using a level is pretty fucking easy--it involves a bubble
― jazzgasms (Mr. Que), Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:43 (fourteen years ago) link
tbh I can't wait to have a house of my own so I can learn more practical stuff by doing it
― everyone stop (dan m), Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:43 (fourteen years ago) link
I am totally of the opinion that if you can't figure out how to use a level within 5 minutes, you might as well go lie down in traffic.
― wtf?!? just randomly started crying! (HI DERE), Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:43 (fourteen years ago) link
i personally think those kind of "x things every man should learn to do" are appealing because they're just useful life skills really, a totally different animal than those "lol salads and lattes r 4 fagz" ads that this thread started out discussing. it's only problematic in the implication that women don't need to learn those skills, but the fact that they throw in eg. ironing, sewing up a hole in yr shirt, etc, shows that it's not necessarily out to be macho. And i think there's something to be said for knowing how to do "manly tasks"/take charge of a situation. I changed a flat tire on the side of the freeway for the first time last week and felt pretty proud of myself tbh. My girlfriend didn't know how to, not that she shouldn't but she didn't, and the fact that i took care of it was appealing in a trad masculine sense.
― where are that man's pants? :-( (Whitey on the Moon), Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:43 (fourteen years ago) link
or the iphone accelerometer
xxxpost
― I sb'ed your mum (ken c), Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:43 (fourteen years ago) link
xpost
as far as drywall, there's just hanging and screwing in the drywall if you're lazy, but if you're really going for it then you have to do mudding and taping and that is a total bitch (sez the fag who used to work construction jobs)
― twice boiled cabbage is death, Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:44 (fourteen years ago) link
mudding and taping and that is a total bitch
2x
― everyone stop (dan m), Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:45 (fourteen years ago) link
internet being readily available (esp on portable devices) also makes the need of knowing how to do something in advance less important. provided you have learnt how to use google
― I sb'ed your mum (ken c), Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:45 (fourteen years ago) link
if u can't build a wall u don't deserve shelter, sleep out in the cold under some dude's deck
― velko, Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:45 (fourteen years ago) link
But in which direction? I JUST DON'T KNOW!
― Cronenberg sleazy (kenan), Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:46 (fourteen years ago) link
if u can't build a wall u don't deserve shelter, sleep out in the cold under some dude'sreal man's deck
― everyone stop (dan m), Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:47 (fourteen years ago) link
http://www.easy2diy.com/cm/easy/diy_ht_index.asp?page_id=35693854
beginner's tutorial for hanging drywall btw
― wtf?!? just randomly started crying! (HI DERE), Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:47 (fourteen years ago) link
Is there anywhere in NYC where you can learn how to do this kind of stuff in some sort of class format? I would love to take a class that was like "here is how to build a table, now go nuts with our circular saw"
― Bay-L.A. Bar Talk (Hurting 2), Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:48 (fourteen years ago) link
whitey: understood, but there's also the implication that being able to iron your own shirts & do other domestic tasks is about self-reliance and "being a grown up" and not relying on a woman to mother you -- which does relate to the values espoused in the original ad posted itt
― elmo leonard (elmo argonaut), Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:49 (fourteen years ago) link
a friend of mine works as a carpenter for his uncles contracting company - they do really high end jobs for fussy rich clients - his uncle got his start by bidding on a getting a deck building job w/o out any experience building anything - so he want to the store and bought a book called like how to build a deck
― Richard Snorkeling (ice cr?m), Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:50 (fourteen years ago) link
changed a flat tire on the side of the freeway for the first time last week and felt pretty proud of myself tbh. My girlfriend didn't know how to, not that she shouldn't but she didn't, and the fact that i took care of it was appealing in a trad masculine sense.
This is rly cute, btw. It's okay to pat yrself on the back sometimes for living up to a role that you secretly like or aspire to, even if, were you being totally honest, you know it's BS. You're not living your WHOLE LIFE by it, but it's okay to think "Boy, ya done good!" once in a while.
― WHY DON'T YOU JUST LICK THE BUS DIRECTLY (Laurel), Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:50 (fourteen years ago) link
xp That's self-reliance right there.
― Cronenberg sleazy (kenan), Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:51 (fourteen years ago) link
I wrote a novel one time. If you guys don't know how to write a sufficient novel that I would want to read, you should just go play in traffic and die
anyone who doesn't have the same skills as I do is worthless tbh
― lukevalentine, Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:51 (fourteen years ago) link
(satire)
(SB)
― jazzgasms (Mr. Que), Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:52 (fourteen years ago) link
Really, if there are two skills that are of equivalent level, it's writing a novel and using a level.
― wtf?!? just randomly started crying! (HI DERE), Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:53 (fourteen years ago) link
Yeah, but lukevalentine, can you bind your own novel?
