TL;DR: It’s been a lot of fun and I’m very pleased to have made the acquaintance of such a good conversationalist. Thankyou!

LONGFORM …

With the vast amount of cliches you laid on me here, how could I not respond in kind?

Heh … I’m glad the effort was appreciated — far too many people take it at face value and think I’m being serious.

Oh, I don’t know. I think I’d probably get a 5 paragraph response to an offhanded remark or 3 separate replies to the one post.

Ouch!

That was just a little harsh, don’t you think?

Yes, we’ve both been indulging in humour, but we’ve also been simultaneously exploring serious matters seriously … so, it’s hardly surprising that sometimes my reply should be longer, no?

Yes, I draw on personal experience … but I’ve found that, if don’t, people get the idea I’m arrogantly pronouncing on behalf of the entire Human Race and become rather aggressive about it. Keeping it in the vein of “this is my experience and thus this is why I think what I do” tends to offset that but … if you’re happy with simple statement rather than exposition then I can go that route as well — keep it shorter.

Speaking of the other replies, I may be a lot of things she doesn’t like, but my mom did raise me right. If I have nothing good to say about the things you appear to love, I would rather not say anything at all.

Very sound … much the same as my mother.

But since you called me out on it

No, I wasn’t calling you out on it … I was just enquiring.

I‘m not offended by people not sharing my taste — why would I be?

And if I say that I don’t like something someone else does, that’s not a criticism of them, just an exploration of the phenomenon — it doesn’t mean I’m not interested in why they do.

I appreciated your reasons for liking the musical form(s) in Metal for instance and would be interested to hear more about what enthuses you about them/it if you’d enjoy discussing that :)

You just didn’t go into any further detail.

Meh. Not really my thing. I just can’t get excited for this sort of dance music. I can see something in the idea of giving over to the rhythm. I guess it’s just not my rhythm.

That’s fair enough and I can understand that — as I said, Metal really isn’t my thing, but I appreciate that it’s yours.

But it wasn’t really about the music. It was about the concept and lyrics and the vocal delivery … the cock-sure macho posturing, which I think Duncan (the vocalist) captures sublimely.

So, I wasn’t asking you to like it but rather giving an example of what I was talking about done by someone else and just wondered if I had been successful in getting that across to you.

I’ve been thinking about what, if anything, I was going to respond to this. Truth is, either of those is fine with me. I hardly ever get trolled. It’s a joy to have someone try.

I‘m glad you got that that’s what I’ve been doing … and that it has been good-natured on my part, not to be taken seriously. As I said, many people do seem to have reading comprehension issues and take it at face value, so it is a joy for me to be able to do it with someone who gets, and takes, it for what it really is — the intellectual stimulation of the challenge … both ways around … is a real pleasure and I thank you for it from the very bottom of my heart. [1]

I didn’t want to comment on your fear of commitment, mostly because I’m at a very different place and I’ve got as close to “the one”as anyone may hope to get, but I think I’m going to offer one last opinion. It’s better to regret something you did than something you didn’t do. Heartbreak and shame will hurt like hell but the “what if”will kill you.

I’m very glad to hear that you have found that happiness in your life.

Truly.

It gladdens my heart when I see, or hear of, people being genuinely happy.

As for my fear of commitment … yes, I’ve had to come to terms with the idea that I (of all people) have become a cliché — the commitment phobic male.

It’s a new thing for me and I’m not happy about it but it is what it is for now and will be resolved, or not, one way or the other with time — that’s just Life, is it not?

Is it better to regret the things you have done than the things you haven’t?

I’ve lived my life on that basis … and I have to say that, having regrets about both, I’m no longer sure it makes any difference —I think it better not to have any regrets at all.

…

I’ve really appreciated this discussion … enjoyed it a great deal … thankyou — I’ve laughed … I’ve cried … it’s changed my life ;)

But I (too?) am beginning to think it had run its course — the humour aside, there isn’t really much else I can sensibly say on the specific topic unless you have anything to say to which I might supply a sensible response.

So … unless there’s anything more you want to say about any of the issues, I’m pretty much done with this thread and will, instead, look forward to different topics, jokes about other things in future.

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[1] When you’re done with it … pass me the sick bucket, please ;)