I found a kickass stick 4 years ago in the Smokies the weekend my wife and I got married. It's literally the perfect stick. Straight, smooth, nice thickness, durable as hell. Must be of a rare hardwood variety, I would imagine. I still have that stick in the corner and I see it everyday when I'm sitting at my PC. Have I ever used it for anything? I wouldn't dare. It's too nice of a stick to just use on a whim. Why do I keep it around? Well, if I ever had a problem that required a really nice fuckin stick, I'm covered. Every year or so, my wife says to me, "JPSound, you still have that stick?! Why do you keep that thing around?" I look that woman dead in the eyes and say, "there will come a day, my bride, when the creator of all shall lay before us an obstacle, nay, a challenge that only a mighty stick of such grandeur may aid us in such a lofty trial. And this stick, my dearest, this stick awaits our call to guide us into the sunkissed valley of victory so sweet. Only then shall you see what I see. Know what I know now, that this mear stick, is far more than it seems. Then you will know, I am the mighty protector of this home and family. You will see, my love. You will see." Then she usually just rolls her eyes and says, "whatever... I gotta run to the grocery store. Do you need anything special?" And I respond with a mighty boom, "yeah, that fancy chocolate milk I like, please."
I used a perfect stick once. I was backpacking in the high Sierra's and found the perfect walking stick. I carried it the entire trip, used it to poke at fires, kept my balance with it over difficult terrain, and imagined it would be a formidable weapon should we encounter a bear. When we finished the trip I decided to bestow my perfect stick upon the next fortuitous hiker to pass the trailhead. I carved my name and the date into the middle of the stick and left it leaning against the trailhead. I have thought about that stick many times since that trip. I was a fool to leave it there. Never again have I found such a perfect stick. After many disappointing treks into the wilderness I finally gave up seeking that stick's equal and instead purchased trekking poles. Wherever you are stick, I miss you.
Maybe she's a pebble or plant person? I think it's like being a cat person, dog person or pet person. Some people like sticks, some people like rocks, some people just like grabbing anything from nature that's cool enough for its catagory.
I'm a pinecone woman. They taught us to make biodegradable bird feeders with pinecones, peanutbutter, and birdseeds way back in preschool and I've been hooked ever since.
There's a huge (actually enormous) pine tree near my childhood home. My siblings and I used to collect the best pinecones from that tree, every year. I remember one being almost as big as a child's head.
Yes! My Grandpa used to live out near a pine timber farm and because the pine cones can mess up the harvest rows if they start to germinate, the owners happily let us on the property to walk around and collect cones.
Grandpa just used them as firestarters and kindling, they smell great and they go up a little less violently than gum. We'd take a laundry basket with us on a walk and my brother and I would run around filling it up.
Now when I'm hiking, seeing pine cones on the ground reminds me of winter at grandpa's house. But I don't have a use for them (I've gotten in trouble for attracting too many birds to my unit) so I make a rule to only collect the "baby cones" that is can display next to my sea glass and compost after a while when my shelf fills up - glass is the other thing I'm always collecting when I go for walks. I love sea glass because of Mermaid Princess by Shirley Barber.
Also I'm approaching 40 years old. I still keep every great stick I find. Some find their way into the fire pit. Others are still used as walking sticks and fire pokers. Some shaved down nice and smooth. Others still with their bark.
My frontyard maples gave me a great staff two years ago? If I were a wizard that'd be a huge gift. No treesinging needed.
Woman here, this is my prized stick. I found it maybe 15 years ago I think? I was camping on the Oregon coast, the absolute straightness of it stood out from a mile away. Brought it home, cut the ends off to be flat, and hand-smoothed the handle. For a long time I used it for killing spiders (it was perfect for that they never got away) but it has since retired now that I'm less scared of being poisoned and just catch/release them. One day when I'm decomposing I hope for this to be doing the same by my side.
Love for sticks is hardwired deep in our brain. What's the first thing a toddler does outside? Find a stick and swing it around. Dig with it. Hit stuff with it. Invent games with it. Build with it. Sticks are fundamental to human behavior and civilization.
