The Dink Network

I've been thinking. Recently, diwata has been calling herself "old" when she's only 40. How old do Dinkers think you can be classified "old". Personally, I'd think about your mid-fifties, but I'd like to hear other people's opinions.

I was informed that there are Dinkers in their 50s. And a number of very young ones too. I feel "old" not so much of my years, but rather how much I have been left behind by the times...and striving like crazy (that's not an anger icon) until I'm red in the face with effort to keep up with everybody.*lol* Spent most of my years in the mountains of illusionary domestic bliss...making some neurons atrophied. So bear with me if I am quite fixated with being "old". It's not condescension to the younger ones but my own self deprecation (did I spell this right?) See...even my spelling is a mess.

I am in awe at how bright they all are (whether DMOD making or in discussions).

Thanks. I'm one of the very young ones, possibly the youngest, actually. I'm coming out of primary school in three days.

It's all relative. My friends call me an "old man", because I'm a year older than them. I tried to argue once, but they stole my walking stick and pushed me down some stairs.

Which is pretty rude, if you ask me.

Hmm, sounds like you're in your late 20s or 30s, with that joke... young enough to be irreverent but old enough to wish you're younger with less responsibilities...

how old ru to come out of primary school?

Having been at the Dink Network for six years, it makes me feel old...

o ya sbretrout, do u mind if i take ur reply u made cus to me thats one hilarious joke, lol

After seeing al these kids at the board, yes. I know what you mean, Tal.

Speak for yourself, newbie.

I may have come a month or 3 after you, Chrispy, but I'm twice your size!

Oh, ehh, I'm talking about he being a gnome and all.

Oh man, some days I feel ultra-old!

I turned 12 in September.

Being from the West Coast, you should listen to more B.A. as in '18 til I die'

mm

Well, all four of my kids call me old man, and my parents still treat me like a kid. So I guess being 38.98082 years old is somewhere between teenland and the crest of the hill.

mm

You're old when you're older then eighteen. If you're younger you're young. If you're exactly eighteen (like me) you're just stupid.

(That's probably the most frequent use of you're in three sentences in my recent history. )

You're sure your yore is your own?

foue-in-one.
mm

12? That makes me feel old and I'm only 23!!

I'm the big 3-0 here. Been a dinker since 2000 and found TDN the same year, making me 25 when I started dinkin...

But then again I've been gaming in general since 1979 when i was just 4... now I'm feelin old

30? Now I'm feeling young despite feeling old in my post before. Mind you based on all the pains I have, I feel 80 odd. that's what you get when you're really clumsy though.

I'm glad i can restore your youth like that DraconicDink. I guess that's what us old guys are for...

For those of you who don't know me, I'm 20.

And of course you can, umm... "take my reply", RANKN67. As long as the royalties are forthcoming, it's all good.

19yrs young yo! But I hate putting a lot of emphasis on ages. There are people who are 21 that are a lot less responcible than I am but I am the one who can't buy the beer...gah!

I'm 19 and not feeling particularly old or young

I'm 18.

Simeon, you're only 18!? I love your Dmod Once-In-A-Lifetime! From where I am, I can say it's one of those Dmods that strives to put depth in the characters...

And about "age", who am i kidding, old or young, I feel young when I'm playing Dmods...

But it's also nice to know how young you all are in earth years...

And Barnabyd is only 12...hmmm, you sure, bright boy? It's not that i don't believe you but I do desperately want to...my children (9 and 18)insist that i'm still young (but i always thought they're biased )

But if you say that 40 is still not-so old, than I'll grab your word for it. It's some kind of weird guilt, you see, that I am playing RPGs when I should be cleaning the windows or something. Now all my social friends are wondering why I don't go out so much anymore...they think i started some kind of bad habit *lol* RPGs are addicting!

I'm 17. I'm older than I was when I was 12.

Ok, that confirmes my thoughts...

I *am* twelve. Tonight it's Year Six Graduation.
But I guess now, after silently monitoring the posts, you're as old as you are vain. Or, perhaps, the other way round. You think about other people as young or old, but you usually classify yourself "old".

If I'm better than Jesus, how old does that make me?

Still young, but now old enough to drive. I turned 14 this November, which puts me at 5 years playing Dink. I've been a PC gamer for maybe 6 years now, starting with Heroes of might and magic 2...they don't make them like that anymore.

Except for by small bald spot, my sometimes achy back and knees, and the fact that my oldest is going on 12; I don't feel I've aged much since 14.

I hope that means I haven't peaked yet.
mm

40 isn't old. My parents are 67 and they still treat me like a kid sometimes. Age is definitely a matter of perspective and we need to see things mostly from our own perspective.

Someone once gave me advice on speaking in public. If you get nervous, just smile. People will either assume you are happy, or think your up to something.

mm.

What happens then if you *are* up to something and speaking in public?

If you are planning a Jamestown Reunion then you need to stock up on Koolaide. Otherwise, you're probably selling Amway and you need to entertain them a bit first.

