Kaza

For several months I haven‘t been able to read anyone‘s comments on Youtube. It just says “Comments currently unavailable“. Also, a banner saying “We‘ve set your language preference“ appears at the top of every page I load. It‘s set to the right language, but I can‘t get rid of it even when I reset it at the bottom of the page (it first appeared when the comments stopped showing, so they‘re probably related).

How can I read people‘s comments again, and how do I get rid of the banner? I don‘t have a Youtube account (nor a Google account), and all the advice I‘ve found so far is for people with accounts.

I'm growing a loofah plant (of the cucurbit family), and normally the male flowers should bloom first. My vine has a good 50 or more male flower buds, but none have bloomed; I only have 12 female flower buds and so far 3 have bloomed (one each day for the past three days). Why is it doing this? Is there something wrong with the soil? I've had good weather (hot, sunny, and not too rainy). If the plant keeps this up, I'm not going to get any fruit at all! Please help!

Will they lock you up if you say you think about, or have thought about, it? Or do you actually have to hurt yourself (or threaten to hurt yourself) for them to do it?

Can a person talk to them about such a thing without fear of being locked up?

This is kind of long, but I'm really curious and a bit concerned about this.

So I have a friend who tells these, shall we call them, "stories". She says really personal things about herself and others that in small doses might be believable, but with the amount of things she says just ends up sounding very contrived. For example, she told me a girl at school we both knew had AIDS. Another girl we knew got pregnant while she was away in Europe, and then broke her leg (when she returned, her leg was neither broken nor was she pregnant, and my friend said she'd miscarried).

My friend also said, about herself, that she had a really rare blood disease that was going to kill her in her early 20s (she's 20 now, and still alive), but her blood made it impossible for her to catch AIDS. She apparently has around 18 half-brothers from her dad (I've been to her parents' place, and there was absolutely no evidence of this). She was impregnated by her boyfriend, who then promptly dumped her (he confronted me about this and said that it was a complete lie, and I have more reason to believe him than her; and after 5 months or so, she still didn't look pregnant at all. It's been over a year and she doesn't have any baby, and she's never mentioned it since). Now apparently she's getting married to someone else. She also has an implant in her arm from a former job where she worked that can track her by satellite.

There are smaller things she says too, things that I'm pretty sure are scientifically impossible, or at the least, improbable. For example, she and some of her friends jumped off the top of a tall waterfall into a very small pool no deeper than six feet and surrounded by many rocks - a jump that would likely kill you. She added an entire box of laundry detergent to the washer in the basement (apparently she'd never done laundry before and didn't know any better) and the suds went all the way to the second floor.

The list goes on and on and on. So what do you think? I suppose all of this is possible, but based on how much she says, and the evidence (or lack thereof), it seems like all of this is made up, or at least most of it. Could this be caused by some type of disorder? Or does she just like the attention? She’s a really nice person, and when she’s not telling these “stories” she’s fun to be around.

I’ve met both her parents too, and there seems to be no signs of abuse (although I know sometimes these things aren’t always obvious). So what’s up with this?

A week ago I had a dream that I had killed about thirty people. I didn't dream of the actual murders, but I was standing in my bedroom and there were a whole bunch of bodies that were slashed and bloody lying around on the floor and furniture. I was standing calmly in the middle of it all, and at first I was thinking about how I would dispose of them. But when I started to think of this, I started to panic about how there was no way I could ever hide all the evidence of what I had done. At the same time I started panicking about the fact that I had actually killed all of these people.

Just last night, I had a dream that I was standing in this kind of surreal and hidden garden with this guy I worked for awhile back, as well as someone else I don't know. We were talking (I can't remember what about) when all of a sudden the guy I worked for stomped onto the head of a man lying on the ground at his feet. I saw his whole head fracture into several large pieces as it was crushed (I know this is really f***ed). He did it very casually, like he did this all the time. I noticed then that there was also someone else lying dead in the near distance. Just like in the other dream, it took me a moment to process that what had happened was bad, but when I realized this, I started to freak out (I think I may have hidden these feelings from the other two).