It's a free and useful material to go along with a child's imagination (it can be a gun, it can be a sword, it can be a teacher's pointer, it can be a flagpole, it can be used as basis for all manner of constructions, you can use it to poke a things or make small holes, it lets you reach things which would otherwise be beyond your reach and so on...) plus its a complex enough object to be interesting in itself not just in shape but in texture, plus sticks come in lots of variations in shape and size.
Even the process of selecting the right stick for something you have in mind can be intellectually stimulating.
Or to put it in another way, sticks are a great basic elements for kids to invent and play their own games, they're usefull for a lot of things and you can find them for free on the ground.
Stick battle your best buddy, spit roast a wild boar, balance while crossing a raging rapid on a slippery log, return to the past and defeat Aku, ahhh childhood memories.
It’s a shovel. A hole-maker. An imaginary sword. A club. A whacky-thing with which to hit things. A thing to drag along the ground and leave marks. Drag across fences or walls to feel and hear the sound. A spear, after you’ve sharpened it in the campfire. A pointer. A poker at strange and unknown critters you find under rocks. A tool to remove spiderwebs from your path. A pry bar. So, so many things.
Women will never know the instinctual urge of a man and his need for a good stick. You can walk with them, you can sharpen them into spears, you can have a good thrashing, play with your pet.
Actually it's my wife who collects sticks, she sees a nice stick and brings it home intending to turn it into a wand at some point. So, we have a nice box of sticks in the garage, but still no actual wands yet.
One woman never played with sticks in her childhood and now suddenly this post is flooded with "THAT'S WHY ALL WOMEN" and "BOYS ARE JUST SO QUIRKY" comments. Good lord.
Go talk to some women guys, the number of upvotes this comment has is telling a really sad story about the demographics of Lemmy.
Its a primitive thing, maybe... Like a genetic memory.
A good stick is a bad ass tool when you only have your hands, its free and plentiful, and its no big loss to start over.
You can use a stick to kill or stun animals, dig a trench for waste, with more sticks and some sort of cover you make a shelter, sticks are also fuel for fire, a stick can get you into a sheltered situation, possibly with a warm meal, and its just a bunch of sticks.
Add a pointed rock to the mix? Fuck, now you have one of the most effective weapons in the history of humanity.
A good stick and a good rock is the most primitive tool set we had, and it was available to everyone.
While I don't disagree with any of that, to play devil's advocate: the post was referring to men/boys obsessing over sticks more than women/girls. I remember the post, a ton of comments asking to see the stick lol. So why is it more of a thing for males than females? Is it because, at least back in the 90s or earlier, boys were sent outside to play and a stick was a gun/sword/hiking staff/whatever else we could come up with, and girls were pushed to play with their dolls and used their imagination that way?
Not to say this was how it was for everyone, or it was right, but there were more gender roles pushed on us back then (saying back then makes me feel old). And I guess that doesn't explain anything of why the son now has a interest in sticks, maybe it's not the first time dad and son bonded over a stick and it stuck with him that dad likes sticks so I like sticks too.
I don't know what the consensus is these days, but at one point it was thought that "cavemen" tended to hunt and "cavewomen" tended to care for young and gather.
Primal instincts taking over. Sticks are good for a lot of things. Fire, spear, walking, poking things out of trees, throwing at the dog… sticks are good.
Fyi, I would advise against this. An alarming number of dogs get hurt by it. They chase after it, and try and grab it. If the angle is just right(wrong?) the stick can impale their mouth. It requires surgery to fix.
Unfortunately it's not a stupid dog problem, but an enthusiastic dog one. The best bet is to use toys that can't seriously hurt them in a moment of bad luck, e.g. tennis balls.
Canadian with a stick ..... I need to use this while wearing metal blades on my feet and full armour with a bunch of my friends while we fight another group of guys with sticks and metal blades under their feet.
My first experience with it was when I made up a little lawn mowing business to fund an electric guitar in high school. After a couple hours of mowing, I'd find myself repeating
Effectively it's a more general version of it. Not specific to words and not specific to the why we feel this way. You're right it's not the same thing. But I meant that it's another way to name the effect you're experiencing.
