander: a genuine smile involves many facial muscles
Zen Arado: and it is a terrible social handicap
Bleu Oleander: yes
szavanna Resident: aww
Zen Arado: because people expect you to smile as soon as you meet them and if you can't it puts them off you
Zen Arado: I am lucky I'm not too badly affected that way
Zen Arado: I remember a woman on the muscular dystrophy forum claiming that it ruined her whole life
Zen Arado: she lost jobs as receptionist
Zen Arado: because they said she was a sourpuss
szavanna Resident: sigh
Zen Arado: and she lost her boyfriends as well
Zen Arado: but perhaps she is exaggerating
Bleu Oleander: thats sad
Zen Arado: wed you can't go around explaining the fact that you can't smile to people can you?
Bleu Oleander: one would think a boyfriend would understand
Bleu Oleander: and show some empathy
Zen Arado: Yes he wouldn't be much of a boyfriend if he didn't understand that you would think
Zen Arado: perhaps she was scared to explain it when she was young
Zen Arado: people did hide disability is in the old days and still do to a certain extent
Zen Arado: anyway... I remember reading a book about happiness by a psychologist called Martin Seligmann
Zen Arado: and one of the things he said was that disability does not cause unhappiness
Bleu Oleander: well must get back to work .... feel happier now ... take care all :)
Zen Arado: only with the initial disability then the happiness level returns
Zen Arado: kk byee Bleu
Zen Arado: be happy
Zen Arado: :)
Bleu Oleander: hugs and happiness :)
Zen Arado: guess I better go too
Bleu Oleander: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Zen Arado: I am talking too much as usual
Zen Arado: thanks for coming Sunji and Gij
Zen Arado: byee for now
Zen Arado: hugs
Zen Arado: :)
Zen Arado: happy hugs
Zen Arado: :)