I don't watch any horror movies, nor any TV at all. I almost never dream of things like this. This guy that I worked for was kind of annoying (okay, really annoying) but he wasn't mean or violent - though I didn't end my work for him in a good way (I was kicked out of this place where I was volunteering, basically the equivalent of getting fired. However, he was one of the THREE bosses, and though he was the most annoying, he was the only one that helped me in the end to find a new place to go). In reference to the first dream and how I was thinking of hiding the bodies, I don't think I'm actually trying to hide anything in real life - at least, not anything illegal.

Please only give me your own thoughts on this; I can easily look up a dream interpretation website, and I generally don't find those helpful. Thanks.

So there's a festival in my town this week that I'm volunteering for. I'm helping set everything up, and at the end of the day, all of the volunteers sit around talking, drinking, laughing, smoking weed, and such. Most of them also camp on sight. Last year I was able to do this, and had an amazing time. But over the winter I developed very severe panic disorder after smoking weed and getting a panic attack - several times. I haven't been able to touch the stuff since, which isn't too bad since I wasn't hardcore into it anyway. But I also can't be around the smoke at all - I mean, I REALLY CAN'T be around it! The panic attacks that I experienced were brought on by only a single toke each time (two the first time, but that one was the worst). It's amazing that such a small amount of weed could trigger such severe attacks, and I know that second-hand smoke can get you high too.

Ever since this happened (about eight months ago) I haven't been able to even smell weed smoke without being overcome by horrible terror and having to leave the area immediately. I'm terrified of getting another panic attack because the ones I did experience were real doozies - we're talking full blown, puke-your-guts-out, almost completely paralyzed, can't breath and feeling like you're going to die attacks. The reactions were very physical as well as mental, and in that sense pretty much impossible to talk myself out of.

Anyway, this year I'm pretty much doing a lot of work in the day, and missing out on the fun at night. I can't hang around for very long, and can't camp there. I'm really depressed about this (I'm not just having problems with this festival - I'm also missing out on everything from concerts, to parties, to hanging out with friends at their homes, and too many other things to mention). I was wondering if anyone else can't be around weed smoke at all. How do you cope with this? Do you have to leave any time someone lights up, and if so do you come back afterward? There's lots of people at the festival, so I can't really ask them not to smoke. But how can I get through this week and not miss out on the fun that makes the festival worth it in the first place, yet not be around that smoke?

I suppose what I'm really asking is, is there any hope for me in ever overcoming this problem (I don't want to smoke weed again, I just don't want to have to leave because people are smoking it themselves? What are anyone else's experiences with this?

I don't know if this would actually be called a movie or not, but it was a five minute skit. It takes place in a graveyard, where there is a small group of people standing around a grave at a funeral. The people all look kind of goth, and (obviously) are very depressed. The man leading the funeral tries to cheer them up, and says something like, "When I'm sad, I like to cheer myself up by making funny faces with an orange slice in my mouth."

He suddenly has this orange slice in his hand, and he sticks it in his mouth and starts smiling and giggling. The people around the grave all stare at him for a minute, and then they all suddenly have orange slices too and put them in their mouths. Everyone starts to get all giggly, and all we see is a bunch of goths dancing around this grave giggling madly with orange slices in their mouths.

There is another funeral taking place just down the hill, and the man leading that funeral tries to cheer everyone up by making fart noises with his armpit. Everyone gives him cold stares, and stand there looking angry instead of cheered up. The man turns around, looks back up the hill at the dancing goths, and asks, "How does he do it?" (referring to the other funeral leader).

That's where it ends. I think it was made in about 1998. The whole thing is really ridiculous and comical. I know it's a long shot, but if anyone knows the name of this, it would be appreciated.

I know that each of us goes through our own problems and handles them in different ways, but mental illnesses often exacerbate or worsen our problems. Some of us can learn ways to cope with this, and some have their entire lives altered. I was just wondering how others have been affected, for better or for worse, by mental illnesses (and what illness(s) do you have?).