I've had a bamboo stick at home for at least 4-5 years now it's incredible. You wanna scratch your back it's got it, you wanna protect yourself against aliens invading your home it's got it
Sticks are amazing
I found a kickass stick 4 years ago in the Smokies the weekend my wife and I got married. It's literally the perfect stick. Straight, smooth, nice thickness, durable as hell. Must be of a rare hardwood variety, I would imagine. I still have that stick in the corner and I see it everyday when I'm sitting at my PC. Have I ever used it for anything? I wouldn't dare. It's too nice of a stick to just use on a whim. Why do I keep it around? Well, if I ever had a problem that required a really nice fuckin stick, I'm covered. Every year or so, my wife says to me, "JPSound, you still have that stick?! Why do you keep that thing around?" I look that woman dead in the eyes and say, "there will come a day, my bride, when the creator of all shall lay before us an obstacle, nay, a challenge that only a mighty stick of such grandeur may aid us in such a lofty trial. And this stick, my dearest, this stick awaits our call to guide us into the sunkissed valley of victory so sweet. Only then shall you see what I see. Know what I know now, that this mear stick, is far more than it seems. Then you will know, I am the mighty protector of this home and family. You will see, my love. You will see." Then she usually just rolls her eyes and says, "whatever... I gotta run to the grocery store. Do you need anything special?" And I respond with a mighty boom, "yeah, that fancy chocolate milk I like, please."
I may never get another chance to share this with the world, so may I present to you...
Dude that may be the most perfect stick I've ever seen.
That IS a really good stick
That stick did not dissapoint
That's a pretty fantastic stick.
I read your whole comment and I was skeptical. But you're totally right about everything.
Missed opportunity! It was Fanta”stick”
groan
roll eyes
This is a one bitching stick.
Shit, that's a nice stick.
Amazing!
That's a nice fuckin stick
I have to admit, I thought you were exaggerating. But that's a damn fine stick.
That is a quality fuckin stick my man.
That's a fantastic stick. Don't throw it away.
Would that I had such a perfect stick... I can't blame you for not using it. Just don't let the dust collect on it!
I've never worked with wood, but I imagine a layer of mineral oil could keep it looking great.
That is one helluva nice stick.
Damn. That's a helluva stick. You better treasure that
It has a 1.5x buff for dark damage! Rare drop
1d6+2 bludgeoning damage 1d6 earth damage +2 charisma
Nice stick bro. Excellent length, nice girth.
You undersold it!
Damn dude nice stick
nice stick my man
Nice stick bro
That's a nice fuckin stick right there, king
Holy hell what a nice stick!
Nice stick!
That's a really nice stick!
wow this really is the perfect stick
Gandalf's stick is jealous of this.
Nice.
Really good stick just the perfect thickness nice slight bend too the plant which came from nailed it .... Must be glorified
You should make a glass case for it with a decal “Break Glass In Case Of Emergency”
Thanks for the stick pic!
Wow! That's fantastick!
Bruh that stick is dope. Keep it safe, the fate of the world may depend upon it.
Fantastick !
Damn, nice stick!
That is a nice stick.
May I add my compliments and salutations to the already extensive list? Extensive as the beauty represented by that stick, of course
Top tier stick my dude
Stick!
Memories of the wedding that weekend? Spotty at best.
Memories of finding that stick? Near photographic.
And the stick was FREE, like all the best things in life.
I want the money. It's what I want.
Are you Nick Offerman? Because this sounds very much like his writing style.
Also, it's spelled "mere", not "mear".
You're lucky -- whenever you can't remember the date of your anniversary, just look up the date you got married
Man this is great. I need to upgrade from the Home Depot Sticks of Justice we keep around the house, just in case.
I found a good stick once. Damn, that was a nice stick.
I used a perfect stick once. I was backpacking in the high Sierra's and found the perfect walking stick. I carried it the entire trip, used it to poke at fires, kept my balance with it over difficult terrain, and imagined it would be a formidable weapon should we encounter a bear. When we finished the trip I decided to bestow my perfect stick upon the next fortuitous hiker to pass the trailhead. I carved my name and the date into the middle of the stick and left it leaning against the trailhead. I have thought about that stick many times since that trip. I was a fool to leave it there. Never again have I found such a perfect stick. After many disappointing treks into the wilderness I finally gave up seeking that stick's equal and instead purchased trekking poles. Wherever you are stick, I miss you.