If I had to write my own Epitaph, I'd rather it read "Some do, Some don't, So what." Rather than "He was the last to go!"

mm

Yes, barnabyd, I'm vain *sigh* And true, vanity masks a feeling of inferiority. I hate to see you guys so young and knowing so much more than me *grrrrrr*...makes me feel so mentally deficient.

If this keeps on I'll go back to my kitchen where I am queen...and check out that barbeque sauce recipes that magicman posted on the other thread. I'm a better cook than a Dinker - I can slay a host of monsters with just one teaspoon of my soup!

And congratulations in your graduation! *clap*

Did someone mention Public Speaking?

There's an old joke about it...that the Number 2 fear of most people is to speak in public. And the Number 1 fear is...to keel over and die while speaking in public.

Ugghh...

Look at it from my perspecive...I am 40 and nothing to show for it, except my years. It must count for something, I figured. No one as brainless as I am can survive this long without some form of hidden talent or something, would she? That is what I'm trying to find out...

I'm still doing that - scrounging around for some brain matter. And since all I have right now are my years to brag about...bear with me, barnabyd... there must be some reward for survival...like a gold-swollen pillbug, perhaps?

You don't necessarily need a hidden talent to survive forty years. You just need to know how to remain inconspicuous .
Anyway, you're really answering truthfully, and from the heart, so I thank you.
Now, off to my big night...

How this?: When I was a kid I was playing my Commodore 64 games, thinking they were state of the art. Man, saying that makes me feel old, even though I am in reality young (I'm only 23).

"Can't buy the beer?" Just move to a sensible country.

I'll just continue to make sure I know someone over 21. On an unrelated note, my gf sent me a quiz where one of the questions was "If there was no drinking age; mostly likely you would..." My answer was a plain and simple, "Be dead from alcohol posioning years ago"...but I digress

yeah in my country, we have no drinking age limit. Alcoholic drinks are cheaper than water here. We can even make cheap coconut wine anytime without fear of getting busted (except by the coconut tree owner). And believe me, we have no alcoholics whatsoever, , most are dead before they're even diagnosed as one. We're sensible that way

I am so old, I forget what this topic was about.
SabreTrout is older than Jesus? And you can start drinking here when you turn 19 (or go over the bridge and drink at 18 <Quebec

yaaaaaawwwnnn....time for a nap....

About 4 years ago they lowered the minimium age to 18 here in New Zealand. But now that we've got a drinking problem they want to raise it back to 21 despite the an OECD survey that says the reason for our problem is not our age limit (other countries with the same and lower limit have less of a problem), that the real cause of the problem is due to our attitude towards alcohol. Alcohol is in pur culture too much and in the wrong ways. Point of case: teenagers here have parties where they deliberately drink so much they spew and getting that drunk is considered a good thing by them and their mates. And to make it worse this is early in the party and then they continue to drink.

I suppose in cold countries a little alcohol is needed. A glass of beer, a cup of wine...that's cheerful especially during holidays and all...

But in the Philippines (in the olden days before the Spanish conquest), here the sun is shining most the year, hot sun and warm rain...we used native wines in ceremonial events, such as male circumcision (I suppose, to ease the pain) - a young boy's rite of passage to manhood...or in weddings (and wedding nights).

And our native wines (made from rice,sugarcane, palm fruit, coconut - depends on what island you came from) are mostly strong - veeeeery strong, more than 100 proof. We can light bonfires with it. And the first time I drank Lambanog-Puting Kidlat (white lightning) I went blind for a few hours. True! So never again. I don't want to look like an ass's ass again. But it's good with shrimp flambe, though (quick cooking) makes them sweet and melts in the mouth.

*Sigh* it's not only in your culture, draconicdink, it's global.

lol

Hey, barnabyd, how was graduation? Hope you didn't celebrate it with alcohol? It can freeze your brain, makes you think you're young (even when you're grizzled and furrowed)...

It was great. We had dinner first, which was good except for the fact the chocolate cake was so rich I nearly threw up . We then danced with the girls, which was undoubtedly the best part of the night, and at the end was the formal yearbook/award giving. I won the Academic Excellence award, and a very close friend won the Performing Arts award, no doubt for her performance in our school production.

And now I wake up feeling like hell. Luckily, there's Kris Kringle (ritual exchange of gifts between anoymous induviduals), the gr. 6 after party, and HOLIDAYS! to look forward to.

Sorry, I tend to ramble off the subject...

EDIT
God, I wish we HAD celebrated it with alcohol!

Hmmm, someone must have added too much mayonnaise and bitter chocolate on the cake...*lol* ... and not much liquer. Pure chocolate if eaten (in huge amounts)can make you drunk...and a hangover the morning after...

Ramble on...anyways, anyone has the privilege here not to read what's written.

Academic Excellence Award indeed! Great, barnabyd! Got one award on the Performing Arts when I was in high school too. But unlike your friend, I didn't get to dance with the brightest boy then... just danced with my best male fabulous friend instead (the hustle/salsa to the tune of "Born to be Alive"...*groan* those were the days when we thought we were cool.