I personally have had problems with anxiety, first social anxiety and now panic disorder and PTSD, with depression, and with ADHD-like symptoms, among others. As a result, I tried to cope by withdrawing from everyone and ignoring important things such as dealing with the bank or doctors (which I definitely don't recommend), and lost many of my friends. I don't like talking too much about my problems and thus don't allow myself to get too close to anyone (so keeping the friends I do have is nearly impossible). I'm paranoid of what others think of me, missed A LOT of school, and can't keep a job.

So how has everyone else been affected, and also, what do you do to cope?

The Glass Castle (Jeannette Walls)

The Autobiography of Malcolm X (Alex Haley)

Riders on the Storm (John Densmore)

Life of Pi (Yann Martel)

The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm (Nancy Farmer)

Tale of a One-Way Street (Joan Aiken)

Lost Souls (Poppy Z. Brite)

I like a lot of different genres, including bios, especially on music, really well written children's chapter books, things about hardship, cultural stories, etc.

If anyone could suggest anything it would be very appreciated, as I'm in dire need of some new material. I don't like romance, mystery, or typical teen stories. Thanks.

I'm writing a story that, for want of a better word, I would classify under the fairytale/fantasy genre. I was just wondering what people's opinions were on cliché themes for this genre. I personally am not a fan of the whole "damsel in distress" storyline, nor for the eccentric but highly powerful witch characters (whether good or evil), nor for the glory-seeking main characters.

That being said, I'm also wondering what others would consider to be vital aspects for this genre, if there is any at all. I know technically it's all just a matter of opinion, but I was just wondering what others thoughts were on this.

I was just wondering if anyone had any experience or info on growing loofahs (the sponge that is often confused with sea sponges, but is actually a gourd). I started mine in April to give it a good head start for our short growing season, but now I'm about to transplant it outside and want to make sure it survives. I realize it might not thrive in Ontario, but I thought I'd give it a shot. How would I keep the bugs from eating it (without pesticides, since I have some cats and a dog)? How often do I water/fertilize it, and what fertilizer would it need? How would I avoid shock transplant, since it's in a plastic container? And how much do their roots grow (would I be able to grow it in a large container)?

Also, it's first two leaves (called cotyledons, I think) are drooping and turning yellow. Should they be pulled off or can I leave them? And on a side note, I hear loofahs can cross breed with cucumbers, so if I planted them on opposite ends of the yard (a pretty large yard) would they be alright? Sorry for so many questions, I've searched the internet and I've been getting a lot of contradictory info. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

A week ago I experienced a panic attack after smoking weed. This has happened to me only twice before. The first time was three months ago, and it was so severe I ended up in the hospital (I couldn't stop vomiting for at least two hours, and couldn't breathe or move for almost four hours). They tested me, and it wasn't laced with anything, so I'm pretty sure it was panic. The last couple of times haven't been as bad, but after the last one a week ago, my nerves are extremely high and I feel like I'm about to have another attack all the time. Most sensations that never bothered me before now feel like potential triggers: smells, tastes, moving or sitting still, breathing deeply, listening to people's voices, watching people's facial expressions, and even swallowing water. I've never, ever been like this before, and I don't know what to do. I know some people are more prone to things like this; I've experienced anxiety and depression for years, but I never had a panic attack until I smoked weed. I also smoked it for over a year before anything like this happened. I don't even want to smoke weed anymore; it's just not worth it. I'm experiencing a lot of very uncomfortable depersonalization and derealization, which also makes me feel like I'm about to panic.

Panic attacks are the most terrifying thing I've ever felt. My skin goes numb, my heart begins to race extremely fast, my mind feels like it's warping and I'm going insane, and it feel like I'm going to die! I'm becoming agoraphobic because I'm afraid of something bad happening if I go out somewhere. I'm also under stress right now and traveling in a country that isn't my own. I don't want to go back home yet, but unless I can control this I might have to. I know the fears that make me panic are irrational, but that doesn't stop it. Would an anti-anxiety medication help at all (I'm on an anti-depressant right now, Wellbutrin, but maybe something else would help)? Has anyone else ever experienced anything similar, and was able to recover? I'm not feeling like myself anymore; please help!