You bestowing it in the next lucky hiker was an act of love...
Shut up, I'm not crying, you are ...
Goodbye, weighted companion stick. :(
Dude.
No, lots of girls and women like sticks too. This lady is just a weirdo for not liking them.
Sticks are for all
#TeamStick
Maybe she's a pebble or plant person? I think it's like being a cat person, dog person or pet person. Some people like sticks, some people like rocks, some people just like grabbing anything from nature that's cool enough for its catagory.
I'm a pinecone woman. They taught us to make biodegradable bird feeders with pinecones, peanutbutter, and birdseeds way back in preschool and I've been hooked ever since.
Acorns are cool too.
There's a huge (actually enormous) pine tree near my childhood home. My siblings and I used to collect the best pinecones from that tree, every year. I remember one being almost as big as a child's head.
Yes! My Grandpa used to live out near a pine timber farm and because the pine cones can mess up the harvest rows if they start to germinate, the owners happily let us on the property to walk around and collect cones.
Grandpa just used them as firestarters and kindling, they smell great and they go up a little less violently than gum. We'd take a laundry basket with us on a walk and my brother and I would run around filling it up.
Now when I'm hiking, seeing pine cones on the ground reminds me of winter at grandpa's house. But I don't have a use for them (I've gotten in trouble for attracting too many birds to my unit) so I make a rule to only collect the "baby cones" that is can display next to my sea glass and compost after a while when my shelf fills up - glass is the other thing I'm always collecting when I go for walks. I love sea glass because of Mermaid Princess by Shirley Barber.
But why like only one when you can like them all? I say that as a woman with both a stick and rock collection.
Leaves! Pressed in wax paper and saved in a notebook!
Horse-chestnut! What's better than having a horse chestnut in your jackets pocket?
Is a horse chestnut the same as a conker? I feel like I haven't seen a good conker since I was a kid!
Yes!
Of all the toys my daughter could play with, she loves swords, bats, brooms, or cool sticks found outside the best.
That's extremely valid of her.
Especially the one in my pants
"Who would win in a fight? An army guy or a stick?"
"That's stupid. The army guy would just break the stick in half."
"Ah, but now there are two sticks. Stick win every time."
https://i.imgur.com/9A3moG6.jpeg - Meme where I remember it from.
Also I'm approaching 40 years old. I still keep every great stick I find. Some find their way into the fire pit. Others are still used as walking sticks and fire pokers. Some shaved down nice and smooth. Others still with their bark.
My frontyard maples gave me a great staff two years ago? If I were a wizard that'd be a huge gift. No treesinging needed.
Woman here, this is my prized stick. I found it maybe 15 years ago I think? I was camping on the Oregon coast, the absolute straightness of it stood out from a mile away. Brought it home, cut the ends off to be flat, and hand-smoothed the handle. For a long time I used it for killing spiders (it was perfect for that they never got away) but it has since retired now that I'm less scared of being poisoned and just catch/release them. One day when I'm decomposing I hope for this to be doing the same by my side.
Hot damn, that's a fine stick
Ho shit, no lies that stick is dope.
Helluva stick you got there
nice stick
This is the best stick I've ever seen.
That's a good stick
Love for sticks is hardwired deep in our brain. What's the first thing a toddler does outside? Find a stick and swing it around. Dig with it. Hit stuff with it. Invent games with it. Build with it. Sticks are fundamental to human behavior and civilization.
Not just humans too. Most primates love playing with/using sticks.
Yes, a simple and useful tool.
If it was worth bringing home clearly it was a good stick
It's a free and useful material to go along with a child's imagination (it can be a gun, it can be a sword, it can be a teacher's pointer, it can be a flagpole, it can be used as basis for all manner of constructions, you can use it to poke a things or make small holes, it lets you reach things which would otherwise be beyond your reach and so on...) plus its a complex enough object to be interesting in itself not just in shape but in texture, plus sticks come in lots of variations in shape and size.
Even the process of selecting the right stick for something you have in mind can be intellectually stimulating.
