Are You a Path-Hugger?

It's about that time of year again. The week of May 5 is the Semiannual Hug a Psychopath Week,
SHaPoW!

I'm uncertain, though: is it next week or the week after that? Because I've read that in some countries Monday is considered the first day of the week, which means SHaPoW begins Monday the 29th and ends Sunday the 5th, but in my country the week starts with Sunday. Eh, why not both? (I can hear Lewis Black grumbling, "I remember when Hug a Happy Sociopath Day was its own holiday, not SHaPoW: Part 1½. Cat Day was Cat Day, and path-huggers weren't pokin' their ethical workpants backwards into it! " But that's all coming next season. )

Anyway, here you go—disclaimer stuff again:

justonemoreperson wrote:Remember: if you see a psychopath, give him a hug! It's much easier to reach your wallet that way.

He can reach things more precious than that, if you're not careful.

Keep safe and only hug psychopaths YOU KNOW to tolerate it...without taking advantage of you.

**DISCLAIMER**
I am not responsible for any injuries or losses related to psychopath-hugging. HUG AT YOUR OWN RISK.

It would probably make more sense to say "Hug Your Psychopath," not just "Hug a Psychopath," but "SHYPoW" just doesn't have the same ring to it. Meh.
Wow. Seven emoticons in one post. Hey, at least I'm on topic this time.

Here's the "fairy tale" I had hoped the AsPD forum would remember last season,...although now that I think about it, I suppose it reads more like a fable than a fairy tale.

andyman135 wrote:There once was a boy who had ASPD-like tendencies. His never knew his parents, and was taken care of by a kind, old man, whom he was not related to. The old man worked hard to provide for the boy and gave him countless opportunities to demonstrate his responsibility, but to no avail. The boy was too apathetic, and would always give excuses for his lack of responsibility. Several years later, after the boy had done everything in his power to disappoint the old man, he stood by his father figure who lay in his bed. The man was too weak to go on, and Death hovered not even 2 inches away. The boy asked, "why do you never show your disappointment?" The old man was too kind for words filled with regret, and he responded with nothing but a smile. The boy asked again, "Are you not angry with me for all the times I have let you down?" The old man said, "not at all, because I love you." The boy understood now. This was unconditional love. This man is weak for believing in such things as love. He is a fool for dedicating the last years of his life to me, the boy thought.

After the man's death, the boy could not stop thinking about his selfless actions. Why would he have done something like that? The boy supposed it was because the man had nothing to lose, he was dying. But it was not the man's tolerance that haunted the boy, nor was it the forgiving smile. No, it was the eyes. Those eyes that gleamed, they were evidence that the old man's love was sincere. Surely he was not faking the emotion shown in his face for all of these years? The boy decided to honor the man's death by taking up responsibility and taking care of himself, rather than relying on others. The boy did this not because of love, not because of guilt, but out of respect. He respected the old man for his personality, for his dedication, for his patience, and, most of all, for his forgiveness. The boy could not tell if he missed the man himself, or the financial and emotional support that he provided. In the end, the boy could not differentiate respect, from gratitude, from love.

Anyone care to give this boy some insight?

I brought it here because I thought the description "had ASPD-like tendencies" might be vague enough to refer to a variety of characters, including young psychopaths. But could a young psychopath—or an old one, for that matter—be so affected by an example of unconditional love, or is that just a fanciful story we hear?

On another note, today I realized that the name SHaPoW looks like SHadoW with the "d" turned half-circle. (It made me imagine the P secured by a single, central bolt and turning over because of its top-heaviness.) Didn't a Jungian author somewhere refer to psychopaths as the collective shadow of the human species?

Maybe a food like this should be associated with SHaPoW in spring. When you imagine a biting nightshade fruit wrapped in something soft and wholesome that stops the hurt without compromising the fruit's distinctive flavor, does the association not make sense?

I'm still unsure about that other story I was thinking of posting about, so this is just a food post.
*Possibly triggering for eating disorders.*

Today I tried the peanut butter jalapeño recipe again but with a small stack of pickled pepper slices (I would have preferred to use a whole pepper, but this was the best I could do with what I had) wrapped in a mound of dough shaped like a hug. It stayed gooey inside because of all the vinegar—either that or it wasn't fully baked, but I hope it was just the vinegar—and when I bit into the pepper I did get "bitten back" a little, but that was quickly soothed. This is my favorite variation so far, but it still needs refining.

Not your thing, huh?

Oh, look! SHaPoW-colored doughnuts!

...except the last one. That color doesn't fit, but maybe it will if the peanut butter bread idea catches on.

Here's a pomegranate doughnut. (I know, I know.)


Or are you thinking, "The Southern Hemisphere gets pomegranate doughnuts, and we have to bake what in what?! "

After what happened in the AsPD forum, I've begun to think I should have made a holiday participation guide like the ones at gone-ta-pott.com. Maybe later this week. For now, more food stuff.

Do you think it would be cute to wrap the peppers in black and orange colored peanut butter bread dough and call them "tiger hugs"?

What? Were you anticipating another food photograph? Okay, I found another variation on the garden path cupcakes design. Do you know what I like about this one? [narc]I'm in the foreground![/narc]

I just noticed something. In fact,

stixandstonz661@deviantART wrote:November 15th is a hug a psychopath day!

A, not the, implying that there were other Hug a Psychopath Days all along, so there!

Well, here's the rough draft of the holiday guide, anyway.

What to do:
1. First things first: hug your psychopath! One who dislikes being hugged may welcome other forms of physical affection such as massages or back rubs and scratches. But if your 'path simply doesn't want human touch, stick to affectionate gestures that don't involve direct physical contact—e.g., sharing a pomegranate. (See "What to eat.")
2. **DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional. The following is based on my non-professional point of view.** If you work with psychopaths at a mental health clinic or institution, try organizing a therapy group for them (if you haven't already). It's probably a bad idea to mix psychopaths with non-psychopaths who are exceptionally vulnerable due to mental illness (it would be like placing cats with wounded prey animals), but healthy non-psychopaths who can easily interact with psychopaths without exalting themselves over them, condemning them, etc. may add therapeutic value.
3. Host a party with an appropriate theme, such as snakes or cats.
4. Dress your pomegranate plants in SHaPoW-colored* ribbons or snake garlands, especially in the wintertime if their leaves are gone. If you don't have pomegranates, any canebush of similar biology or appearance will do.

What to eat:
1. (If in season) Pomegranates. Pomegranate bushes are tough and resilient (as you will probably have to be if you live with a psychopath) and often have the latest harvest season of all fruit trees and shrubs. In the days before refrigerators and grocery stores, you would have had to really love someone in order to share a pomegranate.
2. (If in season) Hot peppers, especially hugged in peanut butter bread. (See previous posts on this page.)
- (Maybe more fruits and veggies to come after a little more research.)
3. **DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional. The following is based on my non-professional point of view.** When cooking or baking, use herbs and spices with calming effects, such as garlic or ginger, especially if you're also using peppers and don't want too much capsaicin-induced excitement.

*In no particular order, black, yellow, red, pink, pale yellow, and white. I call it "banded snakes and angel cakes."



What can I say? I seem to be late for everything, but this has been an exceptionally rough week for me.

But on a lighter note,

In total there are 1243 users online....Most users ever online was 2498 on Mon Apr 29, 2013 11:54 pm

Popularization accomplished?

Chowdernumnum@youtube wrote:ok who else found this...by randomly typing shapow into google?

...anyone?