― l'homme moderne: il forniquait et lisait des journaux (Michael White), Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:54 (fourteen years ago) link
well I was thinking of the deck building thing
but yeah lol it's a BS comparison admittedly
but I know I would suck at building something if I tried
but the point I am trying to make is that not everybody is good with practical things
I mean, I can write papers in my sleep but if I tried to build something it would tons of effort & concentration
― lukevalentine, Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:57 (fourteen years ago) link
involve
― jazzgasms (Mr. Que), Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:58 (fourteen years ago) link
lol
― call all destroyer, Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:58 (fourteen years ago) link
Changing a flat tire IS satisfying, really it is. You don't have to feel like you're dominating the other sex to feel like you're especially competent at something. Which was my point with the computer stuff, really -- I personally get my manly kicks by being able to fix broken computer things, to whatever extent. Or by being able to explain the economics and politics of the day better than cable news can. (Not an earth-shattering accomplishment, but still.) Or whatever it is that I feel good at. I won't deny that I get a testosterone-related charge off of those things, and I certainly won't apologize for competence.
― Cronenberg sleazy (kenan), Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:59 (fourteen years ago) link
instead of using levels to build decks we should be using them to even out our differences
― NEW YORK DESERVED MANGINI (brownie), Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:59 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah, but lukevalentine, can you bind your own novel?
Ha, never tried but I would hope so
I do agree withe general consensus that it is good to know how to do these things tho
I for one wish I didn't live "in my head" so much
xp
― lukevalentine, Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:59 (fourteen years ago) link
elmo do you think there's anything wrong with that? I don't think ppl SHOULD rely on anyone to mother them. Not on some "who needs bitches" tip, just like, being a grownup IS a good thing.
― where are that man's pants? :-( (Whitey on the Moon), Thursday, 10 December 2009 18:00 (fourteen years ago) link
changing a flat is kinda tedious imo - and it makes yr hands dirty
― Richard Snorkeling (ice cr?m), Thursday, 10 December 2009 18:00 (fourteen years ago) link
― wtf?!? just randomly started crying! (HI DERE), Thursday, December 10, 2009 11:43 AM (15 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
this bears repeating
― being being kiss-ass fake nice (gbx), Thursday, 10 December 2009 18:00 (fourteen years ago) link
changing a bike flat or a car flat? bike flats get you dirty but can be done in 5 min easy
I have a fuzzy memory, maybe five yrs old or so, of using my grandpa's level and pointing out that the cabin he was building was crooked.
― retrovaporized nebulizer (╓abies), Thursday, 10 December 2009 18:01 (fourteen years ago) link
lol bike whatever homo
― Richard Snorkeling (ice cr?m), Thursday, 10 December 2009 18:01 (fourteen years ago) link
Just make sure the traffic in on a slope.
― l'homme moderne: il forniquait et lisait des journaux (Michael White), Thursday, 10 December 2009 18:03 (fourteen years ago) link
yall are carpentry rockists
― lukevalentine, Thursday, 10 December 2009 18:04 (fourteen years ago) link
I'm more into carpentry electronica.
― Cronenberg sleazy (kenan), Thursday, 10 December 2009 18:06 (fourteen years ago) link
The thing is, in the realm of skills needed to know how to build something, figuring out how to use a level is on about the same difficulty level as figuring out how to play a note on a piano.
― wtf?!? just randomly started crying! (HI DERE), Thursday, 10 December 2009 18:08 (fourteen years ago) link
Ok look, a level was a bad example, ok?
― Cronenberg sleazy (kenan), Thursday, 10 December 2009 18:09 (fourteen years ago) link
if u can't change the tire on a jet airliner take a boat, pantywaist
― velko, Thursday, 10 December 2009 18:09 (fourteen years ago) link
whitey: no, there's nothing inherently wrong with that -- self-reliance is a virtue in many cases. but the "men should know" construction of these lists is really obviously gendered and prescriptive -- the discussion itt about male-targeted advertising and how undercuts the buyer's self-confidence also applies to these lists imo. it calls masculinity into question because men "should" know these things, then offers to sell it back because you can learn how -- just buy the book!
― elmo leonard (elmo argonaut), Thursday, 10 December 2009 18:09 (fourteen years ago) link
It's true -- where the hell am I going to build a deck anyway? I live in an apartment! An apartment that ALREADY HAS A DECK!
― Cronenberg sleazy (kenan), Thursday, 10 December 2009 18:12 (fourteen years ago) link
Let's not get into the cultural ghetto-ization of non-homeowners.
elmo your pie crust science has increased my already great esteem for you.
― mascara and ties (Abbott), Thursday, 10 December 2009 18:13 (fourteen years ago) link
im going to build a deck INSIDE MY APARTMENT
― Richard Snorkeling (ice cr?m), Thursday, 10 December 2009 18:13 (fourteen years ago) link
im going to build a pie inside my apartment, then deconstruct the pie in my mouth
― jazzgasms (Mr. Que), Thursday, 10 December 2009 18:14 (fourteen years ago) link
"You know what would be great right here? More floor!"
― Cronenberg sleazy (kenan), Thursday, 10 December 2009 18:14 (fourteen years ago) link
Ha Mr. Que I thought for a moment you were going to make a foodie-style "deconstructed pie" inside of your mouth, which I guess would be some slivers of deep-fried crust next to a few lingonberries.
― mascara and ties (Abbott), Thursday, 10 December 2009 18:15 (fourteen years ago) link
agreed elmo, i get what you're saying now.
― where are that man's pants? :-( (Whitey on the Moon), Thursday, 10 December 2009 18:21 (fourteen years ago) link
ive changed like a million tires and frankly i fucking hate it
― max, Thursday, 10 December 2009 18:24 (fourteen years ago) link