Or to put it in another way, sticks are a great basic elements for kids to invent and play their own games, they're usefull for a lot of things and you can find them for free on the ground.
Imagine what you could do with that stick, so many options...
It's the fundamental tool that Nature provides man
Picking up sticks: It's more than just weird, it's a survival trait
Stick battle your best buddy, spit roast a wild boar, balance while crossing a raging rapid on a slippery log, return to the past and defeat Aku, ahhh childhood memories.
Pretend it's a sword or gun or staff or wand or microphone
It's a starter weapon until they get a long dagger or short sword, which is the first step up on their way to earning a katana.
It’s a shovel. A hole-maker. An imaginary sword. A club. A whacky-thing with which to hit things. A thing to drag along the ground and leave marks. Drag across fences or walls to feel and hear the sound. A spear, after you’ve sharpened it in the campfire. A pointer. A poker at strange and unknown critters you find under rocks. A tool to remove spiderwebs from your path. A pry bar. So, so many things.
Truly, she has no clue what “just a stick” is.
Sticks are incredible.
My wife and I are rather fond of Adam Savage's term, "thwacker", when it comes to "whacky things".
A long stabby thing so you can whack em off from a distance
Time for my collection to shine! I'm a woman though.
Nice sticks!
I like the long one on the back!
The one closer to the table looks like a upsidedown coat stand. Nice sticks
That's exactly what I thought, that's why I took it with me.
Will it ever be a coat stand? Who knows...
Problem is the protrusions are all angled the wrong direction. You can put hooks on them though.
It's not just sticks though. Sometimes you find a perfect stone. Flat and round, triangular, square... Good stones.
Welcome to the wonderful world of suiseki! Please sign your name on our guest rock with that chisel.
if you're really lucky the stone will be sparkly or transparent or somesuch, in which case not bringing it home is a crime
it's only a crime if you're convicted
obviously the legal system would disagree, but they can cry themselves to sleep if that's what they want.
you're not going to be recorded as having committed a crime unless you're convicted.
Complaining about free toys provided by nature…
Industrial revolution and its consequences...
It's our ancestral birthright. The instinctive allure of a quality tool. The mightu stick. Simple yet sublime. One of the original old reliables.
This makes me miss /r/justguysbeingdudes
Same. Some parts of Reddit were actually great. Such a shame.
That was a good one. I really miss reading people's sci-fi stories on r/HFY. It was just fun to see what people could come up with.
Thank you, that's just what I needed today!
Women will never know the instinctual urge of a man and his need for a good stick. You can walk with them, you can sharpen them into spears, you can have a good thrashing, play with your pet.
The gentleman's utility.
Actually it's my wife who collects sticks, she sees a nice stick and brings it home intending to turn it into a wand at some point. So, we have a nice box of sticks in the garage, but still no actual wands yet.
How do you know they're not wands already? Have you tried them out?
that's a very good Point
One woman never played with sticks in her childhood and now suddenly this post is flooded with "THAT'S WHY ALL WOMEN" and "BOYS ARE JUST SO QUIRKY" comments. Good lord.
Go talk to some women guys, the number of upvotes this comment has is telling a really sad story about the demographics of Lemmy.
You take shit too seriously virgin.
Lmao, whatever you say, misogynist.
My kid once had me drive 9km so she could get a stick (tree branches twice as big as her) she found at school.
That was in June. It's October now. We still have the stick.
No one breaks or burns it. It's the stick after all.
Not just a boy thing :)
Came here to say this. OP must have had a sad childhood indeed, not to understand the allure and utility of a good stick.
son liked the stick, father was supportive of son. love it
Dude, she's asking a question about something she doesn't understand. Chill the fuck out.
idk man fathers are like this just as frequently, from what i've seen more are like this than mothers
Its a primitive thing, maybe... Like a genetic memory.
A good stick is a bad ass tool when you only have your hands, its free and plentiful, and its no big loss to start over.
You can use a stick to kill or stun animals, dig a trench for waste, with more sticks and some sort of cover you make a shelter, sticks are also fuel for fire, a stick can get you into a sheltered situation, possibly with a warm meal, and its just a bunch of sticks.
