"It was not until the late 1950s, when Dmitry reached manhood, that they first trapped animals for their meat and skins. Lacking guns and even bows, they could hunt only by digging traps or pursuing prey across the mountains until the animals collapsed from exhaustion. Dmitry built up astonishing endurance, and could hunt barefoot in winter, sometimes returning to the hut after several days, having slept in the open in 40 degrees of frost, a young elk across his shoulders."

It's nice to know that humans haven't grown so far out of the wild that, upon being thrust back into it, a person can still "regress" back to the hunters we were. Strong, fast, and tough

Could I offer a suggestion?

Please don't make the website easier to use. No, for real. I don't even understand how to use it properly right now. I click hubski and it tells me I'm not following people, I have no idea wtf that means or how to do it. But I'm going to stick around because I appreciate the discussions I've had so far and what I've learned so far. I know a lot about running a website is attracting a userbase (I've ran a few websites and forums), but even more important is attracting the RIGHT userbase. So long as the website remains highly available only to those willing to learn and interact, rather than just throwing up an opinion without warrant, your userbase will remain quality. I'm not for nazi-like moderation (I've seen that happen too many times in forums I've been a part of or started), so I believe the best barrier that keeps good users in and crap-posts out, is the natural barrier of entry that is requiring to learn about a website/how to use it before being able to post your opinion. In this method, only those opinions worth hearing, those who've decided they understand the methods of discussion and believe they would like to contribute to discussion, are the ones who end up posting and end up as long time users.

I appreciate the work so far, mods. Make sure you keep it up and expand the userbase while maintaining quality. It's a hard job to do, I'd know and I know you know because you've all likely experienced the balance between free opinion and moderation of standards that I have while running websites and forums.

I understand your frustration with "people prefer to be punched than to sit and contemplate the dawn."

But those are few. They may be the few that OP has said has purchased her works. But if you want to make your work appeal to the many there are ways to do it, in my opinion. If you want to sell and appeal to the masses then you need to study the way that those who have done this, do this.

I never read a book once. Or watch a movie I know is deep once. I watch it and then go back knowing I missed something, not just in the plot but in the way the director portrayed something. I watched "New Jack City" again two nights ago, and noticed the link between how Ice T stopped that shaking, desperate crackhead from smoking and succumbing to his addiction again and they way the other cop stopped shaking, desperate Ice T from killing the drug don who also killed his mother.

But I understand that I'm among the minority to attempt to notice this, among the minority to bother watching a movie again to interpret its meaning rather than just to see it again.

I understand your frustration and I have to assure you that you need to swallow it and understand why it exists. I watched the movie with my cousin, he's got a LOT of problems going on right now, he doesn't have the liberty to analyse this movie, he's got other shit going on. Job problems, work problems, kid problems, wife problems. I can't expect him to "be punched than to sit and contemplate the dawn.".

He's not able to. Consider yourself blessed to be able to sit an analyse these things, to infer deeper meaning rather than to read as an escape from your life or as a distraction. If you want to sell, if you want to really make an impact in those who have too much on their plates, you need to condense and get your point across clearly and concisely. You need to "punch".

...

I'm pretty drunk at the moment so I apologize if If my post rambled or was incoherent at all

I'm 19, currently attending a pretty good university for an undergrad in economics and accounting (or finance, haven't made up my mind). I eventually want to go into politics and am also taking a lot of time reading about world history, politics, policy and philosophy to prepare me for it when I do try to step up to some sort of position.

Unemployed and worried about getting a job in the summer. Really worried. My parents paid for my first year rent and residence, I don't think they can afford another.

I feel like I'm on the right track, I'm doing better than many, but at the same time I'm feeling a bit empty as in... how do I stack up? All these presidents and senior execs and senators all went to some Ivey League school, I'm not somewhere even 1/10 that, don't have 1/20 the connections, and I see people around me who are ramping up for internships and scholarships, and have jobs lined up.

I'm no critic, so here's just my honest opinion from what I just read in your post.

You seem to try too hard. I'm a rap fan so I'll put it in those terms. There are things called punchlines in rap. You have verses and choruses, but then there are the lines that every has memorized, the line that a verse either built up to or that went perfectly with a change in the beat, the one that was so masterfully rhymed or was such a great metaphor that you remember it.

I think most great writers do this too. Words, words, words, punch. words, words, words, words, words, punch. Game of Thrones has chapters boring as shit, they lead up to the punch. Hemingway didn't make everything a metaphor or deep, he did so every little while and to great effect. Read the great speeches by Winston Churchill, Hitler, MLK, Gandhi, even Obama. Those lines with "punch" are used sparingly and very effectively. Churchill went on for like 10 minutes with a speech that would usually put an audience to sleep (but didn't, mostly because it was about the state of the war that just reached their doorstep) before the famous "We will fight them on the beeches..." part.

But reading what you just wrote, it seems like you've made the same mistake I've seen in many other aspiring writers work. Every line and paragraph is over-dramatic. You try to go too deep with everything, you try to make every word pack a punch. You do that and none pack anything, my mind just stops processing what your intended "deepness" was and becomes very aware of you trying to be deep.

"I fear that when I write, I uselessly speak to mute ashes"

What? This would pack some sort of punch if you talked of fire, flame, burning or anything before. Made some sort of leadup to it, some sort of culmination. Instead what you may have thought would be a profound line says absolutely nothing more profound than if you had simply said "I'm afraid I'm wasting my time".

I know I've said a lot based on little more than one thing you wrote, and not even one that was a poem or story, but it says a lot about your writing style

I feel it's necessary, but that doesn't mean it's unfortunate. I can see why we have these rules on us, our floor has thousands of dollars in floor damage despite these rules and false fire alarms have been a huge problem for our building. So having real good parties becomes near impossible.

I wouldn't mind, but due to the riot house parties also get shut down way to quickly. Even in all student neighborhoods where nobody complains they get busted up.

So it's necessary but I feel like (as it's my first year at the infamous residence in this uni) that I've been cheated out of the experience

But Queens has a little more going for it as Kingston is a bit more mature and it's right by the lake. If you're not partying in London there isn't a whole lot to do but hit the bars, and that's not really what the uni experience is supposed to be like, is it?

What are you studying?

Just signed up, I have no idea if I'm sticking around or not. I'm not 100% on how to work this site so I guess I'll see as I figure it out

I've noticed the posting rate is a lot slower, not sure if that's a plus or a negative

First year at University of Western Ontario for Economics (possibly HBA degree). So far it's been good but I feel disillusioned with institutions. I enjoyed high school, made friends, did well academically but I don't have that "high school spirit", I don't proudly rep my highschool. Same deal with University (Though I'm feeling a bit more academic challenge, which I'm enjoying). The party scene is great but the work load means you either party or you study, which is unfortunate. My residence has a national reputation for being crazy (It's called the Zoo, it's a main reason Western made Playboy's top 4 party schools) so they're cracking down on us. Couple that with expensive alcohol in Canada, stepped up police patrols in light of last years St. Patricks day Riot and they've really tying our hands when it comes to having those parties you tell your grandkids about.

I've been looking at transfers to the US, does anyone here have experience with this?