I bet you danced with your Artist friend...lucky you!

Thanks.

Hmm, could someone elaborate on this? How come someone aged 12 has a "graduation" and receives Academic Excellence Awards? Is it a motivation for the things to come or so? In the Dutch system, when you're 12, you have just finished your basic education ("basisschool" though I'm not familiar with the English equivalent.. elementary school( + high school?)?), meaning that you can read, write, do basic arithmetic, some English and such. Basically your education has yet to begin, so to speak

In Australia at a lot of schools we have graduations after the end of primary school ("basisschool"), and at the end of Year 12. But most people remember Year 12 graduation better, because still not all schools celebrate the end of Year 6.

From my part of the world (Asia), a graduation at 12 years old is commonplace, unless you are in an International School. barnabyd says he's in the 6th level - primary. The next step is secondary school - 1st year high school to 4th year. Then to the collegiate level (usually 4 years). But some schools now are adopting/adding more levels like Grade 7 before you graduate to high school.

The Chinese schools here are more difficult - you have to learn several languages, English, Mandarin...learn to read and write the chinese characters (hundreds) and the alphabet...calculate using the abacus etc, in only a number of years!

But my Korean friends tell me, their school system is more rigid than that.

I am 23.

School ended. I feel like going and going .

What one has to realize, is that no school system is *better* than another. They just produce different results. Schools that maximize the amount of knowledge you recive don't always produce the best critical thinkers, and schools that emphasize making you learn how to think, well, they end up producing students that have difficulty changing... It's all a matter of balance.

a graduation at 12 years old is commonplace

Right after which, a long and fruitful career assembling footwear awaits you.

/+1 in cultural insensitivity

Assembling footwear? I think I prefer to make minced-meat sausages at an assembly line.

But then again, I haven't got a graduation yet...

Well we official vahe the worst [i]attitude,/I. towards alcohol in the OECD. And that is where our major problem lies, not in our much we drink.

Assembling footwear? That's in China. Nope, striker, after grueling years of learning perfect English,we become nannies, domestics, nurses and caregivers of the West. Some people find such occupations denigrating. But i don' think so...it just shows my people's innate culture - we're loving and caring people. That's the main reason i moved back here from the States.

I have a frightening thought, that crossed my mind not just once...people from the West seemed not to have enough time for their young and their elders...entrusting their most precious legacies (their past and future)to many of us...the subtle influences from another culture is insiduous...

I read my previous post, and I sounded annoyed which was not my intention. I really don't mind discussing topics such as cultural differences or cultural movements...there is enough tiptoeing over such matters already.All these so-called cultural "prejudices" are actually the result of people unwilling to ask or keeping silent about their opinions. So ask away...

Cultural insensitivity? shoot...!

I was only kidding about the footwear thing, anyway. I find that at as long as it is done in good humor, it's fine. If someone is still offended by it... well, I'm sorry that they're offended, as was not being serious.

A grade-school friend of mine's mother was from the Philippine's... and she was an amazing cook.

Hey, striker, it's true, though...the world is divided into producers/laborers on one side, and consumers on the other...oops, let's not discuss global political economy here (highly flammable topic)... suffice to say that both sides are not going to benefit from this kind of set-up.

There's a joke going around here...that if people from one country in Asia will go on strike and stop producing underwears for just a day, one or more countries from the West will go walking around without their undies for a year.

Happy holidays to you, striker!

Here in New Zealand we're balanced. That is we produce and export food and wine to the rest of the world and buy our eletronics from the rest of the world.

Mind you we also have Peter Jackson and Andrew Adamson making Narnia: the lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and King Kong. Also Peter Jackson done Lord of the Rings and Andrew Adamson done Shrek and Shrek 2. And Andrew Adamson will be doing the rest of will be doing the rest of the Narnia books and Peter Jackson will be doing Halo next.

We also have some very successful new muscians right now, including internationally. Including Fat Fredy's Drop and many others.

And our sports year has been good, what with Michael Campell winning the US Open, the All Blacks having the best year you could have bar winning the Rugby World Cup and even our rugby league team winning the Tri-Nations against Australia, who before then hadn't lost a series for 26 years. Our cricket team, despite having a bad year, even beat the Australia in a world record setting win of 332 (after the Aussies got 331), which is miracolous since in the 300s is usually well enough for a winning score and the Australians are deserving world champions of cricket by a huge margin (mind you so were the league team until we beat them 1 time out 2 in the round robin play of the rugby league Tri Nations and then 24-0 in the final).

Our economy is even internationally competitve at the moment, which is impressive for a small nation of 4 million people.

Suffice to say we're doing quite well for ourselves at the moment, despite being so small and so few.

New Zealand is also one of the very few places left in the world that can boast of "untouched", ecologically balanced environment. That's what I hear from GreenPeace people here. You are so fortunate

Actually while comparatively clean, our "clean and green" image is a misnomer. That is to say it isn't true. A lot of people here and overseas think we are "clean and green", but recent evidence shows that while we are compared to other countries, we aren't really. Sadly too many people believe that misnomer.