Add a pointed rock to the mix? Fuck, now you have one of the most effective weapons in the history of humanity.
A good stick and a good rock is the most primitive tool set we had, and it was available to everyone.
I really need to get back into field craft.
While I don't disagree with any of that, to play devil's advocate: the post was referring to men/boys obsessing over sticks more than women/girls. I remember the post, a ton of comments asking to see the stick lol. So why is it more of a thing for males than females? Is it because, at least back in the 90s or earlier, boys were sent outside to play and a stick was a gun/sword/hiking staff/whatever else we could come up with, and girls were pushed to play with their dolls and used their imagination that way?
Not to say this was how it was for everyone, or it was right, but there were more gender roles pushed on us back then (saying back then makes me feel old). And I guess that doesn't explain anything of why the son now has a interest in sticks, maybe it's not the first time dad and son bonded over a stick and it stuck with him that dad likes sticks so I like sticks too.
/end coffee withdrawal ramblings
I don't know what the consensus is these days, but at one point it was thought that "cavemen" tended to hunt and "cavewomen" tended to care for young and gather.
Primal instincts taking over. Sticks are good for a lot of things. Fire, spear, walking, poking things out of trees, throwing at the dog… sticks are good.
Throwing for the dog.
Depends on what the dog doin'
Semantics
Better yet, collect a bunch of sticks and convince them to throw the dog.
Fyi, I would advise against this. An alarming number of dogs get hurt by it. They chase after it, and try and grab it. If the angle is just right(wrong?) the stick can impale their mouth. It requires surgery to fix.
Those dogs were defective to begin with. It's unfortunate, but inevitable.
Unfortunately it's not a stupid dog problem, but an enthusiastic dog one. The best bet is to use toys that can't seriously hurt them in a moment of bad luck, e.g. tennis balls.
Dog don't care.
Canadian with a stick ..... I need to use this while wearing metal blades on my feet and full armour with a bunch of my friends while we fight another group of guys with sticks and metal blades under their feet.
… oh guyf I found a toof! Whov if it?
My daughter loves collecting sticks. Not just a guy thing
Awww, I find it so wholesome when son and father conspire against mother
Now I want a stick, too.
After reading all these comments stick doesn't seem like a word anymore.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_satiation?wprov=sfla1
My first experience with it was when I made up a little lawn mowing business to fund an electric guitar in high school. After a couple hours of mowing, I'd find myself repeating
graaassss. grasssssss..... What a weird noise
Saved this post because I know I'll want to refer to this later... holy shit
"Jamais vu" is another term for it.
Is it?
Wikipedia says:
which is quite different.
Effectively it's a more general version of it. Not specific to words and not specific to the why we feel this way. You're right it's not the same thing. But I meant that it's another way to name the effect you're experiencing.
Stick stick sticksticksticksticksticks ticks...
Sticks are awesome.
So are stones and any pinecone shaped like a grenade.
Dogs get it.
I've had a bamboo stick at home for at least 4-5 years now it's incredible. You wanna scratch your back it's got it, you wanna protect yourself against aliens invading your home it's got it Sticks are amazing
I mean if the kids like it why not? I would much rather that than beg the parents for some Vbucks to have some half assed virtual stick
Sticks were our toys when we were little. They were our swords, our guns, etc.
I am a stick
But you could be fire
I am a stick
I am a stick.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_a_Pole_(And_So_Can_You!)
Damn, I need to find myself a proper stick.
This reminds me, I have to go find a good stick.
What's brown and sticky?
A stick!
What's brown and rhymes with Snoop?
I found two good sticks last week walking the dogs. We all agreed we need to take them home.
When I was in kindergarten all of us had stick collections.
They say that the guy with the biggest stick wins
It must have been a pretty thick stick. Thin sticks are for breaking into little pieces while you're sitting down.
The knee must be used to break long sticks in half until they're too short to be broken further
Sticks are unbelievable
Damn, I need to find myself a proper stick.
![email protected]
Subbed!
Snap!
Well, we sit on the ground and dig holes with a stick. I mean... that's what men supposed to do...
Sticky stick stick stick
Stick.